Ive been doing a lot of reading on wood stoves as of late, and got to thinking about the safety aspect of it. One thing that a few people have experienced with these new epa stoves is a runaway. Given that I can never completely shut off the air to my NC30 due to the design of it. I dont feel particularly comfortable with that. Ive got a little lul in my reno project while the drywall mud dries, so I decided to make up a 'last resort' ? 'hail Mary' ? or whatever you want to call it, cap for the air intake at the back of the stove. I found a piece of pipe that wouldnt quite slide over the intake and turned (I have a lathe) a 3 degree taper inside it so that it'll go on and wedge in place. I then welded a piece of 1/8" plate over the end and turned it so that it was nice and neat. I read where people have stuffed tinfoil over the fresh air intake to snuff things down. Since I have the means, I decided to make a properly made part instead. Aside from a fire extinguisher, does anybody else have any 'last resort' things like this that they keep around their stove just in case all hell starts breaking loose ? Sorry...I should have taken a picture of the inside before I painted it.
I've tried several methods to "improve" the burning characteristics of the 30 and came to the conclusion I should have just left it alone. It has never......never overfired, and I've had it loaded to the gills on most overnights burns. Have fun. Oh, one thing that did seem to help was cutting new baffles to fit more snugly.
Oh...I have no intention of modifying the stove to try and make it burn better. The cap is only a "just in case" thing.
Here's to hoping you'll never need it, I doubt you will. My chimney draft pulls like a freight train, I burn spruce, and I have never had the 30 runaway either. I do run a pipe damper though.
Typically a run away fire will settle down without smoking up the house if you open the door but I do like your idea and the fab work. Another layer of safety never hurts.
The only problem with a cap like that is most stoves air intake track is not totally sealed, and when you get things choochin good, it is amazing how much air can be pulled through a small crack. If it does snuff the fire down, just know at some point the oxygen in the firebox is gonna catch up...and then WOOOF! Smoke out of every orifice...BTDT Me personally, I'd just put a damper in the pipe if you need to knock things down a bit...worse case scenario, you can always throw the firebox door wide open...counter-intuitive I know, but it sends a big slug of cool air up the chimney and calms things down...
Yep. I read about opening the door as well. I was thinking the best thing might be to keep a pail of sand near by. Its going to make a mess, but my shop vac will make short work of it after things have cooled down.
Thanks for posting, never know if this might happen for myself so I gotta think introspectively here.
