What Is Considered Overfiring in a Hitzer 50-93?

I did something stupid today I got busy laying a hardwood floor in my granddaughters room and almost left the fire go out. When I realized my error I quickly dumped the ashpan and opened up the ash door and rear damper full open to get her up from the 150 degree range. Here's where the stupid starts. I went back to work on the floor and forgot to close the dampers. I didn't think about it again until I smelled something out of the ordinary and quickly ran downstairs to correct my stupidity. The therometer on the front of the stove was reading about 650. I think the only thing that saved me from a world of trouble was the barometric damper was open and kept it from climbing any higher. At that point I shut down both dampers and did a little babysitting until the temp fell below 575. I hope the shaker didn't get damaged in the process. Has anyone else seen 650 on their stove?

-Ron

Should be able to handle 650. Was anything glowing red? Stove collar or pipe?

Stoker6268 wrote:Should be able to handle 650. Was anything glowing red? Stove collar or pipe?

Nothing was glowing red. The coal bed was very hot. Hotter than I have seen. Not white yet but it was losing the orange glow and putting off some real heat. The chimney was drafting hard enough to open the baro. it's set at about 3. I need to get the mano installed so I'll have a better idea if the baro numbers are correct.

-Ron

Others will chime in but I think your ok. Run mine occasionally 550-600 for an hour or so when its really cold.

Hi,

That's why I always set a timer and clip it to my collar whenever I tend my stove. I know I'm going to get distracted and move on to something else. Doing that is now just a part of my routine. Also, don't forget the fastest way to cool a coal fire is to put fresh coal on it. It sounds counter intuitive but it works. You can see the needle on the thermometer moving downward almost immediately. Take care, Lisa

I too use a countdown timer (10 mins) EVERY TIME I tend my stoves, reset several times until all is settled. I usually use my cell phone (most have a count down timer) and I also have a cheap Casio watch with the same feature. This is a cheap, but valuable addition to your every day protocol. Be safe...

I was over 700 once. Super scary, but no permanent damage. Lesson learned.

lowfog01 wrote:Hi,

That's why I always set a timer and clip it to my collar whenever I tend my stove. I know I'm going to get distracted and move on to something else. Doing that is now just a part of my routine. Also, don't forget the fastest way to cool a coal fire is to put fresh coal on it. It sounds counter intuitive but it works. You can see the needle on the thermometer moving downward almost immediately. Take care, Lisa

I didn't mention that in my post out of concern I would be consider an idiot but that is exactly what I did. The stove was in need of refueling and the hopper was empty, that's why I opened up the air to begin with. I needed to warm it up before shaking down and refueling. so I filled the hopper and let it cool down a bit before shaking down I was actually looking for a bag full of fines and coal dust. Thanks for commenting I'm still new to coal and it helps to know that I took the right steps. I really don't know what I would do without this forum. There is a wealth of knowledge here.

-Ron

Sorry, there are no idiots on this Forum. We've all done it or almost done it. Seriously, get yourself a timer and if you have the stove open, set it for 7 to 10 minutes. Clip it to your shirt or hang it on a string around your neck. Taking it off should be the last move in your stove tending routine. That way you always know pretty quickly rather or not you've closed the stove. 7 to 10 minutes is time enough to get back to the stove before it over fires.

Do you have a large box or bag of baking soda close by the stove? That's a good idea in case you have a mechanical failure and need to put the stove out quickly. For instance, this morning I had the ash door latch pin work it's way out of the door leaving me with no way to secure the ash door. Ooops. Fortunately, the pin had just worked its way lose and I able to screw it back in quickly but I initially thought I'd have to put the fire out and drill the broken pin out. I have a 10 lbs bag of baking soda close by just for that reason. I even used it once many years ago, so many I can't remember why I needed to put the fire out but I know it works well. Lisa

lowfog01 wrote: Do you have a large box or bag of baking soda close by the stove? That's a good idea in case you have a mechanical failure and need to put the stove out quickly. For instance, this morning I had the ash door latch pin work it's way out of the door leaving me with no way to secure the ash door. Ooops. Fortunately, the pin had just worked its way lose and I able to screw it back in quickly but I initially thought I'd have to put the fire out and drill the broken pin out. I have a 10 lbs bag of baking soda close by just for that reason. I even used it once many years ago, so many I can't remember why I needed to put the fire out but I know it works well. Lisa

Lisa,

You like using baking soda for this? What about sand? I've heard of having a bucket of sand to throw in the fire if you have to put it out, but wasn't aware of baking soda. I like the baking soda idea, sounds like it could melt and cover over the fire better than sand. What are your thoughts?

dj

My thinking is any small particle material that's dry and non flammable would be good to extinguish a coal fire. The key is to terminate any air flow thru the coal bed and cool it at the same time. Sand would be my first choice since its very fine and has a lot of mass to absorb heat, I didn't know about baking soda, kitty litter would probably do a fine job too, coal ash would work well but might get dusty if shoveling it on in a frenzied panic..

I do know for a fact that at 850 degrees F the magnetic "Rutland Burn Indicator" will lose it Magnetism and start sliding down the steel stove pipe, fall off and on to the floor, where it starts burning through like a Meteorite.

Here is how you can do this yourself - Simply dump in a five gallon bucket of scrap pieces of white oak hard wood flooring material into a Locke 120, add a match and give it about 10 min.

How do I know?

Don't ask