Left Ash Door Open...

hotblast1357 · Post by **hotblast1357** » Wed. Dec. 31, 2014 11:00 pm

Well I came home from work tonight, performed normal routine stove shakedowns, left with the wife, went out to dinner, went too the movie theaters... And half way through I thought to myself.. Oh sh**!!!! Ran out of the theaters, cranked home, luckily only live 1.5 miles from movie theaters, once I walked in the basement I knew the smell!!! Ran over to the furnace and yup over load door temp at 750! Furnace just a cranking!! Ash door cracked open about 2" im thinking the baro saved us which was wide open lol through 10 lbs of nut on, shut the ash pan door and went back to th movies. Thank god that it didn't melt the furnace down or anything! Make sure that your shutting your ash pan door guys and gals!!!!!! I gotta make a sign or something by the garage door to remind me, I don't want this happening again, let me tell you very scary!!!

CoalHeat · Post by **CoalHeat** » Wed. Dec. 31, 2014 11:05 pm

I have left the house and actually turned around and came back to check that ash door. It was always closed, of course. I make it a point to tend the stove well before I'm going to leave now.
Some forum members set a timer to go off to remind them.

Snotzalot · Post by **Snotzalot** » Wed. Dec. 31, 2014 11:12 pm

I have a bench by my stove, I sit there and watch while the stove livens up, stack gets to 400+F it shakes down, ash door closes and the shovel goes to work filling. 5 to 10 minutes of my time to reflect on the day gets the job done safely.

CoalHeat · Post by **CoalHeat** » Wed. Dec. 31, 2014 11:14 pm

Yep, best idea is to never leave the stove when that door is open.

Post by **Lightning** » Wed. Dec. 31, 2014 11:22 pm

The remote BBQ thermo will help you with that..

hotblast1357 · Post by **hotblast1357** » Wed. Dec. 31, 2014 11:32 pm

Haha yes Lightning I am setting it up now, will install it tomorrow, I admit it happened because I was rushed, won't happen again! Things can wait

lzaharis · Post by **lzaharis** » Thu. Jan. 01, 2015 12:02 am

It has been so cold of late I have had to leave the ash pit
door open to aid the draft-baro on oil burner though.

I have been burning Centralia coal sales oiled bulk nut and bagged
dry stove together and it burns well with the ash pit door cracked open slightly
filler door and ash pit door share a common chain with a Dayton shutter motor
to raise draft doors when calling for heat and shutting down the water temp when
satisfied.

I will shut the ash pit door and add stove coal before I hit the mattress
and tend it several times during the night-I am going to enjoy the hell out of
that KAA-4-1 dual fuel unit with a DHW coil when I can afford it.

lowfog01 · Post by **lowfog01** » Thu. Jan. 01, 2015 3:54 am

hotblast1357 wrote: I gotta make a sign or something by the garage door to remind me, I don't want this happening again, let me tell you very scary!!!

I'm so paranoid about this that I set a timer and clip it to my shirt every time I open the stove. I set it for 7 - 10 mins. I don't take it off again until I close the doors. The rule is door open, timer on. That way I KNOW for sure if I closed the doors. This year I added an additional control. I don't turn the lights out in the stove room until I confirm the doors are closed. If the light is on and I'm not in the room, I didn't check the stove. That's a visual clue that slows me down when I'm in a rush to get out of the house. As long as I stick to my routine, I'm confident I'll not leave the stove door open unattended.

There's a reason the military has "standard operating procedures." They provide peace of mind to everyone; they work. Lisa

blrman07 · Post by **blrman07** » Thu. Jan. 01, 2015 6:08 am

I left the ash door open a couple of inches on my VC 2310. Only problem was I didn't remember that I had it open when we left the house to go out to dinner. This was early in the season and I had just installed the 2310 and was getting used to what it would do. I have an MPD on the stove and I was choking the stove down with it in September. We lit off 9-17.

We came home and the living room thermostat was pegged past 85 and all the coal in the stove was blazing. I shut the thermostatic damper down to nothing, closed the MPD completely then decided that was a mistake. I opened it all the way up to vent heat up the chimney and cool the stove down slowly. I opened all the windows and doors to bleed heat from the house. The MPD being 1/2 closed choked the stove down enough that it didn't get to melt down temperature.

How did it happen? I hadn't established a routine for stove tending and made a mistake. Now I have a routine and I do not deviate from it. I don't care if we are late for our own funerals. I WILL NOT be rushed during stove tending and I follow that routine now no matter what.

Snotzalot · Post by **Snotzalot** » Thu. Jan. 01, 2015 9:33 am

blrman07 wrote: I hadn't established a routine for stove tending and made a mistake. Now I have a routine and I do not deviate from it. .

It's either that or a visit from the fuel oil dealer to fill your fuel tank or a visit from the fire department!

CoalHeat · Post by **CoalHeat** » Thu. Jan. 01, 2015 9:52 am

I leave the light on in the room also, Lisa. Since I'm such a miser just seeing a light on in an empty room is enough to remind me.

The timer is a great idea, most cell phones have one now.

Post by **Rob R.** » Thu. Jan. 01, 2015 9:54 am

Wood'nCoal wrote:Yep, best idea is to never leave the stove when that door is open.

Bingo.

CoalHeat · Post by **CoalHeat** » Thu. Jan. 01, 2015 9:55 am

I usually sit there and ponder the growing fire.

hotblast1357 · Post by **hotblast1357** » Thu. Jan. 01, 2015 9:57 am

Yes, at least I didn't do it to both stoves lol

Snotzalot · Post by **Snotzalot** » Thu. Jan. 01, 2015 10:07 am

Wood'nCoal wrote:I usually sit there and ponder the growing fire.

After you shake it down and refill, how long do you wait with the ash door open?

I fill it up, close the fill doors and walk away as I'm done. I just let the coal do it's own thing and soon the whole load is glowing nicely orange.