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Explorer I
2
Operating Instructions
A. Over-Firing Your Appliance
WARNING
Fire Risk
Do not over-fi re.
Over-fi ring may ignite creosote or will damage the
appliance and chimney.
To prevent over-fi ring your appliance, DO NOT:
• Use fl ammable liquids
• Overload with wood
• Burn trash or large amounts of scrap lumber
•
Permit too much air to the fi re
1. Symptoms of Over-Firing
Symptoms of over-fi ring may include one or more of the
following:
• Chimney connector or appliance glowing
• Roaring, rumbling noises
• Loud cracking or banging sounds
• Metal warping
• Chimney fi re
2. What To Do if Your Appliance is Over-Firing
• Immediately close the door and air controls to reduce
air supply to the fi re.
• If you suspect a chimney fi re, call the fi re department
and evacuate your house.
• Contact your local chimney professional and have your
appliance and appliance pipe inspected for any dam-
age.
• Do not use your appliance until the chimney profes-
sional informs you it is safe to do so.
Hearth & Home Technologies WILL NOT warranty applianc-
es that exhibit evidence of over-fi ring. Evidence of over-fi r-
ing includes, but is not limited to:
• Warped air tube
• Deteriorated refractory brick retainers
• Deteriorated baffl e and other interior components
B. Wood Selection & Storage
Burn only dry seasoned wood. Store wood under cover, out
of the rain and snow. Dry and well-seasoned wood will not
only minimize the chance of creosote formation, but will give
you the most effi cient fi re. Even dry wood contains at least
15% moisture by weight, and should be burned hot enough
to keep the chimney hot for as long as it takes to dry the
wood out - about one hour. It is a waste of energy to burn
unseasoned wood of any kind.
8
User Guide
Dead wood lying on the forest fl oor should be considered wet,
and requires full seasoning time. Standing dead wood can
be considered to be about 2/3 seasoned. To tell if wood is
dry enough to burn, check the ends of the logs. If there are
cracks radiating in all directions from the center, it is dry. If
your wood sizzles in the fi re, even though the surface is dry,
it may not be fully cured.
Splitting wood before it is stored reduces drying time. Wood
should be stacked so that both ends of each piece are
exposed to air, since more drying occurs through the cut ends
than the sides. This is true even with wood that has been
split. Store wood under cover, such as in a shed, or covered
with a tarp, plastic, tar paper, sheets of scrap plywood, etc.,
as uncovered wood can absorb water from rain or snow,
delaying the seasoning process.
C. Burning Process
In recent years there has been an increasing concern about
air quality. Much of the blame for poor air quality has been
placed on the burning of wood for home heating. In order to
improve the situation, we at Quadra-Fire have developed
cleaner-burning wood appliances that surpass the require-
ments for emissions established by our governing agencies.
These wood appliances, like any other appliances, must be
properly operated in order to insure that they perform the way
they are designed to perform.
1. Kindling or First Stage
It helps to know a little about the actual process of burning in
order to understand what goes on inside an appliance. The
fi rst stage of burning is called the kindling stage. In this stage,
the wood is heated to a temperature high enough to evaporate
the moisture which is present in all wood. The wood will reach
the boiling point of water (212°F) and will not get any hotter
until the water is evaporated. This process takes heat from
the coals and tends to cool the appliance.
Fire requires three things to burn - fuel, air and heat. So, if
heat is robbed from the appliance during the drying stage, the
new load of wood has reduced the chances for a good clean
burn. For this reason, it is always best to burn dry, seasoned
fi rewood. When the wood isn't dry, you must open the air
controls and burn at a high burn setting for a longer time to
start it burning. The heat generated from the fi re should be
warming your home and establishing the fl ue draft, not evap-
orating the moisture out of wet, unseasoned wood, resulting
in wasted heat.
2. Second Stage
The next stage of burning, the secondary stage, is the period
when the wood gives off fl ammable gases which burn above
the fuel with bright fl ames. During this stage of burning it is
very important that the fl ames be maintained and not allowed
to go out. This will ensure the cleanest possible fi re. If the
7062-196B
February 25, 2016
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