Section 8: Operating Instructions; Over-Firing Your Appliance; Wood Selection & Storage; Burning Process - Quadra-Fire 31M-ACC-MBK Owner's Manual

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8
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 stove and chimney.
To prevent over-fi ring your stove, 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 Stove 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
stove and stove pipe inspected for any damage.
• Do not use your stove until the chimney professional
informs you it is safe to do so.
Hearth & Home Technologies WILL NOT warranty stoves
that exhibit evidence of over-fi ring. Evidence of over-fi ring
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
July 7, 2011
B. Wood Selection & Storage (Cont'd)
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.
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 ply-
wood, 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 woodstoves that surpass the requirements
for emissions established by our governing agencies. These
woodstoves, like any other appliances, must be properly
operated in order to insure that they perform the way they are
designed to perform. Improper operation can turn most any
wood stove into a smoldering environmental hazard.
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 a stove. 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 evaporating the moisture out of wet, unseasoned
wood, resulting in wasted heat.
7033-277I
3100 Wood Stove Series (ACC)
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