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1. Symptoms of Over-Firing
Symptoms of over-firing may include one or more of
the following:
- Chimney connector or appliance glowing.
- Roaring, rumbling noises.
- Loud cracking or banging sounds.
- Metal warping.
- Chimney fire.
2. What To Do if Your Appliance is Over-Firing
- Immediately close the door and air controls to reduce
air supply to the fire.
- If you suspect a chimney fire, call the fire department
and evacuate your house.
- Contact your local chimney professional and have your
appliance and vent pipe inspected for any damage.
- Do not use your appliance until the chimney
professional informs you it is safe to do so.
Hearth & Home Technologies WILL NOT warranty stoves
that exhibit evidence of over-firing. Evidence of over-
firing includes, but is not limited to:
•
Warped air tube
•
Deteriorated refractory brick retainers
•
Deteriorated baffle and other interior components
D. Combustible/Non-combustible Materials
• Combustible Material - Material made of or surfaced
with wood, compressed paper, plant fibers, plastics, or
any material capable of igniting and burning, whether
flame-proofed or not, plastered or non-plastered.
• Non-combustible Material - Material which will not
ignite and burn. Such materials are those consisting
entirely of steel, iron, brick, tile, slate, glass or plasters,
or any combination thereof.
• Non-combustible Sealant Material - Sealants which
will not ignite and burn: Rutland, Inc. Fireplace Mortar
#63, Rutland 76R, Nuflex 304, GE RTV106 or GE
RTB116 (or equivalent).
E. Seasoned Wood
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 efficient fire. 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.
Dead wood lying on the forest floor 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 fire, even though the surface is
dry, it may not be fully cured.
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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.
F. 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
requirements for emissions established by our governing
agencies. These wood appliances must be properly
operated in order to ensure that they perform the way they
are designed to perform.
NOTICE: Improper operation can turn any wood
appliance 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 appliance. The first 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 firewood. The heat generated from
the fire should be warming your home and establishing
the flue draft, not evaporating 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 flammable
gases which burn above the fuel with bright flames.
During this stage of burning it is very important that the
flames be maintained and not allowed to go out. This will
ensure the cleanest possible fire.
7094-803A
04/21
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