Operating Instructions; Over-Firing Your Appliance; Wood Selection & Storage; Burning Process - Quadra-Fire EXPLRMED-MBK Owner's Manual

Explorer II Medium Wood Stove
2

Operating Instructions

A. Over-Firing Your Appliance
WARNING
Fire Risk
Do not over-fire.
Over-firing may ignite creosote or will damage the
stove and chimney.
To prevent over-firing your stove, DO NOT:
• Use flammable liquids
• Overload with wood
• Burn trash or large amounts of scrap lumber
• Permit too much air to the fire
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 Stove 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
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-firing. Evidence of over-firing
includes, but is not limited to:
• Warped air tube
• Deteriorated refractory brick retainers
• Deteriorated baffle 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 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.
8
User Guide
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.
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 stoves that surpass the requirements
for emissions established by our governing agencies. These
wood stoves, 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 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. 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 fire should be
warming your home and establishing the flue 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 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
7061-196B March 20, 2014