fireball out the door

[Dave Shepard]

The Classic has no fans. It is an extraordinarily simple machine. It has a solenoid on the draft door and an aquastat to open and close the draft door. That's it.

I've never had a continuous burn like that before. When the draft door has been open for a long time, the contents of the boiler are fully involved, so when you open the big door and give it that much more heat, it really takes off and the chimney can't take the amount of smoke that is being produced. Anyone that I've talked to with a Classic knows to not open the door when it's at the high end of a cycle.                                       

[r.man]

If an OWB doesn't have a bunch of black crap above the door it is either new or the owner washes it.

[boilerman101]

I've burned both the Classic model and now Eclassic model combined for over 15 years. Many of you have burned for a number of years as well and should know the answer to these issues as well. This isn't rocket science guys. When you open the door when it is in the higher temp range of a burn cycle you will get some flames rolling out the loading door. These are big fire boxes and the chimney can't possibly draw hard enough to keep that from happening, flame with draw to oxygen. Solution: Get loading wood in a wheel barrow close, open door, stand back, load quickly and get the door closed. Or don't load at that time of a burn cycle and load when firebox is in rest cycle. Regarding back flashes: Again, as already addressed the chance of this occurrence is much higher just after water temp has reached set point and damper just closed. There will be a buildup of smoke and gases in the firebox at that time, so throw some air/oxygen at the mixture and you will get an ignition flash as door is cracked open. Solution: Anytime you open that door, always stand back and to the hinge side of the door front and open with opposite hand, crack it open 2 -4 inches first for 5-10 seconds which often helps cause a better chimney draw, then step back and open door fully. If you get a woof back when cracking the door, no harm done and it's kind of cool. You will be out of any possible harms way. Stand on the opening side of the door handle when opening door and your asking for trouble. Most owners manuals make a statement about "not" doing this and common sense should also tell you it is not a good idea either. Or don't load when a burn cycle has just been completed and wait another 10-15 minutes. In 15 years of burning I've never lost a hair while opening the door. Yes I've had some flashbacks occur, but no big deal when you follow this everyday door opening habit. Sorry, don't mean to scold and maybe somebody will learn something from this post, but posting videos and hollering about how dangerous loading their furnace is when no common sense is being used is kind of ridiculous. The post: "That'll draw some attention from the safety guru's out to squelch OWB's." is probably pretty accurate. We are all OWF burners here, enjoy the right to burn and the heating bill savings. Why do you want to give the anti's anymore ridiculous ammunition? Use this door opening advice, follow manufacturer's owners manual instructions, some common sense and this should not even be an issue.