Wood stove ignition

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So this morning I lit a fire in my woodstove And when it got going pretty good, I turn the draft down and went to take care of some business. I Heard a poof through the door, and heard my dog running by. Then I heard it again. So I left my business unattended for a moment to check on the stove and as I walked in I saw a stove with no fire in it. Then all the smoke ignited at once. I have never seen that happen in my stove but knew what it was, I had actually thought about it before I walked away from the stove, But I had some pretty urgent business to take care of. I’m sure a lot of you know what I’m talking about, when the draft is too low and the fire
Goes out and smoke fills the wood box. Then it all ignites at once, it can be a very dangerous thing. Next time I think I’ll take care of my business before I start a fire, but regardless don’t do what I did. Stay safe this burn season y’all.
 
I've never had it happen on its own, but I've had similar happen once or twice when reload my furnace, and then need to go do something before it's fully caught and drafting well. When I come back and crack open the door to continue letting it catch/build draft, it "sneezes", lighting the smoke all at once with the added oxygen.

I'm glad there's a safety catch on the door latch for that exact situation! The fire flares out several inches in an instant and scares the crap out of me, letting me know that I screwed up. :dumb2:
 
I've always thought that long term wood stove burners are usually good with fire science. Every fire scenario that occurs in a structure can be duplicated in your very own wood stove.
 
I sat with the fire for about 10 minutes after I got it started. I honestly thought everything was adjusted right. After I heard the first couple of wild poofs through the bathroom door I figured that was happening so I came running out to check on it. I’m glad nothing is damaged.
Stoves are strong and I wouldn't worry about damage from something like that. Sometimes 10 minutes isn't enough with a cold stove. Depends on how big your chunks are, how dry, damper settings, etc.

I had something scary happen to my stove last year. I have been burning this stove for close to 40 years and I think it was a first. I was in the basement working and heard a high pressure whooshing sound. I looked over at the stove and there was a stream of dense smoke shooting out of it. It's a 2-door Timberline with two screw vents and the smoke was only shooting out of the left vent only, nothing out of the right. I was a bit apprehensive about opening the door but it turned out to be a small 2" round sitting right in front of the left vent shooting dense smoke out of the end like crazy. The stove had a hot bed of coals and I had just loaded it not long ago. The little round was sitting right on top of the hot bed. I guess something on the inside got heated and wanted out before the outside had burned away.

This is some amazing wood, super hard and burns hot and long. I remember cutting it down at least 10 years ago when I was thinning my woods out. I believe it was a wild fruit tree, maybe Bradford Pear. Way different tree than the domestic.
 
That is referred to as a delayed ignition. Most often this happens when the air to fuel ratio is skewed to the rich side. In a wood stove with a catalytic combustor, gases can pool waiting for the combustor to catch up. Most often it is an aged combustor 5+ year with exceptionally dry fuel. If the stoves uses secondary combustion (non catalytic) it can happen as well.

To avoid these episodes, don't allow a wood stove to get really hot and the cut back on the air. Keep in mind our test methods use 18-24% mc fuel and stoves are tuned for that range.

If your stove has a catalytic combustor, consider cleaning it or replacing it. If your stove has baffle or tubes, clean out all the air holes according.

Delayed ignition are alarming and can contribute to poor indoor air quality. You can also contact the manufacturer and share your video. Be prepared, they will want to know m.c. of fuel and how you use it to test the fuel.
 
That is referred to as a delayed ignition. Most often this happens when the air to fuel ratio is skewed to the rich side. In a wood stove with a catalytic combustor, gases can pool waiting for the combustor to catch up. Most often it is an aged combustor 5+ year with exceptionally dry fuel. If the stoves uses secondary combustion (non catalytic) it can happen as well.

To avoid these episodes, don't allow a wood stove to get really hot and the cut back on the air. Keep in mind our test methods use 18-24% mc fuel and stoves are tuned for that range.

If your stove has a catalytic combustor, consider cleaning it or replacing it. If your stove has baffle or tubes, clean out all the air holes according.

Delayed ignition are alarming and can contribute to poor indoor air quality. You can also contact the manufacturer and share your video. Be prepared, they will want to know m.c. of fuel and how you use it to test the fuel.
Yeah, I used really dry wood, Kilndried scraps of oak flooring typically 10%, To get my stove up to temperature before I start putting in cordwood. They definitely burn hot. I had some, uh, umm, pressing business to attend to. When I Thought I had the draft set right I left the stove, but it was too low. It wasn’t a manufacturing fault and if I call them up and talk to them about it they would probably laugh. I know I probably would!
 
So this morning I lit a fire in my woodstove And when it got going pretty good, I turn the draft down and went to take care of some business. I Heard a poof through the door, and heard my dog running by. Then I heard it again. So I left my business unattended for a moment to check on the stove and as I walked in I saw a stove with no fire in it. Then all the smoke ignited at once. I have never seen that happen in my stove but knew what it was, I had actually thought about it before I walked away from the stove, But I had some pretty urgent business to take care of. I’m sure a lot of you know what I’m talking about, when the draft is too low and the fire
Goes out and smoke fills the wood box. Then it all ignites at once, it can be a very dangerous thing. Next time I think I’ll take care of my business before I start a fire, but regardless don’t do what I did. Stay safe this burn season y’all.
Its probably just atmospheric conditions. I keep a barometer on the wall next to the stove. There is a sweet spot where i know i need run it much harder and my wifes going to complain about the puffs. But it could always be trash falling off the insides of the chimney. Could be the damper has dust collecting on it. It could be the pipe isnt getting hot enough for the weather.

A stove shop showed me on my stove , that has 2 doors. Just close them enough so the door meets but is gapped open. Let the stove really breathe, when your lighting it.

Warm damp weather or howling winds shifting can cause my stove to throw fits. Change wood varieties to smaller splits or open the pipe damper and clean it all out, as soon as the weather breaks. Ive burned wood all my life,43 years around stoves, 20 at my place. You always learn something new. Burning 3 varieties of wood helps also
 
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