Wood Stove Question??????

[VW Splitter]

This morning i was sitting in the recliner reading. The Elglander wood stove was choked down, had been for a couple of hours. The wife went out to get the paper. When she came back in, just after the door closed, there was a small explosion inside the wood stove. It made a loud whoof noise and a buncha smoke came out from every crack and seam around the stove and stove pipe. The house smelled like smoke of course. The wife and door thing may have been a coincidence, because I have woke up during the night before smelling smoke real strong, and got up to check the stove, and not found anything wrong with it. What in the world would cause such a explosion? :msp_scared:

 

[Da83moon]

I would say it was caused by the change in pressure. The house is sealed so tightly that when the door closed the pressure was greater.

 

[unclemoustache]

Same thing happened to me.

http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/213758.htm

 

[loadthestove]

Was the wind blowing??I have experienced the same thing with my freestanding stove.If the wind gets to blowing in the right direction mine will quit drawing for a few seconds filling the stove with smoke and smother the flames, then it will"WOOF" and relight .It's not a common occurance (its only happened a couple of times )on a very windy day a few years back.

 

[VW Splitter]

Was the wind blowing??I have experienced the same thing with my freestanding stove.If the wind gets to blowing in the right direction mine will quit drawing for a few seconds filling the stove with smoke and smother the flames, then it will"WOOF" and relight .It's not a common occurance (its only happened a couple of times )on a very windy day a few years back.

No, the wind was not blowing.

 

[Encore]

Back puffing. Don't choke the stove down so much. It happens when the exhaust gasses build up and combust all at once.

 

[Mac88]

Back puffing. Don't choke the stove down so much. It happens when the exhaust gasses build up and combust all at once.

We get that when we're burning silver maple. Gotta give it more air. Problem solved.

 

[4seasons]

The key to these occurrences are the stove being "choked back" too much. The fire starts smoldering and the flue temp drops. Then the draft stops and sometimes if the weather is just right the draft will actually reverse and smoke will be pushed out into the house. In the "WHOOF" cases I think the smoke in the stove can't escape up the chimney and starts getting hot in the fire box. The left over combustibles then get ignited and you have a small explosion in the stove. In this case the door slamming shut cause just enough pressure change to light off the explosion.

P.S. I am not a scientist nor have I done extensive research on these "WHOOF" experiences. I have just experienced it myself a few times and in different houses with different stoves and furnaces. I am sure there are people with more knowledge and can explain the process better than my simple logical deductions based on experience.

 

[VW Splitter]

Back puffing. Don't choke the stove down so much. It happens when the exhaust gasses build up and combust all at once.

Back puffing. Can it do that on a smaller scale? I have seen it do that before, just a small puff of smoke. I have seen it do a small puff repeatedly, every 10 or 15 min. and that is what I did to make it quit, was to open the draft a little.

 

[Mac88]

We have a glass door on our VC. You can actually see it happen. Nice low fire, maybe just coals, then it will flash over. Not a major event in our case, but it wakes the Mrs if it does it in the middle of the night.

 

[peterupnorth]

First time we had it happen here it sure got our attention. Also a common occurrence in combo wood/oil furnaces where the air control is thermostatically controlled. It actually blew the stovepipe right off the furnace!!!
It is a buildup of gases when the stove is starved for air. Apparently carbon monoxide is volatile in that situation. Glowing coals will not set it off however the first little gasp of air that causes even the smallest flame will ignite and cause the "explosion". Certain types of wood are more susceptible to this, such as poplar. The trick is to give the stove more air, and/or mix in a wood that flames a lot; i.e. when we burn poplar or birch we throw in a piece of spruce.