Chimney fire question.

I had a fire in mine several years ago.
Metal- Bestos stack, was ok.
Clean & inspect
Shine in a good bright light , then
with your digital camera on record , lower
It down
Review the video

A chimney sweep might have a snake camera for an inspection

Betting you caught it in time & it's ok

 

I read that it is important to check for warping, buckling, and ruptures to any seams in the liner. Have it inspected by a qualified chimney sweep. And make sure there are no separations at the junction points of chimney sections.

 

Yikes!! Hope all is well. So is it a liner or a chimney pipe!??

 

Sean, how did you have a chimney fire so early in the season? Especially if you are burning hot and with good seasoned wood? The rushing air sound is definitely a chimney fire.

 

Yea but lower flue temps with less smoke going up it so less to creosote.

 

A little story about flue gas temps... Some years back I ran into the same thing with my gasafication boiler in my out building... The big thing was to not see flue gas temps over 300 degrees or you were wasting heat , not letting the heat exchangers absorb all the heat, so the thing was to slow the draft or the shutter openings on the fans... Well by doing that what finally happened down the road was my chimney cap caught on fire from one of my hot start up fires... Luckily my building had a metal roof and there was snow on the ground.. So after this I said screw it and always like to see at least 400 on the flue gases minimum... I'll sacrifice some heat for a nice clean chimney. My wood was all dry, 18% on average.. Now on my Progress Hybrid I see flue temps of 400-500 and know I'm not going to have chimney issues. Glad you caught it!...

 

Cat stoves need dry wood to burn on medium to low.

Burn the higher moisture wood on high for 30 minutes to an hour before engaging the cat.
This burns (evaporates) most of the moisture out of the wood. It also keeps
the exhaust gasses at a higher temp all the way up the chimney , & it won't condense into creosote.(as much)

Wetter the wood: hotter the fire needs to be to burn,
more frequent cleaning is needed,
burn more wood & get less usable heat
more air pollution

Great thread,
enforces the need to inspect & clean the chimney often,
especially new systems & new burners.
With all the talk about dry wood, it takes some learning to know what "DRY WOOD" is.

Hope this makes everyone go out & inspect their chimney

Shoulder season burns are creosote makers if the wood is marginal.
Low, slow cooler burns, more flue gasses condensate inside the stack.
Many burn their junk wood, less dry stuff, just the opposite of what should be done.

 

I'm surprised you'd have an issue after the bypass was closed. Once the bypass is closed the stack temps stay pretty reasonable, I'm surprised it would get hot enough to light off any crap that may be in the chimney. What number were you burning on when it happened? I'd also expect some burned up "pop corn" type stuff if the chimney lite off, did you see anything like that?

I clean my stack a few times a season, the Princess doesn't burn nearly as clean as my non cat Endeavor did.

 

rdust, glad to see you.
Now, back to our regular programming.

 

Popcorn either burned or there was not a fire just a huge fire running up pipe

 

You burn the stove on 3? That's cranking! I've never had to burn anything hotter than the "o" on normal once the load is burned in no matter the outside temp. If you have to burn it that hot the Princess may be undersized for you. My stove on 3 is a raging inferno I'd never be comfortable leaving it on 3 for anything more than 5-10 minutes on a fresh load. I'd probably try to stay in the "normal" range going forward.

I don't think Todd had a blower on it, did you add one? If not that is a huge help in moving the heat. I usually run my stove around 1 3/4 and use the blower to regulate heat output.

 

Thanks! Finally broke down and signed up. I told my wife I wouldn't sign up on another forum but I couldn't help myself any longer.