Popping noises are making me worry!

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Kebmchugh

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Nov 15, 2014
6
Massachusetts
I have a brand new Quadra-Fire Voyageur Grand. It was installed yesterday by a chimney company that was connected to the dealer. We did a few brief kindling fires which were reccomended by the installer. We then made a slightly larger Fire - 1 regular piece of wood at a time (3 total) - 1 of which was all smoke and no fire :) The wood is kiln dried. As we were about to go to bed with a roaring fire I started to hear popping noises that started to come regularly. We have ZERO experiance with a wood stove and now I am paranoid and sitting at the stove unwilling to go to bed. Is the popping normal? What isn't normal that we should watch out for? We don't have a thermometer yet as none of the hardware stores seem to sell one appropriate for a wood burning stove. Help!
 
As a stove heats up it is not uncommon for a stove to make some pings due to the metals expanding. What we can't tell is what exactly you are hearing and what temperature the stove is running at. Has the air control been turned down?
 
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If you are burning pine or spruce, you'll get popping and snapping noises from the pitch. It does happen on hardwood but much less often. Wood stoves do make all kinds of noises and you actually get used to hearing them and you can tell what is happening with your stove by the sounds it makes.
 
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begreen said:
As a stove heats up it is not uncommon for a stove to make some pings due to the metals expanding. What we can't tell is what exactly you are hearing and what temperature the stove is running at. Has the air control been turned down?
Click to expand...
It is a popping noise - not loud (sounds a little like one piece of popcorn - and comes every 1-3 minutes) The air control was on high but when I heard the noise I realised that was a mistake. The flame is gone now and so is most of the popping! Previous to this the air blowing out I would describe as luke warm - so maybe it is the first time it got actually hot? I have not had more then 2 pieces of wood in though the coals are obviously very hot. Thank you for your late night reply!
 
It's called oil canning. When you heat metal it expands , putting stress on the areas that aren't as hot. The joints pop and ping, it's worse with thinner metal that's spot welded vs heavy metal that's seam welded. No matter what the construction is all steel appliances oil can.
 
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You'll learn to tell that your stove is either heating up or cooling down...

If it's cruising along at a reasonable temp and you start hearing that ticking and creaking then look over to see an inferno, you'll know she's on her way to getting too hot. Or if you see a dark window you'll know it's time for some more wood...

Ian
 
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Yes, you are most likely fine and just hearing normal sounds. But get a thermometer and don't wait so long to turn the stove down if it is running hot. You can also keep the fan running to keep the stove running a bit cooler. For tonight it sounds like the excitement is over. Get a good rest and for now experiment more in the daytime so that you can learn how to run the stove while observing how it works.
 
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MountainStoveGuy said:
It's called oil canning. When you heat metal it expands , putting stress on the areas that aren't as hot. The joints pop and ping, it's worse with thinner metal that's spot welded vs heavy metal that's seam welded. No matter what the construction is all steel appliances oil can.
Click to expand...
Thank you! Now I can go to bed with less fear of burning the house down!
 
Thank you to everyone! I just bought a thermometer off of Amazon and can't wait to learn more about what to do through the forum!
 
I would guess it's the wood making the noise, rather than the stove itself. The heat on the stove will definitely have the stove making sounds, but I would describe them as pings, rather than popping. What kind of wood are you burning?
 
Mine starts pinging around 500 degrees to remind me to check the stove and turn it down.
 
Yup, popcorn every few minutes sounds exactly like wood that is probably not as dry as you think.
 
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