Hopper fire questions

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lcl7wrkr

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Mar 3, 2015
4
Maine
Had a hopper fire this morning in my Canadian Comfort Ind. pellet stove...the hopper door was closed and it was basically a smoldering mess with an extremely large quantity of smoke. Video here:


The stove had just been cleaned yesterday afternoon and the vents cleaned last week...had just bought 2 bags of pellets from Tractor Supply Co. yesterday and filled the hopper with one of these after yesterdays cleaning...but had previously been using Okanagan Platinum pellets with no problems. The TSC pellets were very dark although I've burned TSC pellets off and on this winter as well. I'm posting a picture of a comparison of the Tractor Supply (left) and Okanagan pellets (right). The burn pot was completely chock full of ash (second photo). I literally had cleaned this stove out less than 24 hours previous.
So my question is, how did this happen? The TSC pellets were stored outside and I'm guessing were possibly damp? The TSC pellets in the photo are pretty dark and were taken from the unopened bag I have left over...although the pellets which didn't burn in the hopper were lighter, maybe the heat from the fire dried them out. But it looks as if they didn't burn so hot and clogged the chute with pellets which smoldered all night down the auger.
Is this a correct diagnosis of the problem? Or could there have been other factors? I am trying to decide what to do about the stove as it did have water poured in it to put the fire out. If it is still working I am not sure I even want to use it, truthfully.
 

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Never heard of a Canadian Comfort Stove, liquor yes. Putting water down the stove throat so to speak can warp things pretty badly and the fire probably didn't do the hopper sheet metal any good either. :( I would probably be having a curb alert.
 
Pelpro, etc.. Danson, HHT now Bioburner,

Did you by any chance hit the damper? Such as closing it down can lead to burn pot pile up as can other things such as not getting the stove's internal exhaust passage ways and the combustion blower and the cavity it sits in clean. Also a failed or failing gasket or door latch.
 
I am no expert but I had an incident that could of been like yours. I am having combustion issues,so what ends up happening is my pellets back up in burn pot and pile up and up to hopper chute,I am still battling my issue waiting for gaskets to arrive.Is your stove burning well...ie torch like or lazy flame? I have never heard of anyone having a hopper fire,maybe it happens...So my help is of combustion and burn quality.
 
Looking at the pictures it looks like a air issue(darker colored ash and stove interior). How old of stove? Poor or failing door gaskets?
 
Definitely did not hit the damper but the door gasket might be a good clue, thanks...going to take a close look at that. Is there a good test for the gasket (i.e. shut the door on a dollar bill and see if it can be pulled out etc.) or just by sight? It's been burning okay up until this batch of pellets, although I've often complained about the lack of heat from it ("glorified hair dryer" has been a term used a lot lately). I didn't put like a whole bucket of water in the hopper--just enough to put out the embers and the unburned pellets soaked up any excess very quickly. I'm not seeing any discoloration of the hopper sheet metal other than black scortch but there surely could be damage I don't see. I have the stove running on empty and the auger turns fine and doesn't seem to be binding on any warped metal. No idea the age of the stove and no model number readily discernible. The door glass has a lot of black soot on it too...I noticed that as well. From my engine tuning experience that would indicate a rich fuel condition, but I don't know jack about pellet stoves. This is my first go-around with one in a house I just bought. Not impressed.
The pellets did back up in the burn pot and the chute I think, and when the fire went out it just smoldered up to the auger and the down the tube to the bottom of the hopper. There were a ton of hard deposits in the burn pot when I cleaned it today.
 
Clogged venting - failing CA blower - Something is amiss.
 
Good thing you were home when that bad boy lit up, brother !! Did you have any smoke and / or CO alarm protection to help alert you that, "Houston, we have a problem.....?"

What looks like a full brick hearth surround in your video might have contained it for a bit, but it looks like the whole hopper of pellets would have eventually lit up.

Glad everybody was OK. Scary stuff.
 
Bioburner said:
Never heard of a Canadian Comfort Stove, liquor yes. Putting water down the stove throat so to speak can warp things pretty badly and the fire probably didn't do the hopper sheet metal any good either. :( I would probably be having a curb alert.
Click to expand...

How about Canadian Club and Southern Comfort.....lol
 
Improper air flow, not going through the burn pot as it should but sneaking around the door gaskets can suck the cooler room air thru the stove and not the hotter air of the burn pot.
Yes try the dollar bill test on the doors or a flame from a long nosed bbq lighter works for some and see where the flame draws in around the doors.
 
lcl7wrkr said:
Definitely did not hit the damper but the door gasket might be a good clue, thanks...going to take a close look at that. Is there a good test for the gasket (i.e. shut the door on a dollar bill and see if it can be pulled out etc.) or just by sight? It's been burning okay up until this batch of pellets, although I've often complained about the lack of heat from it ("glorified hair dryer" has been a term used a lot lately). I didn't put like a whole bucket of water in the hopper--just enough to put out the embers and the unburned pellets soaked up any excess very quickly. I'm not seeing any discoloration of the hopper sheet metal other than black scortch but there surely could be damage I don't see. I have the stove running on empty and the auger turns fine and doesn't seem to be binding on any warped metal. No idea the age of the stove and no model number readily discernible. The door glass has a lot of black soot on it too...I noticed that as well. From my engine tuning experience that would indicate a rich fuel condition, but I don't know jack about pellet stoves. This is my first go-around with one in a house I just bought. Not impressed.
The pellets did back up in the burn pot and the chute I think, and when the fire went out it just smoldered up to the auger and the down the tube to the bottom of the hopper. There were a ton of hard deposits in the burn pot when I cleaned it today.
Click to expand...


The dollar bill test all along the gasket. it should present resistance.
 
DMKNLD said:
What looks like a full brick hearth surround in your video might have contained it for a bit, but it looks like the whole hopper of pellets would have eventually lit up.
Click to expand...

Besides that, it stinks the house up.
 
Vents were fine, checked 'em just now...the whole shebang was cleaned last week and the stove itself was cleaned yesterday. Yeah I have a CO detector within 10 feet of the door to the room where the pellet stove is and smoke detectors throughout the house. The stove was actually running all night as it has been for the last 2 weeks, so I don't know when the failing started. Everything was kosher late last night.
Did the dollar bill test...barely any resistance on the door gasket!
 
If the hopper lid is kept shut and no one tried short changing any of the clearances during the install the normal issue is the smoke and such, not flame. There have been others on here this season.

One of which is up and running after correcting some items and having everything multiply checked and inspected. One the owner decided to remove the stove. There were others I've lost track of.

If you decide to put that stove back in service I strongly recommend that a trained technician for that stove go over it in detail before you turn it on both to check the stove for damage and to verify everything is installed correctly.
 
I'm still on the fence between putting the stove back in service and taking it for a long walk off of a short pier. Better this happened towards the end of the season I suppose. I did see a post on this site regarding somebody purchasing a door seal from CCI and finding that it was too short so I'll do my homework on that as well. I have oil heat and a wood fireplace in this house so I might just run on oil until springtime and then look at wood stoves during the summer...already buy wood anyhow to burn in the fireplace.
But if I do decide to fire it back up I'll replace the door seal and have it inspected first. Many thanks for the replies all. Does this happen often with the hopper fires? I mean I have no prior experience with pellet stoves. My confidence in them is shaken to say the least!
 
i had an almost hopper fire when my bottom auger quit. fire was allowed to travel up the auger path. It never made it up to the hopper. Of course i have a different stove than you do, but i would think that except for the smoke, the hopper fire shouldnt be a huge deal if the hopper lid gasket is nice and tight. Fire cant take off without enough air. So i would think on a tightly sealed hopper, you would get a very long term smolder, with a lot of smoke but not a raging hopper fire.
again im not familiar with your particular stove but i would check all the gaskets, clean it real good (now that its had that hopper fire) make sure the augers all work and the combustion blower works and that there are no problems with the metal from the fire. Then i'd fire it up on a day when i was home anyway and see how it goes. make your judgement based on that.
the blow torch flames you see in the firepot are a result of the combustion air passing quickly through them. when you open the door, the flame changes to a very small lazy flame. The pellets really dont burn very well on their own, the rushing air is the secret.
 
REALLY surprised your CO detector didn't alarm..... That right there (in the video) would be the ideal conditions for emitting CO gasses....

I can put a few large smoldering pieces of wood charcoal underneath my woodstove, in the ash pan, and within 10 minutes, my CO detectors go off at 40-50ppm's.....
 
As other posters have mentioned, pouring water down the hopper could cause all sorts of problems.

My question is, do you have a fire extinguisher in the same room you have your stove in? I have 1 in a corner near mine, 1 on the opposite end of the room, and 1 upstairs. Trying the fire extinguisher would have been my first reaction.
 
samfatboy said:
Trying the fire extinguisher would have been my first reaction
Click to expand...
People have different reactions to fire. The picture was not a blazing wall scorcher. I probably would have been scooping it out into a metal bucket and using enough water to cool things, but I still get paid to make and fight fire.
 
lcl7wrkr said:
I'm still on the fence between putting the stove back in service and taking it for a long walk off of a short pier. Better this happened towards the end of the season I suppose. I did see a post on this site regarding somebody purchasing a door seal from CCI and finding that it was too short so I'll do my homework on that as well. I have oil heat and a wood fireplace in this house so I might just run on oil until springtime and then look at wood stoves during the summer...already buy wood anyhow to burn in the fireplace.
But if I do decide to fire it back up I'll replace the door seal and have it inspected first. Many thanks for the replies all. Does this happen often with the hopper fires? I mean I have no prior experience with pellet stoves. My confidence in them is shaken to say the least!
Click to expand...
I'm no expert but will say that a hopper fire is not common.also me myself with my previous lemon stove had a few chimney fires.the final one was at 2 am house full of smoke on a single digit night.after that I saved sold the used lemon stove and got one I love.if you have something that can put your family or home in danger I would junk it.good luck
 
I wouldn't open the door of the hopper since you will be supplying the fire more of what it needs which is oxygen. Looking at the beginning of the video, it doesn't look like an airtight seal around the door.
 
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