Had some excitement last night, I guess I'll tell the story, then ask my questions at the end. First some specs: VC Encore 2550 Cat EPA stove. 6" flue 18" horizontal section into 90 deg elbow directly into interior 6" 2100HT Supervent, 30' tall. New stove, and new chimney install this season.
Here's What happened.....
When we left for the evening, I didn't have quite the fire going that I wanted to, as I had left the coal bed get a bit too small before I loaded the stove. I loaded it with 4 decent sized splits, and I looked like it caught off before I engaged the cat and shut the primary air down the whole way. I was a bit concerned that it might just end up smoldering and going out.
When we arrived 3 hours later, I saw from the other side of the room that it appeared that the stove in fact did go out. I asked my wife to open up the cat, and open the primary air to see if it might get going. I went back outside to shovel some snow.
8-10 minutes later I hear my frantic wife yelling fire from the front door! Upon running inside, see flame or glowing from the stovepipe directly behind the stove and the firebox is a fully engulfed inferno. (My good wife had shut the damper before yelling fire) I grabbed by ABC dry chem fire extinguisher, opened the front doors, and hosed the firebox and directly into the flue. (the encore allows direct access to the flue with the bypass open) It appeared that the fire was out, but there was still quite a bit of heat from the firebox.
I engaged the cat again and now have the primary air closed, but with the wood still hot and wanting to flare up, I decided to empty the firebox to get rid of the heat.
I got the wheelbarrow into the house, unloaded the wood from the stove, and got that outside under some snow.
I never did see any flames outside, but I wasn't able to see it when I ran in. I still have access to the chaise where the chimney is installed (I need to do some drywall patching) so I was able to feel the outside wall of the 2100HT double-walled insulated. It was barely warm to the touch, so I wasn't concerned that any damage happened. I think we caught it within 5 minutes of it lighting.
After my nerves calmed down, I was able to go to bed with the thermostat set for natural gas to come on in the AM :-(
Here are my Questions:
1. Why? I inspected the chimney 3 weeks ago, barely a fuzz on the inside. Did it have something to do with the smoldering fire that night? I finally have been able to burn consistently overnight after plugging the EPA holes. Is this causing too much creosote? I think my wood quality is great, some of my splits are too old, some are too green, but most have been burning awesome!
2. How to get back and running again? Did I ruin my cat with the Dry Chem? I'm going to inspect my chimney and stove closely today to look for cracks.
Sorry for the long post.... Stay safe!
Here's What happened.....
When we left for the evening, I didn't have quite the fire going that I wanted to, as I had left the coal bed get a bit too small before I loaded the stove. I loaded it with 4 decent sized splits, and I looked like it caught off before I engaged the cat and shut the primary air down the whole way. I was a bit concerned that it might just end up smoldering and going out.
When we arrived 3 hours later, I saw from the other side of the room that it appeared that the stove in fact did go out. I asked my wife to open up the cat, and open the primary air to see if it might get going. I went back outside to shovel some snow.
8-10 minutes later I hear my frantic wife yelling fire from the front door! Upon running inside, see flame or glowing from the stovepipe directly behind the stove and the firebox is a fully engulfed inferno. (My good wife had shut the damper before yelling fire) I grabbed by ABC dry chem fire extinguisher, opened the front doors, and hosed the firebox and directly into the flue. (the encore allows direct access to the flue with the bypass open) It appeared that the fire was out, but there was still quite a bit of heat from the firebox.
I engaged the cat again and now have the primary air closed, but with the wood still hot and wanting to flare up, I decided to empty the firebox to get rid of the heat.
I got the wheelbarrow into the house, unloaded the wood from the stove, and got that outside under some snow.
I never did see any flames outside, but I wasn't able to see it when I ran in. I still have access to the chaise where the chimney is installed (I need to do some drywall patching) so I was able to feel the outside wall of the 2100HT double-walled insulated. It was barely warm to the touch, so I wasn't concerned that any damage happened. I think we caught it within 5 minutes of it lighting.
After my nerves calmed down, I was able to go to bed with the thermostat set for natural gas to come on in the AM :-(
Here are my Questions:
1. Why? I inspected the chimney 3 weeks ago, barely a fuzz on the inside. Did it have something to do with the smoldering fire that night? I finally have been able to burn consistently overnight after plugging the EPA holes. Is this causing too much creosote? I think my wood quality is great, some of my splits are too old, some are too green, but most have been burning awesome!
2. How to get back and running again? Did I ruin my cat with the Dry Chem? I'm going to inspect my chimney and stove closely today to look for cracks.
Sorry for the long post.... Stay safe!
