Just had a chimney fire with my BK King!
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The last split I tossed in my stove Im thinking had some moisture in it, or I let the coals die too much beforehand. Anyway, I went to sleep and it gunked up my glass and the secondaries are brown. Could it be that he just had a flare up in the top of the stove because of similar conditions and not actually in the chimney itself? The flames may have traveled into the connector but didnt originate there.
He clearly said he saw a ring of fire go up inside the chimney. That is a chimmey fire. And even if the flames are from the stove if they are more than 18" into the connector it is technically a chimney fire.
Are those chimnex chimney fire stopper sticks worth a damn? 2 of them came with my house when I got it.
Like i said they can work it all depends on the severity. I have had customers that used one and it put the fire out and i know of one who used 4 and it didnt stop the fire.
Because he had creosote in his chimney that got ignited by a spark or flames going through the open bypass
The Explorer has a different burn technology and less likely to gunk up the chimney because the flue gases will be a bit hotter. Regardless, the best way to avoid creosote buildup is common. Burn only dry wood and don't let the fire smolder.
If you want more peace of mind, add a thermometer to the flue. That's the best guidance to flue gas temps. Note that there are different types of thermometers for single wall vs double wall stove pipe.
If you want more peace of mind, add a thermometer to the flue. That's the best guidance to flue gas temps. Note that there are different types of thermometers for single wall vs double wall stove pipe.
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lsucet
Minister of Fire
Things happen. A good burning practice and good fuel can avoid a lot of this but still. At some point anyone can go thru this. Is like saying that a chef never gets burn. LOL. With my setup and type of stoves I like to light the fire right at front and on top. Always try to reload with planty of coals and active cat to avoid as much i can run with bypass open. But things happen like mentioned before.
MissMac
Minister of Fire
Reading this thread has me determined to do a mid-season sweeping if only for piece of mind. Being new to wood burning, this might seem like a dumb question but is there a trick to sweeping the chimney? I've got a flexible rod that fits through my 2 x 45 degree offsets, but what is the actual method? Is it possible to somehow eff up the flue during this process? Open the bypass, run the brush up and down the full length of the chimney half dozen times, and sweep up the stuff that falls out, paying attention to ensure they bypass gasket is clean afterwards? Any words of advice or caution you all can provide is most appreciated!
Chas0218
Minister of Fire
I will say here in the NE my colleague (a fire fighter) and I spoke about being the year for chimney fires because the wood will be much more wet from the wet year we have had.
Not uncommon at all really. We just had a few warm days where people shut back really hard and today it was cold and windy. They opened up their stoves and lit off the chimney. We see it every year.
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