Backpuffing - HELP!

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janjan14

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Jan 15, 2014
11
Quebec
So I've read the article (broken link removed) in length when the backpuffing started a few days ago. It was actually during the night. Always fun to wake up to the smell of smoke and thinking your house is on fire or your family is going to asphyxiate on CO. Went downstairs and there was no flame in the wood stove, then all of a sudden there was a huge POOF and pop of flame and puffs of smoke coming out of the pipes where ever it could. This is not the first time it has happened, and I can't seem to figure out what the problem is.

Chimney and pipes were cleaned back in the fall, then again yesterday (in case that was the problem), but now it has done it again this morning. Yes, it's a newer house, so we have the window next to the stove cracked about an inch to allow for fresh air into the room. Damper is usually open about 10% and the rear air intake usually cracked a bit too. Any help on what is causing the backpuffing would be greatly appreciated. It's causing my anxiety/stress levels to increase as I'm afraid we are all going to die of carbon monoxide poisoning during the night while we sleep! (Yes, we have a CO detector too. :))
 
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It is a slow combustion wood stove (Drolet), damper valve on front, rear intake (that I guess can be hooked up directly to outside air via a duct (that is not hooked up). Looks like this one (broken link removed to http://www.drolet.ca/en/products/wood/baltic) Normal setting is usually rear intake open a crack, and damper set around 10% (as was advised by the chimney sweeping company). If we open up the primary (I'm assuming that's the rear intake?) more, would the fire not burn too hot and fast?
 
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I don't recall one with a rear intake that is adjustable on the Drolet. Normally the OAK is unrestricted. Can you post a couple photos of this installation, front and back? Something sounds jerry-rigged here and it could be dangerous.
 
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Smoke is an indication of unspent fuelwood. The presence of fuelwood should maintain high heat output prior to coaling and there should be many coals present. If you are getting puffs of smoke then you are also getting puffs of carbon monoxide in your home after the fuelwood is completely consumed. Fuelwood with a high moisture content may not burn completely before all your coals are consumed and this causes a cold smoldering fire. A good chiminey design should draw even when the fire is out. Here is a link to an article explaining the neutral pressure plane of a home. http://woodheat.org/all-about-chimneys.html Andrew
 
It sounds like someone put an air restricting damper on the OAK intake. If so that should only be used to close off air when the stove is cold, not when it's running. The stove (Drolet Baltic) only has one, primary air control.

PS: About how tall is the chimney on this stove?
 
[Hearth.com] Backpuffing - HELP! [Hearth.com] Backpuffing - HELP! [Hearth.com] Backpuffing - HELP!
Sorry, they are all sideways...It's an HT series. Can't read the exact model number, it's punched into the metal plate and from the angle, unreadable.[Hearth.com] Backpuffing - HELP!
You can see in this image (sideways) the rear intake I'm talking about. It has a cover plate that you can rotate to allow more or less air intake.
 
I had backpuffing last night too. The smoke alarm screamed at 1 am. I've got an older VC Resolute with no Cat but the weather was a bit weird with a cold front arriving and I just opened up the stove a bit, opened a window to clear the smoke out and sat there for awhile making sure everything was OK. Probably a combination of slightly damper wood and weather. It happens. Even after 30 yrs., I can't get through a winter without it happening a few times. The problem is that we want the stove to burn slow all night long and it takes so little to go from slow fire to no fire.
 
Height? Or width? :) I think it's just the faceplate at the wall that is large. Chimney diameter is 6 inches. Not sure of the height. House is a bungalow (not raised) So what would that be? 15-20 ft (seeing as it is above the height of the roof by about a foot or so?).
 
Good to know, @DougA that I'm not the only one this is happening to. I was up for over an hour the other night making sure it was ok, and it continued to backbuff every few minutes for a good 1/2 during that time period. It seemed I would open it up to give it air, it would burn well for a bit, so I'd close it off a bit, then it would start backpuffing again. I thought it might be weather related too, but then it was doing it again this morning.
 
Looks like 8" with a high insulation thimble. The stove is not the one you provided the link to (Drolet Baltic.) This looks to be a bug on Drolet's website. It looks like a HT2000? Unfortunately the camera flash completely whited out the important model info in the upper right of the stove label. If you can provide that we can narrow in on this stove model.

I have never seen a valve on an intake (if that is an OAK connection) like that before. Did you get this stove used?
 
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begreen said:
Looks like 8" with a high insulation thimble. The stove is not the one you provided the link to (Drolet Baltic.) This looks to be a bug on Drolet's website. It looks like a HT2000? Unfortunately the camera flash completely whited out the important model info in the upper right of the stove label. If you can provide that we can narrow in on this stove model.

I have never seen a valve on an intake (if that is an OAK connection) like that before. Did you get this stove used?
Click to expand...

The model number isn't whited out by the flash, you can't read it. It's punched into a small metal plate, and from the angle behind the stove, you can't read it. It is an HT model, but that's all I can read. It's more similar to the HT2000 ((broken link removed to http://www.drolet.ca/en/products/wood/ht2000-with-pedestal)) than the Baltic. The stove was in the house when we bought it 2 1/2 years ago. Not sure how long it had been in here before that. House was built in 2006, but there were 2 owners before us. People we bought off of were actually going to take it with them when they moved...with the stresses it is causing me, I almost wish they did! LOL
 
My suggestion is that you get a digital flue thermometer probe. When I adjust the air on the stove, the digital probe responds within a few seconds. I just barely budge the air and watch the temps. They'll go up 35*, then level off. That's what I want, just enough higher to stop the backpuffing. The stove top thermometer can't do that. For $70, it's the best investment I've made. Link is here: http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17&products_id=292

I should add that last night in our area, we went from above freezing to cold again. From damp to dry. That makes running the stove a bit trickier. Bottom line is that it should not backpuff at all.
 
By the way, what is an OAK connection? Should I be checking that the intake on the back actually goes somewhere? It would seem as though the revolving cover is like a damper to control the intake, because depending on how far or closed off I have it, controls how much the fire is burning. And when I get back puffing, should I open it up a bit more to get more air? I read somewhere else that backpuffing is due to built-up gases inside the fire-box that are exploding...I know that my pipes were rattling this morning when the backpuffing was occurring...
 
The revolving cover is to help stop a runaway stove - leave completely open for secondary intake combustion.
 
The cure is very simple. More air to the fire. The cause may be multifaceted, and that is what the folks above are trying to figure out.
And I agree, there is something a bit weird about the back of that stove. Why would such a heavy gauge piece of steel be needed for covering an OAK (IF that is what it is). And if it is NOT that - why? What is its purpose? A model number sure would help in trying to get this figured out.
 
blazincajun said:
The revolving cover is to help stop a runaway stove - leave completely open for secondary intake combustion.
Click to expand...

Is this factual info, or speculation? Have you seen this design before?
The curiosity of its purpose is getting the best of me. My googlefoo is returning ziltch.
 
OAK = Outside Air Connection

It feeds the primary and secondary air for the stove, having that closed off you are starving the fire the air it needs to have proper combustion.

You should only be using the slider above the door which is your primary air control and ditch that homemade OAK restricter.
 
I would have the back cover valve at least half open when burning and use the front air control only to regulate the burn with the eventual goal of having the front air control almost all the way closed as long as that does not snuff out the fire. I am trying to find out if there is an OAK (outside air kit) for the HT2000.

How tall do you think the chimney is on the outside of the house? Post a full picture if unsure.
 
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