I have a 5502M and yesterday their was a massive fire in the hopper. It was extremely windy outside. Would this cause a fire in the hopper?
King Pellet Stove caught fire!
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Thank you for your reply. The King Stove is in a rental property and tenant is blaming it on the wind. It WAS super windy but I have searched all over the internet and there is not one story where wind pressure has prevented the exhaust from venting, causing a fire in the hopper. I suggested it may be a maintenance issue and got a door slammed in my face. I want to investigate the real reason so it can be prevented IF I replace the stove for the tenant. It seemed off to me to blame wind as it has been windy and blizzard - like all winter and there has not been any fires...
If I had a tenant that would not or could not maintain
the stove He/She would not have the stove. They are NOT
plug and play they need to be maintained for max. performance
safety and reliablity.
the stove He/She would not have the stove. They are NOT
plug and play they need to be maintained for max. performance
safety and reliablity.
I would bet your tenant never cleaned the stove.. If it were me i would make arrangements to come in and clean the stove once a month, then you can see how the tenant is maintaining the stove. Or pull the stove
ABusWrench
Feeling the Heat
I came to here share a PSA: while it’s totally possible the tenants mentioned in this thread were negligent with the pellet stove, it is ENTIRELY possible that wind caused a fire in the hopper and I know because it happened to us this week. Hence how I stumbled on this in the first place.
We have had our pellet stove for 4-5 years, clean it several times a week when it’s being used and use it probably 2/3rds of the winter- maybe a little more. If it’s warm enough, it doesn’t get turned on and we only use it during the day.
We live in a house that’s very susceptible to weather, and we get a good amount of wind. Our stove has smoked indoors before due to wind but never this bad. During a severe snow storm and wind coming from a certain direction, it started to smoke within the house so I turned it off. 30-40 mins later the wind still had it going, and a massive billow of smoke came out of it filling my entire house with with thick brown unbreathable smoke. We had to evacuate and call the fire department. They tried to extinguish the fire inside but that didn’t work so they proceeded to rip the stove off the wall and carry it outside. It sat outside during a severe weather storm for almost 24 hrs on fire and smoking.
It was awful, and scary. Our entire house smells like a camp fire, we thought our cat was going to die, and it ruined various fabrics we had in the house. There is nothing we could have done to prevent it from happening aside from not turning it on at all that day.
![[Hearth.com] King Pellet Stove caught fire!](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/311/311108-d7ef283b2f65c7d1f47c5454040036c9.jpg?hash=KYuVGYpTZg "[Hearth.com] King Pellet Stove caught fire!")
We have had our pellet stove for 4-5 years, clean it several times a week when it’s being used and use it probably 2/3rds of the winter- maybe a little more. If it’s warm enough, it doesn’t get turned on and we only use it during the day.
We live in a house that’s very susceptible to weather, and we get a good amount of wind. Our stove has smoked indoors before due to wind but never this bad. During a severe snow storm and wind coming from a certain direction, it started to smoke within the house so I turned it off. 30-40 mins later the wind still had it going, and a massive billow of smoke came out of it filling my entire house with with thick brown unbreathable smoke. We had to evacuate and call the fire department. They tried to extinguish the fire inside but that didn’t work so they proceeded to rip the stove off the wall and carry it outside. It sat outside during a severe weather storm for almost 24 hrs on fire and smoking.
It was awful, and scary. Our entire house smells like a camp fire, we thought our cat was going to die, and it ruined various fabrics we had in the house. There is nothing we could have done to prevent it from happening aside from not turning it on at all that day.
Welcome to the forum.
As I said before in order for a King 130 to have a hopper fire
The stove has to have had poor maintenance. Burning pellets
have to pile up high enough to reach the pellet drop shute and
the shute must also be full of pellets. If the wind is strong enough
to overcome the combustion blower the vacuum safety would
shut down the auger allowing a normal fire to burn out so even
though you say the stove was clean the stove was dirty and plugged
with ash which I feel was the primary cause of your hopper fire
Just my nickles worth.
As I said before in order for a King 130 to have a hopper fire
The stove has to have had poor maintenance. Burning pellets
have to pile up high enough to reach the pellet drop shute and
the shute must also be full of pellets. If the wind is strong enough
to overcome the combustion blower the vacuum safety would
shut down the auger allowing a normal fire to burn out so even
though you say the stove was clean the stove was dirty and plugged
with ash which I feel was the primary cause of your hopper fire
Just my nickles worth.
We had gusts of wind that reached 80 mph all day. This happens at our location frequently. This was caused by wind.
You don’t have to. I don’t need your validation, I put this hear for anyone else wondering if this has happened to other people because it happened to us. Is it unlikely? Sure. Does it maybe take a perfect storm of events? Sure. But it’s possible. The stove was on from about 8-9am until about 3:00 that day when I turned it off and it was the first day we had used it after cleaning it in about a week and half as we had just gotten back from a trip. So the ash that was in there was whatever had accumulated that day.
My service announcement has come to a conclusion.
My service announcement has come to a conclusion.
I apologize if I have upset you. I am just trying to get a handle on how this could happen
I have installed and serviced pellet stoves for the last 20 years ( Mostly Envrio). I have
only seen 2 hopper fires in that time both caused by poor maintenance. I don't dispute
that you keep your stove clean. The wind would have to be blowing directly into the chimney
to cause what happened to you and it was most likely a one-in-a-million thing. Again my
apologies
I have installed and serviced pellet stoves for the last 20 years ( Mostly Envrio). I have
only seen 2 hopper fires in that time both caused by poor maintenance. I don't dispute
that you keep your stove clean. The wind would have to be blowing directly into the chimney
to cause what happened to you and it was most likely a one-in-a-million thing. Again my
apologies
All good - I don’t get upset about comments on the internet. I’m just confident what caused this issue and it wasn’t not cleaning it or improper maintenance. The wind was 10000% blowing directly into the chimney. We live on the coast of maine on a very exposed mountain. It’s not uncommon at all for us to see wind speeds of 40-90mph. It just so happened to be blowing north east - the side of my house that this pellet stove sits on.
I agree, I don’t think this has a highly likelihood of happening on average. We’ve lived in this same house with this stove (and weather) for almost 5 years and it was the only time it happened to us.
Just a use case for anyone out there. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
I agree, I don’t think this has a highly likelihood of happening on average. We’ve lived in this same house with this stove (and weather) for almost 5 years and it was the only time it happened to us.
Just a use case for anyone out there. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Ah the sense of entitlement by renters. I get it, it's 'their' place and it's very off putting to a tenant to have the owner come into their personal space. It's feels like a violation. But you have to set ground rules VERY early on and boldly that you will be coming in for maintenance. Today there there are too many rules/laws that protect the tenant and not the owner. I almost got into that once, and backed out with a friend. One guy I know, he was between tenants and hired a painter acquaintance to paint the place. He hadnt heard from him in over a week and when he tried to call/text - no answer. He went to visit his property and the painter was living in there, and changed the locks. He squatted in there for over 6 months before the owner could get him out, and the 'tenant' absolutely trashed the place beyond what anyone would think one human being could.
Id rip that stove out of there so fast...
And yes, wind absolutely can affect burn. 40mph wind and my stove changes behavior a good bit. It burns hotter.
Id rip that stove out of there so fast...
And yes, wind absolutely can affect burn. 40mph wind and my stove changes behavior a good bit. It burns hotter.
tbear853
Feeling the Heat
If vent termination is facing sideways instead of straight up, if the wind can blow direct into the vent termination thus pressurizing it and overpowering the stove's combustion fan, I can see it creating some burn issues in the firebox, but in the case of a stove with a sliding block type pellet chute gate, I don't see how a fire gets to the pellet supply hopper.
I'm not familiar with stoves that use the auger to raise pellets to a chute and then they fall into a fire pit ... but in my stove, the auger remains full and is horizontal and pushes pellets into the fire pit from behind, but before a pellet gets onto the auger, there is a sliding block of steel that must open to allow the pellet into the auger for the ride. I don't see a fire back burning through that steel block.
I'm not familiar with stoves that use the auger to raise pellets to a chute and then they fall into a fire pit ... but in my stove, the auger remains full and is horizontal and pushes pellets into the fire pit from behind, but before a pellet gets onto the auger, there is a sliding block of steel that must open to allow the pellet into the auger for the ride. I don't see a fire back burning through that steel block.
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Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
And, that is why I have a $4k stove. And, having a horizontal flue on one, it has a vortec cap, with a factory OAK setup. I trust my stoves 100%, home or not.
Yes,I can relate to high winds. This year seems to be breaking records, up here.
Yes,I can relate to high winds. This year seems to be breaking records, up here.
tbear853
Feeling the Heat
Ouch, I thought they all did but then I remembered a friends with a uphill auger that emptied above the pit and pellets fell into the pit, I know he only kept it a season or two, I never thought of it not having a positive stop gate of some sort.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
The majority of all pellet stoves made, and being made, are "gravity drop, with a chute. With no or little to no burn back issues.
tbear853
Feeling the Heat
I didn't know was a majority, but I can see how just the reverse big rise up the now empty drop chute and then a trip downward past an auger's spiral to reach a pellet bin would be difficult for a flame to traverse.
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