Lost draft this morning...?

[Mr4btTahoe]

Hey guys...

Ran into a problem this morning that I've never experienced... It was rather cold last night so I loaded the stove tight and shut down the air for a good overnight burn. This morning, there were a few pieces in the left hand side of the firebox along with a large coal bed...

When I went to do a bit of rearranging, the stove started to almost draft backwards.

There wasnt an issue nor has there ever been an issue before... But as I opened the doors and moved things around a bit, smoke started rolling out of the doors instead of up the stack. I quickly shut the doors and smoke was rolling out of the air feeds so I bolted out the door to see if the stack was plugged or something along those lines but nothing.

As soon as the box was flaming again (about a minute), draft returned.. however the room was already full of smoke.

What did I do wrong? I'm sure it was an operational error on my part so looking for advice.

Just for info... the flue is 8"... double wall from the stove to the cap and vertical. The stack was cool this morning (200 or so as the coals were dying out)...

Perhaps I had too little airflow overnight? Did I open the doors too quickly perhaps?

Just looking to avoid this happening again.
Thanks
-Chris

 

[jatoxico]

I get a couple downdraft situations every year with my system but never on a reload where the stove is warm. I don't shut down tight overnight though, I like to keep some warm air moving up and out. Keeps the system heated and burns everything down to ash. After that it doesn't matter if it reverses, no smoke/CO.

Was it a windy night that could have tipped you over the edge?

 

[brenndatomu]

Probably a fluke. It can take a a fair amount of heat/airflow to keep a 8" flue drafting, especially a shorter one.
Just the same, I'd open the air up for a few minutes before opening the doors, slowly.
You didn't insulate or airseal the house over the summer, did you? Or was there a kitchen or bath fan running this AM? Or a clothes dryer? Or anything else that competes for "make up" air?

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Nothing competing for air...

It was a bit warmer this morning... Was in the 30s overnight but 50s this morning.. Not windy but I did open the doors somewhat abruptly.

I suppose for the time being, I'll call it a fluke.

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[Everhard]

Definitely opening up the air intake and giving it a moment before opening the door is a good idea to practice. Since every situation/setup is unique it's hard to comment or compare but ya I've only had a lack of draft when my stove is bone cold. (and I mean bone cold, even when it looks like there's nothing going on at all if there's even the tiniest amount of warmth in the coals that's enough that I don't have to worry about draft.)
One great tool I use to get or in fact force a draft is a hair dryer - on my stove the air intake is on the backside-bottom of the stove, I can lean a hair dryer so that it points into it, I don't even have to set the hair dryer on heat just turn it on so it's blowing at/into the air intake. I leave that for a 10-15 seconds with the stove completely shut up and the air intake set wide open which gets the air flowing and gets the draft moving. Then I light the stove and I never have a draft issue. I leave the fan going for 30 seconds or so after I light the fire and then it's all good.
I figured this little trick out after having smoke back up out the air intake one time. If I ever had a situation like yours where I didn't expect it to not draft and smoke starts to come out the air intake then I know I can grab the hair dryer which I keep near by in a drawer and get the airflow reversed by blowing back into the air intakes.
In fact this works so well I've been contemplating mounting a small fan of some kind permanently with a switch to do what the hair dryer does.

Of course this might not work depending on your unit and where the air intake is but if you can do something similar I'd say keep it in mind. you'll be amazed how well it works.

E.

 

[revdocjim]

I've had similar incidents. A couple of folks have mentioned the air control. Do you recall whether you opened it up first or not? The operating manual on my stove clearly says to always fully open the air control before opening the door. It seems to do the trick for my stove. I would open the air and give it 30 seconds or more before slowly opening the door.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

I must have not opened the primary air before opening the door as I haven't had any issues since. I was in a bit of a hurry and I suppose I forgot.

Anyways, thanks for the help
-Chris