Loud clang from fireplace....

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SturdyOaks

New Member
Nov 17, 2021
1
Floyd VA
Loud clang from Fireplace.....

Ok, I have a Quadrafire Pioneer II that was installed in 2019, the chimney was inspected/swept in MAR 2021. It is a high-efficiency fireplace, basically a flush-mount wood stove with air circulation around the firebox. The sweep said my creosote buildup was pretty normal, and I could wait until the end of the next heating season to get it cleaned again, and all looked good.

We have just started using it again in the last few weeks. Last night, about 45min after starting the fire, I went to close down the combustion control a bit, and just a short time later my wife and I heard a pretty loud "clang" - we have not had this happen before, so I kept looking at the chimney chase and cap all evening, and turned down the combustion control further so the fire was burning at a low rate. No further noises or issues, so I did add some more wood later at night, and in the morning on the coals. All seems fine. And you can see most of the top of the firebox from the front grate, it all looks normal.

So of course I did some web-browsing, and end up finding everything from "my stove clangs a lot" to "it's just metal expansion" to " could be sudden burn/pop of volatiles" to "shut it down and look for broken welds and have it inspected by a professional". I kinda guessing that's just life these days, but am hoping to get a little more insight into whether I should be worried or not, what to look for, and what to do next.
 
Mine will make popping/clanging/ticking/tinging noises occasionally when heating up and cooling off but they are not loud. Well at least not super loud. You can hear them over the TV. I have had a few back puffs and they can be louder. But you will see the firebox will fill fire when that happens.
 
Different stove, but mine has done it twice that I'm aware of but on cool down, not start up. Was also quite alarming, and both times I looked to see if a piece of brick had fallen from where they enlarged the damper opening. No damage to welds that I could see, so it's most likely the lower heat shield contracting on cool down. It's a thinner metal that could easily be affected by thermal expansion/contraction.