Smoke from secondaries

[Kyle19]

Hello fellow Hearth.com members,

I am looking for a little advice

I have a Jotul Kennebec insert. I had it cruising last night at around 500-600. All the wood I have has been c/s/s for over a year. I closed the air down halfway and eventually all the way. The secondaries were amazing but I noticed something new that I have not seen in the 3 years I have owned this stove. Every time the secondary burn rolled arond, every 5-10 seconds or so I noticed a back puff of smoke coming back into the room. I'm not sure where it came from and I haven't seen anything like it before. I was sitting to the side of the stove so maybe that's why I noticed. If I was sitting directly in front of it I probably would have never noticed it. There was also a smell of smoke in the room when there usually isn't when i have the stove going.
is this normal? Should I be concerned? Thanks for your help

 

[BrowningBAR]

Hello fellow Hearth.com members,

I am looking for a little advice

I have a Jotul Kennebec insert. I had it cruising last night at around 500-600. All the wood I have has been c/s/s for over a year. I closed the air down halfway and eventually all the way. The secondaries were amazing but I noticed something new that I have not seen in the 3 years I have owned this stove. Every time the secondary burn rolled arond, every 5-10 seconds or so I noticed a back puff of smoke coming back into the room. I'm not sure where it came from and I haven't seen anything like it before. I was sitting to the side of the stove so maybe that's why I noticed. If I was sitting directly in front of it I probably would have never noticed it. There was also a smell of smoke in the room when there usually isn't when i have the stove going.
is this normal? Should I be concerned? Thanks for your help

Do you have a CO detector near by? It could just be the weather. Though, I've never had an issue with back puffing, so my knowledge is limited.

 

[kingquad]

Hello fellow Hearth.com members,

I am looking for a little advice

I have a Jotul Kennebec insert. I had it cruising last night at around 500-600. All the wood I have has been c/s/s for over a year. I closed the air down halfway and eventually all the way. The secondaries were amazing but I noticed something new that I have not seen in the 3 years I have owned this stove. Every time the secondary burn rolled arond, every 5-10 seconds or so I noticed a back puff of smoke coming back into the room. I'm not sure where it came from and I haven't seen anything like it before. I was sitting to the side of the stove so maybe that's why I noticed. If I was sitting directly in front of it I probably would have never noticed it. There was also a smell of smoke in the room when there usually isn't when i have the stove going.
is this normal? NO and Yes you should be concerned. Should I be concerned? Thanks for your help

 

[Pagey]

I have read about this but never seen it. If you starve the fire for oxygen, the secondary combustion can get sort of slow and lazy. When enough oxygen finally hits all the combustible gases, they'll explode with enough force that the "flow" of the stove is momentarily reversed, and smoke will be forced out the secondary air inlets in the side/bottom of the stove.

 

[EJL923]

I am going to assume that the setup is close to my Jotul Rockland, where the secondary air enters through the rear at the bottom. See if the smoke is coming from here? ro from somewhere around the front where the primary enters. Other than that, how tall is your chimney, and was it windy when this was happening. You can get back pressure from high winds and there are caps which help reduce this.

 

[bpm44]

Provided your chimney setup and cap are clean I would say that it was just that the air control was closed down too much for the current shoulder season conditions.

 

[Kyle19]

Thanks for the replies guys. It seems like you hit the nail on the head Pagey. There were a few minor explosions of flames which preceded the smoke back puffing into the room. I will watch it closely and hope that It was a shoulder season issue since it has never happened in the 3 years I have owned this stove

 

[Pagey]

Thanks for the replies guys. It seems like you hit the nail on the head Pagey. There were a few minor explosions of flames which preceded the smoke back puffing into the room. I will watch it closely and hope that It was a shoulder season issue since it has never happened in the 3 years I have owned this stove

I've almost done this once on my Endeavor. I had the air closed too far, and I had this slow, rolling secondary combustion that would start at the very back of the firebox, then sort of "roll" forward. It was making odd sort of whooshing sounds, too. I gave it a little more air, and that remedied the issue. I'd say that you encountered the same thing, only it got enough combustible gas buildup to actually "explode" and push some smoke out the secondary combustion system. It's a very plausible theory, at least.

 

[begreen]

Could be weaker draft due to mild weather or a partially clogged cap? Try giving the fire a little more air and check the pipe and cap.

I'd also re-split some of that wood, then check the moisture on the freshly split surface. You've had a lot of rain this year. If this is oak it may still need to dry out a bit.