Michaelthomas, sorry for the long post, but I wanted to add my "puffing" experience to your thread, and I think it will explain what I think your stove did.
I had an almost perfect evening with my second season fire in my stove, cleaned and pipe extended 2 ft. per MountainStoveGuys advice, drawed perfectly and was for sure a better draft.
My wood was perfect too, good and dry.
I had a hot bed of coals, I then loaded with 5 or so oak rounds about 2 in. diameter. Not a big load, just medium for my stove.
I went upstairs and stayed for about 20 minutes when I smelled raw wood smoke, I first thought it was coming in near my upstairs windows, so I went down to go outside and check.
I first checked stove though, which I had dampered all the way down tight because my "new stove temp gauge" was on 500, and gettin hotter. I noticed my stove full of smoke, with NO flame at all............starving for oxygen, gases were slowly trying to move up stove pipe.................a classic example of "operator error".
I watched for a second to see if I could catch where the burps or "puffing" as it is often called and sure enough, the gases reached the point where they ignited for a second which caused a "very slight".........POOF......for lack of the proper wording.
Which in turn, cause the "poof" to expand within the stove and try to exit by way of pipe, the gases, expansion, and smoke made it as far as my in line pipe damper where it found an easier exit in the damper handle, much easier than trying to force all this slow moving smoke up the chimney.
It puffed once, then I waited to verify exactly what was happening..........it puffed again, only blowing about a mouthful of smoke out my damper knob. I waited for another to make sure what I was seeing was not a fluke and it did it again.
I then opened damper up about an eighth of an inch and the burn tubes ignited and stopped puffing. It then burned for 2 hours like this and never puffed again. This is the first time I ever dampered my stove ALL the way down and left it for some time. Even last year when I filled the box before bed I always opened it just a fraction, which allowed enough air to enter and apparently not duplicate these conditions.
I'll have to admit, this bothers me a little, but I am sure it was my fault, the ironic part is I blame my new temp. gauge, which I really like, but I watched it too closely last night and did not let it get much above 500, and then only once.
This meant more dampering, and also because it was in the fifties outside and reached 79 in my house pretty quickly. I am sure I understand what happened in my situation, I starved my stove for oxygen, it got it anyway somehow and had a mini explosion, which expanded and had to go somewhere, which in my case was similar to a weak water pipe joint, the smoke escaped in the nearest, weakest spot.
Now for the questions...........do I need to get rid of this damper and replace with solid pipe ? I don't plan on this happening again, but I do not have a perfectly sealed exit pipe system from my stove to the wall, I know there are joints where air can get in or out, not much but a little.
But.........it's never been an issue........... until now, I just learned it can happen this way.
MountainStoveGuy, your advice really helped, it helped so much that my pipe was literally whistling (drawing air) through the damper holes in pipe, mostly on the opposite side of turn handle, pretty cool I thought ! :cheese:
Robbie
