Stove Pipe Glowing Red

[ahovel]

I have an old VC Resolute I. Last night I loaded the stove up and was waiting for about 1/2 hour to get it ready for the overnight burn. As I was waiting, the air intake flap began to flap wildly and the stove was puffing smoke. It seemed odd so I opened up the air intake quite a bit more to see if I could get a better draft going. When I did this the air began to whoosh on and off quite loudly. Again it seemed as if something was wrong with the draft so I decided to open the damper. When I did this the fire in the stove picked up and it seemed as if I had fixed the problem until I took a look at the T in the pipe directly behind the stove. The T and the stainless flex pipe going up into the chimney were glowing bright red. I quickly shutdown the air intake, the secondary burn air inlet, and the damper. Stove Gridle temps were about 450 at this point. It took about 5 minutes for the pipe to stop glowing. I left the stove this way overnight and the next day as I was too nervous to start it back up.

1. Was the glowing red pipe caused by a chimney fire? What should I do to avoid this? Is the stove safe to continue to use?

2. I left the stove completely shutdown all night and the next day. Even though it was completly shutdown the griddle temps stayed at about about 300 for 16 hours. Where was the air coming from to feed the fire? I assumed if I closed the stove completely down it put out the fire. Do I need to worry about a leaky stove?


Thanks for any advice,
Aaron

 

[woodburn]

I can't really offer much advice on that one. I'm sure someone here can help. Did you try to get a look into that T to look for creosote? A chimney fire is certainly possible. You mentioned the stovetop temp, but you definitely need a thermometer on that pipe to monitor the stack temps. Good luck.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like you may have just experienced a creosote fire. Figuring out the how and why this happened will take a bit of reconstruction of burning practices and the wood burned in the last few weeks. I could see this happening if the wood burnt recently was not fully seasoned and then a load of drier wood was burnt.

What is the flue on this stove, metal all the way or does it connect to a masonry chimney? Definitely go topside and check it out.

 

[LLigetfa]

Yup, it sure sounds like you had a chimney fire. Good thing you were around to deal with it. Can you post a picture of the Tee?

 

[jtp10181]

There was a question about where the air was coming from when shut down. EPA regs do not allow the air controls to totally cut the air off to the stove. Even with the controls fully shut down some air is still able to get in.

 

[struggle]

Pull the pipe and look into it and also look on your roof for debris coming out of the cap.

I would bet good money you had a chimney fire. You will most likely be able to tell right away when the pipe is off as it will be clean a can be or there will be some big flake crap in there.

When I had a chimney fire it made a loud whooshing sound almost like a jet going over the house.

I had a VC Vigilant and when it was dampened down it shut the air off completely and pretty much was a creosote factory once that occurred since my chimney had such a great draft it would suck the air door closed. I ended up putting a small screw on the edge of the door so the sir could never be completely shut down.

Your best bet if the chimney is safe is to replace the old stove with a cleaner burning EPA stove you will never regret it.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Wow. I just shuddered when I read this one Glowing red!

Be absolutely certain the chimney and the stove is completely checked before using again! Then check your wood supply. Don't burn unseasoned or partially seasoned wood.

 

[ahovel]

Thanks for all the responses. I pulled the bottom of the T off and took a look inside. (picture attached) There was a about 1/16 cup of black grain sized ash in the bottom and then I took a flash light and looked up the pipe into the chimney. It looked pretty clean. The was a small layer of black lining the pipe but now flakes of creosote. I don't think cleaning the pipe would be necessary. A little more info. The stainless pipe goes up about 12 feet into a clay lined flue. The flue was inspected this fall by a two chimney sweeps who said it was in very good shape. When the chimney fire was happening I went outside to take a look at what was coming out of the chimney. Only smoke was coming out. No big chunks or anything.

So next steps.

-A suggestion was made to have the chimney and the stove inspected. I can do this.

-Use seasoned dry wood. I can also do this.

Anything else you would do before using the stove again?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[LLigetfa]

What happens with creosote is that at some point, it curls and peels off the liner, falling down to the bottom of the Tee where it burns. Once this has happened, there is probably nothing left to clean out. You just need to examine the Tee and the liner for melt-down.

 

[jtp10181]

It looked pretty clean.

Yeap... chim fire cleans out the pipe pretty good sometimes.

 

[begreen]

Have the sweep or yourself examine the flue tiles for cracks. If they find some, you'll need to take the liner all the way to the top. The stove is a good well built unit. It is probably fine. If you burn a hot first of the day fire and use good wood you should be ok. A single incidence like this is educational and a bit stressful, but you probably haven't done any serious lasting damage. If it happened multiple times, then you need to consider fixing the issue and start replacing parts of the system that have been under repeated stress.

 

[madrone]

Wow, nice heat patina on that pipe. A place down the street from me has a similarly discolored exterior pipe. There's always huge clouds of white smoke billowing out. Some people never learn...

I suspect the cleanout had collected the fallen chunks, which ignited, as someone already mentioned. With an older stove I think you'll have to plan on cleaning your chimney regularly, even if you're burning dry wood. Even just checking the cleanout and removing any accumulated creosote would prevent this. Glad you're alright.

 

[LLigetfa]

If you burn a hot first of the day fire and use good wood you should be ok. A single incidence like this is educational and a bit stressful, but you probably haven't done any serious lasting damage. If it happened multiple times, then you need to consider fixing the issue and start replacing parts of the system that have been under repeated stress.

Good advice to be followed.

The school of hard knocks has a mean teacher since she gives the exam before the lesson, but in this case the lesson wasn't too bitter. Review your burning practice and adjust accordingly.

 

[ahovel]

When you say burn a hot first of the day fire, what temps and for how long? I usually start the fire with kindling and newspaper and slowly put on bigger pieces of wood until the griddle temps are about 600 degrees. This usually takes about 15 - 20 minutes. Then load up the box and close the damper and set to burn with griddle temps around around 450 - 500 degrees.

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[begreen]

That's close to the way I used to run it too, but I would let the first fire run it's course without closing the bypass. My main guide was the flue temps which I tried to keep at about 4-600 (surface) for the first burn. Then, when the fire was down to glowing red coals, I'd add more wood, let it char for about 10-15 minutes, then close the damper. Most importantly, try to burn only dry wood.

I'd like to know more about the chimney. Some other things I forgot to ask: Does the liner go the full length of the chimney and out? or is it a 12 ft. stub? If a stub, what size are the clay flue tiles and - is there a damper block-off plate? Is this an interior or exterior chimney?

 

[ahovel]

Hi,
I'll let the first fire run without closing the bypass. Thanks for your advice. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm burning dry wood although I'm not an expert in any way. Any easy way to tell if the wood is seasoned?

The stainless liner is a 12 foot stub. Then another roughly 20 feet to the top. This is an old four square colonial house with a walk up attic. The chimney is about as tall as the peak of the roof. (picture attached). Not sure of the size of the tiles, but when the chimney sweep comes I can ask him. What should I know about the size of the tiles? Also, what is a damper block off plate? Do you mean a metal plate where the fireplace damper used to be. Yes. We bought a kit and installed it. We removed the fireplace damper and installed this plate and the pipe goes through the plate. Exterior chimney.

Thanks for your help,
Aaron

 

[begreen]

Beautiful house, but I wouldn't run the stove without a full liner in the exterior chimney. What I suspect is happening is that as the wood gases leave the liner stub and hit that cold chimney they are condensing and accumulating creosote. If the clay flue liner is larger, say 8x12, the gases are going to slow down and cool quickly. This has of potential for future chimney fires. I'd get it cleaned, and a full, insulated liner put in. That will significantly improve safety and performance. If the wood is good, it should greatly reduce the chimney fire risk.

 

[Dill]

I have much the same setup with the T and I have to admit we've got it glowing a couple of times. Does yours have a clean out at the bottom? I try and clean it every month or so in the fall and spring when I not burning "hot and heavy" all the time.
My chimney is interior not exterior though and I agree, the tend to accumulate creosote worse. A friend of mine has an old fischer that he runs pretty cold into an exterior stone chimney and I can't believe how some crap builds up in that thing.

 

[Dill]

Oh and when it happens shut the air down to chimney. Close the damper close the air inlet. You don't want it to burn hotter.

 

[Ken45]

It looks like flex pipe right above the tee. Is that any more susceptible to damage than regular pipe?

Ken

 

[Scamp]

Oh! Now I know what happened about 15 years ago. Foolish me, loaded my VC Intrepid stove with heavy bark. Before I knew it, the stovepipe was Very LOUD, roaring in fact. I have always thought it was just that the bark was too much, but now I'll bet that was a chimney fire. The pipe did not glow red. I remember shaking and my heart pounding fast.... :bug:

Back then I always burned with the doors open, did not know about this slow burning stuff.