I had a slow starting fire tonight. Went for sometime barely burning. I added a few pencil sized cedar sticks. Left it in vertical mode with the door cracked just a wee bit. After a while it was going pretty good so I top loaded a couple of good sized splits, closed all the doors and left it. About twenty minutes later I could smell a real acrid odor. There was a loud crinkling sound coming from the flue, which is straight up about twenty feet and through the roof. The surface temp of the fire box was only about 600 so I don't think it was overfiring. I went out to look at the top of the chimney and there was very little smoke and no sparks or flames. I shut the stove down to horizontal immediately and closed the thermostat vent and the secondary intake. After a while it cooled down to about 450. Still smells in there.
I'm wondering if I had a fire in the flue.
Which brings up the question: Is a chimney fire inside an all metal flue/chimney all that serious? Especially if you catch it right away?
I'm wondering if I had a fire in the flue.
Which brings up the question: Is a chimney fire inside an all metal flue/chimney all that serious? Especially if you catch it right away?