What the...?? Smoke out the air intake on the Fv!

[Woody Stover]

I just loaded up with River Birch and Cherry with the coals raked to the front, had the air wide open, and had the door open....and saw smoke coming out the bottom of the air intake box! I've got a key damper in the tee snout, and got more smoke when I closed it. So with a lot of smoke in the box and the door open, smoke is able to come out through the air wash? Not too windy out. No smoke roll-out when opening the door but the fire isn't roaring with the door open, so I'm guessing I need to check the top of the flue for build-up (which I haven't done yet this year.) The cap screen looks clean from the ground... Looks like I'll be running a brush down there when I can let the stove go out in a couple of days. I need to clean the glass, combustor and the scoop screen anyway, so no biggie.
Never had this happen before, but I have smelled a tiny bit of smoke lately on a couple of occasions, probably when I've had the air and the door wide open although I haven't paid attention to where I've had the air control.

 

[Flatbedford]

Was it warmer than usual outside when this happened? I have had the same thing with my Fireview when re-starting from very little coals in warmer weather. I just closed the door and the smoke went up the stack. Remember that warm weather makes for less draft.

 

[CHeath]

my draw sucks in the warm weather but sounds like a train in the cold. I say just a coincidence.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Never had that one happen here. My guess is there is something in that chimney you need to move out. Let us know what you find Woody.

 

[Woody Stover]

Was it warmer than usual outside when this happened?

Wasn't real warm this AM, probably in the mid-30s when I fired up.

My guess is there is something in that chimney you need to move out.

That's what I'm thinking. I didn't brush the flue at all last year, and only got maybe a coffee can's worth...but I didn't put the stove in until the end of December. I figured that with drier wood this year there would be the same amount or less, even though we've been burning since October. I guess it's possible that a bunch fell down in the tee and is slowing it a bit. That's easy enough to check on the Fv; Just lift the lid and reach back in there. I'll probably remove the key damper since I don't use it...that could be cutting some draft. It just seems to me that the fire would roar previously when I opened the door on a going fire...gotta be a blockage. We've got some warm days coming up later in the week so I'll shut 'er down and check it out.

 

[bag of hammers]

Got a bit of smoke out the air opening on the Osburn pedestal one time on a cold start. Never saw it again after that. Weird. Usually the stove drafts really well from the get go.

 

[begreen]

I got a whiff out of the T6 this morning. Thought about it while getting morning tea. Then I checked the temp, 54F and rising. Doh!

 

[HotCoals]

Dry wood can release a lot of gas faster then less drier wood.

Sometimes so much so that the secondary system can't handle it all.
There is still moisture in "dry" wood so it can cause creo..for sure when first getting the fire going and stack temps are down.

 

[Jon1270]

I had the draft reverse on me with a cold stove early in the season a couple of times, with my Osburn. The newspaper trick described in this article didn't work at all for me, but cracking a nearby window open corrected it immediately. Was your chimney cold when it did this, or were you reloading a warm stove?

 

[bag of hammers]

I had the draft reverse on me with a cold stove early in the season a couple of times, with my Osburn. The newspaper trick described in this article didn't work at all for me, but cracking a nearby window open corrected it immediately. Was your chimney cold when it did this, or were you reloading a warm stove?

Not sure if the question was for OP or me - but in my case the stove and chimney were both cold - a bit of smoke off the newspaper / kindling just rolled right out the back air intake during the first couple seconds of the start up. I honestly can't remember what the conditions were at the time (weather wise) and didn't know enough to even stop and consider it. Has only happened once though.

 

[Woody Stover]

Was your chimney cold when it did this, or were you reloading a warm stove?

I started off coals but not a lot, so the stove was warm. In the past, draft under these conditions was still pretty strong...

 

[Jon1270]

I started off coals but not a lot, so the stove was warm

So much for my theory.

 

[Defiant]

Sounds like some sort of blockage, time to brush

 

[rideau]

I had that happen on my Fireview once. Definitely on a cold start. Kind of throws one for a loop. Warming the flue took care of the problem.

It can also happen if your cat is badly clogged. That's easy to check. Do you have the ceramic or stainless cat? Have never known a ceramic one to clog.....

 

[Waulie]

I had that happen on the Progress once. It was with the door open and the draft open. The stove thought the air intake was a better chimney than the chimney. I now close the draft when opening the door. Problem solved!

 

[fire_man]

It happened to my Progress exactly how Waulie described it - door open and draft open. The other way to stop it besides shutting the door is to shut the draft. It happens while loading with a raging fire.

 

[Woody Stover]

I had that happen on my Fireview once. Definitely on a cold start. Kind of throws one for a loop. Warming the flue took care of the problem.

It can also happen if your cat is badly clogged. That's easy to check. Do you have the ceramic or stainless cat? Have never known a ceramic one to clog.....

I've got the steel cat in there. Opened the lid a while ago, even though the stove was pretty warm. Nothing back in the tee. Grabbed the cat out with a glove on...was still a hot potato but not much ash at all (just cleaned it about a month ago.) I'll let the stove go out on one of the warm days that's coming up and look down the liner from the top. Last year there was only a little flaky stuff in the top few feet of the liner, so I don't expect to find much of anything there, either. Since there's a history of this happening with you guys too, I'll probably end up filing it as something that can happen, and make sure the air is closed if I'm going to open the stove with a lively fire going. The only reason I even opened it up was to add a couple more splits. Our new pup likes to chew on wood so I haven't had any inside by the stove like I usually do, and I was a couple splits short on the load.

 

[charly]

I've got the steel cat in there. Opened the lid a while ago, even though the stove was pretty warm. Nothing back in the tee. Grabbed the cat out with a glove on...was still a hot potato but not much ash at all (just cleaned it about a month ago.) I'll let the stove go out on one of the warm days that's coming up and look down the liner from the top. Last year there was only a little flaky stuff in the top few feet of the liner, so I don't expect to find much of anything there, either. Since there's a history of this happening with you guys too, I'll probably end up filing it as something that can happen, and make sure the air is closed if I'm going to open the stove with a lively fire going. The only reason I even opened it up was to add a couple more splits. Our new pup likes to chew on wood so I haven't had any inside by the stove like I usually do, and I was a couple splits short on the load.

Get the new pup some raw marrow bones at the grocery store,,,he'll forget all about the wood chewing...those will become his go to comfort toys... Just don't cook them, then they splinter.. Rinse and dry and right to the dog... I save a lot of venison bones... My Jack Russell found a foot long section of deer spine while we were out in my woods... That's his favorite chew now...didn't mean to change the subject...

 

[Woody Stover]

Get the new pup some raw marrow bones at the grocery store,,,he'll forget all about the wood chewing...those will become his go to comfort toys... Just don't cook them, then they splinter.. Rinse and dry and right to the dog... I save a lot of venison bones... My Jack Russell found a foot long section of deer spine while we were out in my woods... That's his favorite chew now...didn't mean to change the subject...

Yep, he found a deer hip socket bone in the woods and I break that out when I need a break. He's a Lab mix...very mouth-oriented. I need to get maybe a beef leg bone or hip socket. I know they can have problems from chewing wood and swallowing splinters. We're also kind of leery of bones, though; One pooch we had got a bone wedged in her jaw and we had to take her to the vet to get it removed.

 

[ArsenalDon]

Try a hot burn with everything wide open? other than that..time for a cleaning?

 

[Woody Stover]

Try a hot burn with everything wide open? other than that..time for a cleaning?

I don't like to subject the bypass frame to excessive heat so I can't really burn hot enough, for long enough, to burn out anything higher up in the liner which is the only place I've seen any flakes. I really don't think I'm going to find anything in there anyway. We're getting some warm days soon, so I'll let the stove go out and run the brush down just to make sure...

 

[ArsenalDon]

I don't like to subject the bypass frame to excessive heat so I can't really burn hot enough, for long enough, to burn out anything higher up in the liner which is the only place I've seen any flakes. I really don't think I'm going to find anything in there anyway. We're getting some warm days soon, so I'll let the stove go out and run the brush down just to make sure...

A good cleaning sounds like the best idea anyhow!!