OK guys I'm going to try and explain this as best I can from what I have observed twice now. And let me go ahead and apologize for the length of the post. I just want to make sure I cover everything.
A few facts first.
Burning in an 83 Federal Airtight 224CCL. It has a cat.
The wood I've been burning is Hackberry with a low MC. Last I checked around two month ago, I had pieces that were 15-17%. Yes the reading was from the inside of a split piece. I'd say average size is 4-5 inches x 18 inches.
Chimney is approx. 25 ft. SS liner. Damper on the flue collar (usually left all the way open). Temps have only gotten to low 30s at night. I'm pretty sure it hasn't hit freezing yet.
So...twice now I've had something happens that scares the @#$% out of me. It has only happened when I put in a full load, and I mean stuffed with as much as I can fit in, which is usually about 8-9 pieces. I load it in, get it burning good and the cat (according to the thermometer above it) at between 600-800 degrees. Then I close everything down. On the two occasions from hell, I little while into the burn I start to smell smoke. The first time it happened I didn't pay great attention to my steps, but this time I did.
Once I smelled the smoke tonight, I went and disengaged the cat (opened up by pass door). Almost immediately I get a jet engine and in less than a minute my SS T-connection and SS liner below the block off plate are GLOWING super orange red hot.
The first time it happened I just thought, well if I close everything down again (ensure all air control is closed, close the bypass, and close the damper on the flue collar) it will stop. Yeah that didn't work. It was pulling the fire through any little hole by the bypass door it could find. And the SS parts are glowing the whole time. Minutes pass and I'm seriously contemplating calling the fire department at this point. I'm envisioning the SS liner melting and flames erupting from the back of the stove. What got it to stop was with the bypass door closed I opened the small square panel on the top of the stove that covers the cats location. The draft/flaming went out almost immediatly.
Like I said tonight it happened again, but remembering kinda what I did last time, I immediatly opened the top plate over the cat and the flames started kind of spurting. Oh yeah I think I should mention that the flames were blue, super hot. After a few seconds it kind of puffed out. I noticed that the cat, was not really glowing and had a black coating on it that was burning off like when you light steel wool. Kind of running. No flames just orange burn off. I know the cat should have been engaged because the thermo above it was reading around 1400. I left the bypass open for about a minute and rechecked the cat and it was completely clean ceramic. I opened the side feed door just to check things out and most of the wood had coaled up, but it was deep. Again nothing but big blue flames coming off of everything.
I know my chimney is clean because I just cleaned it last weekend becuase of the first incident. I admit I was late getting to the cleaning before I started burning. I also checked the cat to make sure it wasn't blocked last weekend. It was completely clean except for a little ash build up on the bottom. I cleaned it thoroughly anyway.
So what's the deal? Why does this keep happening? Is my wood too dry? I'd hate to think it is the draft because we havn't even hit the really cold weather yet. And why is my cat sooting up with temps above it reading 1400 or more? BTW I just checked the cat and the entire surface is glowing and clean. It's only been about 20 mins since the jet incident. Can you guys shed some light?
Thanks.
A few facts first.
Burning in an 83 Federal Airtight 224CCL. It has a cat.
The wood I've been burning is Hackberry with a low MC. Last I checked around two month ago, I had pieces that were 15-17%. Yes the reading was from the inside of a split piece. I'd say average size is 4-5 inches x 18 inches.
Chimney is approx. 25 ft. SS liner. Damper on the flue collar (usually left all the way open). Temps have only gotten to low 30s at night. I'm pretty sure it hasn't hit freezing yet.
So...twice now I've had something happens that scares the @#$% out of me. It has only happened when I put in a full load, and I mean stuffed with as much as I can fit in, which is usually about 8-9 pieces. I load it in, get it burning good and the cat (according to the thermometer above it) at between 600-800 degrees. Then I close everything down. On the two occasions from hell, I little while into the burn I start to smell smoke. The first time it happened I didn't pay great attention to my steps, but this time I did.
Once I smelled the smoke tonight, I went and disengaged the cat (opened up by pass door). Almost immediately I get a jet engine and in less than a minute my SS T-connection and SS liner below the block off plate are GLOWING super orange red hot.
The first time it happened I just thought, well if I close everything down again (ensure all air control is closed, close the bypass, and close the damper on the flue collar) it will stop. Yeah that didn't work. It was pulling the fire through any little hole by the bypass door it could find. And the SS parts are glowing the whole time. Minutes pass and I'm seriously contemplating calling the fire department at this point. I'm envisioning the SS liner melting and flames erupting from the back of the stove. What got it to stop was with the bypass door closed I opened the small square panel on the top of the stove that covers the cats location. The draft/flaming went out almost immediatly.
Like I said tonight it happened again, but remembering kinda what I did last time, I immediatly opened the top plate over the cat and the flames started kind of spurting. Oh yeah I think I should mention that the flames were blue, super hot. After a few seconds it kind of puffed out. I noticed that the cat, was not really glowing and had a black coating on it that was burning off like when you light steel wool. Kind of running. No flames just orange burn off. I know the cat should have been engaged because the thermo above it was reading around 1400. I left the bypass open for about a minute and rechecked the cat and it was completely clean ceramic. I opened the side feed door just to check things out and most of the wood had coaled up, but it was deep. Again nothing but big blue flames coming off of everything.
I know my chimney is clean because I just cleaned it last weekend becuase of the first incident. I admit I was late getting to the cleaning before I started burning. I also checked the cat to make sure it wasn't blocked last weekend. It was completely clean except for a little ash build up on the bottom. I cleaned it thoroughly anyway.
So what's the deal? Why does this keep happening? Is my wood too dry? I'd hate to think it is the draft because we havn't even hit the really cold weather yet. And why is my cat sooting up with temps above it reading 1400 or more? BTW I just checked the cat and the entire surface is glowing and clean. It's only been about 20 mins since the jet incident. Can you guys shed some light?
Thanks.