Extreme Cold, fire went out...what happened?

[MagdalenaP]

I'm what I'd call quite experienced, and something has me stumped.

Up this morning, lots of coals from last night, put 5 big splits in. Fire caught within seconds, going great, I slowly close down the air. It's well in the middle range on the stove pipe thermometer, (about 400), then about 45 min later pretty much out of no where the fire goes out. Air was fully closed at this time. I open the air, fire comes back on.

Pipe was cleaned last week by my fiance, I was there and watched, cleaned to the 9's. I have been burning like normal, never letting it smolder. I looked outside, but it's dark...can't quite tell if it's steam or smoke coming out, but there's a ton of it, which after 45 min, if it's smoke, it's not making any sense. However, it doesn't smell. It's about -25c out (-16f).

Could it be that with the extreme cold temps, that last night the cap/mesh (we have a very tall exterior pipe) somehow clogged with ice?

I'm just beyond stumped. Fire was going perfect for 45 min, then seem to go out, out of no where. Ideas anyone? Do weird things happen when super cold?

 

[MagdalenaP]

Also, because I know some will comment:

1. No wind.
2. Seasoned wood.
3. No dryer/vents/appliances were on out of the ordinary.

 

[stovexxx]

My 2 cents: with the air completely closed, large pieces of wood, the draft stops, because the chimney, very high, loses temperature, especially with the outside temperatures you are talking about.

 

[stoveliker]

I think the ice is a possibility; it may clog partially, killing draft resulting in not enough suction to sustain the fire, but enough suction to get enough air in when the door is open.

Regarding cold killing draft; that is rather opposite than what we normally see where cold weather invariably increases draft (a lot).
Even if it cools down from 400 F or so to 50 F, it's still a lot warmer than the outside air, so it should still draft (though 50 F will result in condensation, so is best to be avoided).

That said, is your chimney inside or outside of the home and how tall is it?

 

[MagdalenaP]

It's single wall for about 5ft, then maybe 15ft of triple.

We had really weird foggy weather this morning, I wonder if that played a part.

Seems to be running fine now, maybe it's just me and I closed it off too soon. When stuffing the stove over coals, I worry about over firing. Maybe should have let her rip a bit more lol

 

[MagdalenaP]

I just did a little bit of research about fog, which then the topic of storms came up and I came across this post by Backwoods Savage (forum member here):

"Have you ever noticed how just before a storm smoke will tend to stay low or even come down to the ground? How about when the smoke just goes straight up? This will tell you a lot about what is going to happen. I noticed today as I was driving down the road a lot of smoke just hanging down almost to ground level. Sure enough, there is a storm about to move in."

Which is exactly what happened today, a small snow storm rolled in...probably what happened, not enough draft.

 

[stoveliker]

I'm not sure those inversion layers would affect draft at all, unless it's within a few feet of the chimney cap.

Well, good to hear it seems to be running normal again! Stay warm!

 

[vatmark]

I can not close the air my Jotul F500 V2 all the way or it does exactly what you are describing. The only time it can be all the way down is if secondaries are firing. Once they are no longer firing there are no flames so I have to open it back up. My stove is not a cat stove so maybe it is different with cat stoves.