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Firewords in the fireplace - or - I thought I might be having a stroke

Started by mudnut, November 12, 2012, 08:39:33 AM

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mudnut

Ok so last night I grabbed some wood from the "fresh" pile for the fireplace. This is wood that I had delivered a few months ago. The kids stacked it in the basement and I've had a fan on it with a dehumidifier in the room since I didn't know how long it had been cut and split. I've tossed a couple of these in the wood furnace before but never in the fireplace.

Before I went to bed I opened the doors and raked the coals before filling the firebox for the night. Right after raking the coals they started popping but not the "normal" pops and snaps you get from burning wood. These were like little air burst fireworks and not just one or two but they were pretty much constant. I was focused on the firebox and honestly thought that I was hallucinating until one of the sparks hit my arm.  :o

SO WTH were these things? Was the wood too green still? It did take longer to catch than the older stuff that I have in the basement but I've never seen anything do that, even at camp and bonfires. No way I'm going to have our teenagers adding wood to the fire if all of this stuff is going to do that.

This is my first season burning for my heat so I don't know what type of wood this is, I'm in North Central PA if that helps. Nothing too exotic around here, oak, maple, some walnut, ash... It was blond wood but wasn't pine, could have been oak maybe but not sure.

Give it to me straight doc, am I ever going to play the piano again?
"Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see and hear. Since the initial publication of the charged electromagnetic spectrum, humans learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear...is less than one millionth of reality"

Weekend_Sawyer

Oh you will play but probably not very well.

I have seen these air burst sparks too, little sparks but quite lots of them. Pretty neat and usually when you disturb the wood. I always thought they were from gasses being released from the hot log.

Jon
Imagine, Me a Tree Farmer.
Jon, Appalachian American Wannabe.

Dan_Shade

are you burning locust?

locust pops and sparks pretty bad.

How dry is your wood?
Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

mudnut

Yeah Jon, I don't play really well now either  :D Yeah the "fireworks" looked really neat but I know they would freak my daughter out and that would be the last time she even walked past the insert let along put logs in it LOL.

Dan it could be locust, I'll try to online when I get home to see if I can ID it. We have a lot of logging up here and the guy I got the wood from usually gets the stripped branches, cuts and splits them. Right size for the fireplace.

Not exactly sure how dry they are as I don't know when they were cut and split. I got 4 loads from him in mid August and they've been in my basement since he brought them. Brought the dehumidifier from our old house over about a month or so ago. It runs pretty much non stop and we have a dry basement so I know most of the moisture is coming from the wood. I've also got some 2+ year old wood that I picked up from a neighbor. Burns great but more big furnace size sticks than smaller fireplace sized ones so I thought I would try the newer wood. Might not be ready yet.
"Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see and hear. Since the initial publication of the charged electromagnetic spectrum, humans learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear...is less than one millionth of reality"

beenthere

Open the door(s) just enough to get your poker in to stir the fire. With some learning time under your belt, you will get a better feel for when you get the popping and sparks flying.
As well, you can get some learning of which woods you have to burn in the furnace vs your insert.

Enjoy the wood fire.  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

trapper

stihl ms241cm ms261cm  echo 310 400 suzuki  log arch made by stepson several logrite tools woodmizer LT30

shelbycharger400

Dirt on the wood will do that !   lots of sand in the dirt around here, I notice it more with the more soiled pieces.

doctorb

I burn a lot of locust, and my experience is that it does not pop excessively.  I have burned with the door open many times with the only fuel in the firebox being locust, and never had a problem.  My guess is that you have been delivered firewood that has some osage orange in it .  Is the wood a little orange tinted?  Often with delivered firewood it's mixed in, because the tree is usually harvested when it's not too big, so that the actual amount of firewood is not that great.  So the percentage of osage orange in a dumped delivery of firewood is usually pretty low.  But, BOY, can that stuff spark.  Never, ever use it in an open fireplace.  Close the door on your wood stove.  it burns well if seasoned, though it  still sparks and pops a lot, and has a high BTU rating amongst our eastern hardwoods.  So that's my guess.  Take a look at the wood in a decent light, you may find a few sticks that look orange in color.  I am not talking about the bark, I am talking about the appearance of the wood.  If it's a little orange, that's your answer.
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

NWP

I agree with doctorb.  Maybe some hedge(Osage orange) in there. Give us a picture of the suspect wood and maybe we can figure out what it is.
1999 Blockbuster 2222, 1997 Duratech HD10, 2021 Kubota SVL97-2, 2011 Case SV250, 2000 Case 1845C, 2004 Case 621D, John Deere 540A, 2011 Freightliner with Prentice 120C, 2012 Chevrolet, 1997 GMC bucket truck, several trailers, and Stihl saws.

doctorb

I should have added that, in my experience, most of the osage orange I have had delivered is in log form, not split, simply becasue the tree was not that large when harvested.  So you may have to split a smaller sized log (5"-9") to get a good look at the wood itself.
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

clww

Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
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VT_Forestry

I've had mine do this as well and wondered what the exact cause was...never really narrowed it down to a species either.  White oak, red oak, sweetgum, poplar, and hickory would do it...hickory maybe more than the others.  Cherry and walnut not so much.  Probably more dependent on moisture content than species.  Interesting comment about the dirt on the wood though, I'll have to pay attention to that next time I throw a stick in the stove!  :)
Forester - Newport News Waterworks

ohsoloco

I know exactly the pops you're talking about, and it's not the typical pops you'd get from throwing larch in the stove.  It even sounds like those big fireworks that throw out all those little "streamers".  If I remember correctly, mine has all come from my ash firewood.  I always assumed it was something like powder post beetles or some other bug in the wood since they go after ash like candy.

VT_Forestry

I went home and did some research, and it seems to definitely be the hickory.  If I think about it I'll get a video of it next time I throw some hickory in there.
Forester - Newport News Waterworks

2308500

i have these "fireworks" on a fairly regular basis.  after some observation, i cannot say they are species specific and the only thing i can consistently blame is a coming low pressure system with rain or snow  within the next 24 hours

call me a quack if you will but it is the only consistent explanation i can observe

Ken

I've also noticed sparking lots of time when there is a low pressure system in the air.  Usually the sparks don't fly out of the furnace but it looks pretty cool.
Lots of toys for working in the bush

ohsoloco

I burn some hickory every year as well, so I'll have to keep my eye on that.  Don't think I've ever had sparking like that with walnut, maple, oak, or cherry.  If it's bad I'll just crack the stove door and they'll really take off.  I've actually had them shoot out the air vents in the door.

mudnut

Ok so I haven't had any more issues with this until this morning. When I raked the coals in the insert this morning it turned into the 4th of July again... I went down and pulled a couple of sticks from the pile that I pulled from last night.



 

I've ruled out hedge, we had that back in Iowa when I grew up, more than one story of people burning out the bottoms of their stoves with that stuff... also the wood is pretty clean, no sand or dirt to spark up. The stuff seems to burn ok, a little slow starting but it does get hot, I'm just being more careful when raking the coals now. Not an issue in the furnace as it's a coal stove so it's got a shaker grate, any small coals call into the ash box and there isn't usually much in there to rake.
"Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see and hear. Since the initial publication of the charged electromagnetic spectrum, humans learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear...is less than one millionth of reality"

beenthere

The pic isn't in focus, but appears to be ash for the two split pieces.  The comment about "slow starting" however doesn't fit with ash.  Possibly elm.

Is the damper closed at the time that you open the door to stir the coals? Such that there are hot gases just waiting for a breath of fresh air to start mini exploding?

You did well posting the pic. ;)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Logging logginglogging

Quote from: beenthere on November 16, 2012, 03:24:34 PM
The pic isn't in focus, but appears to be ash for the two split pieces.  The comment about "slow starting" however doesn't fit with ash.  Possibly elm.

Is the damper closed at the time that you open the door to stir the coals? Such that there are hot gases just waiting for a breath of fresh air to start mini exploding?

You did well posting the pic. ;)
Yeah that grain looks like Ash to me as well. cant see the bark though.
You know when i read the title of this I was tinking the only time i have "Firewords" is when i try to burn wet wood!!

mudnut

LOL Firewords... yup, a bit ham fisted on the keyboard at times, not a good thing being an IP tech but so far it hasn't messed me up too badly. And yes I tend to use many firewords when starting the thing back up in the middle of the night if the draft was left open.

Ok, as for the flue, I burn in an insert so don't really have a flue as the original was wired open when the insert was put in. When this does happen it's not until I start raking the coals, even if I have the door open for a minute or so the fireworks happen right after I rake and only when burning this blond wood. The draft control, open or closed before opening the door makes little difference with the sparks.

Sorry for the pic quality, smart phone doesn't have the best camera and being in my pocket the lens tends to get fingerprints on it.

I've been burning some big old pieces of wood in the furnace as the firebox is bigger but when I do burn the wood pictured I don't notice the explosive sparking that I do upstairs but it's a coal furnace so most of the smaller coals and embers fall through the grate and I don't normally rake what's left in the firebox, I just put some paper, cardboard and wood on top and let it take off (or fumble with the lighter and try to keep soot off of my arm LOL).

"Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see and hear. Since the initial publication of the charged electromagnetic spectrum, humans learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear...is less than one millionth of reality"

doctorb

Is you blower fan still running when you are stirring the coals?
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

mudnut

Hey Doc, once yes, once no but it's an external blower around the firebox, this insert doesn't have a stoker blower.
"Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see and hear. Since the initial publication of the charged electromagnetic spectrum, humans learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear...is less than one millionth of reality"

woodmills1

I once told my doctor I couldn't play the saxaphone after I left you last time

he said, "could you play the saxaphone before you got here last time"

I said,  "you got me there doc"
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