Stove cleaning?

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Narf

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Oct 31, 2012
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I recently moved into my first home, which has a Napoleon 1100k woodburing stove. Before my first burn, I checked all the piping to insure it was clean. I have only used the stove for a week now. I have had trouble keeping the wood burning with the door closed even when set fully open. Last night I started a fire and the stove wood not suck up the smoke. The pipes are clear, but I'm thinking the stove might be clogged wherever it sucks up the smoke. I have been burning less than seasoned wood, and have learned my lesson as there is black soot everywhere inside the stove. This may be the reason I'm having trouble keeping the fire going with the doors closed too. I'm thinking this clogged it up. What should I do now?
Thanks
 
You nailed it, less than well seasoned wood will give you one heck of a fit. I'd recommend trying to source either truly seasoned wood from a reputable source (hard to find) or else finding a place selling a man made fuel product like bio or eco bricks to use with or in place of your less than ideal fuel.

Is there a cap on the chimney? Even with only a week's burning, if things haven't been burning cleanly, it's possible that you plugged the cap already.

Also, where are you located? What are your outside temps like? The lower the temp, the better the draft. With certain weather (especially with fuel that is slow to get hot) you can actually get a down draft in the chimney that is tough to deal with using poor fuel.

Also, how tall is your chimney? Are there any 90's? If the chimney is too short, and / or you have several 90's, you can see draft problems.

However, until you get some proper fuel, you are trying to paddle upstream.

Welcome to the site!

Howe
 
Thanks for your help. There is a cap on the chimney and two 90's as shown in the picture. I am located just south of St. Louis, MO where low temps are common in the teens throughout winter.

Nick
 

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Chimney look a little short but also check the baffle boards. I had issues with them sliding forward (whether it was wood shifting and bumping or draft I don't know) but they would move forward and would really mess up the burn. Also what size of spits are you using? My Napoleon 1100C liked smaller 4" or less wood. One quick way to see if it is the wood is buy one of those store bought bundles, often kiln dried.
 
+1 on the kiln dried store bundle. I think wood will be the issue, with the moderate temperatures that we are currently experiencing (Accuweather is showing you just under 50F now.) making the system a bit more difficult.

I don't think the chimney is too short, but if you do find this to be the issue, I've found that lighting a firebox full of newspaper and letting that burn out before lighting off the wood will help get the draft working well.

Matt
 
She's cooking now! I took your advice with the kiln dried wood and it's up to 400 degrees. Looks like I'll have to purchase some wood for this year and give my cut wood some time to season. I thought cutting up dead laydowns would be good enough, but I guess it still needs time after splitting.
 
Narf said:
She's cooking now! I took your advice with the kiln dried wood and it's up to 400 degrees. Looks like I'll have to purchase some wood for this year and give my cut wood some time to season. I thought cutting up dead laydowns would be good enough, but I guess it still needs time after splitting.
Click to expand...

A tree lying on the ground will not be dry, because it wicks moisture from the ground.A fallen dead tree that’s hung up on other trees, not lying on the ground, will be fairly dry, depending on how long it has been dead.A standing dead tree will be dryer than one lying on the ground.
 
HDRock said:
A tree lying on the ground will not be dry, because it wicks moisture from the ground.A fallen dead tree that’s hung up on other trees, not lying on the ground, will be fairly dry, depending on how long it has been dead.A standing dead tree will be dryer than one lying on the ground.
Click to expand...

Beware of any dead trees that are leaning against other trees, they often get called widowmakers over here, and for good reason.

And that's a nice looking stove there, it deserves the best, driest wood you can get.....:)
 
woodchip said:
Beware of any dead trees that are leaning against other trees, they often get called widowmakers over here, and for good reason.
Click to expand...
Absolutely right, pull the tree down from the bottom with a winch, or something, AT A SAFE DISTANCE.
If it's big tree, get a pro
 
Narf said:
She's cooking now! I took your advice with the kiln dried wood and it's up to 400 degrees. Looks like I'll have to purchase some wood for this year and give my cut wood some time to season. I thought cutting up dead laydowns would be good enough, but I guess it still needs time after splitting.
Click to expand...

You may be able to find "seasoned" wood for sale . . . but be wary . . . the seller's definition of "seasoned" wood may result you ending up with wood that is not much better than what you've been burning. If you have a moisture meter you can check the wood for the moisture levels . . . barring that . . . ask them how long has it been since the wood was bucked up and split . . . if the answer is 8-12 months you may be OK. If the answer is the wood was cut down over a year ago . . . but just cut up and split two months ago I would take a pass and keep looking.

If you don't find seasoned wood at a reasonable price, buying eco-logs might be an alternative.

As mentioned . . . wood lying on the ground often requires as much seasoning time -- sometimes longer, sometimes shorter -- than a live tree cut down. Wood that is standing dead may or may not be ready to go -- depends on the moisture, how long it has been dead, etc.
 
Narf said:
She's cooking now! I took your advice with the kiln dried wood and it's up to 400 degrees. Looks like I'll have to purchase some wood for this year and give my cut wood some time to season. I thought cutting up dead laydowns would be good enough, but I guess it still needs time after splitting.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum Narf.

Do yourself a big favor and come on over to the Wood Shed, which is part of hearth.com. You will learn lots about heating with wood and putting wood up. There are many members there with lots of good knowledge.
 
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