Moved stove - problems with coals now

This is good info, I am planning on installing a damper on our stove this weekend. It continuously wants to over fire, and I always have a mass of large coals in the morning buried in ash so as to not give off any useful heat. I tried reducing the secondary opening, which seemed to help a bit but the results would be mixed...I'm hoping the damper will help with both problems.

My theory is that there is so much air that the large coals burn out on the outside and then ash up very quickly, insulating themselves. Thus you get a cold stove full of hidden large coals. By reducing the air flow, the coals burn slower and deeper. Just a wild uneducated guess, but we'll see if my adding a damper has the same results.

Ian

Woohoo! I think we're on to something. I picked up a damper on the way home and installed it. So far fire is far more controlled, we'll see what kind of coals I have left in the morning.

Ian

kennyp2339 said:

Very nice... Good luck thislilfishy

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Haha, I should say I think "You're" on to something Kenny. I've just put some fresh splits in for the night on top of a bed of coals....usually this results in very near over fire temps in minutes. My secondary burn lasted two hours with flue temps at 600 and stove temp at 550-600z Usually I get a secondary burn of 45 minutes flat followed by a blazing inferno at 750 stove top for half an hour then sub 400 temps for a bit from a huge bed of coals. We'll see what happens in the morning this time.

Boo...no love. Same results, perhaps even more solid chunks under the ash. Looks like I'll be experimenting with the flue and draft controls to get it just right. In the end I am still very happy to be able to control my stove temps. I definitely needed a damper...no more 700+ degree stove top temps followed by cold burning coals for me! Flue and stove top temps stayed within 50 degrees of each other instead of my flue raging 100+ degrees higher then the stove top.

Ian

Ian

You may also have a wet wood problem. How long has your wood been split and do you top cover?

Is yours also a basement install?

kennyp2339 said:

I still and always have shut my air control all the way down on my stove, the damper that was added to the chimney pipe created enough resistance to slow the natural draft while the stove was running.. Without the damper in the smoke pipe and with my stove air shut down there was still a considerable amount of draw, my thinking is because on modern stoves the design of the air control will not allow a full air shut down, plus the secondary air system has Fixed noncontrollable air inlets unless you tape them or seal them off manually

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I have a True North in the basement and will have similar behavior when it is really really cold in Jan/Feb. Have often wished to try limiting the tube air.
Or investigate the air control "closed" is truly "closed". Except for real cold that air control is an inch from closed. 19 feet of chimney.
House was air sealed as part of energy certification but with replacing ceilings I'm finding places/leaks they never would have found and some that they did but their fix really didn't. I think they got frustrated and fixed the door vacuum readings.

fire_man said:

Ian

You may also have a wet wood problem. How long has your wood been split and do you top cover?

Is yours also a basement install?

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No, but I have about 25' of chimney straight up through the rough with very high winds in our area (in the middle of a wind farm). My wood is 12-15%. All if it stored indoors for the last 3 or more years(lucky find). No it's just a matter of getting the burn just right....

Ian