do all old stoves smoke when turned down (1980 russo #2 wc)

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piponss

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Dec 14, 2014
28
long island, ny
ok so i still don't have a thermostat for my stove and not sure what temp I'm running at but still after i get my stove hot enough and its been ripping for a while ,, no matter what i put in there its going up,,, but when its ripping through wood and its 80 deg. in my house i want to turn it down,, but when i do it i am closing it slowly ,,,like 1/4 each time i close,,, but the minute i start closing it it starts white smoke out the chimney ,,and then i have to open it for it to go away but then gets way to hot in house again....
am i doing something wrong or is it just time for a new stove,,,, thanks everyone for all the help
 
My old stove was like that too until I started burning dry wood in it. But even then I could only close the air off so much, but still much more than I could with wood that wasn't well seasoned.

And a new stove won't be any better if the wood isn't dry either.
 
was it cut split and covered for those 2 years?
 
its been split but i don't think covered,,, I'm going to get a moisture meter tomorrow so i have proof when i ask for my money back....
i wish i wasn't new at this then i wouldn't be dealing with this but live and learn right?
 
Some stoves are not going to burn very cleanly when turned down, especially if there is no basic attempt at reburn.
 
piponss said:
is there any way wood thats been sitting out for two years won't be dry?
Click to expand...

If its oak or hickory it's probably still not fully dry. It'll burn (inefficiently) in a pre-EPA stove, but it'll bring you to tears if you try burn it in a EPA stove.

TE
 
piponss said:
but isn't that the point of being able to turn it down,,,
1- to burn less wood
2- to turn down the heat output
Click to expand...


Yes, but some stoves do it more efficiently than others. Newer EPA approved stoves have to prove they can burn clean with dry wood. Old stoves can be put together by bubba and his welder.
 
Yes, that is the point, but how well the stove does this is a matter of design. Most stoves from the 70s and early 80s did not have secondary burn. They were not very efficient, but burned hot and therefore could smoke their way through a load of poorly seasoned wood. Modern EPA stoves are much more efficient at clean burning and at delivering more heat into the room. The trade off for this is that they want fully seasoned wood to work at their optimum. The benefits are longer burns, more heat, less wood consumed and much less smoke out the chimney.
 
ok thank guys,, so i got the moisture meter and the funny thing is that all the pieces are around 20% +/-
what should i not burn . and how long does it take to cause a problem in chimney if the wood is wet
 
Well, you have to burn what you've got. Try to mix in dry wood, say pallets or compressed sawdust blocks to lower the moisture content of the load. You can often get pallet wood for free.

Don't choke the fire down as far so your flue stays warm. Check the chimney often for buildup.

Try to get 2, 3 years ahead if possible.
 
Be sure to resplit the wood and test for moisture on the freshly exposed face of the wood. Moisture is never checked on the end grain. Less than 20% = ready to burn.
 
You said white smoke. Are you sure it's not steam? The water vapor is not from moisture in wood, it will generate water vapor when burned correctly just like what you see from your tailpipe when cold enough to condense before the entire exhaust system is heated up. Water vapor disappears as it drifts away from your chimney unlike smoke.
 
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