jtp10181 said:Tink said:
Thats what my customers always tell me...
Then they call back a few days later and tell me I was right :cheese:
From the other info you posted about the bubbles coming out, sounds like a classic case of wet wood.[/quot
Okaaayyyy! Jtp was correctamundo. Chimney mesh surrounding the top umbrella like part was TOTALLY Clogged. I unclogged it, and fireplace ran like a charm, no stink, great flames! Unfortunately, after about 4 or 5 hours of burning and nicely warming the house, the indoor air is once again eye-burning, and fire burning crappy.
I wonder if this chimney is clogged up again already????? I can't believe this.
I once loved this stove, and now I am questioning that.
help with Heritage smoking problem please
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jtp10181
Minister of Fire
It would be pretty hard to clog it up again in 4 hours unless you are burning wet towels in there with your wood.
If you wood is wet though you will get lower stack temps and have a higher tendancy for smoke leakage.
Bottom line is, you need some better wood.
At once time you said you stack rounds not splits? Is the wood not split at all? How large are these rounds? If you are burning some splits, how long have they actually be split and stacked?
If you wood is wet though you will get lower stack temps and have a higher tendancy for smoke leakage.
Bottom line is, you need some better wood.
At once time you said you stack rounds not splits? Is the wood not split at all? How large are these rounds? If you are burning some splits, how long have they actually be split and stacked?
okay just got back in tyhe house from climbing on an icy roof at 9pm in sub freezing temps. There isn't a clog on the top of the chimney ~yet~, it's pretty toasty in the house, and the eye-burning issue seems to have stopped.
JTP, hubby thinks it's okay to have big rounds sit for a year. The big splits,if you measure the diameter of the logs are typically ten to twelve inches, length of the splits 20 inches. Now we are staking oak rounds up to 10 inches across, but mostly somewhat smaller than that. If I want to stack splits in order to dry them, I'll have to split them, and frankly, I don't have the testicles in order to be ab le to do that.
Anyone got some spares to loan me?
JTP, hubby thinks it's okay to have big rounds sit for a year. The big splits,if you measure the diameter of the logs are typically ten to twelve inches, length of the splits 20 inches. Now we are staking oak rounds up to 10 inches across, but mostly somewhat smaller than that. If I want to stack splits in order to dry them, I'll have to split them, and frankly, I don't have the testicles in order to be ab le to do that.
Anyone got some spares to loan me?
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
jtp10181
Minister of Fire
Ok... I still can't figure out whats going on with your wood. Do you split it just before burning it?
Hubby is wrong, full rounds do not dry out well unless they are fairly small, 4" or less I would guess. Splits should be split to 6" at most and stacked to dry for at least a year for hardwoods, 2 years if possible. The full round will keep moisture on the inside and never really dry out fully unless split.
If you get some better wood you will noticed a huge performance increase with the stove. Until you have good wood its hard to tell if you have other problems or not.
Hubby is wrong, full rounds do not dry out well unless they are fairly small, 4" or less I would guess. Splits should be split to 6" at most and stacked to dry for at least a year for hardwoods, 2 years if possible. The full round will keep moisture on the inside and never really dry out fully unless split.
If you get some better wood you will noticed a huge performance increase with the stove. Until you have good wood its hard to tell if you have other problems or not.
tink is there a manual draft damper on the stove pipe? Probably not, but I thought it best to eliminate it as a possibility.
Yes, JTP, Hubby splits it just before stacking a weeks' worth of firewood kept easily accessible in the woodshed. I showed your post to hubby, he retorted that this wood is from trees killed from wildfire several years ago, and then partly rotted, then brought into the woodshed inrounds and stacked to dry for a year in the super low humidity and baking heat of this high desert area. Also none of the oak wood has bigger trunks than about 6 - 7 inches. I'd still like him to split it.
The cleanout of the top of the chimney helped immensely.... the fireplace is only smelly when it has burnt really low and the draft slows down. I either add some more wood or open the air intake vent all the way to raise the temp and finish off the coals.
BeGreen, there is no draft damper on the stove pipe. There was on the one we had for the antique, but we didn't have any other way to control that one.
You guys are the best.... thanks SO much for all the help here.
The cleanout of the top of the chimney helped immensely.... the fireplace is only smelly when it has burnt really low and the draft slows down. I either add some more wood or open the air intake vent all the way to raise the temp and finish off the coals.
BeGreen, there is no draft damper on the stove pipe. There was on the one we had for the antique, but we didn't have any other way to control that one.
You guys are the best.... thanks SO much for all the help here.
OK, no damper, one more thing off the list.
How did the cap look? Was it badly creosoted? If yes, it's a sign that the wood is not dry and/or the stove is being run too cool. A modern stove should have a clean cap if the stove is run correctly. It could be that the wood has not dried in the middle if it hasn't been split. It's worth checking and only takes a minute. The sap bubbling sounds suspicious. Does the sap look like spit and is it sizzling on the ends of the logs? If yes, that's moisture.
You have a thermometer on the stove top right? What is the target temperature that you aim for burning and getting the stove hot? Your stove prefers a hot fire, that is allowed to die down naturally. Don't let it smolder. You want to burn hot and clean, then let it die down before starting the cycle again. The soapstone will even out the temperature.
How did the cap look? Was it badly creosoted? If yes, it's a sign that the wood is not dry and/or the stove is being run too cool. A modern stove should have a clean cap if the stove is run correctly. It could be that the wood has not dried in the middle if it hasn't been split. It's worth checking and only takes a minute. The sap bubbling sounds suspicious. Does the sap look like spit and is it sizzling on the ends of the logs? If yes, that's moisture.
You have a thermometer on the stove top right? What is the target temperature that you aim for burning and getting the stove hot? Your stove prefers a hot fire, that is allowed to die down naturally. Don't let it smolder. You want to burn hot and clean, then let it die down before starting the cycle again. The soapstone will even out the temperature.
Hi Begreen,
Thanks for the reply. When I took the cap off, it was covered/clogged with fluffy black sooty stuff which knocked off easily, but left black gummy gunk on the surface of the metal. Oooky.
Yep. I discussed the liquid bubbling at the ends of the splits put in the stove, but not all pieces do this, in fact plenty of them don't. I pointed this out to hubby, but he says, "That's not moisture, it's sap". Okaaaaaayyyyyy.
I'll be picking up a stove thermometer this week at a stove shop in town. Yes, the stove "likes" to run hot. It's stinky problem is mostly non-existant when it's running hot. It's just when it's smoldering or coals dying out that it's smelly. Most other people can't smell it, but a girlfriend came over not too long ago, and she asked immediately,
"Ooh. What is that stinky smell?"
I guess it's a girl thing. I am wondering if it is indeed the soapstone outgassing. I hope it won't be doing this eachyear......
Thanks for the reply. When I took the cap off, it was covered/clogged with fluffy black sooty stuff which knocked off easily, but left black gummy gunk on the surface of the metal. Oooky.
Yep. I discussed the liquid bubbling at the ends of the splits put in the stove, but not all pieces do this, in fact plenty of them don't. I pointed this out to hubby, but he says, "That's not moisture, it's sap". Okaaaaaayyyyyy.
I'll be picking up a stove thermometer this week at a stove shop in town. Yes, the stove "likes" to run hot. It's stinky problem is mostly non-existant when it's running hot. It's just when it's smoldering or coals dying out that it's smelly. Most other people can't smell it, but a girlfriend came over not too long ago, and she asked immediately,
"Ooh. What is that stinky smell?"
I guess it's a girl thing. I am wondering if it is indeed the soapstone outgassing. I hope it won't be doing this eachyear......
Can you post some pictures of the stove and the flue? Maybe there is a visual clue that we are missing.
jtp10181
Minister of Fire
BeGreen, I don't think there is anything wrong except the bad wood, trust me 
You guys think about things too hard. Being that I deal with this ALL winter I can tell you 95% of all the problems with my customers wood units is the wood they burn.
Ok, now you brought up another topic, the wood is rotting. This is also known as being "punky". Punky wood burns very low energy. You wont get good stack temps with punky wood and have a higher tendency for smoke back in the house. So now I know you have unseasoned and rotting wood! Yeah... get some new wood.
I would start right now splitting and stacking wood for NEXT year. Anything rotting should be put aside. Next year start off with the seasoned wood that's been split all summer, then once you get it going you can toss in some punky wood just to use it up.
For this year do what you have to do to stay warm but I would be thinking about next year for the wood situation. Get your chimney swept and inspected this summer, you will have some good buildup from what you have described on the cap.
If you really want to see how much moisture is in your wood get one of those cheapo meters, would be interesting to see. If it does happen to be dried out enough I think the rot would be causing problems as well.
Good to hear its at least running well most of the time (when hot) for now.
You guys think about things too hard. Being that I deal with this ALL winter I can tell you 95% of all the problems with my customers wood units is the wood they burn.
Ok, now you brought up another topic, the wood is rotting. This is also known as being "punky". Punky wood burns very low energy. You wont get good stack temps with punky wood and have a higher tendency for smoke back in the house. So now I know you have unseasoned and rotting wood! Yeah... get some new wood.
I would start right now splitting and stacking wood for NEXT year. Anything rotting should be put aside. Next year start off with the seasoned wood that's been split all summer, then once you get it going you can toss in some punky wood just to use it up.
For this year do what you have to do to stay warm but I would be thinking about next year for the wood situation. Get your chimney swept and inspected this summer, you will have some good buildup from what you have described on the cap.
If you really want to see how much moisture is in your wood get one of those cheapo meters, would be interesting to see. If it does happen to be dried out enough I think the rot would be causing problems as well.
Good to hear its at least running well most of the time (when hot) for now.
Hi guys,
We are collecting oak and stacking it for next year and have been doing that for a while. Yes, I think the punky and not completely dried out wood is the trouble. Some wood burns great, other wood burns badly and I can't turn the air intake lever "down" without the stove putting out stink into the living room. So, I am just burning at nearly wide open and just burning lots of wood.
I'll try to persuade hubby to split the wood.......
I do think that some of this smell was coming out of the stone.... I smelled the stone and sure enough, it was that smell.
We are collecting oak and stacking it for next year and have been doing that for a while. Yes, I think the punky and not completely dried out wood is the trouble. Some wood burns great, other wood burns badly and I can't turn the air intake lever "down" without the stove putting out stink into the living room. So, I am just burning at nearly wide open and just burning lots of wood.
I'll try to persuade hubby to split the wood.......
I do think that some of this smell was coming out of the stone.... I smelled the stone and sure enough, it was that smell.
Sounds like you are getting the hang of it Tink. You'll start to know the wood you are burning by observation. Sometimes you can tell a wet log from a dry one by weight. If you pick up two similar sized rounds of the same type of wood and one is heavy while the other is not, split the heavy one and feel the freshly exposed wood grain against your face. I'll bet it's cool and damp.
LOL
I actually did look down the chute for the attached ooky stuff, but didn't see much. I think that likely alot of this stuff would have floated away but was caught by the screen there on the top, that is there to keep those little chimney swifts out of the chimney. I think if the screen was a little larger sized, lots of that stuff wouldn't have been making trouble.
We will indeed remove the cap and swe::ep the living daylights out of that chimney in the spring.
It also seems as though the stink is definitely lessening. In retrospect, I seriously wonder if the stink that was driving me crazy was a combination of the stone curing and breaking in coupled with the stink from crummy wood.
Just today we had a neighbor farmer come over to talk about hay equipment, and in the course of the conversation, mentioned that he had to get home and feed the fire. He was sitting about 8 feet away from the stove, and I told him that our fire had been out for about an hour when he walked in the door, about half an hour before he made the comment. He got up and looked at the front of the stove, and was amazed.... at how the stove could still be putting out so much heat. We said, "Hearthstone soapstone stove", the soapstone is amazing."
So, the love affair is back on.
I actually did look down the chute for the attached ooky stuff, but didn't see much. I think that likely alot of this stuff would have floated away but was caught by the screen there on the top, that is there to keep those little chimney swifts out of the chimney. I think if the screen was a little larger sized, lots of that stuff wouldn't have been making trouble.
We will indeed remove the cap and swe::ep the living daylights out of that chimney in the spring.
It also seems as though the stink is definitely lessening. In retrospect, I seriously wonder if the stink that was driving me crazy was a combination of the stone curing and breaking in coupled with the stink from crummy wood.
Just today we had a neighbor farmer come over to talk about hay equipment, and in the course of the conversation, mentioned that he had to get home and feed the fire. He was sitting about 8 feet away from the stove, and I told him that our fire had been out for about an hour when he walked in the door, about half an hour before he made the comment. He got up and looked at the front of the stove, and was amazed.... at how the stove could still be putting out so much heat. We said, "Hearthstone soapstone stove", the soapstone is amazing."
So, the love affair is back on.
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