IM NOT AFRAID TO ASK....QUICKIE HELP

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ladihusky@yahoo.com

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Feb 4, 2009
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I've met my match.....new stove (old).....learn time (yes not burn time) is frustrating as I had the other stove licked (course the amazing draft helped tremendously). I am gonna post pictures but the kids have my digital on a vacation. Here it is. My burn time on this stove at night is round 7 hours (not bad eh?). It's the smoke out the door problem when loading. I open the roundi things on the back full bore, then I open up the damper on pipe wide open, then i crack one of the doors (right only ever so much, cuz wala smoke) and if i am not quick as lightening smoke comes out, not a lot but enough I set the fire detector in that room off, oooooooh lets say I woke a 5 year old last night. I can not open the other bifold door at all or it pours out, so naturally that one stays shut, its the left door that stays shut when loading. Okay.....now how in gods name are these stoves used as fireplaces if you cant open the doors... Now that said, I burn big loads and shut it down semi tight for longer burns at night, yeh? I need my sleep and wooo hooo this is amazing. I know I have good draft, you can hear that thing roaring when door are locked down and dampers are open, it rours. So what am I doing wrong? I have even waited a lil of 3 minutes, just letting it go with door cracked. Is it just me/stove equation right now or am I doing something wrong.

annie
 
Is there a cap on the top of your chimney? If this smoking in the house deal is new or getting worse since the chimney was last cleaned or installed, then it sounds like the cap could be plugged.

pen
 
smoking is a chimney problem 85% of the time. Did you reduce the breech on the stove when installed? Round things on the back........is this a Garrison stove by any chance?? Have followed your saga, but I don't recall you posting the name of the stove yet. What stove did you install??
 
She did mention Garrison in another thread, yes.
 
To much air withlittle draft. Open the damper first to let the draft get going then open the air and it will have a way out. Wait until you see good strong flames before cracking door. The other thing to do is wait for a good bed of coals before opening door. Always open damper first.

This assumes you checked the cap to see if it is plugged.
 
I had exactly the same problem with my Englander after about 3 months of use. Using the recommendations to check the cap on here, I climbed on the roof and was amazed. The cap was 80% clogged with goo....I wired brushed it well and promptly bought the items to sweep the chimney. The smoke problem was eliminated after this. Check that cap.
 
k.....stove, 8 inch pipe comes out back of stove, damper up high, reducer to a 6" elbow, 6 inch into met. abest. pipe, out the wall, and up 14 feet. I can't check the cap right now, too much snow, it looks clear but black. Pipe is only 6 months old, all installed new and I burn hot, well seasoned wood or bio brick. I had today a lil drop on the granite floor of what looks like creosoot, wet, although we got heavy rains last night. I have it shut down to cool pipes down and open bottom cap to look up. I cant get up there till spring, but i can tell I got all sorts of stuff blowing out and has landed on the snow, its all over the place, thought this was a lil abnormal. The draft is incredible when stove is roaring, it actually sounds like a train? i'm baffled. this smoke crap is new issue. as long as i only open the one door, im good, BUT I WANNA OPEN BOTH, im gready i guess, Is it true if i let it burn and rage that it will clear if in fact it is plugged, i can't get up there till spring.
 
Annie, Is this a Garrison stove that you are using? If it is there is something wrong. My old Garrison 2 that I still have came with a firescreen that I would use when burning with the doors open. I can't for the life of me find my old manual but I think I used to close the rear air controls when I opened the doors since they forced the draft from the rear to the front of the stove. I can't remeber for sure though I have not used it since the mid 80's wort a try though. Jim
 
Annie, I asked the better half, (the one who remembers things). And she said that when the doors were open and the screen was being used that the draft controls were both in the closed position. I love that old stove it has the optional soapstone for the top and firescreen and still looks like new and boy would it throw some heat. I hope to be able to use it again in a cabin or workshop I can't bear to sell it they were nice stoves. Jim
 
If yuur getting smoke and your draft sounds like a freight train your have a seriouse creasote problem. The stuff on the snow is most likly creasote do to the freight train burning it self out(chimeny fires sound like a freght train)good draft sounds like a sucking sound .let it cool down and hav it checked.burn safe Hope all works out
 
birdladiusa said:
k.....stove, 8 inch pipe comes out back of stove, damper up high, reducer to a 6" elbow, 6 inch into met. abest. pipe, out the wall, and up 14 feet. I can't check the cap right now, too much snow, it looks clear but black. Pipe is only 6 months old, all installed new and I burn hot, well seasoned wood or bio brick. I had today a lil drop on the granite floor of what looks like creosoot, wet, although we got heavy rains last night. I have it shut down to cool pipes down and open bottom cap to look up. I cant get up there till spring, but i can tell I got all sorts of stuff blowing out and has landed on the snow, its all over the place, thought this was a lil abnormal. The draft is incredible when stove is roaring, it actually sounds like a train? i'm baffled. this smoke crap is new issue. as long as i only open the one door, im good, BUT I WANNA OPEN BOTH, im gready i guess, Is it true if i let it burn and rage that it will clear if in fact it is plugged, i can't get up there till spring.
Click to expand...

your problem may be 8 inch pipe down to 6 inch that is a no no and may not be fixable without a new stove or to replace the chimney
 
may be negative pressure as well , the 8 to 6 decrease is a definate "no-no" however, to see if its negative pressure , crack a window close to the stove about 2 to 3 miniutes before cracking open the stove door and see id smoke is less apt to come out , if so then negative pressure buildup in the home is the cause, exascerbated by the shrinking of the flue. stoves designed for an 8 inch flue shouldnt be connected to a smaller diameter flue.
 
Hmmm...I am a newb myself, but here goes.

i have an Opel II fireplace with about 16' of chimney (with 2 30 degree elbows), and after many conversations with the company (RSF), they mentioned that was cutting it close for minimum length of chimney...

I too get smoke even if I open just 1 door all the way...with two, forget it--wife yells at me. i load wood in thru 1 door at a time and it works great...kind of the reason i chose a 2 door unit based upon my experiences with a heatilator prior to this unit. I make sure I always have one door closed and load from the other door open. Depending on the direction of the flame, I will even latch my right door if I stoke from the left, since if both doors are open even just a bit, I get smoke...BIG TIME.

Are you sure you have enough height on your chimney for your unit? If not, just load with 1 door open at a time...I may add another foot or two of chimney soon, but still debating it.

I load just like you do, with the left closed (tightly with a gloved hand on it, if need be) 90% of the time....
 
Okay, now I am baffled. K I thought it was okay to run down to a six. apparently not. The roaring sound is in the stove, not the pipe, freight train sound. ive got it shut down, but inspector annie is going to be nosi today, pullin pipes in house, bottom cap outside and running a brush on a pipe up it. Yes, I can get from top down, im going bottom up. If it is a plug in cap, how often do I have to clean it, or will it correct itself, or do i have to clean it couple times a winter? need to know the answer to that one.
 
The cap is the coldest part of the chimney and so most likely to build up crud. You won't be able to clean the cap with a bottom-up cleaning and it is not going to clean itself unless you have a chimney fire.
 
8" down to 6" is a 50% reduction in volume, thats the start of your smoke problem. Once again Annie, what is the name of your new stove?????????????
 
birdladiusa said:
Okay, now I am baffled. K I thought it was okay to run down to a six. apparently not. The roaring sound is in the stove, not the pipe, freight train sound. ive got it shut down, but inspector annie is going to be nosi today, pullin pipes in house, bottom cap outside and running a brush on a pipe up it. Yes, I can get from top down, im going bottom up. If it is a plug in cap, how often do I have to clean it, or will it correct itself, or do i have to clean it couple times a winter? need to know the answer to that one.
Click to expand...

what kind of stove do you have and how much wood you put threw it with the chimney reduction it may force you to clean it more to.
 
NOW WHAT.....PIPE and CAP empty, lil brown dust, son cleaned pipe with wire brush and we got a good look at the cap, how u ask, cuz its in my sink, yes he nocked it off. BUT I can tell you what it might be, don't laugh at me, picture this pipe out the stove (corner thingy) next piece, straight piece....STOP DONT GO ANY FURTHER. it separated about 4, maybe 5 inches up the seam, yes, separated. Last night we put it all together with self tapping screws, that puppy aint never commin appart. hahahahahaha aint, no offense people from maine.

Now for all you that are now saying, holy chit, didn't she screw that down....I take the fifth, but what I can you is what dumb*** designed these pipes, gotta be a ***. All my pipe is mostly the seamless, works awesum. I guess I have to be thankful for two things..

1. Unbelievable draft - kept smoke out of house; and
2. Kids that do dumb ****, I can always depend on them.

I can not fire it up till I yet again hit the hardware store for more screws. Hopefully this is what it was, if not I'll be back to ask. Pray for me.
 
After all this, we need pic of the stove.
Sounds like things have worked out ok for you...glad it came together.
 
If you had a 4"-5" split seam that is probably part of the problem . I have and others have reduced a 8" outlet down to 6". In oreder for that to work as planned every thing else with the chimney has to be perfect no leaks coming in from anyplace other than the stove.
 
Finally was able to get up on my roof today, 40* and no more snow on the roof. My chimney cap was a little bit gunked up. The liner had a thin layer of dusty stuff on it. So I pulled off the cap and cleaned it with a wire brush. I will clean the chimney at the end of the year. Cleaning the cap improved my draft.
 
UNBELIVEABLE-

All the return posters that are trying to help her by asking ???'s for a better understanding of what she's dealing with. And all she does is post senseless drivel about her half azz crapy stove setup. Why don't she take the time to reply to some of these posters questions?

Oh I know- it's all about her
 
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