Jotul F400 Castine, backdrafting

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ashfarm

New Member
Apr 13, 2007
10
Sullivan County, NH
I have a Jotul F400 Castine that is 3 years old in the kitchen of my 1840's home that is by no means airtight.. This past summer the clay tile liners were removed from our wood stove flue and an insulated Olympia brand Armor flex 304 alloy stainless steel Heavy Flex chimney liner was installed. There is now a metal cap on top of the chimney outside.
At night before retiring, I place a few logs in the wood stove, make sure they are burning bright and damp the Jotul as far down as it can go. The fireplace fire is pretty much done and the furnace gets turned off. Not much wind outside to cause a backdraft... Ever since we had the liner installed, I get a backdraft at night and the smell of smoke wafting up to my bedroom wakes me up and is so bad I have to open a window.. Last night I sat in front of the wood stove and watched - every few seconds a flame inside the stove would flare up, die down and then a puff of smoke would escape from the metal flue just where it meets the wood stove pipe. What the heck is this all about? I thought I 'd get some opinions before I call the guys who installed the liner....Thanx and Happy Turkey Day!
 
That is odd, normally an insulated liner will improve the draft considerably. The first thing to do is to check the cap screen to be sure it isn't plugging up. If the cap is high up, try using binoculars to inspect it.

The second possibility here is that the wood being burned this year is not fully seasoned and the fire needs more air or draft to get going.

If it is the new liner, then I would first suspect the stove connection, especially it is rear-vented. Check to make sure the connector is going uphill at all points. How tall is this flue? Is the Castine top or rear vented?

Can you add your location info to your profile so that it shows up? Also, can you add your stove to your signature in your control panel settings?
 
I would also be curious about the stove top temp..... do you have a thermometer?
 
The liner should be properly sealed to the stove. There should be no way for smoke to escape. Use stove cement at the joints. How far down do you mean by 'all the way' when you say you damp down the stove? Did I understand correct that you also have an open fireplace in the house?
 
BeGreen said:
That is odd, normally an insulated liner will improve the draft considerably. The first thing to do is to check the cap screen to be sure it isn't plugging up. If the cap is high up, try using binoculars to inspect it.

The second possibility here is that the wood being burned this year is not fully seasoned and the fire needs more air or draft to get going.

If it is the new liner, then I would first suspect the stove connection, especially it is rear-vented. Check to make sure the connector is going uphill at all points. How tall is this flue? Is the Castine top or rear vented?

Can you add your location info to your profile so that it shows up? Also, can you add your stove to your signature in your control panel settings?

Thanks for the suggestions - the wood was seasoned for 6 months and brought in dry. The Castine is rear vented. The connector is going uphill at all points. I do not know the height of the flue. I am not going to damp it all the way down tonight. That might have been the problem. Thank you!
 
Yeah try 1/4 from fully left. My Castine will smoke bad if I choke it down all the way. Of course this has so much to do with each particular installation as everyone's flue and draft is different.
 
jotulguy said:
I would also be curious about the stove top temp..... do you have a thermometer?

Yes, I have a stove top thermometer. I try to burn between 200-300, overnight. Hotter during the day.
 
cycloxer said:
The liner should be properly sealed to the stove. There should be no way for smoke to escape. Use stove cement at the joints. How far down do you mean by 'all the way' when you say you damp down the stove? Did I understand correct that you also have an open fireplace in the house?

Does the liner actually go from the chimney flue into the stovepipe and right into the back of the stove or is the liner just in the chimney flue? I don't seem to remember that they put the liner in the stovepipe in the house but I could have missed that.

Should the stovepipe be properly sealed to the stove with stove cement? The installer never mentioned this (nor did he do it) and we have had two different chimney sweeps come through in the last two years and neither one of them mentioned it either.

When I damp the stove down at night I push the control lever all the way to the left. I think maybe I have been damping it down too much and will try burning a bit hotter tonight.

Yes, we have an open fireplace in the next room, different chimney.

Thank you for all of your help....
 
Does your stove have a cat or tubes?
Sounds like smoke is being built up in the stove and being set off under pressure by a cat.
 
ashfarm said:
HotCoals said:
Does your stove have a cat or tubes?
Sounds like smoke is being built up in the stove and being set off under pressure by a cat.

Educate me, please - what is a cat and tubes?

I looked your stove up and it does not have a catalytic combuster .
Does not say it has secondary burn tubes either but it may have..don't know.
Here is some links to your stove.
http://www.jotul.com/en-us/wwwjotulus/Main-menu/Products/Wood/Wood-stoves/Jotul-F-400-Castine/
http://www.wiseheat.com/wood-stoves/Jotul_F_400_Castine
 
I was reading some of the reviews and it dose seem you have secondary burn tubes.
I bet the smoke is building up when you shut her down for the night and then the tubes set it off when it's under pressure and the results can't get up and out the chimney fast enough.
Maybe that is now because of the smaller chimney run?

I have never ran a tube stove so someone that has could help you out better.
I know a cat stove can do what it is that you're talking about.
 
ashfarm said:
cycloxer said:
The liner should be properly sealed to the stove. There should be no way for smoke to escape. Use stove cement at the joints. How far down do you mean by 'all the way' when you say you damp down the stove? Did I understand correct that you also have an open fireplace in the house?

Does the liner actually go from the chimney flue into the stovepipe and right into the back of the stove or is the liner just in the chimney flue? I don't seem to remember that they put the liner in the stovepipe in the house but I could have missed that.

Should the stovepipe be properly sealed to the stove with stove cement? The installer never mentioned this (nor did he do it) and we have had two different chimney sweeps come through in the last two years and neither one of them mentioned it either.

When I damp the stove down at night I push the control lever all the way to the left. I think maybe I have been damping it down too much and will try burning a bit hotter tonight.

Yes, we have an open fireplace in the next room, different chimney.

Thank you for all of your help....

The shortest answer to your questions may be to take a picture or two of the stove flue connection to the liner. We need to understand how it's connected. It does sound like the stove is running cool. The lowest ours ran was 400-450F on the stove top, unless the coal bed was dying down.
 
ashfarm said:
cycloxer said:
The liner should be properly sealed to the stove. There should be no way for smoke to escape. Use stove cement at the joints. How far down do you mean by 'all the way' when you say you damp down the stove? Did I understand correct that you also have an open fireplace in the house?

Does the liner actually go from the chimney flue into the stovepipe and right into the back of the stove or is the liner just in the chimney flue? I don't seem to remember that they put the liner in the stovepipe in the house but I could have missed that.

Should the stovepipe be properly sealed to the stove with stove cement? The installer never mentioned this (nor did he do it) and we have had two different chimney sweeps come through in the last two years and neither one of them mentioned it either.

When I damp the stove down at night I push the control lever all the way to the left. I think maybe I have been damping it down too much and will try burning a bit hotter tonight.

Yes, we have an open fireplace in the next room, different chimney.

Thank you for all of your help....

We need to understand how it's connected. Is there a short piece of stove pipe connected to a tee that connects to the liner? The shortest answer to your questions may be to take a picture or two of the stove flue connection to the liner and post them here. Is the chimney one or two stories tall?

It does sound like the stove is running cool. The lowest ours ran was 400-450F, unless the coal bed was dying down. Giving the fire a bit more air sounds like a good idea. What kind of wood are you burning this season?
 
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