Worst Creosote I've Ever Seen

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wkpoor said:
fjord said:
Before you take that Magnolia ( ! ) in ( BTW: what's a "Magnolia" stove ?), check your Nashua thoroughly.
An air leak is a good possibility, BUT. Try this: Most of the stoves from the 70's were engineered with either secondary air and/or complex flame/smoke paths to inscrease the amount of BTUs from the stove.
I don't know the Nashua, but the similar Fisher line had a bypass plate that would be used WHEN there was pyrolysis , or a good hot coaled fire.
Check that your Nashua's bypass (if there is one) is not in the closed position. Or,
Take the stove outside, blow the stove out with compressed air or a strong vac in reverse.
So, if the bypass plate(damper) or the internal flame path were blocked (ash, furnace cement, broken firebrick) the exhaust gases from even a hot fire would be cooled before the flue.

For air leaks, dealers have small "smoke bombs" to light in a stove with the flue and air blocked (don't use indoors).

Another appraoch to your creosote dilemma. Give it a try.
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A Magnolia is a cheap US Stove mfg commonly sold at TSC stores. No cat jut secondary burn. I did a thorough check of the Nashua before I brought in plus a real good cleaning with air house and leaf blower hehehehe. You are correct, the Nashua uses a clever smoke path deal before exiting the stove.
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fjod I have the same stove he has and no bypass, it has a simple baffle system that is hollow so air from the blower can go through it. 500 to 600 is nothing to worrry about then with the air turned up, what are the flue temps getting up too with more air?

So we have two baffle systems here: one "simple" the other "clever". I choose both.

When solving a mechanical problem, look at everything with NO bias for a solution; no ASSumptions. It is what is done.

K.I.S.S. is the principle here. Try to poke through the smoke path ( let's not upset Sparky by calling it a "bypass") with a flexible thick wire such as 12 gauge electric snaked though. In one VC Vigilant with a complex smoke path AND bypass, ash and loose furnace cement had blocked one of the passages. Blown air can get through, but it can be blocked for efficient exhaust. Simple no ? Maybe it works, maybe not.

Ask your dealer for a stove smoke bomb.

You're sure that your fires are up to +600 F to reach pyrolysis and coals ?
 
fjord, it is a simple but cleaver baffle, the air travels around a hollow center that blows air through it, I can take a picture for you or draw you one, I was trying to help the guy out. When I cleaned mine out I had to r?each above the baffle and scrape the ash out, yu mentioned lever for the bypass so that is why I said it did not have one. Any thing else wrong with what I posted
 
oldspark said:
fjord, it is a simple but cleaver baffle, the air travels around a hollow center that blows air through it, I can take a picture for you or draw you one, I was trying to help the guy out.
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I told you Sparks, spellcheck is your friend. No pic please.
 
fjord said:
oldspark said:
fjord, it is a simple but cleaver baffle, the air travels around a hollow center that blows air through it, I can take a picture for you or draw you one, I was trying to help the guy out.
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I told you Sparks, spellcheck is your friend. No pic please.
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I thought so!
 
I've had a mirror and flashlight all over the inerds of the stove plus I routinely have swept out the area inside where the outlet is. If there is a blockage or an obstruction it eludes me. Today the stove top to pipe above reducer has been running a 2-1delta. At least its cold enough today but right now its upper 20's and blowing wind and the house is 72 upstairs 82 downstairs.
 
Wooddust said:
Not trying to hijack this but whats everyones thoughts on those creosote burning logs or the chemical sticks I see at the farm n home store....work? Not work?
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1) Not needed if you burn at proper temps and burn seasoned wood
2) Not a replacement for checking and cleaning your chimney on a regular basis
3) They work . . . but so does TSP which seems to be the main "ingredient" . . . and this is available cheaper at your hardware store . . . also they seem to be more useful in converting the really bad creosote to "better" creosote which can be more easily removed
 
wkpoor said:
I just discovered what may be what I thought could be the problem. With an IR thermometer I measured reducer temp vs pipe temp. There is over 100 degree difference just 6" above the reducer and its get cooler from here on up. Thats were I'm loosing the heat and explains the cool pipe above.
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No way just reducing the diameter causes this drop in temperature. I think you have a leak at the reducer.
 
CarbonNeutral said:
wkpoor said:
I just discovered what may be what I thought could be the problem. With an IR thermometer I measured reducer temp vs pipe temp. There is over 100 degree difference just 6" above the reducer and its get cooler from here on up. Thats were I'm loosing the heat and explains the cool pipe above.
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No way just reducing the diameter causes this drop in temperature. I think you have a leak at the reducer.
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I still would like to see him do a smoke test.
 
OldSpark, I think you or someone said the smoke test needs to be done outside. At 500lbs if that stove is moved then another one will sit in its place. As for a leak at the reducer, since there is a restriction there it might be augmenting the slip joints. If I can find a solid 8"90 that may be something cheap and easy to try.
 
wkpoor said:
OldSpark, I think you or someone said the smoke test needs to be done outside. At 500lbs if that stove is moved then another one will sit in its place. As for a leak at the reducer, since there is a restriction there it might be augmenting the slip joints. If I can find a solid 8"90 that may be something cheap and easy to try.
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I have no idea why a smoke test would have to be done outside, take a smoldering punk or incense stick or damp match and go around the area in question to see if it pulls in any smoke, that's all there is to it.
 
oldspark said:
wkpoor said:
OldSpark, I think you or someone said the smoke test needs to be done outside. At 500lbs if that stove is moved then another one will sit in its place. As for a leak at the reducer, since there is a restriction there it might be augmenting the slip joints. If I can find a solid 8"90 that may be something cheap and easy to try.
Click to expand...
I have no idea why a smoke test would have to be done outside, take a smoldering punk or incense stick or damp match and go around the area in question to see if it pulls in any smoke, that's all there is to it.
Click to expand...

For big leaks and cracks the incense stick a.k.a "punk" ( you smoking something funny Sparky ?) does the job. The small "smoke bomb" is used for those smaller leaks and cracks that may not suck in air enough to be seen.
Smoke bombs were used by some manufacturers to QC their stoves before leaving the plant ( once common for the original VC ). It puts out enough smoke that it will get into a home.
Dealers use them for rebuilds and repairs.

Another method is a strong light in the stove in a dark room; not as reliable as the smoke bomb.
 
fjord said:
oldspark said:
wkpoor said:
OldSpark, I think you or someone said the smoke test needs to be done outside. At 500lbs if that stove is moved then another one will sit in its place. As for a leak at the reducer, since there is a restriction there it might be augmenting the slip joints. If I can find a solid 8"90 that may be something cheap and easy to try.
Click to expand...
I have no idea why a smoke test would have to be done outside, take a smoldering punk or incense stick or damp match and go around the area in question to see if it pulls in any smoke, that's all there is to it.
Click to expand...

For big leaks and cracks the incense stick a.k.a "punk" ( you smoking something funny Sparky ?) does the job. The small "smoke bomb" is used for those smaller leaks and cracks that may not suck in air enough to be seen.
Smoke bombs were used by some manufacturers to QC their stoves before leaving the plant ( once common for the original VC ). It puts out enough smoke that it will get into a home.
Dealers use them for rebuilds and repairs.

Another method is a strong light in the stove in a dark room; not as reliable as the smoke bomb.
Click to expand...
I would say with the dramatic drop in temp he is talking about he has a good sized leak.
 
This flue temp thing has puzzled me since the day I first fired up the old Nashua. I immediate fell in love with the heat output but don't much care for the creosote problem. Jeeze, if I have creosote burning kiln dried wood then there is a serious problem that should be rather easy to identify. I agree OldSpark, this should be a leak that would be easy to spot with the naked eye, but its not. Another odd thing is the buildup is even all the way up. You might think the top of the chimney to be worse but it isn't. In fact from the reducer all the way its pretty even. Hint hint to myself, its got to be something with that reducer or just the fact that its there.
 
I just went down and counted 11 joints in the stove pipe not counting the stove connection and thimble connection. Then I took a flame thrower and put it near a joint. The flame is pulled in every joint I put it near. So yes cool room air is getting pulled in. However this is the same pipe I used on a different stove (minus the adapter) and I was able run that pipe right to cherry red if I wasn't careful. Now I couldn't heat that same pipe to 500 even if the stove top was a 1000 degrees. With the Old stove, pipe temp run almost the same as stove top. Man this is puzzling.
 
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