Is fire supposed to stop roaring when you lock the latch???

oldspark said:

"The chimney height might not be perfect but its within operating height" It's 13 feet with two 90's and an oversize flue, IMHO that does not fall into specs, even if his wood is prime I dont think he will ever be happy with how the stove works. Even if he puts 45's in there and a liner it will be barely good enough, but you never know until you try it.

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No its not ideal but the stove will work ...
Look at his setup, it does appear to have some rise .. not perfect of course but he should be able to get something ...
My stove works fine with 13 ft would it be better with 20 absolutely..

But look at his question... Why does it stop roaring when I close the door.... It seems to me that he is an inexperienced burner.... The only stove I had that would "roar" and not really was a down draft harman with the afterburner chamber..lol
His setup is not ideal but he does have a liner somewhere he stated .. which we all agree he should definitely use.. I think that he in inexperienced with the stove he is using ....as well as not having the perfect setup... Just a guess could be wrong

Sure hope that liner he has in the garage is rated for a wood stove.............

Iceman-I am not disagreeing with you I just think it is very marginal, my old chimney was taller and a better sized liner than his and it did not work that good, trying it first is the way to go, I am surprised yours works that well for as short as it is.
Shari-you and me both.

I don't see a direct answer to the question in the title of this thread, so here goes - yes, I think it is supposed to stop roaring. I hope so because mine does.

Wood Duck said:

I don't see a direct answer to the question in the title of this thread, so here goes - yes, I think it is supposed to stop roaring. I hope so because mine does.

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Good point, I was going after it's not getting as hot as I would like it to be.

So a MM maybe to make sure the wood is dry and try some "store bought wood" or scrap lumber pieces to see if he can get it up to a better temp, thermometer on the flue and stack would be of help also.

Lewisthepilgrim said:

ok so I'm having an issue. I've got the fire ROARING right now. But the door is open a tiny little bit (like 1/4'' crack).

As soon as I pull tight on the handle to really clamp the door shut, the fire dies WAAAAAYYYY down and stops roaring. It will still burn... but it is definitely not roaring anymore.

I don't think its a draft issue, because I can see the flames rolling over and over and getting sucked way up the front of the stove. The secondary ignition pipes are lighting the gasses like crazy!

What would cause my fire to die down like this??? Is it being starved for air somehow? Would not 100% super dry wood cause this? (aged 2 years, but just kept out back in the open)

The stove is just NOT getting as hot as I would like it to be...

I only have the intake air adjustment on my stove, I don't have a flue damper.... would this help get my temps UP ??

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I do not see where the problem is. You state the fire is roaring with the door open and it quits when you close the door; yet, the secondaries are doing their thing. Is it that you just can no longer hear that roaring? Of course you can't with the firebox door closed. But if the stove is working as you state, where is the problem? However, you state the stove is NOT getting as hot as you would like. What does this mean? How hot is it getting and how hot would you like it to get?

A flue damper will not help in raising the stove temperautre and just a draft control is all most stoves have so that is not a problem. Your wood, being 2 years in the stack should probably be okay but what kind of wood is it? Also, keeping that wood out in the open was a good thing that you did.

In short, I don't see a problem as it sounds like the stove is working okay. Knowing temperatures of the stove and the stovepipe would help as well as knowing how long of a burn you are getting. In addition, how are you running the stove? Where are your draft settings? And for sure if you are simply leaving the draft full open your stove will not get as hot as you want because the heat is all going up the chimney.

Witht he door sealed up tight and the air control wide open you should have a slower buring fire...it should not "roar" audibly and you should see plenty of visible flames on the wood. My stove doesn't do much in the way of secondary combustion until I shut the air control down, not sure about your specific stove though.

Reading the spec sheet on your specific stove though, your chimney is definitely way too wide. The stove calls for a 6" diameter round pipe and you've got a 7.5" square pipe...which has about double the air volume...your stove will work much better if you put a 6" steel liner inside your existing chimney.

oldspark said:

Iceman-I am not disagreeing with you I just think it is very marginal, my old chimney was taller and a better sized liner than his and it did not work that good, trying it first is the way to go, I am surprised yours works that well for as short as it is.
Shari-you and me both.

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Lol at first I was wondering how the stove worked too as I was worried about draft...
But, I can say under some conditions like if I open the stove to fast, or have the blower running when the door is open I will get smoke outta the stove... So its not perfect but it keeps the house warm...

Lewisthepilgrim said:

ok so I'm having an issue. I've got the fire ROARING right now. But the door is open a tiny little bit (like 1/4'' crack).

As soon as I pull tight on the handle to really clamp the door shut, the fire dies WAAAAAYYYY down and stops roaring. It will still burn... but it is definitely not roaring anymore.

I don't think its a draft issue, because I can see the flames rolling over and over and getting sucked way up the front of the stove. The secondary ignition pipes are lighting the gasses like crazy!

What would cause my fire to die down like this??? Is it being starved for air somehow? Would not 100% super dry wood cause this? (aged 2 years, but just kept out back in the open)

The stove is just NOT getting as hot as I would like it to be...

I only have the intake air adjustment on my stove, I don't have a flue damper.... would this help get my temps UP ??

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Kinda sounds normal to me . . . especially if my flue temp is just on the border of being hot enough . . .

Once you stop the free flow of air through the door left ajar then all the air is coming through the primary and secondary inlets . . . and so it's pretty normal for the fire to die down a bit . . . if you are truly getting secondary fires then this is a good sign . . . although most of the time when you see secondary fires is when you start to close down the air control . . . not when the air is left all the way open.

The one thing modern woodstoves need is well-seasoned wood and time . . . OK, that's two things . . . but they really need both. Well and a good draft . . . OK, that makes three things. If I had to guess . . . and assuming the wood you have had for two years was actually split and stacked for two years and not just left in the round or tree-length or split and stacked and covered up completey with a tarp . . . I would think the issue might be time . . . time for the stove to heat up and time to learn how to run the stove.

Maybe I missed it . . . but I didn't see anything about stove top or flue temps . . . or anything about when and if you start to shut down the air . . . once you reach the right temps and start to cut back the air . . . this is when the real magic begins . . . the real show . . . where the real heat is produced.

Lewisthepilgrim said:

I am just not happy with the temp my stove is burning !

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What are the temps you're seeing?

Lewisthepilgrim said:

Its not that I had to, I just really don't know when the best time to push it in is. I also had just got back inside from stacking wood

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When I had a non cat stove I would burn it wide open until the wood was blackened/charred then push it in half way and let it burn there for 5-10 minutes after that I would fine tune to my final resting point, usually I tried to get it where the flames off the wood were just starting to get lazy looking. I always kept the air open just enough to keep some flames on the wood along with good secondary combustion. Don't get hung up on the fire show at the top of the box, once you get it right that will follow along.

pen said:

If you have seasoned wood, a good draft, and aren't loading the stove in some funky way that is anti-burning by nature, then there is no reason you should have needed to keep the air 100% open for an hour. Something is going on here.

pen

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You're right... His wood isn't fully seasoned... We confirmed that during our conversation on the phone... When he loads he gets hissing for a good 10-15 minutes ..
He is also new at this whole thing, so I think everyone was right on in what they posted its all of the above..
But he came to the right place .... We were all there at some point in our lives...
Maybe someone with an Englander/Summers heat can chime in and give him more info

Cool move iceman-helping him out on the phone! :coolsmile:

oldspark said:

So a MM maybe to make sure the wood is dry and try some "store bought wood" or scrap lumber pieces to see if he can get it up to a better temp, thermometer on the flue and stack would be of help also.

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"Just the facts, ma'am." (Det. Sgt. Jack Friday)

All the stuff re "seasoned so long" can only serve to confuse you. What matters with processed wood is stacking so as to get good airflow, southern exposure as possible, protection from rain/snow, and spacing from the ground. Put simply, what does a good MM tell you is the MC? That, the species of the wood, and the size of the splits, are the wood parameters of interest.

I've NEVER heard a woodstove roar- not interested in heating my county. The only time I've ever noticed the fire going way down on closing the door was when I had closed the primary draft control earlier. Wet wood would also be a suspect. If the secondaries stay lit, you're in the ballpark. If they go out, you are now a point-source of pollution.

There are many learning curves associated with wood-burning. Enjoy 'em.

Hey pecker what in the hell are you trying to say.

pen said:

Nice job Ice

pen

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Yep, x2, good job iceman!