Getting back draft from my stove- Help! Pic attached

are you opening the draft all the way and waiting a minute before opening the door?

Paulrd27 said:

...and then about 4 foot from my thimble going into the chimney to the top of the chimney.

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No way is 4 feet of chimney enough. Most stoves need a minimum of around 15 feet.

LLigetfa said:

Paulrd27 said:

...and then about 4 foot from my thimble going into the chimney to the top of the chimney.

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No way is 4 feet of chimney enough. Most stoves need a minimum of around 15 feet.

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That's what it says but would a stove work at all with 4 feet of chimney?

Just barely.

Actually VC spec says 16 feet from the flue collar but then one must subtract 3 feet for the Tee, 2 feet for the elbow, and 2 feet for every foot of horizontal pipe... almost negates all 9 feet of vertical...

Open the top?
Not familiar with stove type but.
I'd think if the "top" of the stove under the pot comes off, with a fire in it, smoke is going to come out with the heat.
I don't think the top is the normal place to put wood in, when there is a fire in the stove.
I'd just add wood thru the front door.
Do you have the operations manual for the stove?

Paulrd27 said:

It is a Vermont castings stove, most people load from top. My father has one in his home, he can take the lid off and no smoke will come out what so ever. He does have about 20 foot of chimney though. All the vc stoves have top loaders.

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Wow, good engineering for sure!
Sure a good looking stove
Live & learn

The Vigilant was a top loader- never had smoke come back in (unless I had a clog in the chimney- whole other story).

If I understand correctly, the 4' you are mentioning is only from the stove to the thimble, correct? How long is the run from the thimble to the top of the chimney? When was the last time the chimney was swept?

Just trying to get a better feel for things.

Remkel said:

How long is the run from the thimble to the top of the chimney?

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6 feet.

I crack the top door open an inch or so for a few seconds and let the stove suck in air before I open it all the way to load wood, it seems to set the flow in through the top of the stove and up the chimney, avoid opening the top until the stove and chimney is nice and hot, good luck.

LLigetfa said:

Remkel said:

How long is the run from the thimble to the top of the chimney?

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6 feet.

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Yup, as others have noted earlier, that may be the root cause of your issue.

I doubt it would help and would probably make it worse. Changing out the 90 elbow and horizontal section to two 45 elbows and a short diagonal section would help a bit. You would probably be better off adding a flue extension to the top of the chimney.

Is that single or doublewall smokepipe? If single, switching to double would keep a bit more heat in the pipe to aid the draft. Each suggestion should result in a small improvement so combining them should net better results.

bogydave said:

Open the top?
Not familiar with stove type but.
I'd think if the "top" of the stove under the pot comes off, with a fire in it, smoke is going to come out with the heat.
I don't think the top is the normal place to put wood in, when there is a fire in the stove.
I'd just add wood thru the front door.
Do you have the operations manual for the stove?

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To clarify, this is a VC Intrepid. It, like other VC stoves, offer top loading. Once the stove is up and running, this is the way you reload the stove. If you open the griddle partially, pause, and then continue to open the griddle to top load, smoke should not exit the stove with a good draft. If the stove damper is closed, smoke will flow out heavily.

These are top loading stoves.

Paulrd27 said:

Do you think it would be better if I switched over the back of the stove so it comes out the back instead of coming out the top? I would obviously have to change where the thimble is on the chimney. What do you think?

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No, if anything it would make it slightly worse since you are adding another bend.

Paulrd27 said:

I have a VC Intrepid wood stove in my apartment that works great. Only problem is when I open the top to put wood in, I get a back draft and smoke comes out of the top and into the room. When I open the front doors I don't get any, just when I put in from the top. Do you think its cause of my elbow in my stove pipe? Is it because I dont have enough draw? The chimney goes from downstairs to upstairs (where my stove is) and then about 4 foot from my thimble going into the chimney to the top of the chimney. I've attached a pic, what do you guys think? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!
Paul

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I have used the Intrepid the previous two years. You have two 90 degree turns and an extremely short chimney. That is your problem.

oldspark said:

LLigetfa said:

Paulrd27 said:

...and then about 4 foot from my thimble going into the chimney to the top of the chimney.

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No way is 4 feet of chimney enough. Most stoves need a minimum of around 15 feet.

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That's what it says but would a stove work at all with 4 feet of chimney?

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Folks burn off the paint on a new stove with just a short run of pipe, so it works. Not very well, though.

My feeling is your draft won't have much strength with a four or even a six foot run no matter how hot you get the gas temps. VC stoves will smoke when you open the top load door if the draft is not strong enough. I have a strong draft and I not only never see a whiff of smoke come out when loading, the flames will lick past the smoke shelf and whip right on up the flue in a very intimidating fashion. Too much draft, maybe, but I get plenty of heat coming off the stove, so I am happy with it as the stove never runs away or reaches overfire range.

BTW VC states in the owner's manual that, even with a full box and wide-open air, their stoves are designed so they should never run away on you.

I ain't testing that statement out, though. ;-)

BrowningBAR said:

If the stove damper is closed, smoke will flow out heavily.

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On my Vigilant there is a stop that prevents you from opening the griddle when the bypass damper is engaged. If I try to open the top all the way it just flips the damper back open again. With a good secondary burn going, though, I can open it up enough to get a quick peek inside and no smoke comes out. I can also crack open the front doors and no smoke then, either. I would never have thought to do this, but a member claimed it was true for his Vig, so I just had to try it on my own.

Inquiring minds want to know. Give it a try, I'd be curious to see if your setup gives different results.

I have a VC Encore.

To avoid the smoke kickback when you open the griddle. Open the air fully, wait a 10 seconds or so, crack the griddle half and inch for a couple of seconds and then open it all the way and toss the wood in.

The height of the flue with the number of bends is only half of the equation. The other half is the building envelope and where the neutral pressure plane is. Try opening a window.

Battenkiller said:

BrowningBAR said:

If the stove damper is closed, smoke will flow out heavily.

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On my Vigilant there is a stop that prevents you from opening the griddle when the bypass damper is engaged. If I try to open the top all the way it just flips the damper back open again. With a good secondary burn going, though, I can open it up enough to get a quick peek inside and no smoke comes out. I can also crack open the front doors and no smoke then, either. I would never have thought to do this, but a member claimed it was true for his Vig, so I just had to try it on my own.

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Yes, my vigilant is the same design. The Intrepid and the Encore do not have this prevent feature. The griddle can be opened fully with the damper still closed.

And yes, with a good burn going I can crack the griddle and the door and have no smoke pour out with the Vigilant.