3 Weeks and loving the heat- reload tips to avoid smoke please

[b33p3r]

3+ weeks burning and loving the econoburn. Still looking forward to modification of fan issue but great none the same. Oil boiler hasn't kicked on unless I made it come on just to cycle oil through the nozzle. Does any econo users have any tips on how to prevent smoke from rolling out the firebox door when adding wood? I've opened the damper for a minute and more like the manual suggests, I've tried opening the secondary door to get a good flame and draft going prior to opening the fire box but I still get smoke out the firebox door. Anybody have any tips?

 

[stee6043]

First tip - don't reload until you're down to coals in your firebox whenever possible. This is really the only 100% solution to smoke aside from super high CFM draft inducers, hoods, etc. etc..

Aside from that my method is turn off fan, quickly open bypass damper, slowly open upper door - and reload. I always leave my lower door closed.

 

[SnowTraveler]

what stee6043 said.... You will never be able to completely eliminate the smoke back with the Econoburn, shy of installing an Exhausto, but that is very expensive. I had to move my boiler out of the house due to my wife not being able to tolerate the smoke. She has a very, very low tolerance level for wood smoke but loves the heat.

 

[pybyr]

Open the top door only about 3/4 of an inch to an inch, and leave it that way for 10 or 20 seconds before opening the rest of the way to load the wood.

This gives time to build up a flow of air through the upper chamber into the flue before you open it fully.

It doesn't eliminate the issue, but at least in my case, seems to reduce it greatly.

 

[pybyr]

One other suggestion-- if you have a barometric damper (which is recommended in the Econoburn manual) you may want to arrange a temporary cover that can block the damper (and thus maximize available chimney draft) for when you open the upper door to load wood. This will help reduce smoke roll-out. As long as the B.D. is in an accessible location, this can be something as simple as a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Just make sure you take it off again after loading.

 

[Hunderliggur]

Or a simple grip clamp clamped on the top of pipe so the damper won't open. They look like giant clothes pins. A stong magnet would work too.

 

[chuck172]

Try cracking open the basement door, or a window.
You might have a real tight house. This might get the draft going.

 

[flyingcow]

Glad to hear you're off the oil.

Been on this site for a few yrs, and took in the info everyone has passed along. As stee6043 said, the best method is to wait until you're down to coals. Once you get some experience under you're belt, the timing of this will be better. But, as i also know, it's hard to leave it alone the first time you have the new toy. Keep in mind, the wood will re-ignite with very little coals in the firebox. If you ever plan on storage, this will help with the smoke roll out also. I start 1 fire a day, shut the door and forget about it.


Good Luck.

 

[b33p3r]

Guilty as charged as far as babysitting the econo for the first 2 weeks. Getting better by the week though. My learning curve will take a little longer because I work swings and I get a lot of help from the family which is a good thing. Trying to condition everyone to load as needed and not just because. But I don't know how much or what type of wood gets thrown on the fire when I'm not loading it. Between Me, the Wife, my 17 and 12 year old boys we keep the fire going but it's tough to nail down a pattern. I will say that after 2-3 weeks, the boiler seems to be using less wood? Maybe totally dried out? First 3 weeks = 1 cord but it seems like I'm loading less wood recently to get the same results.