Did I dodge a bullet? re- Chimney Fire

[Drumaz]

I agree - The thing should be roasting!! I start mine up the same way when there are coals. Except that when I close the door, it idles around 350.

Well then, if your stove is idling at 350 after that, you definitely have a draft problem. That stove should be moving up to 500, 600+ degrees.

The Oslo takes I think an 11 or 12 mm socket to get into the draft control area. I've had mine off a couple times without a problem. You should be able to inspect in there pretty easily with a simple socket setup.

I think your draft or wood are a problem, maybe a combination of both.

I know my stove likes dry wood, the dryer the better.

I'm pulling it off tonite... and getting some of that kiln dried wood.

 

[[email protected]]

Okay here goes from a mainer (not really). and I know all you are gonna jump all ova me for this but it works, lil scary the first time but hell it beats a creo fire in the chimney. To get your stove hot and a lil overfired, not cherry but close, go get yourself some bio bricks, found at 12.00 a box at the local hardware store. No, this is not for the faint at heart and you better have your phone in your hand for the first 1/2 hour. OVERFIRE slightly with the bricks to burn out all the soot in the chimney. Your rage and creo rate seem to be two different things. If you burn really hot once per week, you should not have any creo filling up your chimney. These bricks have lil or no water content so they BURN HOT, EXTEMELY HOT. Okay, that said, start slow, try three bricks, go to four, you and only you know how close you can get. I try and gage it on the smell. you all will laugh, but that's how hot i can get it before going red and involving the fire department and it works like a charm. I'm a firm believer in your stove is only as good as the person runnin it. Another lil handy tip. I'm anal when it comes to my stove, I wanna see for myself how much i'm building. I let it cool, pull the pipe out the wall thingy and the stove and peak. I also pull the cap outside, I'm nosy and nervous, i got kids. Hope it helps, don't burn your house. and ps.......one of the local fire guys showed me this....shhhhhsh don't tell.

try burning bio bricks or logs alternating with the wood, or both together for a hotter fire. I burn about a ton of bricks a season, no water, no soot. they are 299 a ton and all i gotta do is take them out the truck and put them in he spare room.

Okay, so all you die hards now can either ban me from the site or jump all over this.....I'm ready, Im a big girl........Eye's closed.

Oh, ps......clean your chimney, have someone come out and start u fresh.....

 

[LLigetfa]

There are so many things worng. Not enough draft. Through the wall horizontal to a Tee. Outside chimney. 45 degree offsets. Questionable wood. Pilot error.

Outside chimneys lose a lot of heat throught he sides. You will have to run the stove hotter to service the needs of the chimney. Some chimney manufacturers no longer make 45 degree elbows because of the angle of repose. Horizontal runs collect creosote and Tees also collect all that peels and falls. Such an install needs to run hot all the time to keep the flue temps up. No slow burns allowed and only the best wood.

When it comes to air, the addage "if a little is good, a lot must be better" does not apply. You need to give the fire enough but not too much. It took me years to convince the wife not to open the air too much. She figured it works like the knob on the gas cooktop. It's also all about how you load the stove and manage the ashes/coal bed. Pay attention to how air flows from the air wash and the doghouse. N/S loading might make for a hotter burn. You might not be able to sustain a long overnight burn. Drink lots of water so you'll have to get up in the middle of the night and toss on another log.

If you draw inside air and your humidity is high, that moisture could end up condensing in your flue. If your stove supports it, put in an OAK. An OAK might improve the draft since it's probably higher pressure air.

Check and empty the clean-out at the base of the Tee often. The horizontal indoor pipe should be fine if you burn hotter and/or dry wood.

 

[firefighterjake]

Okay here goes from a mainer (not really). and I know all you are gonna jump all ova me for this but it works. . .
...

I will not give you a hard time for the burning technique, but as a "transplanted flatlander" (aka "a person from away") I will give you a hard time for not knowing the proper terminology . . . now that you're living in Maine you're officially a Maniac . . . although some folks continue to refer to themselves as Mainers too so you're not outright wrong. Just poking some fun at you.

P.S. If it makes you feel better I was born in Maine and I have deep routes on my father's side, but technically my mother was born in the Bronx so in effect I may not be considered a true 100% Mainiac.

 

[firefighterjake]

There are so many things worng. Not enough draft. Through the wall horizontal to a Tee. Outside chimney. 45 degree offsets. Questionable wood. Pilot error.

Outside chimneys lose a lot of heat throught he sides. You will have to run the stove hotter to service the needs of the chimney. Some chimney manufacturers no longer make 45 degree elbows because of the angle of repose. Horizontal runs collect creosote and Tees also collect all that peels and falls. Such an install needs to run hot all the time to keep the flue temps up. No slow burns allowed and only the best wood.

When it comes to air, the addage "if a little is good, a lot must be better" does not apply. You need to give the fire enough but not too much. It took me years to convince the wife not to open the air too much. She figured it works like the knob on the gas cooktop. It's also all about how you load the stove and manage the ashes/coal bed. Pay attention to how air flows from the air wash and the doghouse. N/S loading might make for a hotter burn. You might not be able to sustain a long overnight burn. Drink lots of water so you'll have to get up in the middle of the night and toss on another log.

If you draw inside air and your humidity is high, that moisture could end up condensing in your flue. If your stove supports it, put in an OAK. An OAK might improve the draft since it's probably higher pressure air.

Check and empty the clean-out at the base of the Tee often. The horizontal indoor pipe should be fine if you burn hotter and/or dry wood.

I'm not disagreeing with this post in its entirety, but I will say that not all outside chimneys are really bad. My SS Excel pipe has been great . . . cool to the touch when its running, I get a great draft regardless of outside temps (based on this Fall and Winter), creosote build up has been minimal (although I'm a bit OCD about doing monthly sweeps) and once I get the fire up to temp (based on the flue and stove top thermometers) I can shut off the air flow to "all closed" (which of course isn't really all closed since it still allows some air in) to "nearly closed" to achieve secondary combustion, good temps and longer burns. On top of this I have a sort horizontal run to the outside chimney, one 45 and a T . . . and so far so good.

That said . . . I might have either got lucky with good product or a good install (I do have 20 foot or so chimney outside with no offsets so it runs straight up) . . . or maybe it is as you mentioned . . . burning properly with seasoned wood and running it hot to burn off the bad stuff. I will admit that I do not get overnight burns without feeding the fire around 1 or 2 in the morning . . . although if I do not feed the fire in the night I can still get the fire going in the morning typically from the hot coals.

 

[rumme]

There are so many things worng. Not enough draft. Through the wall horizontal to a Tee. Outside chimney. 45 degree offsets. Questionable wood. Pilot error.

Outside chimneys lose a lot of heat throught he sides. You will have to run the stove hotter to service the needs of the chimney. Some chimney manufacturers no longer make 45 degree elbows because of the angle of repose. Horizontal runs collect creosote and Tees also collect all that peels and falls. Such an install needs to run hot all the time to keep the flue temps up. No slow burns allowed and only the best wood.

When it comes to air, the addage "if a little is good, a lot must be better" does not apply. You need to give the fire enough but not too much. It took me years to convince the wife not to open the air too much. She figured it works like the knob on the gas cooktop. It's also all about how you load the stove and manage the ashes/coal bed. Pay attention to how air flows from the air wash and the doghouse. N/S loading might make for a hotter burn. You might not be able to sustain a long overnight burn. Drink lots of water so you'll have to get up in the middle of the night and toss on another log.

If you draw inside air and your humidity is high, that moisture could end up condensing in your flue. If your stove supports it, put in an OAK. An OAK might improve the draft since it's probably higher pressure air.

Check and empty the clean-out at the base of the Tee often. The horizontal indoor pipe should be fine if you burn hotter and/or dry wood.

I'm not disagreeing with this post in its entirety, but I will say that not all outside chimneys are really bad. My SS Excel pipe has been great . . . cool to the touch when its running, I get a great draft regardless of outside temps (based on this Fall and Winter), creosote build up has been minimal (although I'm a bit OCD about doing monthly sweeps) and once I get the fire up to temp (based on the flue and stove top thermometers) I can shut off the air flow to "all closed" (which of course isn't really all closed since it still allows some air in) to "nearly closed" to achieve secondary combustion, good temps and longer burns. On top of this I have a sort horizontal run to the outside chimney, one 45 and a T . . . and so far so good.

That said . . . I might have either got lucky with good product or a good install (I do have 20 foot or so chimney outside with no offsets so it runs straight up) . . . or maybe it is as you mentioned . . . burning properly with seasoned wood and running it hot to burn off the bad stuff. I will admit that I do not get overnight burns without feeding the fire around 1 or 2 in the morning . . . although if I do not feed the fire in the night I can still get the fire going in the morning typically from the hot coals.

AGREE 100%


I see so many posts/ people making claims that your chimney needs to be hot/ very warm in order to create neccessary drafting.


I know for a fact this is not true..

my single wall outside steel chimney { uninsualted} is NEVER hot to the touch..and is usually barely warm at the connection where my stovepipe is attached to my chimney...and yet, my draft is great.

at this point in time, I would have to say that chimney height is more important for a good draft, then chimney temperature.

now, I understand that the ideal situation is a high chimney..that also gets realtively warm/ hot..which should usually increase drafts....but I think its hard to expect a 15-20 ft tall steel chimney, thats uninsulated , to get very hot....

mine doesnt, and my draft is still excellent enough to easily get my napolean to the 500-600 degree mark on top of the trivet..

in fact, the toher day, I loaded up 4 pieces of wood { i usually only load up 3 } ...and the thermometer went past 700 temperatures...

so in a nutshell, my chimney is quite cool to the touch, yet has great draft.

this is further proof to me that a warm. hot chimney is not a neccesisty to get good drafts.

 

[rumme]

so my setup is :

2 ft vertical stovepipe...1 ninety degree elbow, 2 ft horizontal stovepipe thru a wall thimble , into outside steel chimney which makes another 90 elbow and then up 16 ft..

so...I have two 90 degree elbows....a uninsualted, single wall outside steel chimney, that is never hot to the touch., and my draft is great.

this is more proof that having elbows and a cold chimney, does not neccessarily equate to a poor draft scenario .

 

[Drumaz]

Thanks for all the info and tips. I've yet to refire the stove after they swept it... (Out of town for a while and now it's 50 degrees) When I do refire (with the kiln dried wood I bought) I'll let you all know how it goes.

 

[johnnywarm]

how did you do drumaz???