Huffing and puffing solutions?

[muleman51]

I'm having a heck of a time with my Adobe huffing and puffing. It does it most every fill with wood especially if the boiler is still hot and has some coals left. I put in a barometric damper last year and I have a draft inducer. It puffs out the damper and fills my boiler room with smoke. Sure am glad the room is outside, I'd be dead meat if it was in the house. It eventually stops. The sides of the boiler start moving like bellows. Do you think putting stiffeners on them would help. We sure got the shaft from Adobe. Just hope I can get a couple more years out of that piece of junk.

 

[taxidermist]

Give us a little more info, does your chimney need the inducer to run all the time due to a poor draft? Do you just use the inducer for loading? Arer you using a chimney cap? is your barometric damper above your outlet for your boiler?

We can start there

Rob

 

[Jesse-M]

It's an air fuel mixture problem. Mine is helped by reducing the amount of intake air. It is also helped by getting some intake air from the front of the unit as well as the back ( i.e cracking the door the smallest amount makes the huffing stop. ) It's not something that stiffeners are going to fix. Adobe is not the only one, Seton's and Greenwood do it also.

 

[Jesse-M]

click here

^ ^ ^ I guess Garn does it as well.

 

[muleman51]

I do run the inducer all the time, even though I am burning seasoned wood, I never get that super hot fire we should be getting. The inducer helps. It doesn't help with loading it just pukes smoke all the time when you load. The chimney is insulated 26' high. The damper is located 2' above the boiler outlet and a foot below the inducer.

 

[Trzebs13]

On my Greenfire the only time it Chuggs is when I burn somthing I'm not suppose to cardboard, pine, construction scraps ect. The way I see it it does that because there is not enough oxegen getting to the fire. I believe it has little to do with the exhaust. Because when you crack the door you are allowing more air to enter the fire. But I could be wrong. The thing that I'm having trouble understanding is with a drat inducer that smoke is still coming out the door. Do you have a cap on it and what diameter is your chiminney pipe? Is there any possibility that there is somthing obstructing your exhaust?

 

[muleman51]

There is no cap on the 6" chimney, the same as the outlet on the boiler. I can see right up though the the chimney so I don't think it is obstructed. The only place it is obstructed is in the poor interior design around the lower manifold inside the boiler not much room around it. I haven't taken the back off in a month, such a job from h---. They sure should have put doors back there. This more than likely the worst purchase I ever made. I have always burned wood for heat, but this boiler really makes me dislike the whole thing.

 

[jebatty]

Seems to me that it is caused, at least in part, by the column of air in the chimney being sufficiently heavier, that is, exerting downward pressure, greater than the draft produces upward pressure. Huffing and puffing results when sufficient upward pressure overcomes downward pressure -- sudden upward burst of smoke; then collapse of the upward pressure and cold upper air forcing smoke down and out anyplace it can find.

Issues could include: chimney not high enough, chimney not high enough in relation to nearby roof, obstruction/wind conditions producing local downdrafts, outside chimney or chimney in large unheated attic that results in a very cold chimney.

Remedies could include: higher chimney to produce increased draft, removal of obstructions near the chimney top, raising chimney in relation to roof, preheating the chimney to induce a positive draft (commonly done with wood fireplaces by burning a few sheets of newspaper before starting the fire). If you have a bypass damper, be sure it is open and build a blazing paper/small kindling fire in the firebox to quickly build up chimney heat and induce a good draft; then add smaller splits to continue to build heat; heat chimney (probe thermometer) to 400-600F before closing bypass damper. By that time fire should be going well, lots of heat and good draft.

 

[2.beans]

my buddies boiler does this also , i was wondering how much uninsulated pipe you have on the inside? thanks

 

[muleman51]

I don't have any insulated pipe in the boiler room. The room stays at over 100* at all times, sometimes it as high as 140*. I think I'll pile rocks in the corner and turn it into a sauna.

 

[NNYorker]

Muleman, have you tried shutting off the inducer after loading and closing the door? How about that barometric damper--is it adjusted correctly. I installed a Dwyer manometer this year. Unbelievably I did not have to move my weight from my initial guessimate from last year. My Adobe definitely did not like the slab wood I fed it while trying to heat my pool and it huffed and puffed like the sides and top were going to blow off. I can't believe insulated/double wall pipe would help with your draft as the building at 100* is almost like preheating your chimney. I too remember the days of my garage being 80-90*, a lot of heat radiates/ is lost from these units. Ever wanted an indoor pool instead of a sauna?

 

[Tony H]

I have had the same thing happen on my EKO and found it was when I used pallet scraps or a bunch of small pieces of wood that this happened

 

[2.beans]

do you know how much draft you have? you have a draft inducer and a barometric damper? the inducer and the barometric damper are working against each other. id measure the draft shut off the inducer remove the barometric damper and lower the chimney down to 21 feet. sounds like you to much exhaust and not enough air inlet.

 

[muleman51]

I still think it doesn't get enough draft, because I just don't get those real hot fires. This thing stinks up my whole shed not just the boiler room.

 

[2.beans]

you need to measure your draft i guess. do you know what the exhaust temp is inside the chimney?