MF Fire Nova - smoke rollout issue

[Seamamo]

We purchased the MF Fire Nova 2 for a fairly major remodel in our house built in 1991. We had a Lopi in a medium sized office on the first floor of the house and it cooked my wife (who's been working from home for the last 2 years). We made the hard decision to completely wreck out a nice brick inglenook and chimney so we could put the MF fire in the living room which is adjacent to the office on the same floor.

The installer said he wouldnt bother installing the outside air due to the vintage of my house. The 6" flue is about 13'. 2 feet higher than the roof 10 feet away. I have had back draft problems from the beginning. Can't open the door more than a couple inches without smoke rolling out. I've grown up with wood stoves. Tried everything, crack a window, make sure no fans on make sure hvac is off. The installer said I could take off the restriction plates in the throat. That didn't work and made it even harder to get up to catalyst temp. So I re-installed them (cussing my installer the entire time). I told the installer and he said he would come up and add a section of flue. He never showed up so I happened to find two 3' sections of duravent 6" insulated pipe. I tried one section for 24hrs to no avail. Then tried the second section, still no help. I keep asking the guy I bought it from if there's something going on in the stove because I've read that there can be problems with cat install. He's supposed to finally come later this week but I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions.

I never had a single draft problem with my Lopi for the 4 years I've lived in this house and the Lopi chimney wasn't any taller than the standard code. The woodstove is now in a large room, open concept with 17 foot ceiling at the peak sloped up from 8 feet at the stove with a 3/12 pitch. The Lopi was in a high ceiling room too but it had a set of French doors going to main part of house.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MFF]

Hi Seamamo,

We would love to work with you to troubleshoot your backdraft issue. Please email our support team at [email protected] so we can provide you with as much in-depth assistance as possible.

MF Fire Support Team

 

[begreen]

This sounds serious enough to get an individual response. Moving to a new thread.

 

[begreen]

Let's get more background info:
What is the total height of the liner? Is the liner insulated? Were there complications with the liner install? Is the liner properly connected to the stove with no gaps or leaks? Do you get the smoke rollout with the bypass open? (Don't try today, it's too mild).
Pictures of the installation, inside and outside, are welcome.

 

[Seamamo]

Pics coming once I figure out how to reduce file size. Originally the insulated 6" duravent liner was 13'. With the additions I installed, it's now 19'. The guy that installed it said the 13' was bare minimum. I asked installer if there were issues and he said no. He also said he's installed a few of these Nova 2's. Yes, smoke rollout with bypass damper open. I've gone through the gammit making sure hvac is off, no exhaust fans on etc. Tried opening a window etc. My last woodstove, albeit in a different room, could have the door wide open to add wood. Without smoke issues. The chimney it had was probably at or below the 13'

 

[Seamamo]

The picture with the tarp (been in remodeling hell) is the 13' liner. Then the second Pic with actual roof is with a 1' piece removed and two 3 foot sections added.

 

[begreen]

You certainly have tried the common methods to address the issue. Is the chimney located on the leeward or windward side of the house? Single story sections of a multistory house can be troublesome if positive pressure builds up around the cap area. The dealer should come out with a manometer and measure draft to see if is within acceptable levels. Typically this is around .04 to .1" wc.

This article illustrates the issue I am talking about.

A non-commercial service in support of responsible home heating with wood - How Wind Affects Chimney Performance

The Wood Heat Organization was formed to support the public in the responsible use of wood energy in the home. We fulfill our mandate by providing reliable information, by conducting research into wood heating-related issues and by representing the public interest in discussions of policies that...

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