Smokey, smokey fire. I had this problem last year. Had the chimney cleaned, then it worked well for 2 days and then stopped drafting again. Both top and bottom air wide open, but nothing appears to be pulled up the chimney. When it happened last year the chimney sweep came back, did something (I wasn't home so he didn't come in the house). It worked well for a couple fires and seemed plugged up again. I gave up and stopped burning early.
Then this summer a friend went up on my roof (a feat of bravery since it's tall and steep!) to check the chimney cap and spark screen because I thought it might be blocked. He said it looked OK. So far this fall/winter it has been burning fine until now.
I just switched to juniper and had a really hard time getting it going yesterday. Now today I started my fire in the usual way but have very little draft with both controls open. My chimney (stainless homesaver) is about 25 feet high and ususally draws really well. I just checked the fire again and it's going but firebrick is still all sooty and there's a back draft into the house when I open the door. Clearly air isn't moving properly.
I was just looking at the diagram of the stove and it says it has "secondary air induction channels" which appear to be along the sides. Could these be blocked? Is there any trouble shooting or maintenance I can do tomorrow when its cold? I bought this stove used but have fired it for several years with out any problems until what I described last year and the current situation. I don't think the chimney needs cleaning since its been only about half a season since the last cleaning.
Does anyone have any suggestions? My furnace is pathetic and I really need my stove working well. Thanks in advance!
Then this summer a friend went up on my roof (a feat of bravery since it's tall and steep!) to check the chimney cap and spark screen because I thought it might be blocked. He said it looked OK. So far this fall/winter it has been burning fine until now.
I just switched to juniper and had a really hard time getting it going yesterday. Now today I started my fire in the usual way but have very little draft with both controls open. My chimney (stainless homesaver) is about 25 feet high and ususally draws really well. I just checked the fire again and it's going but firebrick is still all sooty and there's a back draft into the house when I open the door. Clearly air isn't moving properly.
I was just looking at the diagram of the stove and it says it has "secondary air induction channels" which appear to be along the sides. Could these be blocked? Is there any trouble shooting or maintenance I can do tomorrow when its cold? I bought this stove used but have fired it for several years with out any problems until what I described last year and the current situation. I don't think the chimney needs cleaning since its been only about half a season since the last cleaning.
Does anyone have any suggestions? My furnace is pathetic and I really need my stove working well. Thanks in advance!