I have solved all but one problem. I posted this on another thread but thought I would start a new one. 50% of the time my start ups are perfect. I don't even try to get a draft started by warming up the chimney. I just start the fire and let it go. (this may be my problem) However, if I have a smokey start up, none of the smoke leaks though the door while it is open. All the smoke appears to be going up through the flue. Then all of a sudden I see some smoke exiting the top of the stove where the blower blows the heat out. I'm not sure how the smoke is getting to this area. My only guess is there is a leak or it is back drafting through the ash pan door even though it is closed. Am I missing another explanation? When the fire gets going, I do not have anymore smoke come into the room through the rest of the fire. Even as the fire is going out I do not get any smoke in the room. It does not come through the door when I am adding wood or checking it. It only comes through the top where the hot air blows out or occasionally the bottom of the stove where you can access the fan wires. And this only happens during start ups. It never comes through the door? Ideas?
one lingering problem
- Thread starter smmm
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firefighterjake
Minister of Fire
First thought would be the reverse draft situation . . . but I could be wrong . . . if this is happening on days when the outside temp is close to the temp inside this could explain it . . . as a simple experiment you could try opening a nearby window before lighting your fire when the temps inside and outside are close to each other . . . or pre-warm the flue by using a hand-held torch.
Some folks also use top down fires to help with this problem.
Some folks also use top down fires to help with this problem.
...It only comes through the top where the hot air blows out or occasionally the bottom of the stove where you can access the fan wires. And this only happens during start ups. It never comes through the door? Ideas? Is the opening for the combustion air near where the blower is mounted? If so,
the smoke could be coming out thru that opening & convecting up thru the blower's
air passages thru the heat exchanger...That could also result in smoke around the
underside of your stove...
I'm with Daksy, sounds like smoke is coming out of your air intake. It happens on mine too if I have a downdraft situation.
pen
pen
Yep, negative draft for some reason. There could be lots of reasons (like wind, temp inversion, etc) but it is not drafting "Up" when it does this. Sounds pretty silly, but as long as we understand that we can go forward.
How to get it drafting "UP"? Heat the flue. It is the only correction unless you are going to mechanically induce draft. Again, a bit silly but its the facts. It doesn't matter WHY you have a downdraft as long as you can over come it. How you heat the flue is up to you. A hair dryer, a torch, lighting off a wad of newspaper before you start to load the stove, road flare (joke)... As Jake stated, many have had good luck with the "Top Down" starting method because this methods FIRST task is to start the heat up the flue.
But there is the reality. You got something that is causing equal or negative pressure in your stove body when compared to outside. You have to overcome this. Once you do this - no smoke.
Also - as a side note, I had this happen on rare occasion several years ago (when it was first installed). I virtually fixed the problem with the addition of 2ft of pipe added to my flue. My negative pressure was being created by wind coming over a taller part of the house (all pipe rules were followed).
How to get it drafting "UP"? Heat the flue. It is the only correction unless you are going to mechanically induce draft. Again, a bit silly but its the facts. It doesn't matter WHY you have a downdraft as long as you can over come it. How you heat the flue is up to you. A hair dryer, a torch, lighting off a wad of newspaper before you start to load the stove, road flare (joke)... As Jake stated, many have had good luck with the "Top Down" starting method because this methods FIRST task is to start the heat up the flue.
But there is the reality. You got something that is causing equal or negative pressure in your stove body when compared to outside. You have to overcome this. Once you do this - no smoke.
Also - as a side note, I had this happen on rare occasion several years ago (when it was first installed). I virtually fixed the problem with the addition of 2ft of pipe added to my flue. My negative pressure was being created by wind coming over a taller part of the house (all pipe rules were followed).
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