Poor draft?

[Jason762]

I have a question regarding my new Osburn 2400 insert. When reloading or repositioning logs when the stove is not up to temp. I open the door about and inch and no smoke enters the room. But then when I open the door all the way a lot of smoke comes in. When the stove is up to temp. this does not happen, no smoke enters the room and it is easy to reload, obviously the stove is operating more efficiently at this point and not creating as much smoke. My question is, is this normal? And what can I do to eliminate the problem? The stove is vented through a 6 inch flex liner inside an exisitng exterior masonry chimney. It is not insulated. Suggestions...

 

[Todd]

My old Homestead did the same thing. It's pretty normal for stoves with baffles. They need to be hot for the draft to overcome the natural tendency of smoke to travel out your door. Try starting your fires with lots of kindling and small splits and after you get a good bed of coals you can add larger slpits.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Well, your stove is working good enough when its running hot. Its going to take longer to heat that flue up if its not insulated. Not saying that isulation is the only issue, it could be negative pressure do to many factors, or the chimney might be just a little short. I think insualting it will help your start up issues.

 

[Shane]

You could also get a small propane torch or even a tightly wound piece of newspaper and pre warm your flue prior to startup. Insulating the liner will probably help but would be kind of a pain at this point. Also try cracking a window near the stove during startup this will usually help alleviate any negative pressure issues. How long do you crack the door before opening it fully, I've had customers who will crack the door for a minute or two before completely opening it. Helps stabilize the draft. Really sounds like a downdraft/negative pressure issue though.