Problem with Valley Forge wood stove

[Charly Alvarez]

I just recently purchased my first home and now have my first wood stove as well. It is an old valley forge stove located in the basement of our 900sf 1950's ranch. I am having an issue with smoke coming into the basement from the front air hole on the front of the stove, especially after I load wood into it. It will puff every two to three seconds. The stove also does not heat up very well. I have a stove thermometer on the pipe coming off the top of the stove about a foot off and it never goes above 300-400 degrees and regularly sits in the area of creosote labeled on the thermometer (which I know is not good, that's why I'm here.) The draft from the chimney does not seem to be very strong. It is an outdoor chimney, cement block with clay tile liner. The stove is located in the basement and has one 90* elbow then goes into the wall.

I don't know what other information would be required to help me out with this problem. As you can probably tell I am very new to this.

 

[begreen]

Could be the wood is not properly seasoned and there may be weak draft if there are competing appliances in the basement (like a dryer, gas hw heater, furnace, bath fan, etc..Try giving the fire more air. Bring some of the wood into the house a week in advance to help it dry quicker. Note that galvanized duct pipe is not appropriate for stove pipe. It is too light gauge and will outgas zinc fumes.

 

[Charly Alvarez]

so the wood was purchased green a few months ago and sat on the ground until the shed was finished only about two months ago. This could be one of my problems. I did notice the galvanized pipe was burning off, my dad gave it to me and told me it should work (he is an oilheat technician and has no experience with wood stoves). There is a dryer downstairs but almost never running so I would not say that is the culprit, nor the bathroom fan as that is never running when the problem is occurring. I will build a stand and bring a sizeable stack of wood in to try and help it dry out faster to see if this reduces/eliminates the problem.

 

[begreen]

That is going to be a challenge all winter long. I would bring as much wood as you can indoors. Put a fan blowing across it. Depending on the species of wood it takes 1 to 2 yrs to fully season. Oak and hickory are in the 2 yr category.

 

[Kyle Anderson]

I have the exact stove.....mine burns great....check the feet on the bottom of stove.there should be two air inlet doors that may be connected to a Mechanical Honeywell controller. The door on the left side should be open about a half inch.The stack damper should remain open until stove temp gets around 400..are you using the internal waterjacket.this will make your warmup time extended...Please contact me if you need further info....I would like to purchase another if able to find. Kyle Anderson.

 

[brad wilton]

hi charly,get rid of that galvanized pipe today very very toxic when burned go get yourself some black pipe today!

 

[bisbort]

I have the exact stove.....mine burns great....check the feet on the bottom of stove.there should be two air inlet doors that may be connected to a Mechanical Honeywell controller. The door on the left side should be open about a half inch.The stack damper should remain open until stove temp gets around 400..are you using the internal waterjacket.this will make your warmup time extended...Please contact me if you need further info....I would like to purchase another if able to find. Kyle Anderson.

Kyle, I would like to contact you on how to get a Valley Forge Stove up and running. I recent acquired two (only need one) and don't think I have all the parts necessary. Can you safely and effectively run the stoves with an empty, open water jacket? That would greatly simplify the set up.

 

[steveo2811]

Hey Kyle,

I recently purchased a home no too far east from you, and has a valley forge wood furnace which I recently had the chimney swept and inspected and installed new stove pipe to the terracotta.

My unit has the Honeywell controller, pump and water jacket going into it. It also has a pull out above the door that I thought was for a damper/draft control, but might simply be for clean out of creosote near the coils?

Could you let me know if there is anything I need to do before firing it up. I planned to, open the gate valves (inlet / outlet) on the copper water lines, and make sure the power was running to the Honeywell controller which powers the pump.

There is also a gauge on the back on f the unit. should I keep an eye at what temperature the pump should engage?

Any help is appreciated!
Thanks,

Steve