Problems with air starved wood stove.

[Kindred Kynd]

Hello,

I recently purchased a house with a Efel Arden harmony woodstove. Date on the back says 1/90. The stove is connected to an outside chimney and is located on a first floor living room. The problem I am having is that I cannot get a hot fire running with just the baffles open full, it only smolders. But if I open the small door below the stove which is used to access the ash pan I get a great big fire, I think too big. Since it works well when it gets enough oxygen, and seems to be drafting great I assume the chimney is not the problem. I have read on the site some talk about having a negitive pressure situation in the house or it being too "tight", but that would suprise me since our house has some drafty doors and there is no other equipment competing for oxygen besides an oil furnace all the way at the other side of the house in the basement...

It seems to me that the fire is too starved with just the baffles but may be too hot with the ash pan door open...so i cant regulate in between. any idea on potential cause or correction? Also, what should the stove temp be when running, so i can make sure that im not getting to hot with the ash door open..

I have also read about OAK sytems (drawing air from outside) can these be installed on all stoves?..

Thanks in advance for any help, im loving my woodstove but would like to correct this problem ( without drilling holes in my stove!).

Kind

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Tell me about the wood you're burning. How long ago was it cut and split? How tall is your chimney?

Matt

 

[begreen]

Either the chimney or cap is plugged or the wood is too damp to burn well. When you bought the house, was the flue on this stove thoroughly inspected at that time?

Regardless of cause, opening up the ash pan to boost the fire is a bad idea, I wouldn't do this. Get some known dry wood from a friend or the grocery store and try burning that after you've confirmed the flue and cap are ok.

 

[DBoon]

If you just bought the house and this is your first burning season, and a mason hasn't already inspected your chimney and installation, I would get that done before burning any more. Make sure that you have a safe installation, and don't count on the previous owner to have done that for you.

 

[Kindred Kynd]

Thank you for your replys,

We actually moved in 3 years ago, but this is the first season trying to wood stove becuase we had small children and didnt want them around it unitl now. So it has not been operational in maybe 4 years. We just had a basic home inspection no special mason or attetion to the chimney. The chimney is brick and about 18 feet tall. Looking outside while the stove was on i was suprised to see not a lot of smoke or airflow considering there was a pretty good fire going (with the ash door open).. There appears to be no cap on the top of the chimney.

We are burning very dry wood, oak i think, it has been covered for at least 2 years outside. I will try to get some wood from a store though just to check. Its seems dry to the touch though.

While running it i opened the windows in the room to see the the house side was the problem. no change, just smoldering without the ash cleanout door open ( the door is about 3" x 18")..

From the comments I take it my assumption that since it burns fine when i give it more oxygen, and vents fine ( does not backdraft or puff smoke) is not correct?..

It was mentioned for a mason to look at the chimney, from outward apperance it seems in good shape, but i guess there is another reason for this? or should I call a chimney sweep instead?

Thank you for all the great help!


Kind

 

[LLigetfa]

My guess is that bees, hornets, or mud daubers plugged up your air intake.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum, Kindred Kynd.

Yes, air can be a big problem and all above needs to be checked for sure. I will still lean on the fuel though. Even if it is 2 year in the stack, oak can still be a problem. We always give oak 3 years before trying to burn it. In addition, you say it has been covered. Was it split? Was it stacked? How was it covered? Top of the stack only? Was the wood stacked where wind can hit the side of the pile so as to help dry the wood?

Sorry for all the questions but these are just more things to consider when burning wood. Just like your car which only wants to run right with good fuel, the woodstove also requires good fuel. Anything less and that stove just will not function properly.

Good luck.

 

[hareball]

I would definitely have a sweeper come and clean and inspect, even if it's not the problem it needs to be done.

 

[Kindred Kynd]

Checked out my chimney today, it has a cleanout in the bottom and with a mirror i can see all the way up, it looks very clean. Its brick on the outside and lined with ceramic (about 8") square tubing. No blockage and walls look clean.

Then I went crazy with some tools and took the inside of the stove apart....turns out it is catalytic , had no idea.. Theres a honeycomb type ceramic part that was pretty block...also, a lot of soot above leading to the flue. Vacuumed it all out.

The pipe leading to the chimney had some dust/soot at the bottom that i cleaned out, it also has maybe 1/8" of build up on the walls....not sure if thats a problem.

Seems I was running the damper wrong too...theses a switch that directs the inlet air flow to the door window, or opens the air the the main combustion chamber, I was running this open because it was allowing the combustion chamber to go out the flue that way rather then the blocked catalytic honeycomb...But with that setting I think inlet air and exit gasses where trying to use the same vent...

I never thought a woodstove would be some complicated,lol, would have helped if they left me the owners manuals for this model.,386.75 catalytic efel harmony but they didn't and cant fine any manuals anywhere online...


Can I just skip putting the honeycomb in and run it non catalytic ?....I rather not deal with this again...

thanks again,

Kind

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Hello,

I recently purchased a house with a Efel Arden harmony woodstove. Date on the back says 1/90. The stove is connected to an outside chimney and is located on a first floor living room. The problem I am having is that I cannot get a hot fire running with just the baffles open full, it only smolders. But if I open the small door below the stove which is used to access the ash pan I get a great big fire, I think too big. Since it works well when it gets enough oxygen, and seems to be drafting great I assume the chimney is not the problem. I have read on the site some talk about having a negitive pressure situation in the house or it being too "tight", but that would suprise me since our house has some drafty doors and there is no other equipment competing for oxygen besides an oil furnace all the way at the other side of the house in the basement...

It seems to me that the fire is too starved with just the baffles but may be too hot with the ash pan door open...so i cant regulate in between. any idea on potential cause or correction? Also, what should the stove temp be when running, so i can make sure that im not getting to hot with the ash door open..

I have also read about OAK sytems (drawing air from outside) can these be installed on all stoves?..

Thanks in advance for any help, im loving my woodstove but would like to correct this problem ( without drilling holes in my stove!).

Kind

I'm guessing your wood is wet

 

[begreen]

I would get the catalyst working correctly or replace it and run the stove the way it's meant to run. It will use less wood and should burn for much longer periods of time between refills.

For a Hamony I manual contact:
Coastline Products. Call: 707.964.0691 E-mail: [email protected]

 

[Kindred Kynd]

Took out the catalytic part, soaked it in 50/50 vinegar and water, then boiled water rinse. Let it dry and put it back in. Still nothing but smoldering with the damper wide open, maybe its just dead...not much better going with the bypass.

went and bought some kiln dried hardwood. THis was definitely a little better, I was able to run with a small flame with the ash door closed in the bypass mode ( still nothing but smoldering in the catalytic mode.Was able to maintain about 250F on the stove surface for a few hours, bout 180 on the flue...Not really the BTU's I was hoping for. Flame is quite small but at least its there I was hopping to heat around 1500-2000 square feet..

Ordered the replacement catalytic combuster, should that help or should I write this thing off as a good anchor?...

 

[par0thead151]

Checked out my chimney today, it has a cleanout in the bottom and with a mirror i can see all the way up, it looks very clean. Its brick on the outside and lined with ceramic (about 8") square tubing. No blockage and walls look clean.

Then I went crazy with some tools and took the inside of the stove apart....turns out it is catalytic , had no idea.. Theres a honeycomb type ceramic part that was pretty block...also, a lot of soot above leading to the flue. Vacuumed it all out.

The pipe leading to the chimney had some dust/soot at the bottom that i cleaned out, it also has maybe 1/8" of build up on the walls....not sure if thats a problem.

Seems I was running the damper wrong too...theses a switch that directs the inlet air flow to the door window, or opens the air the the main combustion chamber, I was running this open because it was allowing the combustion chamber to go out the flue that way rather then the blocked catalytic honeycomb...But with that setting I think inlet air and exit gasses where trying to use the same vent...

I never thought a woodstove would be some complicated,lol, would have helped if they left me the owners manuals for this model.,386.75 catalytic efel harmony but they didn't and cant fine any manuals anywhere online...


Can I just skip putting the honeycomb in and run it non catalytic ?....I rather not deal with this again...

thanks again,

Kind

sounds like your pipe is too large. does your stove call for 8"?
mine called for 6" and i had a 8" in my original ZC fireplace.
i paid for the 6" to make sure i dont have issues burning with my stove... the wrong sized pipe can cause draft issues and burn issues. also temp issues.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like dry wood nailed the air-starved issue. I think with a fresh catalyst and good dry wood you have a chance at having some good heat from the stove. Only burn dry wood and use supercedars or only plain newsprint (no glossy color) to start the fire.

Be sure to post back here when the new catalyst is installed. Try it with the same dry wood.

 

[firefighterjake]

Seems like every time someone has a problem maintaining their fire it boils down to the wood not being seasoned enough or the draft isn't good enough . . . and I would wager half of my paycheck that unseasoned wood is the main culprit time and time again.

On a side note . . . it has been said . . . but I'll say it again . . . it's generally not a good idea to use the ash door to help get the fire going. Instead, you may opt to open the woodbox door a tad . . . and stay close by while doing so.