The Draft...............

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WoodMann

Minister of Fire
Feb 9, 2008
670
New Mexico
No, nothing to do with the military. I recently changed my chimney top screen from what was a fine oval type mesh with 1/2" square mesh. Seems lately its harder to get up to speed, er- temperature. Dould the size of mesh at the top afect draft that much? I can appreciate a finer screen up top to keep heat from just blowing out thru the flue....................
 
I'd think the oposite would be true, less restriction equals more draft? Try taking the cap off and see what happens.
 
You want the heat to blow out the top. That is the only way to get the rest of the smoke and gasses that the stove puts out to go up the chimney. Having to fine of mesh will only allow it to plug with soot and creosote that much faster. Most folks just take the mesh off completely.
 
I did toss the mesh once, but ended up with a bird in the stove(finally figured out why the cat was eye- balling the stove so intently). I'll try with the cap off weather permiting and see what happens..............
 
1/2" screens/spark arrestors are required in some areas. Here it isn't a county code, but in rural areas it is a CDF forestry reg, and they will fine you for not having one.

the goal is to stop ejected chunks from being larger than 1/2" incase of expolsive chimney fire, or cap fire...

they can clog all the time on older stoves however, and may need regular cleaning
 
I did notice that when I went on a test run W/O a screenand noticed a few burning chunks flying around, a bit concerning to say the least. It's just my understanding that a smaller mesh would slow down the draft thus containing the heat a little more B4 expelling ot to the atmosphere..............
 
That's my theory, contain the heat in the flue a little longer to heat things a bit more. Now granted, my original mesh was too small, I'll dig for a picture I have of it and it did get creosoted up some which is why I wen bigger. So my theory now is to take a half a step back...........
 
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