Whoaaa! I think I need a flue damper........

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Motor7

Feeling the Heat
Nov 10, 2009
412
East TN.
I ran this stove in my shop for a season, but it was on a reduced flue from 8"(at the stove) to a 6" pipe in the shop. It's now in the house on 24' of 8" straight up, no turns. I have a pretty wicked draft and was running it last night for the 4th time. I went down to stoke it before bed and opened it up while it was going pretty strong on over a half load(flue temp was about 500). I had the door open for about 2 min while I shoved in a few sticks of oak. Closed it up and I could hear a pretty good roar. Watching the digital thermometer, it started to climb. I checked the primary & it was only open 1/8"...looked back at the thermo and it was at 700 and change & increasing like the national debt clock. So I shut off the primary and flue temps hit 850ish before coming back down. It was only 46 degrees out at the time, so I can imagine that this draft is going to really increase the colder it gets this season. A flue damper is definitely in order........::P
 
Sounds like you are a perfect candidate for a flue damper. It will give another level of control. However, you may want to try experimenting with different load techniques and temps. A stove can act totally different if you try to re fuel at 450F vs 250F (as an example).
 
I agree, and I know the re-fuel was at the wrong time. What surprised me is the difference in this re-fuel and the one's I used to do on the 6" flue...never had a problem then. But, this is definitely a whole new ball game.
 
What stove is it you are running here?

pen
 
Hearthstone H1
 
What condition is the secondary tube in? Is it solid (other than the holes) and without cracks?
 
The secondary is one year "new", no cracks or deformation & door seals all pass the dollar bill test. I only ran it once in the spring and before the porch roof was on. Back then it had so much draft it would pull the door shut once the fire was established. It's not so strong now, but still formidable.
 
Whoa that is some draft. Try the key damper, it should help.
 
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