DS wood boiler glowing chimney pipe?

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dave2500

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Feb 15, 2015
8
NJ
Hello,
i have a DS wood boiler here: http://woodstoves.net/documents/DS Machine Stoves/boilers/AquaGEM_flyer.pdf

I have a single wall stainless chimney pipe going into the wall (then a brick one)

when it is really calling for a lot of heat, the chimney pipe will start glowing a very dull red. is this bad?

all the air is controlled by the stove.

once it reaches temp the chimney is cool (less than 200), but when all my zones are running when it tries to keep up the chimny (only the bottom few inches)(elbow to be exact) turns a dull red.

Is this something to be concern about?

Also, i know if is not a chimney fire, because it burns hot atleast once a day.. (last time i checked the chimney it was just like a little powder)

its a lot different from the heath stoves i had

Thanks
Dave
 
Last edited:
Something must not be right with your setup. Too much air, dirty heat exchanger, something/anything? A glowing flue would scare the crap out of me. I would not keep running it like that. Seems to me eventually (or very soon?) that flue is going to fail and when it does you're going to have some real problems if/when you're mid-burn.
 
Have you taken a draft measurement with the boiler firing?
Do you have a barometric damper in the breeching pipe between the boiler and the chimney?

I'm assuming that your draft is way to high and a lot of your heat is going right up and out.
 
if it is glowing red most of your heat is going straight up the stack....temps should never go above 400 on a stack IMO. usually stays around 350 when at full fire. What does the firebox look like? is there a heat baffle or bypass to stop the gasses from going stright up the flue?
 
Are you burning wood on the coal grates?
 
Thank you everyone.
iim not burning it right now ( thank god its warm today)

I didnt think it should be red, so i let it go out that night

I bought a manometer that will be here today. do i take the rating with the fire very high?

also inside the boiler box their is a good amount of sticky creasoot ( i think it is normal) stuck to the walls

I have the wood plate inside of it (i am burning wood)

It is a rear exhaust so their is a big baffle where the flames have to travel foward then back again to get to the chimmy.


What should the draft be Its a 7" pipe that goes into a 8" chimmny

Thank you everyone
 
That's a decent guage, and yes that sounds too high. Should be more like the 0.05 you mention, although might contact the manufacturer to see what they say.

What did you measure the pipe temp with? And where? (How far from furnace?) That sounds high too - especially if with a magnetic guage. But I'm not sure that is in the glow zone.
 
maple1 said:
That's a decent guage, and yes that sounds too high. Should be more like the 0.05 you mention, although might contact the manufacturer to see what they say.

What did you measure the pipe temp with? And where? (How far from furnace?) That sounds high too - especially if with a magnetic guage. But I'm not sure that is in the glow zone.
Click to expand...

Thanks, ill call them up,

i just used a IR gauge (with the laser)

I measured it right at the bottom (where the exhaust exits the stove) because my ir gauge will not read off the stainless steel, i ordered a probe gage to install into the pipe but its not here yet.

do you think i can put a damper in the chimney to controll the draft?
 
Possibly, yes - I think that's what I would do. I would still check with the manufacturer & see what they say.

If you spray a spot of flat black BBQ paint where you're trying to measure the stainless, your IR gun might work on that. They don't like measuring temps on shiny surfaces.
 
Inside pipe temp would be about double of the outside. Draft is way too high. Install a barometric damper and you'll be good.
 
dave2500 said:
Hello,
i have a DS wood boiler here: http://woodstoves.net/documents/DS Machine Stoves/boilers/AquaGEM_flyer.pdf

I have a single wall stainless chimney pipe going into the wall (then a brick one)

when it is really calling for a lot of heat, the chimney pipe will start glowing a very dull red. is this bad?

all the air is controlled by the stove.

once it reaches temp the chimney is cool (less than 200), but when all my zones are running when it tries to keep up the chimny (only the bottom few inches)(elbow to be exact) turns a dull red.

Is this something to be concern about?

Also, i know if is not a chimney fire, because it burns hot atleast once a day.. (last time i checked the chimney it was just like a little powder)

its a lot different from the heath stoves i had

Thanks
Dave
Click to expand...
 
Hey Dave, Give me a call. I have the same boiler and set up, I'll give some pointers and ideas that i worked into my setup.
Luke 203-610-7667.
 
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