I understand the mechanics of draft increase when it's a little colder. I had noticed a bit better draft in previous years when it was bonechilling cold outside.
Now that I have the SS flex liner installed. my draft is crazy strong. Last week when it dipped into the 40's and I had 2 nights of fire the draft was nice and strong.
Right now it's in the mid to upper 30's. Last night when we got home it was 40 degrees. The draft was so strong I was afraid I would overfire the stove. I dampered it down......WAY down .....all the way down and the flames inside were still pulling stong. Draft was still pulling that air thru.
I am going to have to redo the gasket on my ash door. this was never a problem before. A little extra air didn't bother me at all. Also last year the switch that controls my auxiliary draft fan went bad and the fan stayed on. Again....an annoyance but not really a problem. I got up this morning at 5 am(yeah don't ask why I would do that). Came down and there was a nice bed of coals. opened her up a bit, filled the firebox and she was burning again in no time. I decided to do something about that draft fan. I pulled off the access plate, unplugged the stove and disconnected the draft fan. (it was filthy and covered by dust in there). This seems to have chilled out the draft a little bit....but I would only say a little bit. I still have it dampered to about half and the front temp on the stove is around 450.
I detailed the rebuilding of my stove last year when I pulled the catalyst assembly out and used large gasket ropes to seal it properly and compensate for the bowing in the cast iron on the assembly. I think that this year I am going to have to bite the bullet and order a new assembly from the manufacturer. Kind of like having an old model T that chugs along. It gets you where you want to go and seat belts aren't really needed. But turn it into a modern highway sedan and you need to buckle up.
When you do the dollar thing, how tight should it be on the dollar?
Now that I have the SS flex liner installed. my draft is crazy strong. Last week when it dipped into the 40's and I had 2 nights of fire the draft was nice and strong.
Right now it's in the mid to upper 30's. Last night when we got home it was 40 degrees. The draft was so strong I was afraid I would overfire the stove. I dampered it down......WAY down .....all the way down and the flames inside were still pulling stong. Draft was still pulling that air thru.
I am going to have to redo the gasket on my ash door. this was never a problem before. A little extra air didn't bother me at all. Also last year the switch that controls my auxiliary draft fan went bad and the fan stayed on. Again....an annoyance but not really a problem. I got up this morning at 5 am(yeah don't ask why I would do that). Came down and there was a nice bed of coals. opened her up a bit, filled the firebox and she was burning again in no time. I decided to do something about that draft fan. I pulled off the access plate, unplugged the stove and disconnected the draft fan. (it was filthy and covered by dust in there). This seems to have chilled out the draft a little bit....but I would only say a little bit. I still have it dampered to about half and the front temp on the stove is around 450.
I detailed the rebuilding of my stove last year when I pulled the catalyst assembly out and used large gasket ropes to seal it properly and compensate for the bowing in the cast iron on the assembly. I think that this year I am going to have to bite the bullet and order a new assembly from the manufacturer. Kind of like having an old model T that chugs along. It gets you where you want to go and seat belts aren't really needed. But turn it into a modern highway sedan and you need to buckle up.
When you do the dollar thing, how tight should it be on the dollar?