Blaze King smoke coming out when reloading

[Robert C.]

Hello everyone! This season I've noticed something odd with my stove. Every time I reload it on hot coals, if I leave the door open too long when reloading, the smoke comes into the house when the wood starts smoking instead of going up the chimney like I remember it did last year.

The chimney is clear, cleaned not too long ago.

Yes, I am opening the bypass when reloading.

The wood is bone dry and good quality. Cat is in excellent shape.

The only thing I can think of is that the draft is reversed for some reason. But why? And why wasn't it a problem last year. This is my second year burning.

Thanks for the help!

Robert

 

[johnstra]

do a visual inspection of you chimney cap. It's not uncommon for them to get clogged, producing the symptoms you are seeing.

 

[Highbeam]

My bk does it too. Some weeks worse than others. Draft is affected by many things.

 

[webby3650]

Has anything changed I'm the house? New range hood, power vented water heater, insulation, windows? etc.
Any of these things can contribute to draft reduction.

 

[Robert C.]

Has anything changed I'm the house? New range hood, power vented water heater, insulation, windows? etc.
Any of these things can contribute to draft reduction.

Actually, yes, I upgraded my insulation. I will try reloading with the window open and seeing if that helps. Anything else I can try to improve the draft?

 

[BKVP]

Actually, yes, I upgraded my insulation. I will try reloading with the window open and seeing if that helps. Anything else I can try to improve the draft?

Is the stove connected to OAK? Did insulation get inside air supply?

 

[Robert C.]

Is the stove connected to OAK? Did insulation get inside air supply?

I am not sure what you mean by OAK or inside air supply. Could you please explain?

 

[BKVP]

Outside Air Kit. Your stove has the ability to be connected directly to a fresh air supply so that you do not need to burn room air for combustion.

 

[webby3650]

With the new insulation it made your house tighter, so the stove struggles to get enough air to draft properly. The outside air kit is simply a pipe the goes to the outside of your home allowing fresh air for combustion. It hooks to the back of your stove with an adaptor. It will most likely resolve your issue. Also verify that your cap isn't partially clogged.

 

[Robert C.]

I tried reloading with a window open. I also lit a newspaper inside the stove and pointed the burning end to the opening in hope that the draft would be improved. However, none of these proved successful. So I don't think outside air would fix the issue, as this does not seem to be a draft issue. I will call my installer tomorrow and see if he has any ideas.

 

[webby3650]

Can you see the cap? If there is a spark screen on it I would bet it's clogged.

 

[Robert C.]

Can you see the cap? If there is a spark screen on it I would bet it's clogged.

Sorry, which cap is that? The cap on top of the chimney?

 

[PWash]

Sorry, which cap is that? The cap on top of the chimney?

yeah is there a wire mesh on the top of chimney as part of the chimney cap?
also, is the stove in basement or in a lower level of the house?

 

[Robert C.]

yeah is there a wire mesh on the top of chimney as part of the chimney cap?
also, is the stove in basement or in a lower level of the house?

Yes. It doesn't look too good, since I can't see through the mesh from the driveway. I don't have a way of getting up there, so I called my installer and am having him come over. I've been doing my own cleaning, but I probably didn't get high enough from the bottom.

The stove is on the ground floor, above the basement. The house has 2 storeys.

 

[Highbeam]

So you were using a sooteater from the bottom and were unable to clear the screen? Did you not feel the sooteater head bonk into the bottom of the cap? If so and that thing can't clean a screen then I worry about the rest of your flue.

 

[Robert C.]

So you were using a sooteater from the bottom and were unable to clear the screen? Did you not feel the sooteater head bonk into the bottom of the cap? If so and that thing can't clean a screen then I worry about the rest of your flue.

Yes, I think so. I don't think I have enough rod length. I just purchased another set of 2 for the future. I was also afraid of dislodging the cap if I went too high, so that's why I didn't go too far, which was my mistake.

 

[Highbeam]

Yes, I think so. I don't think I have enough rod length. I just purchased another set of 2 for the future. I was also afraid of dislodging the cap if I went too high, so that's why I didn't go too far, which was my mistake.

I did an imaginary sooteater cleaning job in my head since I don't own one yet. My caps both screw on so I can't bonk them off but still, slide the SE up without spinning until I feel it tap the cap gently. Then spin my way down. That was my plan to assure a 100% cleaning. My hope was that the strings would spin out far enough to clean the cap structure somewhat as well as the flue.

I am not a fan of screens on my chimney cap. Especially on caps that are very hard to access.

 

[Robert C.]

I did an imaginary sooteater cleaning job in my head since I don't own one yet. My caps both screw on so I can't bonk them off but still, slide the SE up without spinning until I feel it tap the cap gently. Then spin my way down. That was my plan to assure a 100% cleaning. My hope was that the strings would spin out far enough to clean the cap structure somewhat as well as the flue.

I am not a fan of screens on my chimney cap. Especially on caps that are very hard to access.

That's a good idea actually. I've been spinning the way up. Sounds like spinning on the way down is better.

 

[Highbeam]

That's a good idea actually. I've been spinning the way up. Sounds like spinning on the way down is better.

Maybe spin both up and down but I don't want to be hard on that cap so when you get close to the cap stop spinning and carefully tap the top. The caps are quite expensive to replace, hard to access, and look pretty easy to break. Plus, the sharp edges of the cap structure may actually cut the strings off not unlike the auto trim blade of a regular weed eater.

 

[Robert C.]

Just finished cleaning all the way up with 2 extra soot eater rods borrowed from a coworker and it fixed the problem completely! The draft was perfect after I lit the fire. I used the newspaper on top of the kindling technique to get a better draft. All the smoke was going up the chimney like it was supposed to after that.

After cleaning, I got about 2 quarts of creosote, which was definitely more than I expected.

Thanks everyone for your tips!