Can't light the stove tonight
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WES999
Minister of Fire
On my stove a torch works fine. It is a high output model, puts out a lot of heat. You have to point the torch toward the flue by placing the head on top of the baffle.
My stove has a digital probe in the flue I can see what the temp is reading. When the temp increases from 40*50* to 65*-70* I light the fire,
no smoke spillage, works like a charm.
My stove has a digital probe in the flue I can see what the temp is reading. When the temp increases from 40*50* to 65*-70* I light the fire,
no smoke spillage, works like a charm.
I have a basement install with an outside SS chimney. The fire usually never goes out, but when it does I will get a negative draft.
I lay one small split facing North/South. I lightly wad up about 5 sheets of newspaper against the split. I then build a lean-to of sorts over the newspaper against the split with very small and dry kindling facing east/west. I should also mention one end of the lean-to is directly in front of (on really) the air inlet. Light the newspaper in as many places as I can reach, close the door. Within 20 seconds I'm drafting in the right direction....very small amount of smoke in the house, if any. About 2 minutes after lighting with a draft established I'll add more kindling...about 5 minutes after that...load it with what I think I need to last as long as I think I need it to.
I lay one small split facing North/South. I lightly wad up about 5 sheets of newspaper against the split. I then build a lean-to of sorts over the newspaper against the split with very small and dry kindling facing east/west. I should also mention one end of the lean-to is directly in front of (on really) the air inlet. Light the newspaper in as many places as I can reach, close the door. Within 20 seconds I'm drafting in the right direction....very small amount of smoke in the house, if any. About 2 minutes after lighting with a draft established I'll add more kindling...about 5 minutes after that...load it with what I think I need to last as long as I think I need it to.
woodchip
Minister of Fire
CTwoodburner said:
But if you have a kitchen exhaust fan that can run in reverse, pushing air into the house, it will help push a draught up the chimney.
Just don't forget it and leave it running in sub zero temperatures
Well, I went to light to stove this afternoon and the reverse draft wasn't nearly as strong and I was able to get air going back up easily. Go figure.
Hopefully that strong reverse draft is not going to be the norm.
Thanks for all the advice everyone. Hopefully I won't need it again but if it happened before I'm afraid it will likely happen again.
Hopefully that strong reverse draft is not going to be the norm.
Thanks for all the advice everyone. Hopefully I won't need it again but if it happened before I'm afraid it will likely happen again.
Last night I tried a firestarter with some pine kindling with the door slightly cracked... got smoked out again... Arggg. Today I'll be breaking out the hair dryer. Wish me luck.
This looks cool... www.drawcollar.com but pretty expensive.
This looks cool... www.drawcollar.com but pretty expensive.
Search in hearth.com for "top down" exact match. Here's an example:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/52788/
But it may be more instructive to watch the Efficient woodstove operation video:
http://www.woodheat.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70&Itemid=9
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/52788/
But it may be more instructive to watch the Efficient woodstove operation video:
http://www.woodheat.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70&Itemid=9
If you have a basement install, do you also have a furnace in the basement that is running at the same time? I have a fireplace in the basement & when I have the furnace going it will pull air down my fireplace flue (38') if I don't have the damper closed. This is due to a return air duct being too close to the fireplace.
Dieselbreath said:
I do have a furnace in the basement and a return duct in the same room. It is a large room however and the return is a good 25 ft away but this may be part of my problem. I've made sure that the furnace isn't running when I'm trying to light the stove. But it may be that the furnace return is what gets the reverse draft going in the first place and once it's been established, it tends to stay that way.
I had the hair dryer all ready to go this afternoon. Went to light the stove and had NO cold air coming in at all. The fire lit right up with zero smoke.
CarbonNeutral
Minister of Fire
Even a couple of wide candles, place them in there, close the door - I've done this with our fireplace.
dafattkidd
Minister of Fire
I'm having a similar problem. I love my new stove. It burns awesome. But something i did during the install is messing with the draft.
I had a Napoleon 1101 in the same spot where my osburn is now. I had the same chimney liner and off set box set up. But now I have smoke pouring the room. No matter what is going on the firebox smoke pours in the room. i tried it with a 500* fire. Same thing. I just swept the chimney last week. i don't mean to high jack this post but I figured while everyone is answering this question for Scotty, you could maybe simultaneously help me out.
The only thing I did differently than before was while I had the stove out i insulated around the bottom of the liner where it meets where my damper used to be. Any ideas of what I did wrong? (Sorry Scotty hope this isn't messing you up)
I had a Napoleon 1101 in the same spot where my osburn is now. I had the same chimney liner and off set box set up. But now I have smoke pouring the room. No matter what is going on the firebox smoke pours in the room. i tried it with a 500* fire. Same thing. I just swept the chimney last week. i don't mean to high jack this post but I figured while everyone is answering this question for Scotty, you could maybe simultaneously help me out.
The only thing I did differently than before was while I had the stove out i insulated around the bottom of the liner where it meets where my damper used to be. Any ideas of what I did wrong? (Sorry Scotty hope this isn't messing you up)
jaddv
New Member
I've had the same problem occasionally with my 2 year-old Pacific Summit insert. (Which I absolutely love--like I said this is a very occasional problem!)
I'm thinking it has something to do with wind direction and maybe atmospheric pressure on certain days. I can tell when I open the door of the cold stove and a cold breeze hits me that it's going to be a smokey start. My house sits in a small valley, with an upward slope directly behind it, which probably doesn't help?
It just happened to me yesterday and I was thinking about trying a hairdryer so it's good to see that suggestion here--also the candle idea might work. Sometimes I leave the door open until the draft reverses to the correct direction, but the heating idea makes more sense. I'm trying it tonight if needed! Wish I could keep stove going all the time but no one's home to tend the fire during the day
I'm thinking it has something to do with wind direction and maybe atmospheric pressure on certain days. I can tell when I open the door of the cold stove and a cold breeze hits me that it's going to be a smokey start. My house sits in a small valley, with an upward slope directly behind it, which probably doesn't help?
It just happened to me yesterday and I was thinking about trying a hairdryer so it's good to see that suggestion here--also the candle idea might work. Sometimes I leave the door open until the draft reverses to the correct direction, but the heating idea makes more sense. I'm trying it tonight if needed! Wish I could keep stove going all the time but no one's home to tend the fire during the day
Well the negative draft continues to happen more often than not if the stove has been cold for a few days.
BUT, I've found a solutions that works. Take a hair dryer point it up into the where the smoke goes just above the inside of the door and 30 seconds later, draft is going up again. Works like a charm even when the reverse draft is very strong
BUT, I've found a solutions that works. Take a hair dryer point it up into the where the smoke goes just above the inside of the door and 30 seconds later, draft is going up again. Works like a charm even when the reverse draft is very strong
I'm a newbie and had a few "smoky dragons". It was so bad that I was apprehensive each time I started a new fire. My problem was that I wasn't sticking my flame/starter back far enough in my firebox. Since I've learned where the flue "hole" is I stick my long butane lighter back underneath the hole. It sometimes blows out the light, but I keep at it until I can tell it isn't going to go out and the flame is dancing for the flue. I then stick my newspaper that I have twisted and stuck in the end of a paper towel holder (to get the extra extension I need to reach back to the flue opening). I pinch the end (that I'm holding) of the paper towel holder so that the smoke doesn't come out that end and in my face. When you can see that the draft is going, I place 2 or 3 wadded up newspaper wads in the back (underneath the flue) and light those. While those are burning I place some kindling in the front part of the stove and light it. I still get apprehensive but I haven't had a smoky dragon since.
I think everyone on here has their own way of starting a fire. Maybe I will learn a better one in time, but for now I'm just happy to be able to get the fire going without gagging.
I think everyone on here has their own way of starting a fire. Maybe I will learn a better one in time, but for now I'm just happy to be able to get the fire going without gagging.
dafattkidd
Minister of Fire
My draft issues have been discovered from another thread I started a couple of weeks ago. The guys on the forum really helped me out. I still have to fix the issue. I'll hopefully get to it in the next couple of weeks. I'm getting sick of these smokey reloads. Toasty Joan welcome to the forum. Where are you from? I'm on the North Shore too.
Swedishchef
Minister of Fire
Hey guys.
I can help with the cure for a negative pressure.
I have a negative pressure quite often in my stove. Here's the reason: my basement is AIR TIGHT (spray foam on the walls and in the rim joists). Whenever the pressure outside is higher than inside the house, a negative down pressure is created in the chimney (my chimney is outside my house along the siding) since it is a point of "intake" into the house. Once your stove doors opens, it is as if the house is taking a deep breath in. In order to prevent this, open a nearby window for 10-12 seconds before. That ensures that the pressure will be coming in through the window.
When I open the window near my stove, it's as if a fan is pushing air into the room from the outside. Then I open my stove door, primary air and the bypass damper. If I stick my hand in, no down draft at all.
Before I figured it out, I would often have anegative pressure in my stove. I would try lighting paper, etc but my room would simply fill with smoke. It's simply physics. Yes, if a fan is on in the bathroom or kitchen it will work in favor of the neative pressure in the stove.
Yes, an Outside Air Kit (OAK) would work but since my stove is on my basement floor and I don't want some foolish looking pipe coming down the wall behind the stove, opening the window works for me.
Good luck!
Andrew
I can help with the cure for a negative pressure.
I have a negative pressure quite often in my stove. Here's the reason: my basement is AIR TIGHT (spray foam on the walls and in the rim joists). Whenever the pressure outside is higher than inside the house, a negative down pressure is created in the chimney (my chimney is outside my house along the siding) since it is a point of "intake" into the house. Once your stove doors opens, it is as if the house is taking a deep breath in. In order to prevent this, open a nearby window for 10-12 seconds before. That ensures that the pressure will be coming in through the window.
When I open the window near my stove, it's as if a fan is pushing air into the room from the outside. Then I open my stove door, primary air and the bypass damper. If I stick my hand in, no down draft at all.
Before I figured it out, I would often have anegative pressure in my stove. I would try lighting paper, etc but my room would simply fill with smoke. It's simply physics. Yes, if a fan is on in the bathroom or kitchen it will work in favor of the neative pressure in the stove.
Yes, an Outside Air Kit (OAK) would work but since my stove is on my basement floor and I don't want some foolish looking pipe coming down the wall behind the stove, opening the window works for me.
Good luck!
Andrew
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