Clayton 1600 damper install

[Woodenator]

Hey fellas I know I have a thread on firing issues I was having with the clayton but I like to keep things organized and separated that don't explicitly relate to firing the furnace.
My question is where should I install the key damper? Where should I install my manometer, before or after the damper? I also picked up an Imperial burn indicator aswell, not for me but for the wife to look at when I'm not home to make sure the furnace isn't getting too hot or too cold. Where should I put that? I dont know if the damper would effect the readings of the thermometer wether before or after the damper. I use an inferred thermometer to monitor the stove but I want something easy she can just look at and call me right away of something is going wrong.

 

[Woodenator]

Well i got the damper installed today and gave it a test run. As far as dampening it down i can get it as low as .035wc. However I am having trouble dampening it down cause the fire acts like it wants to go out and it did go completely out 1 time. Also I had to take all the firebrick out mid burn because it was acting like it wasn't getting enough air like it was smoldering at the rear of the firebox. But it had flame right over the space I didn't put a brick so I could clean out ashes. After I took the firebrick out and raised the draft to .06wc it could maintain a burn. However, my burn time suffered severly doing that. My last burn went for 5 hours this burn had more wood and lasted 3 and there wasn't hardly any coals left. I am wondering now if the trouble i was having wasn't the firebrick but the outside temp, it was 46 at my place this evening when I started it. Maybe the damper was cutting enough of the hot exhaust flow off that it couldn't maintain its draft and slowly began to die. Any opinions?

 

[brenndatomu]

Maybe the damper was cutting enough of the hot exhaust flow off that it couldn't maintain its draft and slowly began to die. Any opinions

What did the manometer say?

These issues are why I gave up with trying to mod an old school burner to be cleaner/more efficient...you can maybe do it, but then they also get VERY finicky IME...PITA!

 

[Woodenator]

What did the manometer say?

These issues are why I gave up with trying to mod an old school burner to be cleaner/more efficient...you can maybe do it, but then they also get VERY finicky IME...PITA!

I don't remember to tell you the truth, that was a few days ago. Yea there very much a PITA! I think the reason the fire brick didn't work as good the rest of the times was I had more wood in it and the way the Clayton's air is setup is that the top air intake splits when it enters the fire box, some below and some above and the. BIG plus is that it hasn't tried to run away on me once after taking the baro out and installing a key damper. I'm still having hard time figuring out how when the best time to reload is? And how i should reload for an overnite burn, like if i should just add a few pieces at a time until they catch then add more till its full? I tried to put 5 or 6 splits in when I still had 2 charred logs in there boy was that a bad idea, it burned all my wood up in 1 hour, massive outgassing ensued. Thank goodness for the damper that was my own fault. I don't get the beautiful secondaries like i did with the baro unless it's cause in trying to run the outside flue temp around 250 to keep the house from overheating.

 

[blades]

4-5 hours is about tops for that style unit

 

[Woodenator]

4-5 hours is about tops for that style unit

Yea I loaded up with 3 nice chunks and got 4.5hrs burn time. However I had to keep the damper wide open or it kept losing draft little by little. With the damper wide open and the door intake open 1 spin I was getting a .05wc. However, I don't know if I left it there with the air at such a low setting if it would try to take off on me or not. I need to experiment alittle more.

 

[salecker]

Size of splits and rounds will help control the fire
i was getting high flue temp with my econoburn before i modified a couple things that brought it down.Before that i kept increasing the size of my splits which helped

 

[Woodenator]

It might just not be cold enough yet to maintain a good draft without running a hotter flue temp

 

[Woodenator]

So today was a high of 46 with a low of 33. I ran the furnace on a low burn with a surface flue temp of 300 degrees all day. However earlier in the day I was having to set the draft to a .06wc or I would slowly loose firebox temp and draft. I went down this evening to add a few more splits and something odd happened. I added the splits alittle early than I usually do so it gassed of some for 15mins with a decent fireball however when I closed the key damper to get control of the rising flue temp I got it down to a .035 and the temp stabilized at 320 right off the stove on the flue. It has been running like that for 2 hours with only a 10 degree drop in the flue temp and the flames are slow and ghostly looking. I have a load of cherry in there and I don't even smell anything outside. What gives? Was it the drop from 46 degrees to 37 currently that gave it just enough to stabilize the draft or enough of a gap between inside and outside temps? This load will prob last close twice as long as prior loads with the same amount. Makes me happy but I want to know why it happened so I can replicate it.

 

[brenndatomu]

What gives? Was it the drop from 46 degrees to 37 currently that gave it just enough to stabilize the draft or enough of a gap between inside and outside temps? This load will prob last close twice as long as prior loads with the same amount. Makes me happy but I want to know why it happened so I can replicate it.

Lower temp always helps draft...but my guess is things just lined up right...temp, wind, wood species and moisture level, the way the splits were stacked in there, etc, etc, etc...probably impossible to reliably duplicate.

 

[Woodenator]

I don't know maybe I'm complaining to much. Maybe I just need to learn to live with it and throw the wood in and shut the door. I'm over analytical, a tinker and a screw turner.

 

[Woodenator]

Tried a load to the top of the firebricks last night and got a 4.5 almost 5hr burn. Was black locust and ash mix. I did notice last year it seems the more you fill it up the more efficiency suffers. I'd just rather put 4 good splits in and get a 3hr burn than putting 8 splits in and getting a 4.5hr burn. Seems like you don't really get alot of extra time with more wood, just more heat. I also did an experiment last year where I loaded the thing up to the brim and got a 6hr burn but that wasted a ton of wood and I didn't get much heat from it cause all the wood was insulating the sides from letting the fire transfer the heat to the stove.

 

[brenndatomu]

I hear lamppa has vaporfires in stock, ready to ship...just saying 😁
Just talked to a fellow that ordered one earlier this week, he said he can't really afford it, but he said he cannot deal with that POS enegyking furnace one more winter!

 

[Woodenator]

I hear lamppa has vaporfires in stock, ready to ship...just saying 😁
Just talked to a fellow that ordered one earlier this week, he said he can't really afford it, but he said he cannot deal with that POS enegyking furnace one more winter!

I wish I could, I really do. It's just not in the cards for me right now. I'll just have to make due for awhile. Maybe before next winter comes around again. Hey if anything this experience will show me what I want and don't want in a furnace.

 

[brenndatomu]

As long as you learn from your experiences...I'm a slow learner apparently...the Kuuma was my 6th furnace, but I did also run a Heat Commander for a bit, so that would have made 7. (The Kuuma stayed put BTW)

 

[Woodenator]

As long as you learn from your experiences...I'm a slow learner apparently...the Kuuma was my 6th furnace, but I did also run a Heat Commander for a bit, so that would have made 7. (The Kuuma stayed put BTW)

I agree I looked up the Kumas before and I'm 100% sure that's the 1 I want to buy. I got 7 cords of wood put up so far. I am still working on getting more. I don't think I'll be able to get a few years worth though. Hopefully I will only go through 6 cords, so I will hopefully have left over to get me ahead for next year but I have a feeling I'm gunna go through more like 8 or 10 cords. Even though I only burn durning the day this thing eats woods like crazy.