I haven’t gotten any high temp alarms, I did my first year but that’s due to small splits, ever since then I’ve always cut larger splits.
Did my vapor fire just back puff?
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brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
It just seems like normal gasket compression to me. It's been slowing as it ages. I keep the hinges greased, so the pins aren't wearing. I grease the latch too, but it wears some anyway. I'll adjust the latch maybe twice a year and the hinge side maybe once. I use mine almost year-round.
yooperdave
Minister of Fire
Your back puffing sounds just like a house I used to have. The wood furnace would burn great until evening/night time. It was also an old house (not airtight by any means). But, once the doors stopped being opened and closed (kids/dog) the fire would begin to starve and that resulted in back puffing. It would get so bad that the entire basement would fill with smoke! Wake up to that around 1:00 and opening the basement door.....instant pucker factor!
You could try leaving a window in the basement cracked open (2" or so) just to find out if that helps. If it does, add a fresh air skuttle.
BTW, this is my 2nd full time season with the vapor fire. I have never had to adjust the doors......or grease the hinges/lock mechanism.
Also sounds like the aspen is the cause. Measure the MC on a freshly split face....not the ends or the existing face of the split.
Good luck!
You could try leaving a window in the basement cracked open (2" or so) just to find out if that helps. If it does, add a fresh air skuttle.
BTW, this is my 2nd full time season with the vapor fire. I have never had to adjust the doors......or grease the hinges/lock mechanism.
Also sounds like the aspen is the cause. Measure the MC on a freshly split face....not the ends or the existing face of the split.
Good luck!
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
That's why I asked about it...seems a lil excessive to me...I have messed with mine a bunch, but when I got it I had what Lamppa said was "air leaking in around the door", and the repair was elusive...I ended up coating the OEM gasket with ultra high temp silicone and lightly closing the door on it for a "custom fit" gasket...that seemed to take care of it, haven't messed with it since. Daryl said that once the OEM gasket is seated in and everything is "mated up" that the door latch doesn't need to be kept super tight...but mine didn't seem to seal 100% even when real tight...it was weird.
I found out that HeatMaster does the silicone thing on the door gaskets of their boilers, that's where I got the idea to try it...they even say you can just wire wheel the silicone off and redo it if its ever needed, but it sounds like its generally a long term solution...so far so good for me!
Well, I don't know what to tell you guys, but I'm glad you got me thinking about adjusting my door, because I actually remembered to do it on a pretty cold stove today. For the past few weeks or so I've been smelling a little smoke on occasion. If I can catch it when it's doing it, I can sniff out which side it's coming from, but it's always the hinge side. If the latch side gets loose, the latch bottoms easily, I notice and and tighten it up. It's the smoking that tells me the hinge side is loose.
My gasket is definitely wearing and compressing. A few years ago, the gasket had some bounce to it when I shut the door. Now it's just a dead thud. I even noticed a couple of strings hanging off the bottom when I was doing the work. I have no interest in changing the gasket in mid-February, so I tried not to look too closely at that. Why mine would be changing, and yours wouldn't is beyond me. I only tighten the hinge side when it leaks, and I tighten the latch side when I know it's about to, or when it leaks if I procrastinate. It might just be usage. I'd say on average that my furnace gets 3 weeks off around August, and then it goes back to work, so if you were to adjust yours every two years, and me every year, that's probably about even.
As far as lubricating the latch and hinges, I don't know why you wouldn't, but to each their own. The latch bars in particular wear a fair bit without lube, Just this week I had to carry the door of my cat stove out to the welding bench and fill the groove in its bar because I had run out of travel. Can't lube that one because it's inside the firebox, but it's easy to grease the Kuuma and it sure makes the latch move easier.
Once there's a pronounced groove in the gasket it's that much easier to do the silicone form-a-gasket in the groove trick, and that's probably what I'll do with this when the door goes metal on metal to the front of the stove. I think that the hybrid gasket that creates is better than putting another fiber gasket in.
My gasket is definitely wearing and compressing. A few years ago, the gasket had some bounce to it when I shut the door. Now it's just a dead thud. I even noticed a couple of strings hanging off the bottom when I was doing the work. I have no interest in changing the gasket in mid-February, so I tried not to look too closely at that. Why mine would be changing, and yours wouldn't is beyond me. I only tighten the hinge side when it leaks, and I tighten the latch side when I know it's about to, or when it leaks if I procrastinate. It might just be usage. I'd say on average that my furnace gets 3 weeks off around August, and then it goes back to work, so if you were to adjust yours every two years, and me every year, that's probably about even.
As far as lubricating the latch and hinges, I don't know why you wouldn't, but to each their own. The latch bars in particular wear a fair bit without lube, Just this week I had to carry the door of my cat stove out to the welding bench and fill the groove in its bar because I had run out of travel. Can't lube that one because it's inside the firebox, but it's easy to grease the Kuuma and it sure makes the latch move easier.
Once there's a pronounced groove in the gasket it's that much easier to do the silicone form-a-gasket in the groove trick, and that's probably what I'll do with this when the door goes metal on metal to the front of the stove. I think that the hybrid gasket that creates is better than putting another fiber gasket in.
garmford
Member
Mine will back puff a few times a season. It seems to do it on warmer days when I’m loading on a really small col bed and the computer on C. I’ll throw the wood in and crack the ash pan door till the computer gets to 3 then close the door and walk away. I think it goes from rip roaring to choked down assuming the door now closed and the computer possible going to 1, this creates the back puff.
I’ve learned to just take my time and start the fire like normal than to rush it. Still scary knowing it could do that.
I’ve learned to just take my time and start the fire like normal than to rush it. Still scary knowing it could do that.
JRHAWK9
Minister of Fire
You are still around here!
Do you know if you have your computer settings figured out? I know at one time your secondary pot was in never-never land from accidentally being turned past the stop and not really knowing where it was set.
I ask because in my experience, once the computer goes cold ('C'), there are no coals left at all. You are right about not closing the ashpan door till the damper opens (goes to '3'), but the comment about the computer being on 'C' while still having coals makes me wonder.
garmford
Member
You bet I’m still around just more of a stalker these days.You are still around here!
Do you know if you have your computer settings figured out? I know at one time your secondary pot was in never-never land from accidentally being turned past the stop and not really knowing where it was set.
I ask because in my experience, once the computer goes cold ('C'), there are no coals left at all. You are right about not closing the ashpan door till the damper opens (goes to '3'), but the comment about the computer being on 'C' while still having coals makes me wonder.
yes I replaced The computer after spinning the POT. It was back puffing like crazy after I did that.
Even when the computer is on C I can usually still find a few sparks hiding in the ashes from the light load in the morning. It’s not a half gallon worth of coals like you’re imagining. Lol
its been working great ever since.
Some will have issue with my reply, but I have never had any of the problems you guys mention -- no back puffing, no smoke smell in the house, no problem with door gasket sealing. I have been using my Tarm MB solo 55 (I know you will call it a smoke dragon) now for 43 years and the only part I have replaced is the thermal element in the Samson Draft regulator once. The door gaskets are original, they don't compress, and they seal so tight that when the damper closes, the fire goes out right away. I have shut it down now since it is 55 degrees and I am using my heat pump. I will fire it up tomorrow when temperatures cool down a bit back to normal.
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