Do I need a damper?

[Tyler]

Have a PE True North in my man cave. I can fill it at 10:30 at night turn air supply almost all the way down (Probably 15% open) and by 7.30 in the morning still have enough coals to get another fire going and front glass is still pretty warm. The stove pipe temp is around 100-125 in the morning. The magnetic thermometer is placed 4 inches above stove top. I'm burning mostly ash that is 18-23% moisture.

When I have a good fire going and go to open the door I open the air control all the way open, crack the door for a moment and then continue to open the door. after about 5-10 seconds the flames shoot back towards the rear of the stove very violently and make a whirling noise. My total stove pipe is 14 ft. Normal or should I consider a damper? Thanks in advance.!

 

[pen]

Sounds good, from what you describe, adding a damper does not seem necessary or helpful in any way.

In general, unless something was done wrong when loading the stove initially, there really shouldn't be a reason to open the door when there are active flames in there. In all, what you describe when the door is open is normal.

 

[Fsappo]

That sounds exactly like it should be working. I agree that there should be very rare occasions that you would be opening the stove door with a "good" fire going. These stoves are designed to work fine without a damper. A damper will only hinder things and create a situation that will end up making a mess.

Keep on burning!