Down draft

[Michael Dabbraccio]

I have been burning wood for 35 years and last night I seen something happen that I have never seen before. I have a Defiant, one year old. Last night I started to smell smoke I went to check my stove it was very windy outside while I was standing there I could hear a quick gust and them see smoke come out around the top door of the stove and also seemed like the side. I watched it ihappen a few times . When I installed the stove i put a damper in the pipe which has a strignt run I had never used it the stove seems to be manageable with the controls that came with it. I decided to turn the damper in the pipe closed a little in hopes it may stop the gust from pushing out smoke it seemed to have worked . Has any one ever had this happen to them like I said it was real windy out side I burned last season and this never happened.

 

[begreen]

How tall is the chimney on the stove?

 

[Michael Dabbraccio]

How tall is the chimney on the stove?

The chimney has a straight run from the top of the stove there is about 4 feet of pipe in the house at the dealing it goes to triple wall pipe which goes through the roof and I am sure it is above the roof line

 

[begreen]

What would you estimate as the total flue length?

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

My draft seems to increase on the windy days, Never had any downdraft problems yet.

 

[Michael Dabbraccio]

What would you estimate as the total flue length?

From the top of the stove to the cap on the top at the roof I would estimate 12 to 13 feet total

 

[Michael Dabbraccio]

From the top of the stove to the cap on the top at the roof I would estimate 12 to 13 feet total

This is a first for me I have been burning for 35 years I have smelled smoke on occasions but have never seen this before smoke came out the top door of the stove and on the sides I thought these stoves were air tight

 

[branchburner]

Backpuffing happens on occasion with my stove if I close the primary air control too far and/or too quickly early in a burn. It happens regardless of wind conditions, but it certainly seems reasonable that a sudden change in wind might alter the draft dynamics in a way that coincides with the air supply/combustion dynamics, and thus help produce a backpuff. The benefits of adjusting your damper may have had more to due with what was happening in your firebox rather than with any downdrafts from wind.

 

[begreen]

From the top of the stove to the cap on the top at the roof I would estimate 12 to 13 feet total

If this is a year old Defiant I think it's draft challenged and need 3-4 ft more chimney to perform well and reduce backpuffing. With 12 ft of chimney there is absolutely no need for a damper in the stove pipe.

 

[Michael Dabbraccio]

If this is a year old Defiant I think it's draft challenged and need 3-4 ft more chimney to perform well and reduce backpuffing. With 12 ft of chimney there is absolutely no need for a damper in the stove pipe.

I know now that I do not need the damper in the pipe but my last stove ran better with it so w hen this went in so did the damper. I ran my last stove w ith one less foot of pipe and never had any d own drafts as with the Difiant

 

[begreen]

Was the other stove a pre-EPA stove?

 

[Michael Dabbraccio]

Was the other stove a pre-EPA stove?

No I also do not use the converter in the Difiant because a lot of time my stove is burning at about 400 degrees

 

[wingsfan]

the wife started a fire the other night and filled the house with smoke in the process. The smoke just wouldnt go up the chimney. It came out every seam in the pipe and the door. I think it had to do with the outside pressure, as we were in the mist of a wind storm, if that makes sence..We had fans going like crazy so the smoke alarms wouldnt go off.

 

[begreen]

No I also do not use the converter in the Difiant because a lot of time my stove is burning at about 400 degrees

It sounds like you burn a lot outside of the stove's design considerations. That makes it hard to predict the results.

 

[jdonna]

Did you have any tree grow up and get taller around the chimney or in line of sight of the cap? Seems like a pretty short stack and damper inside the pipe to boot. Is that a down draft design stove?