Draft Issue Kitchen Queen

[Tyler D.]

I’ve had this cook stove for 20+ years. In the last few days I’ve had to shut my draft almost completely off to keep the the fire from getting too hot. At night I have to shut it off completely to have anything left in the morning. I’ve gone around the door and draft control with a butane lighter and can’t detect any draft when the stove is shut down.

Same wood I’ve been using all winter, nothings changed. I must be getting additional air from someplace but I can’t figure out where. Any ideas?

 

[bholler]

I’ve had this cook stove for 20+ years. In the last few days I’ve had to shut my draft almost completely off to keep the the fire from getting too hot. At night I have to shut it off completely to have anything left in the morning. I’ve gone around the door and draft control with a butane lighter and can’t detect any draft when the stove is shut down.

Same wood I’ve been using all winter, nothings changed. I must be getting additional air from someplace but I can’t figure out where. Any ideas?

Test with smoke when the stove is burning all around the stove in the oven etc. Smoke should be pulled into any leak. Incense sticks work well for this

 

[River]

...I’ve had to shut my draft almost completely off to keep the the fire from getting too hot.

How do you define "too hot"? Or how do you measure it?

I must be getting additional air from someplace but I can’t figure out where.

Is it possible there is no additional source of air, but rather a freer exhaust of combustion products?

We have a Kitchen Queen 380 -- not quite as old as your stove. During the 2020-2021 burn season, I had similar symptoms. I started a lot of fires from scratch in the mornings, when I had never had to, before. The problem turned out to be the flue damper -- the one that permits smoke to exit the firebox directly to the flue instead of wrapping around the oven.

As you know, that damper slides back and forth. The damper rides behind guides, top and bottom. The guides hold it in place while permitting it to slide.

I wondered about the same thing your are: where is the additional air coming from? But the problem proved to be the lower guide (I think, originally, there was only one lower guide, but I am not sure) for the flue damper. At any rate, late summer 2021, I took it to a welding shop and had them tack the lower guides on you see in the photo, above. That was all it took. It worked like new, again.

Regardless of the problem, I wish you the best in finding a solution. I can attest, it's frustrating!

 

[Tyler D.]

Thank you both for the replies. I think I found the problem.

The inside latch on the stove door was loose so I tightened the Allen screw but that didn’t make any difference. Then I loosened the screw and tapped the latch back so it was against the door and my problems went away. Obviously the latch cheating away from the door left enough of a gap to let draft in, even though it didn’t show up with my butane lighter. Next time I’ll use smoke as you folks suggested.

Thank you both for your suggestions and I hope this post helps someone with a similar problem someday.

 

[River]

Good deal! It's hard to beat a simple fix!