Draft question

[Rory]

My new Tarm Solo 30 with storage has been a great success with one exception - smoke rollout when I open the door to add wood, either after getting the kindling going or just after a bit of the load has burned down. I have a masonry chimney going up from my basement through two floors of living space and the attic space, and clearing the roof by a good amount. My stove pipe is as follows - a piece 10" long attaches to the collar on the Tarm and heads straight back. Next is a 90 degree elbow, and a 12" section with a slight rise, followed by another 90 going into the chimney. I used the existing hole on the chimney, which only results in about 6" of rise overall - the top of the first piece of pipe is roughly level with the bottom of the final elbow. I have plenty of ceiling clearance to raise the entry hole to the chimney by a foot or more. Is it likely that this will result in enough additional draft to help significantly with my smoke problem?

BTW, I have tried various smoke minimization procedures with little success.

 

[NHFarmer]

What is your draft now? I bought a manometer on ebay for about $40. I installed it permanantly and can tell my draft at any time by just looking at it. I can usually tell what to expect when I open the door in advance. On warmer days I notice a lot less draft, but when it is cold the chimney really pulls.

 

[BioHeat Dealer Guy]

Hi Rory, unfortunately there will always be some smoke roll-out with a Solo Plus. This can be made worse by a masonry (cold) and/or short chimney. I am sure that you have tried several things to minimize the smoke roll-out, but the most effective way is to simply wait until the fuel has burned down to embers before you re-load your boiler. At this point the primary combustion is simply not producing as much smoke so there is not as much to roll-out.

best,

Chris

 

[Piker]

Hi Rory, unfortunately there will always be some smoke roll-out with a Solo Plus. This can be made worse by a masonry (cold) and/or short chimney. I am sure that you have tried several things to minimize the smoke roll-out, but the most effective way is to simply wait until the fuel has burned down to embers before you re-load your boiler. At this point the primary combustion is simply not producing as much smoke so there is not as much to roll-out.

best,

Chris

This is good advice. I would add that installing a draft inducer on the stack and a hood range above the loading door will make for a smoke free loading experience.

cheers

 

[Rory]

...
This is good advice. I would add that installing a draft inducer on the stack and a hood range above the loading door will make for a smoke free loading experience.

cheers

I was really hoping that was an or proposition. Even better if an entry hole move would do it, but perhaps these moves make more sense. Another move I've considering is to a new shed attached to the back of the garage, to which I'll attach a woodshed. It's in a good spot for a hood, though.

 

[Gooserider]

Two possible thoughts....

1. Do you have a barometric damper? (Is one reccomended for that boiler?) I've seen that suggested, though I have to admit that I haven't quite wrapped my head around how that can help rollout issues...

2. I'm not quite sure I follow your piping description (photos would help) but remember that every 90* bend is equal to a 5' reduction in your effective stack height... Is there any way to swap the near horizontal runs and dual 90's for a straighter run and a couple of 45's? (or some similar combination - remember that standard single wall elbows can be adjusted to all sorts of strange angles...) That should significantly improve your draft.

As to the inducer / hood combo, I'm sure that's probably the optimal solution, but I would expect that either by itself would be helpful, even if not a complete cure... I'd maybe try which ever one was easier / cheaper and see if it helped enough, not to bother with the second.

Gooserider

 

[Piker]

The draft inducer by itself works well enough for most people, but it doesn't take care of 100% of the smoke. I think because of the extreme heat in the lower chamber, the boiler still wants to draw down through the nozzle instead of out through the bypass. I got by this last season with just a draft inducer, but I was pretty careful when loading. Before next season I will put a hood range over the door. I am pretty sure that AFB is going to be manufacturing a hood that will match the skins on the boilers. They've made a few already, but I think they were going to make a few design changes before they start pumping them out.

An Econoburn hood range over a Tarm would look nice I think.

cheers

 

[flyingcow]

...
This is good advice. I would add that installing a draft inducer on the stack and a hood range above the loading door will make for a smoke free loading experience.

cheers

I was really hoping that was an or proposition. Even better if an entry hole move would do it, but perhaps these moves make more sense. Another move I've considering is to a new shed attached to the back of the garage, to which I'll attach a woodshed. It's in a good spot for a hood, though.

Sell the solo outright and put in an Innova? :coolsmile: I got very, very minimal/no smoke when i open my door at anytime. Or even better yet put a Froling? :coolsmile: Of course a winning lottery ticket might be needed. %-P ...........

 

[taxidermist]

1. Do you have a barometric damper? (Is one reccomended for that boiler?) I've seen that suggested, though I have to admit that I haven't quite wrapped my head around how that can help rollout issues...

A barometric damper does not help with smoke rollout at all. What it does do is keep the barometric pressure steady in in your chimney, in windy conditions or really cold days your chimney will pull a really hard draft. This will pull the hot air past your heat tubes and not allow good heat transfer. Check out my video it might help answer some of your questions.

Rob

 

[Piker]

1. Do you have a barometric damper? (Is one reccomended for that boiler?) I've seen that suggested, though I have to admit that I haven't quite wrapped my head around how that can help rollout issues...

A barometric damper does not help with smoke rollout at all. What it does do is keep the barometric pressure steady in in your chimney, in windy conditions or really cold days your chimney will pull a really hard draft. This will pull the hot air past your heat tubes and not allow good heat transfer. Check out my video it might help answer some of your questions.

Rob

Again, good information. It could be said that a barometric damper can actually make smoke rollout worse by reducing the draft through the boiler. When I load my stove, I wedge my barometric damper shut when I turn the draft inducer on... the BD is the path of least resistance, and without it being wedged shut, the draft inducer just pulls air throuh the damper instead of through the boiler.

A barometric damper also prevents your boiler from overdraft during idle time... if you're running without storage.

cheers