firewool

[Herb]

I had the guys from the stove shop come out to clean the chimney, 'cause I was having some problems with smoke coming into the room. They cleared off the cap, and the smoke problem was 80% better, but still a little bit of smoke entered the room. Then, they decided to remove the firewool blanket, and now, the smoke problem is gone. By the way, the firewool seemed to be "saturated" with ash.

So, I'm wondering: is it's o.k. to leave the firewool blanket out? Does the baffle reflect enough heat back into the firebox to provide for a clean burn, without the firewool? Will the stove run hotter, with a greater danger of over-firing?

It sure is nice to be able to open the door as wide as it goes, and not have any smoke come out!

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The "rock wool" blanket is there to help insulate the firebox. It was tested to epa standards with the rock wool in place. It does help get more complete combustion. Doesnt make much sense to me why the blanket was effecting your draft the way it was. But my guess is that the blanket is gone therfore it lets a little more heat up the flue which will establish better draft.

 

[Sundeep Arole]

I had the guys from the stove shop come out to clean the chimney, 'cause I was having some problems with smoke coming into the room. They cleared off the cap, and the smoke problem was 80% better, but still a little bit of smoke entered the room. Then, they decided to remove the firewool blanket, and now, the smoke problem is gone. By the way, the firewool seemed to be "saturated" with ash.

So, I'm wondering: is it's o.k. to leave the firewool blanket out? Does the baffle reflect enough heat back into the firebox to provide for a clean burn, without the firewool? Will the stove run hotter, with a greater danger of over-firing?

It sure is nice to be able to open the door as wide as it goes, and not have any smoke come out!

I presume you have a non-catalytic woodburing stove.
These stoves rely on a heavily insulated firebox which brings the internal firebox temprature very high and allows for complete combustion of smoke. I'd say you should have the firewool replaced. Without that, your stove won't work properly, you will burn a lot more wood, and cause a lot more pollution.

What kind of stove is it?

 

[Herb]

it's a Quadrafire 5100i (insert).

Yeah, it does seem to burn faster -- shorter burn times, hotter temps.

I think that the firewool may have been too thick, and might have been at least partially obstructing the flue. The stove shop guys say they have some thinner material, with foil backing. Anyone heard of this?

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The stuff in my display 5100i is about 3/4 inch thick. But why do you have to sacrifice complete combustion to get proper draft? you shure they installed it properly? this is just not a problem that happens regulary. The stove is designed to run properly right out of the crate. No mods needed except for the proper chimney to be hooked to it. What is the answer you dealer gave you besides putting a thinner blanket in it. Thats bad advice in my opinion.

 

[Herb]

What's really weird about this, is that it worked fine for the first 2 seasons. After the 1st, and before the 2nd, I had them come out to clean the chimney. after years 3 & 4, I cleaned the chimney, but didn't push it through the flexible connector. I felt resistance, and was afraid of getting the brush stuck, or breaking apart the joint between sections of the chimney. So, I thought the problem was incomplete cleaning. That's when I called them out to do the cleaning.

They gave no other answer besides removing, or replacing the blanket with a thinner one.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The flexable connector above the insert should get much buildup anyway. Its real hot there. Im lost. You stumped me. Hopefully someone here can explain that. The only other factor would be the wood your using. Maybe a wet batch. Is it possible that they accidenty disconnected the liner at the stove while cleaning it? that would explain it possibly.