Why does my flapper close itself when I have it set where I want it? Its kinda frustrating, I can physically see my flapper, so I set it according to sight, not according to what the dial shows. Then a few hours later, I see my flu temps are way down telling me the flapper has closed itself. If I dont re-adjust it at this point the stove will not put a constant heat and begin to cool. Am I missing something?
Flapper closing
- Thread starter reaperman1
- Start date
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That is the thermostat action. There is a bimetal coil that keeps the heat.output even.
How do you know where you want it? You are setting it at a position where evidently the heat output is less than what you want. I.e. you should set it higher if it gets too cool.
Eventually the flapper will open up again when the stove.cools.beyond what the setting you dialed in is
How do you know where you want it? You are setting it at a position where evidently the heat output is less than what you want. I.e. you should set it higher if it gets too cool.
Eventually the flapper will open up again when the stove.cools.beyond what the setting you dialed in is
Just checking because when it closes itself the flu temps drop into the 200’s from the 500’s and the stt temp is cut in half to around 150 degrees.
Yes, that is possible.
The trick is for you to find the dial setting that gives you the amount of heat you want. Use a piece of tape to mark it. If that is consistent for e.g.10 F weather, 30 F weather, and 40 F weather, mark those spots, and you know what to do based on the weather forecast.
The trick is for you to find the dial setting that gives you the amount of heat you want. Use a piece of tape to mark it. If that is consistent for e.g.10 F weather, 30 F weather, and 40 F weather, mark those spots, and you know what to do based on the weather forecast.
Revisiting this issue from last season. Its getting a bit frustrating waking up in the middle of the night to find the flapper door closed and the stove not putting out usable heat. Last night I woke up to 2 degrees outside temp at 3am. The flapper was closed, not much glow in the stove and cat temp just barley in the active range. And not much heat output as one would expect and plenty of wood in the box. Three hours prior, I had stack temps at 725 and pretty active firebox with secondaries.
The issue is my flapper has a range of about 3/8 inch, let me explain. Yes, it rotates 180 degrees. But once a fire is established, I can only keep the flapper door open about 3/8" or under. I can actually see the flapper on my stove so I never go by the knob placement, im always looking directly at the flap. Even at 3/8 open, my stack temps will hover around 700+ degrees. To dial it back I have very little adjustment before it fully closed. Generally, I need to keep it open just over 1/8" in order to keep the stack temps from staying to hot. So finding a sweet spot somewhere around 600 degrees or under is challenging. I think as more wood is being burned, the flapper senses the increase in heat so it shuts a bit. But a bit is enough to close it completely. Do I have too much draft? Maybe, but I'm at the very minimum at 15', strait up, on elbows. Perhaps I could take 2 feet of pipe off my roof to see, but then I would be below the 10/2 rule by 2 feet.
The issue is my flapper has a range of about 3/8 inch, let me explain. Yes, it rotates 180 degrees. But once a fire is established, I can only keep the flapper door open about 3/8" or under. I can actually see the flapper on my stove so I never go by the knob placement, im always looking directly at the flap. Even at 3/8 open, my stack temps will hover around 700+ degrees. To dial it back I have very little adjustment before it fully closed. Generally, I need to keep it open just over 1/8" in order to keep the stack temps from staying to hot. So finding a sweet spot somewhere around 600 degrees or under is challenging. I think as more wood is being burned, the flapper senses the increase in heat so it shuts a bit. But a bit is enough to close it completely. Do I have too much draft? Maybe, but I'm at the very minimum at 15', strait up, on elbows. Perhaps I could take 2 feet of pipe off my roof to see, but then I would be below the 10/2 rule by 2 feet.
I think I’d recommend putting the cover back on and just using the dial. If it’s too cold then turn the dial up. You shouldn’t be stalling the cat with fuel in the firebox, that means your dial setting was too low.
On my stove (boxer) the flapper is visible without having to take a cover off. I just need to look at the right angle to see it from the front of the stove. The reason I need to set it so low is the flue temps are so high if I don’t. A while after a reload, my stack temps like to hover around 750 degrees for hours if I don’t dial it back. Even then I’m settling for mid 600’s. It’s not that I’m trying to gain more heat output. I’m just trying to keep things from overheating. Looking back to the 2 previous years since I bought the stove, it’s always acted this way. So far this year until now it’s been much warmer so I was running smaller loads. Now we’re in single digit highs and lows I’m adding more wood making more heat. My wood is very well seasoned oak that burns very hot. Making it more difficult to control the heat output. Again last night the flap closed itself. I had a timer set to turn off the blower fan aaround 1 am. I’m sure the flap closed itself shortly after the fan stopped. Pretty soon this stove will be a Craigslist curb alert.
If the flapper closes (and the thermostat is working properly), it was hot. If it stays closed when the stove cools down,. something is wrong.
Regarding your flue temps. Is your bypass closing properly?
Regarding your flue temps. Is your bypass closing properly?
First off I appreciate all of the responses. I believe the bypass is working properly. On this stove it's very simple, a metal rod simply slides forward to open the door then back again to close, nothing complicated with springs etc. If I close the flapper on a hot stove it will immediately extinguish the flame and drop the stack temps. On the other hand, if I open the bypass door on a hot load, the stack temps will go down as heat is directed away from the firebox. That doesn't say some air isnt sneaking in thru the door gasket, it seems tight. But I have had issues with the door adjustment in the past. BK doesnt make it easy to access the hinges for some unknown reason. In fact it's a PIA to even get tools in the space for adjustment. When I first got the stove home, it wasn't even close to passing the dollar bill test and was leaning way off front to back. It reminded me of a loose car door hinge as I could rock the door up and down one end as the hinges were loose. As I was loosening the hinge bolts to adjust the door, one hinge bolt wouldn't even budge and actually snapped in half. On the latch side, the striker plate mounted to the stove, which is suppose to be mounted vertical by two bolts. Was mounted at about a 22 degree angle. I'm not sure what the heck the dealer was doing with the door prior selling me the stove. Anyway, I may adjust the striker plate to get it to close a bit tighter for now. It's something I can quickly do on a reload. Otherwise, come Thursday I'll be on vacation for the remainder of the month of December. The people staying here will not be using the wood stove. So I'll revisit any issues at time.
That is as it should be.
That is surprising to me; my flue temp starts creeping up if I open the bypass. (Of course if I open the door I expect it to decrease - though.my door is not open long enough to actually observe this.)
I wonder if you close the thermostat far too rigorously (and close it too late?).
The actual usable range on the dial is rather small (in my experience only about 1/3 or 1/4 of the white swoosh area).
Going far beyond that is going to mess with the way it is supposed to control the stove.
Dialing down too far might result in it not opening at all? (Leading to the midnight observation of a closed flapper.)
Something is off here.
