What's up guys? First of all, thanks to all who input on this great forum, I've learned so much. I'm a first-time wood burner, and I just fired up my New Yorker WC 130 this week. I've read similar problems in a few other threads, but didn't wanna thread-jack so I figured I'd start my own, with my specifics. Here's my set up. WC 130 tied into my existing oil furnace with a coil in my ductwork. Chimney is well-insulated steel, 20 foot tall overall, 15 foot above from where the boiler ties into the chimney. Chimney seems to draft well, but I have no way to measure it accurately. Barometric damper (recommended by manufacturer and my dad, a lifetime wood guy) Damper adjusted to open with a good gust of wind, doesn't open under normal conditions. Fan control aquastat is set at 170. I've been burning only oak, seasoned for at least a year. Boiler burns well, doesn't overtemp or anything, idles a lot so far, its been about 40 in the daytime, 30 at night all week (New Jersey) Problem is twofold, and I'd guess related??? Chimney temp at the back of the boiler averages 100-150 degrees at idle, 250 with the blower on. (LeonMSPT noted the low temps with his WC90 also) I'm getting quite a bit of creosote inside the boiler around the door, and inside the chimney, which I saw by looking thru the barometric damper. Since I'm a newbie, I'm not sure how much is too much, but for only burning for 3 days, this sure looks like too much. So what does everyone think? Is it just too warm to be burning? Is my chimney too short? I read that I should be operating with stack temps in the 250 range, is that all the time or just when the blowers on? If it's all the time, how do I raise my stack temps? Any and all advice would be appreciated, thanks a million!
Help! Low stack temp and lots of creosote on my WC130!!!
- Thread starter shawntitan
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Experimenting with mine, creeping the water temperature up slightly toward 185 degrees. Seems to run a bit longer, remain hotter on the door, and stack this way. Also adjusting the airflow on the blower motor. This allow more air into the boiler at idle. Will use more wood and get stack too hot if open to far. Will vary according to outdoor temperature and fire status...
I'll get it dialed in, and the only thing to remember is there are directions, and there is experience. No two are the same, so the directions are only a guideline... but make minor adjustments slowly until you know what works. Keep rough track of weather conditions and airflow opening.
Don't open the wheel in the door, unless you just loaded wood and the blower isn't on... can get a big smokey if you're not careful.
And a word from dad, a retired master oil burning technician... "Never look in the hole, and from a distance." At times, with the right conditions, you can get a jet of smoke and hot gases out of those holes... you eye's in front when it happens, you'll be bumming.
I'll get it dialed in, and the only thing to remember is there are directions, and there is experience. No two are the same, so the directions are only a guideline... but make minor adjustments slowly until you know what works. Keep rough track of weather conditions and airflow opening.
Don't open the wheel in the door, unless you just loaded wood and the blower isn't on... can get a big smokey if you're not careful.
And a word from dad, a retired master oil burning technician... "Never look in the hole, and from a distance." At times, with the right conditions, you can get a jet of smoke and hot gases out of those holes... you eye's in front when it happens, you'll be bumming.
lots of debate about a barometric damper. i too have one on my wc-90, and cover it with foil. i found it was causing cooler temps in the flue. try covering it up for a while to see if it raises your flue temps. dry seasoned wood is also a must.
We didn't put one in. Contractor doesn't like them. Cousin who runs the stove shop doesn't like them. I don't like them. I know many are convinced that such a thing MUST be installed on a stove or boiler to burn coal. It's burning fine in mine without one. I am outside specs on this one anyway. Six inch chimney pipe connected to a 6x6 stainless. Specs call for 8x8 masonry or equivalent. Keeping an eye on the chimney, but so far the thing is working perfect. Have CO detector ten feet away at waist height, and the only time it's ever picked up on anything was when I started the car near the door. Other than that, nothing.
My wood could be drier, so I am burning coal for awhile to give it a chance. It's now 72 degrees in the basement. The wood's drying faster, and the floor is room temperature in my apartment, and my unit rarely calls for heat.
After reading the current and past debates about barometric dampers and their uses, especially the concern that they lower stack temperature by introducing cooler air into the flue, I'm not sure this is whats causing my extremely low stack temps. I've got my magnetic thermometer on the first piece of stove pipe coming out of the back of my boiler, and it's reading 100-150 degreees. My damper is about 18" above that, right before the 90 that leads thru the wall and into my vertical stack. Could the damper "upstream" be allowing cool air to travel down into my stove, cooling it off? Doesn't really seem possible. I tried covering it with foil, and it didn't seem to have any effect on my chimney temp. Maybe this is the part where I should kick myself for not just spending the extra 4 grand on a gasification boiler, lol.
i read my temp just above the boiler, just above the baro - i thought that come into play. i think when the boiler idles, you really dont have much choice what the temperature is. definetly going to create some creosote then. how about adjusting the air on the fan? open that up some? i dont think 250 is too bad when your burning, but i think a little hotter might be better. obviously in your case the baro is not cooling the pipe where your thermometr is. but it still may be cooling off your chimney. check for creosote often. i'm not a pro here....but maybe you dont have enough draft on your chimney?
What's your high-low limit on the fan control?
Initial set-up on mine was:
Circulator between WC and oil burner 140
Combustion fan: on with switch, high limit 160
Overheat zone 180
5-6 cutout 140
Was having low stack temps and felt things were too cold:
Changed:
Combustion fan off at 185/190
Overheat zone 200
Getting higher stack temperatures during high fire, and at idle it's staying at about 200 with a stick on thermometer.
Aquastats are "rough" with settings, and not always "dead on" because the settings are far from precise. "Tweaking" based on boiler temperature, and listening to switches open and close, and things starting and stopping is needed to avoid "overlap" and achieve proper "regulation", like an old clock... or a militia.
What are you vented into?
Draft good?
My cousin sells both gassifiers and traditional boilers. Both have their issues. It sometimes doesn't take much to cause them to not work properly. You'll crack this if you keep trying.
Initial set-up on mine was:
Circulator between WC and oil burner 140
Combustion fan: on with switch, high limit 160
Overheat zone 180
5-6 cutout 140
Was having low stack temps and felt things were too cold:
Changed:
Combustion fan off at 185/190
Overheat zone 200
Getting higher stack temperatures during high fire, and at idle it's staying at about 200 with a stick on thermometer.
Aquastats are "rough" with settings, and not always "dead on" because the settings are far from precise. "Tweaking" based on boiler temperature, and listening to switches open and close, and things starting and stopping is needed to avoid "overlap" and achieve proper "regulation", like an old clock... or a militia.
What are you vented into?
Draft good?
My cousin sells both gassifiers and traditional boilers. Both have their issues. It sometimes doesn't take much to cause them to not work properly. You'll crack this if you keep trying.
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