Jotul Rangeley need some help

[jb4020]

Hi i just bought a jotul rangeley to replace my avalon pendelton that was just too small. The Pendelton worked well but just did not put out enough heat. Sooo i bought the jotul rangeley and really like it so far except i cannot load it without getting quite a bit of smoke back. It does not matter if i load with the top door or the front i get smoke and small ashes. They say you can get a screen to burn this stove with the door off but i cant imagine how. The stove runs well and i had plenty of draft with the other stove i just dont know what else it could be. I have 22 feet of 6" class a chimney and i posted a pic of my inside piping. Thanks for any help! Jason

 

[firefighterjake]

A few questions . . .

When are you reloading the stove? When I reload the stove there are only coals . . . not much smoke as a result. That said, I could see how the wood could start to smolder and ignite.

Are you opening the draft when you reload? I tend to open the draft all the way before opening the firebox door.

How clean is the chimney? If you have creosote build up it could impede the venting of the smoke and exhaust gases.

 

[begreen]

The single wall pipe is robbing some of the heat needed to sustain good draft, but this can be compensated a bit by increasing the pitch of the interior flue. Right now that long horizontal run is killing draft as it heads out to the cold exterior pipe.

Take off that top 24"(?) length of single-wall and set the elbow at an angle to directly connect to the second elbow at the thimble. The idea is to dramatically increase the uphill slope toward the chimney. I think you will notice a nice improvement with this change.

 

[Bub381]

Also make sure when you open the door you give it 5 seconds after you open draft to full and then open the door slowly.Whipping that door open will give you smoke everytime.Believe me, i know.Also open that top load feature and check that draft every now and then and play around a bit.We can learn from the little things.

 

[Scott2373]

I have the exact same configuration with my Rangeley: about a 4ft. vertical with about 3 ft. horizontal out to the chimney. Remember to open the door VERY sloooowly until it's about 1/2 open then you can swing it the rest of the way open. You will get a little smoke rolling out, but then it should go back to drafting as normal. You should let the wood go into the coaling stage before opening the door because there will be very little to no smoke to escape.

 

[firecracker_77]

Nice set-up. I agree with the post that if you changed to a 45 degree run to the wall as opposed to vertical 90 degree horizontal 90 degree up the stack, you'd improve draft. It makes sense though that others just open the door more slowly and mitigate the issue.

 

[jb4020]

Wow thanks for all the help! Really appreciate it. Most of the time i am loading during the coaling stage but sometimes the spits start smoking out on me as i reload. The chimney is clean i swept it about a week ago. I will try opening the door a little slower also and change the piping today and let ya know how it goes. Also in the mornings when i go to refill (and i'm getting some consistent 10 hour burns with enough coals to just put kindling in) i rake the coals to get ash out and no matter how i do it the light ash just wants to blow out of the stove it makes a mess idk. Thanks for the help

 

[Bub381]

I have a fan in the next room blowing along the floor on low that blows my ash around when i open the door.I'll remember to shut it off someday.

 

[jb4020]

Yeah i guess my fan does not help much. Also if i'm not seeing the secondaries firing when the stoves cruising do i have the air cut back too much? If i open the air a little more i get them going again but probably reduce burn time. Sorry for all the questions still learning lots. Jason

 

[leeave96]

I agree with the suggestions offered. If you can straighten/shorten your stove pipe run, you'll benefit.

When I open the door on my non-cat stove, I crack it just a bit to allow the smoke in the firebox to draw-up the chimney and I'm good to go.

The ultimate test as to if your secondaries are necessary is simply to look outside at your chimney. You ought to be seeing no smoke. If you got that, you are gold.

Happy burning!
Bill

 

[Bub381]

Don't apologize,i just got mine this fall and am still learning myself.This stove heats well enough that i don't touch the 2ndaries off much. I burn mainly around 300,400 since this last cold snap.@ndaries touch off around 300 or sooner but you wont see much and it's hard to keep em going at this temp.Get the stove up around 400 to 500 and it will be much easier to keep them firing.I asked this question lately and it is better to have some kind of flame in the stove to keep the temp up enough so your 2ndaries will stay fired.If you close it too much the stove will cool and you'll lose them.I am kinda at this stage right now.Have to wait for colder weather before i can heat er up enough to really try em out.It is real important to have dry wood or you'll need a good bed of coals AND a roaring good fire to get this to happen. I haven't perfected it yet.It's a new stove so we're the guinea pigs here.lol

 

[jb4020]

I reconfigured my pipe earlier today and it does seem to be helping i need a little more time to tell. Maybe i'm a little too concerned with the ash and smoke and i can definitely tell if its running right by looking outside. Do run much toward the very end of the burn cycle? I dont know if the way the secondary baffle swings away for the top load has anything to do with the smoke back because it forces the smoke to go soo close to the front of the stove. Sometimes i try to hold the baffle open while loading from the front and there is a little difference but not much. Thanks

 

[WellSeasoned]

Being in se pa the outdoor temps were low 50's today, so that wouldn't help with draft at start off either, and probably the wind as well. It was pretty breezy today. Good luck.. Where in sepa are u?

 

[jb4020]

I'm in southern chester county kennett square yeah if the temps were lower during the day that should help draft.

 

[WellSeasoned]

Temps should get down to low 20s tonight, so that will be nice. I was down around glen moore yesterda, I guess thats near you? Lots of firewood aroundy. Beautiful stove set up by the way...Cheers

 

[jb4020]

Thanks. Yeah I'm about 45 minutes from there.