Low on firewood and money, need advice

[KpR]

Hey WouldBurn,
What model of PE stove is this again? It sounds like you may not have removed the baffle before sweeping, is this correct? If so, whatever creosote you swept down the flue is probably sitting on top of the baffle. I would definitely take care of that before burning again. Not sure about other models, but if it's a Super insert, remove the pin in the back of the stove, lift up on the baffle, pull towards the front of the stove and angle it to get it off the ledges. Your manual should have some guidance on this.
If this hasn't been done recently and there is a factory baffle gasket on there, you'll probably end up having to replace it because they tend to fall apart easily. No big deal, you can search for PE Baffle Gasket on here to make your own, or buy one for a few bucks at your stove dealer.

Also, how long were the brushes you bought, and how tall is the chimney? Comparing the combined length of the rods and the chimney height, and how much rod was left sticking out when you think you hit bottom is a rough way to tell if you made it all the way down.

Hope it helps.

 

[venator260]

Could be that all of the creosote that you knocked out is now in the area behind the clean out door. Scoop it out and then do make sure it is shut. An open clean out door will certainly reduce the draft going through your stove.

 

[WouldBurn]

Thanks guys. I have to finish cleaning out that area but so far I haven't seen any soot or creosote. But indeed I am excited to see what the closed cleanout door can do for the draft.

I found the model of my wood stove - a Pacific Energy Vista, pretty much the low end but that's really all we need. I also found an online manual that seems to cover a lot of the aspects of cleaning etc. I'll be reading up on that and poking around in the back of the fireplace. I anticipate setting loose a black avalanche of soot that will march directly into my lungs, but at least I'll have Visqueen for the carpet, lol.

Regarding the brush length, it seemed to have 2-3 extra feet sticking out of the chimney when I hit bottom. I held the assembled brush next to my chimney while on the roof and observed how low it went, and it seemed as if it would do the trick if my eyes did not deceive me. I live in a rambler so it's not very high up.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Do you have any friends that are willing to trade seasoned wood for something else? In my area, we trade vineyard/excavation work for firewood.

 

[begreen]

If you remove the baffle in order to clean the stove be sure to stuff a rag in the secondary air tube that the baffle slips over in order to stop crud going down the tube. And have a new gasket handy to put in around the secondary tube before it's put back into place.

 

[Charles1981]

I can easily store a week's worth of firewood next to my stove. I firmly believe it helps wood burn better and dries it out because I can see the results if I try to burn a load I just brought inside. It can get messy though with wood debris have that much inside.

 

[venator260]

I can easily store a week's worth of firewood next to my stove. I firmly believe it helps wood burn better and dries it out because I can see the results if I try to burn a load I just brought inside. It can get messy though with wood debris have that much inside.

I've seen the change as well. My parents and I both have basement wood stoves, and can store a good supply near (not too close) to the stove. I can actually put about a month's to 6 weeks worth in, perhaps more. I can also tell the difference when wood has been in a 80-90 degree basement for 3 weeks to a month.

 

[Squisher]

Of course it makes a difference. Where do you put things to dry them? Near the stove.

 

[WouldBurn]

Well here's another update, and I got some questions a few paragraphs down: a couple days ago I laid down my carpet tarp again, opened up the woodstove door and attempted to remove the baffle. I was not smart enough to put a rag in the tube. D'oh.

KpR was right about two things: all of the creosote was sitting on top of the baffle; and that damned baffle gasket fell right apart. Not so right about it not being a big deal though - it seems to be one indeed.

My nearby retailer is informing me that I'm going to have to purchase 10 baffle gaskets at just under $45. This was after jumping through a bunch of hoops just to find the damn thing (story at bottom.) I don't know if it's worth doing this, but we'll probably end up doing it anyway. At least it might last us.

Anyway, like I was saying I did not stuff a rag in that tube. I don't know if I even had time to, to be honest. I'll know how to clean it next time - remove baffle and stuff rag -before- any sweeping - but for now, would you guys know an easy way to scoop out whatever crap might have fallen into the tube?

Also, when I put the baffle in, the pin didn't seem to want to line up. I swept around the lip of the tube as thoroughly as I could before putting in the baffle, but it's still too tall. Could that be due to stuff inside of the tube? Anything else I should do or tools I can make/buy?

Much obliged for all the help so far and any to come as well. This place is pretty awesome, hopefully I can pay it forward somehow later on.

OK, so here's the runaround they gave me on the phone. You might like to hear this story. I called my local Pacific Energy retailer as indicated by their website as a place to get parts. Let's call them Acme Heating as an example.

After waiting on hold for a total of 15 minutes, their answer when I called them was "no, there's no way to get that kind of stuff here, please stop bothering us unless you want a new wood stove etc". Gladly, guys, but since the next nearest place was in another town at least an hour and a half away, I decided to call PE directly for an alternate solution.

When I gave them a ring, the lady on the other end told me to go to the store in the other town. I informed her I wasn't happy about this, so she asked one more time what Acme's response to me was. When I told her, she told me that's not right at all! She then proceeded to give me the phone number of the distribution center that works with Acme.

I decided, OK, I'll give Acme one more chance here. Maybe they have a rational explanation. So before calling the center, I called Acme and explained what PE's reaction to this was. She told me that they would finally help me! Mind-blowing! She ended the call by sternly informing me that "this isn't something we typically do". After that treatment, I decided that there's no way I'm not calling the distribution center at this point.

The employee I spoke with there transferred me to the cell phone of the distribution salesperson who worked with Acme. The connection was horrible. He got my number and called me back in 5 minutes. Now this guy was the one I was looking for. Friendly in a bro kind of way, he listened as I explained the anomaly. I told him I just wanted to clear up a loose end and not have this happen to the next guy - he said "totally", and that next time he seees Acme he's going to "clarify a few things".

Hey, if a company has an agreement then they can't go reneging upon it. The people that make the agreement with them have reasonable expectations that should be met. Only now, they're telling me the gaskets only come in packs of 10 and the price is $45. Like I was saying, that would last me for a while since they fall apart every time I take out the baffle and that would be annually, but I still don't know if it's worth it.

 

[begreen]

Not what you would call good customer service. Are PE stoves their main line of business or a sideline?
Gaskets are easily purchased from www.chimneysweeponline.com. They are about 2 or 3 bucks each. You can buy however many you want. I would suggest getting at least two. Or make your own. Instructions from Hogwildz, use 3/8" rope gasket material:
My Hogz gasket is just rope gasket with about 3 inches or so extra added on both ends, then unraveled those 3 extra inches each side, and a strand from each end tied together. After tying a bunch of the loose strands together it comes together nice and tight and forms the single gasket. Then just formed around the channel tube, and baffle resting on top. Some leakage is not crucial. The main reason I can figure for the gasket is to keep most of the hot secondary air going into the baffler and out the secondary ports so that they do their job.

What model and year stove do you have? Can you add it to your signature line?

 

[begreen]

That's too bad. Are PE stoves a sideline for this company? You can get gaskets in any quantity from www.chimneysweeponline.com. They run about 2-3 bucks each. Or make your own Hogwildz gasket:
"My Hogz gasket is just rope gasket with about 3 inches or so extra added on both ends, then unraveled those 3 extra inches each side, and a strand from each end tied together. After tying a bunch of the loose strands together it comes together nice and tight and forms the single gasket. Then just formed around the channel tube, and baffle resting on top. Some leakage is not crucial. The main reason I can figure for the gasket is to keep most of the hot secondary air going into the baffler and out the secondary ports so that they do their job."
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...-custom-baffle-gasket-shes-cooking-now.23717/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/pe-summit-insert-just-ordered-some-questions.107612/
You can clean out the secondary tube by taping 2-3' length of 3/4" hose onto a shop vacuum nozzle and snaking that down the tube.

 

[KpR]

Good to know you got all that creosote out! But sorry to hear about your 'Acme' woes.
Begreen's suggestions for either making your own gasket or using chimneysweeponline as your gasket source are great. Although $4.50 for a gasket is about right too. But who wants to support that kind of customer service? I currently have a Hogwildz style gasket, but have also used the Roxul method which is discussed in one of the above cited threads.

I can't say for certain on the Vista. But the Super insert's secondary air tube empties out underneath the rear of the stove. Chances are most of the creosote that fell in is on the ground under your stove. Nevertheless, snaking the 3/4" hose and getting a good vacuuming in is a very good idea.

Putting the baffle pin back in can be a little tricky. If you gave that back ledge and around the secondary tube a good sweep, you most likely will just have to wiggle it a bit until the pin goes. I wouldn't worry about that yet though, as you still need to place a new gasket before setting the baffle.

 

[WouldBurn]

All right guys, lots happened since last update! Thanks to your advice I got everything put together today and I got a nice fire going. The GF decided to get the baffle gaskets on the way home from work which set it all in motion.

I did the vacuum with hose trick and it seemed to work, although working the hose down the tube was difficult and only went so far. I was using coolant line for a car. When I pulled it out I saw that the edge was lined with creosote, so I assume something good happened.

After another thorough sweep and vacuuming around the edges of the tube and over the lip, a new gasket fit perfectly and the baffle went right over the top. The pin took a little negotiating, but after a few minutes it went in as well. Woohoo! At least now it's all done.

I killed the electric heat, threw a blanket on my GF, and waited until it got colder. I couldn't wait to test the results. I built the fire and it lit pretty easily, with no problems with going out or anything like that. So, that part of the equation is all solved, thanks in no small part to your assistance. Much appreciated.

However I do have just a couple more questions:

1. Does this "negative pressure" thing essentially mean I'll have to shut off all my fans every time I open the door? I have two box fans, a little tower fan, and a ceiling fan that are usually on while the fire's going to keep the back rooms warm and the living room livable for the dog. I guess shutting off the fans is no big deal if it'll mean no more puffs of smoke to the face - I get an instant headache and most of the time I get an asthma attack when that happens.

2. How important is it that the fire is "centered" from left-to-right as you're looking at it? I try to tilt it as it's lighting so it goes to the middle and lights it better, but after it's already started burning does it even matter if say for instance all the burning is happening on the right side and the left side is dark?

Again thank you so much for your help. I would probably be selling this thing at a $2000 loss, or at least paying a sweep $200, if not for your sage wisdom.