New to wood stoves - lots of smoke in the house on first burn - Pleasant Hearth 2200

[patriot07]

Got my Pleasant Heart 2200 installed. I'm sure it's user error, but I'm getting a bunch of smoke inside, and all my wood burned up in like 2-2.5 hours. I assume I'm getting too much air in there? I followed manual instructions very closely...

My understanding was that after the fire gets going, you close the door, close the back damper, and use the front knob to control how much air gets in (more air to stoke the fire, less air to die it down). But after about 10 minutes of burning, the fire was going bigtime and I shut the door, shut the rear damper, and closed the air damper, and it never really slowed down.

Now we do have a very strong (30-40 mph) north wind today, so I'm not sure if that's playing a role? Would really love any help you guys can give to get me to figure this out.

I tried looking at the threads in the sticky but I got internet errors on all the links? (shrugs...)

 

[stoveliker]

How tall is your chimney?
You may have too much draft.

I'd close the door sooner; as soon as kindling is burning well, slowly close the door.

 

[bholler]

Got my Pleasant Heart 2200 installed. I'm sure it's user error, but I'm getting a bunch of smoke inside, and all my wood burned up in like 2-2.5 hours. I assume I'm getting too much air in there? I followed manual instructions very closely...

My understanding was that after the fire gets going, you close the door, close the back damper, and use the front knob to control how much air gets in (more air to stoke the fire, less air to die it down). But after about 10 minutes of burning, the fire was going bigtime and I shut the door, shut the rear damper, and closed the air damper, and it never really slowed down.

Now we do have a very strong (30-40 mph) north wind today, so I'm not sure if that's playing a role? Would really love any help you guys can give to get me to figure this out.

I tried looking at the threads in the sticky but I got internet errors on all the links? (shrugs...)

What temps are you running at? How much wood did you load?

 

[patriot07]

How tall is your chimney?
You may have too much draft.

I'd close the door sooner; as soon as kindling is burning well, slowly close the door.

Chimney is about 15' tall.

I'll try closing the door sooner. The manual just says 12 minutes or something like that. By that time in my burn, the whole thing was roaring. I have a weber smokey mountain smoker and one of the keys is not letting temp get more than about 20 degrees too high - once it reaches that point it's very difficult to bring it back down. Maybe this is similar.

 

[patriot07]

What temps are you running at? How much wood did you load?

How would I know what temp I'm at?

For the record, it's a pleasant hearth WSL-2200-B and the chimney is a Selkirk double wall system from top to bottom.

 

[bholler]

How would I know what temp I'm at?

For the record, it's a pleasant hearth WSL-2200-B and the chimney is a Selkirk double wall system from top to bottom.

With a stove top and pipe thermometer

 

[patriot07]

With a stove top and pipe thermometer

How do I add that to my Selkirk system? What temps should I be at? I have a heat gun and meat thermometer, but I'm not sure either will allow for this kind of heat.

 

[bholler]

How do I add that to my Selkirk system? What temps should I be at? I have a heat gun and meat thermometer, but I'm not sure either will allow for this kind of heat.

For the pipe you will need a probe thermometer. The stove top your ir gun will work

 

[stoveliker]

That is not too tall for a chimney. Too much draft is unlikely.

Twelve minutes with the door is strange. The door should be closed (but the air control wide open) as soon as the kindling is going well. Slowly close it, I less snuff things out.

Show a pic of how much wood you put in your firebox (especially for a reload after a cold start).

 

[snobuilder]

Got my Pleasant Heart 2200 installed. I'm sure it's user error, but I'm getting a bunch of smoke inside, and all my wood burned up in like 2-2.5 hours. I assume I'm getting too much air in there? I followed manual instructions very closely...

My understanding was that after the fire gets going, you close the door, close the back damper, and use the front knob to control how much air gets in (more air to stoke the fire, less air to die it down). But after about 10 minutes of burning, the fire was going bigtime and I shut the door, shut the rear damper, and closed the air damper, and it never really slowed down.

Now we do have a very strong (30-40 mph) north wind today, so I'm not sure if that's playing a role? Would really love any help you guys can give to get me to figure this out.

I tried looking at the threads in the sticky but I got internet errors on all the links? (shrugs...)

Check out my thread I started "Stove Prep" . https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/stove-prep.190824/
I have the same stove. I installed baffles to control the secondary air supply. The stove comes with NO controls for the 2- 1.5"x3" tube steel chases that are located at the 2 back corners on the stove bottom. If you reach under the stove you could stuff your socks in there (not recommended...unsafe)

 

[bholler]

Check out my thread I started "Stove Prep" . https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/stove-prep.190824/
I have the same stove. I installed baffles to control the secondary air supply. The stove comes with NO controls for the 2- 1.5"x3" tube steel chases that are located at the 2 back corners on the stove bottom. If you reach under the stove you could stuff your socks in there (not recommended...unsafe)

And by doing that you voided the warranty and the listing which means clearances are no longer valid and if there is ever an insurance claim it may very well be denied. The modifications may be perfectly safe but it opens you up. To massive liability.

 

[snobuilder]

And by doing that you voided the warranty and the listing which means clearances are no longer valid and if there is ever an insurance claim it may very well be denied. The modifications may be perfectly safe but it opens you up. To massive liability.

I like my chances, Bucky.

You don't need my mod, you can always use your socks....(not recommended, unsafe).

 

[bholler]

I like my chances, Bucky.

You don't need my mod, you can always use your socks....(not recommended, unsafe).

Or you could just install the stove to spec and it will work fine. Your mod is your risk you chose to take. I was just informing the op of this thread of the risks involved with such a modification.


We don't even know what temps this poster is talking about. Their fire could very well have been perfectly normal suggesting fixes to a problem before we know if there is one is a bit silly in my opinion.

 

[snobuilder]

Or you could just install the stove to spec and it will work fine. Your mod is your risk you chose to take. I was just informing the op of this thread of the risks involved with such a modification.


We don't even know what temps this poster is talking about. Their fire could very well have been perfectly normal suggesting fixes to a problem before we know if there is one is a bit silly in my opinion.

Zero risks for me and definitely ZERO risks for you.

 

[bholler]

Zero risks for me and definitely ZERO risks for you.

I know where you are putting that stove there are massive risks to you and anyone in your home.

 

[panderson03]

wow. that got off track in a hurry! i wonder how the original poster is doing?

 

[bholler]

wow. that got off track in a hurry! i wonder how the original poster is doing?

I hope waiting for a probe thermometer so they can figure out how to run their stove properly. Instead of jumping to the immediate conclusion that the stove needs modified.

 

[snobuilder]

To the OP.
I am only telling you what my solution is because I experienced what you did on the same stove. You can try and close off the secondary air intake if your fire gets too scary hot to be comfortable with in your home and see if that helps.
This is merely a suggestion. It's your call.
Other variables exist and many will tell you a multitude of reasons that put YOU at fault and not the stove. Those conditions need to be looked at as well.

 

[bholler]

To the OP.
I am only telling you what my solution is because I experienced what you did on the same stove. You can try and close off the secondary air intake if your fire gets too scary hot to be comfortable with in your home and see if that helps.
This is merely a suggestion. It's your call.
Other variables exist and many will tell you a multitude of reasons that put YOU at fault and not the stove. Those conditions need to be looked at as well.

To be fair your experience with the stove was only after you made major modifications to the stove. And only break-in fires outside correct?

 

[clancey]

Would not the temperature of the environment like for instance Texas verses Mass have something to do with some of the consideration here...Like the op said a strong wind was blowing..Just questioning here..clancey

 

[bholler]

Would not the temperature of the environment like for instance Texas verses Mass have something to do with some of the consideration here...Like the op said a strong wind was blowing..Just questioning here..clancey

That will absolutely make a big difference

 

[stoveliker]

Any new data when the wind was less and the door closed sooner?

 

[patriot07]

Any new data when the wind was less and the door closed sooner?

Lit kindling, closed door immediately, shut off air baffle and closed damper immediately, same result. I'll post a pic shortly. Sorry for the delayed responses. We were watching the cowboys lose by starting a play with less than 15 seconds and running the the ball and intentionally going down in bounds. By doing this, they guaranteed they wouldn't even have a shot at the end zone. 25 years of finding new and creative ways to lose.

ETA: by "same result", I mean fire burned very quickly. I did get little to no smoke in the house. Not sure why

And when I reload, I usually do less teepee and more of criss-crossing rows

 

[patriot07]

I've been putting 2 of these in the middle of the wood as kindling.

 

[patriot07]

Would not the temperature of the environment like for instance Texas verses Mass have something to do with some of the consideration here...Like the op said a strong wind was blowing..Just questioning here..clancey

When I ran this, it was mid-30s outside with a 40 mph wind. The second run was about 40 outside with a 10 mph wind.