Newbie question about excessive smoke

[stepbill]

I just purchased a Buck stove, model 85, and I'm having a hard time with the smoke coming back into the house. The chimney is on an exterior wall and has an insulated sleeve going up to the top. They had an issue when installing it because the chimney has 2 six inch flues installed - why I do not know because the fire place is the only thing that uses it.

Since then use a six inch insulated pipe, they had to compress it some to get it through where the flue is, about a 6 foot section.

When I start my fire, I can not leave the front door open at all as the smoke starts to roll back into the house. If I'm able to get the fire going and it is burning good, when I have to open the door to put more wood in I get a lot of smoke and the wife is complaining of the smell to the extent that she does not want to use the stove until we get it looked at. Not real sure if we may have negative pressure in the house or not.

There was one time last week when it appeared that the fire went out and when I opened the door, there was a loud noise and it appeared that a backdraft occurred. The fire instantly started back up and it suprised me to say the least. After I closed the door, the fire died back down but not completly.

The stove only has a primary air control on the bottom, a slider on either side and I always leave them wide open. What do you all think could be the problem? I thought that my wood might be damp so I bought some prepackaged wood that they sell in front of gas stations and it did the same with that.

Thanks for any help!

 

[begreen]

From the description it sounds like the liner may be dented and restricting draft. Mild weather burning will have weaker draft. How tall is the chimney and how is the stove connected to it? Is this a main or basement floor installation?

 

[stepbill]

From the description it sounds like the liner may be dented and restricting draft. Mild weather burning will have weaker draft. How tall is the chimney and how is the stove connected to it? Is this a main or basement floor installation?

We have a tri-level house and it's in a main room on the single floor. There is a small crawl space under this portion of the house with no access to the fireplace. The stove is inserted inside of the fireplace and it has a stainless steel double wall 6 inch pipe with insulation going up throught the chimney. To the top of the chimney is approximately 17 to 20 feet. There is a stainless steel raincap on top that is attached to the flue portion of the chimney.

I was wondering with them compressing the piping to get through the 6 inch flue, that could be causing the restriction.

If that's the case, I'm not sure what would have to be done, wether the top part of the chimney would have to be broken out and a larger single flue put in or what. Hope I'm making sense.

 

[begreen]

Hard to say. A tear in the liner might also have happened if it were forced. Did they use 5" liner?

 

[stepbill]

Hard to say. A tear in the liner might also have happened if it were forced. Did they use 5" liner?

They used a 6" liner.

 

[stepbill]

Well, I figured out what the issue is. Went on the roof when I got home from work and removed the raincover. I have a double flue and the stove pipe is run up the left side flue to the top. The installer put a single flue rain cape that is centered between the two flues. The stove pipe butts up against the stainless steel plate and only about 1 1/2 inches is open to vent the smoke and heat. I just ordered a new cover that is for a double flue and will not have a solid bottom so the flue should vent right. I hope I explained what is going on.

 

[begreen]

Hope that does the trick. Keep us posted.

 

[Tom C]

I just purchased a Buck stove, model 85, and I'm having a hard time with the smoke coming back into the house. The chimney is on an exterior wall and has an insulated sleeve going up to the top. They had an issue when installing it because the chimney has 2 six inch flues installed - why I do not know because the fire place is the only thing that uses it.

Since then use a six inch insulated pipe, they had to compress it some to get it through where the flue is, about a 6 foot section.

When I start my fire, I can not leave the front door open at all as the smoke starts to roll back into the house. If I'm able to get the fire going and it is burning good, when I have to open the door to put more wood in I get a lot of smoke and the wife is complaining of the smell to the extent that she does not want to use the stove until we get it looked at. Not real sure if we may have negative pressure in the house or not.

There was one time last week when it appeared that the fire went out and when I opened the door, there was a loud noise and it appeared that a backdraft occurred. The fire instantly started back up and it suprised me to say the least. After I closed the door, the fire died back down but not completly.

The stove only has a primary air control on the bottom, a slider on either side and I always leave them wide open. What do you all think could be the problem? I thought that my wood might be damp so I bought some prepackaged wood that they sell in front of gas stations and it did the same with that.

Thanks for any help!

Well your problem is like something we had going on so the wife called in the chimney sweeper and he did both our chimneys. We have two stoves and the chimneys are not connected and each is at opposite ends of the house. That solved the problem. Your problem I would have to say is how well your chimney is drawing in air. You mentioned something about how you installed your new pipe and I can tell you that the pipe needs free unobstructed flow to work properly. One of my stoves has a significantly shorter chimney (overall from stove to top maybe 10'. The other is probably near 20'. The larger has no problem. The other since it is shorter seems to be more temperamental when the wind blows or the fire is not burning well. All things considered I have concluded that the longer chimney gets great draw and has no problem. Check connections and get unobstructed flow with as few bends as possible.

 

[begreen]

A 10 ft chimney in Vacaville is going to be balky, especially if there is a stove on it. Mild temps further weaken draft.

 

[Tom C]

A 10 ft chimney in Vacaville is going to be balky, especially if there is a stove on it. Mild temps further weaken draft.

Not sure what you mean by "balky". You say mild weather weaken the draft. I never new weather except for extreme weather or high wind caused any draft problems. Can you explain it a little. I'd like to keep and eye out for potential problems.

 

[BrotherBart]

Chimney draft works on temperature differential between inside and outside temperature. The closer they are to each other the worse the draft.

http://www.woodheat.org/how-chimneys-work.html

 

[Oldman47]

It is simple Tom. Draft is related to air density. If you have a big difference in air density you will have a strong draft. The air in your chimney will "float" compared to the outside air. If the chimney air density is close to the outside air density your draft will sort of suck. A wind across the top of an open chimney can act like an eductor and draw even if there is no air density difference. Velocity becomes the dominant factor and you get a draft.

 

[rideau]

That is a disconcerting mistake for an installer to make.

 

[stepbill]

That is a disconcerting mistake for an installer to make.

The installer was very embarrassed when I brought it to his attention. Said that he never ran into that issue before. Ending up finding a raincap that will fit from Rockford Chimney Supply. Outstanding customer service and the cap should be here tomorrow.

 

[stepbill]

I received the new chimney cap in 2 days and have run it constant since then and it (the Buck Stove) is burning great! I can open the door and no smoke comes out. I am truly amazed at the heat that it puts out. I am one happy wood stove owner! Thanks for all your help and advice!