Ah man, I think I got a draft issue. I got a good fire going with the door open a crack on the new stove(englander 30) and as soon as I close the door I get great burn for a about 20 seconds, secondaries and all, then it goes down to coals and almost no flame. I have the air open all the way, stove top temp is about 475. Is this a draft issue? Another thing it seems like where my pipe goes into the wall, there's a gap. It's masonry lined even out to the edge of the brick. What can I seal this up with? I'm assuming I would need a special kind of insulation other than fiberglass. I had a 8 to 6 adapter going to the thimble before that seemed to fit tighter. I just held a match up at this gap and it sucks the flame in some, so I'm assuming that this is wasting my draft there instead of in the firebox.
Poor draft?
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Try rope gasket and furnace cement to seal the gap. Is this an external chimney it is connected to? What is the liner size in the chimney?
Seal the connection at the thimble and the pipe joints with furnace cement. Around the pipe joint at the stove collar too.
Edit: Also how dry is the wood. That old Franklin would burn wet marshmallows.
Edit: Also how dry is the wood. That old Franklin would burn wet marshmallows.
SPED said:
you have successfully diagnosed your problem. the air leak at the thimble must be sealed, seal with refractory cement, essentially with the door cracked there is no resistance to the draft , the fire will burn readily , but when you close the door , the draft through the unit is restricted , the chimney (which will pull path of least resistance) starts sucking air through the leak, stove only gets leftovers , so the fire dies seal up the flue and make that chimney have to pull through the stove , and off and running you will be.
Ok, thanks guys, I'll seal that up tomorrow after it's cold, see where that gets me. The chimney is 7x7 id clay lined masonry in the center of the house. Pics are in my englander install thread.
Another hint - if your 7x7 flue starts down way below where your stove enters (large sump and cleanout?), then you can probably increase the draft by stuffing some insulation (with paper ripped off) a few inches below where the pipe enters. This will help the chimney warm up faster.
Keep in mind that you really have to warm up the chimney good from a cold start - and get a decent bed of embers in the stove - before a real "burn" starts.
Keep in mind that you really have to warm up the chimney good from a cold start - and get a decent bed of embers in the stove - before a real "burn" starts.
Yeah it does start way down below, at least 12 feet, good tip, i'll do that tomorrow before I seal er up, thanks!!
Good call Craig! Also check the clean out door at the bottom of the chimney. See that it's gasketed and sealing tightly.
Good point I'll check the door too. Man I hope one of these solves it, if I have to buy a liner that costs as much as the stove, i think the wife is gonna make me sell the new one and put the old one back in...
Thanks brotherbart, I needed to hear that, I'm probably just worked up since it's new. The door for the cleanout is actually a piece of sheetrock shoved into the hole, I gotta imagine that could be my problem ;-) Anyone know a good place to buy a real cleanout door?
Oh and will it hurt it to burn with the door cracked? I know you can do it when starting but what about other than that, I'd say it's open an inch or so.
Short term, BB has the answer. Longer term, Google is your friend. Check eBay too.
http://www.nextag.com/fireplace-cleanout-door/search-html
http://www.nextag.com/fireplace-cleanout-door/search-html
SPED said:
You shouldn't need to do that except to get the fire going. Put a cement block against that sheetrock plug on the cleanout and see if it improves. Once the stack is hot, it should get going strong.
SPED said:
No way Jose! You bought that stove to heat your house. Not overfire and burn it down.
Ok, sealed the chimney cleanout, took the stove back out, sealed the pipe where it goes into the thimble, and every pipe joint I redid including into the stove with that black cement. So now I gotta wait an hour for it to dry and we'll see if it'll work and the wife will start speaking to me again ;-) Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.
Well I fired it up again and it's not looking good. I forgot to mention I did the insulation thing below the 90 out to the stove also. I get my kindling going with the door open about an inch, put in some more small stuff, got the pipe up to about 350(measured 18" above on the single wall black pipe). Air all the way open(handle pulled out), I close the door, within 20 seconds no flame left at all. I checked the connection to the thimble again with the match it doesn't suck in the flame anymore, same at the cleanout.
My chimney is maybe a half a foot or so short of the 2' part of 10-3-2. Hard to tell exactly here's a pic:
My chimney is maybe a half a foot or so short of the 2' part of 10-3-2. Hard to tell exactly here's a pic:
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So I guess at this point I'm looking at my options this way:
1.) Buy SS liner kit and a hard 3' extension for the end to make sure on the 2' thing(500ish dollars), and hope i can get it in there, I have more questions on that too since I don't know that i'll be able to get that to hookup to the thimble, which barely(much grunting) accepts 6" single wall black pipe. lined chimney is only 7x7 id.
2.) Try and return new stove to lowes, repair broken leg on old one and reinstall and move on with life
3.) Sell stove to someone for what I paid for it, it's still a good deal at 437 same as above for old stove.
Is there anything else to try? Can I extend my chimney another way? Is it a guarantee that if I do the liner it'll work? And I really worry about getting the liner hooked up where the thimble comes out....
1.) Buy SS liner kit and a hard 3' extension for the end to make sure on the 2' thing(500ish dollars), and hope i can get it in there, I have more questions on that too since I don't know that i'll be able to get that to hookup to the thimble, which barely(much grunting) accepts 6" single wall black pipe. lined chimney is only 7x7 id.
2.) Try and return new stove to lowes, repair broken leg on old one and reinstall and move on with life
3.) Sell stove to someone for what I paid for it, it's still a good deal at 437 same as above for old stove.
Is there anything else to try? Can I extend my chimney another way? Is it a guarantee that if I do the liner it'll work? And I really worry about getting the liner hooked up where the thimble comes out....
One more thing, it's windy as heck today would that hurt it?
And also, how much is it to get a chimney sweep or someone to check my draft? Or does anyone live nearby that has a meter? I'm about 15 min north of albany ny
And also, how much is it to get a chimney sweep or someone to check my draft? Or does anyone live nearby that has a meter? I'm about 15 min north of albany ny
Wind and a chimney that is just a little short. These two things kinda feed off each other like alcohol and painkillers if you know what i mean. Do you have a chimney cap? A cap might help but it defiantly will do no harm. I am not sure if you can easily extend the chimney you have now or not as I have no experience with masonry chimneys. I always had the prefab metal ones.
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- Oct 25, 2006
- 391
My guess is the problem is with air leaks in the house.
The house is acting like a second chimney and competing with the stove for air, since the house is much larger it will win.
Plug up all holes in the house that are above the level of the stove and add a few below the level of the stove.
Added benefit will be a great reduction in the amount of heat needed.
The house is acting like a second chimney and competing with the stove for air, since the house is much larger it will win.
Plug up all holes in the house that are above the level of the stove and add a few below the level of the stove.
Added benefit will be a great reduction in the amount of heat needed.
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