Smokey

[Dann-0]

I recently installed a vigilant in my home. It heats my my house unbelievably! (1400 sq ft)
My question is. After it gets going I put it in horizontal mode. Stove top temp is 500-600 degrees. There is a lot of smoke coming out of the chimney. Is this normal? The chimney is 8 inch insulated and is about 20 feet tall . It pokes out the side of my house and is exposed.

 

[peakbagger]

Generally, what many new wood stove owners confuse as smoke is actual water vapor from burning wood that has not been dried long enough. Ideally you need a source of known super dry wood to compare to. This happens frequently to new burners as they install the stove and then chase around for wood.

If you are near Ossipee NH and have a truck you can get a 1/4 cord of kiln dried hardwood chunks from Ossipee Mountain Lumber that are about as dry as you can get for testing plus its great firewood.

 

[fbelec]

also if your stove is like my defiant the bigger brother of your i was told that they smoke in secondary that was the nature of the beast. when i closed my damper for secondary long burn as they would call it would smoke and the chimney temp would drop. it smoked because the damper is not air tight and smoke from the top of the wood stack in the firebox would seep by. so the last time i rebuilt it i used some flat rope type gasket material and sealed up the damper and the fireback. i also added a brick that fit perfectly under the secondary fresh air manifold. now as long as the wood is dry and the stove is hot 99% of the smoke is gone. and peakbagger hit the nail on the head if the smoke that comes out of your chimney seems to disappear in a few feet it's moisture. if it flows across the street it actual smoke

and welcome to the forum

frank

 

[Dann-0]

Thanks for the input. I'll keep an eye on it. I haven't had a fire since my post.
I'm pretty sure it was smoke not steam. I really haven't had a ripper of a fire in it yet.
Could the smoke be from the creosote build up from the past owner?The top pipe that came with it had a lot of build up inside. I cleaned that out and inside the stove. But couldn't behind the back.

 

[fbelec]

while the stove is not running buy a brush if you don't have one and clean that chimney. if you get a strong fire going it could be a chimney fire