Too much draft? Need damper?

[sheeshshe]

I have a Ideal Steel from woodstock soapstone, and I have a steel chimney. My house is a cape and the stove is on the first living floor. The flue attaches to the back of the chimney with a T and goes straight up through the center of the house and through the roof. This stove is supposed to be able to burn for 10-12 hours on one load of wood, we are lucky to get 4 hours out of it. I emailed the company and they think perhaps I have too much draft because my chimney is too long, and I should add a damper above the stove. I do think draft is an issue, because if we were to let the fire go out, it is extremely difficult to get it going and we have to keep the ash tray opened for a really long time to keep it going. It just doesn't seem like this is normal, however this is our first stove and we are newbies. Would you put a damper in above the stove? If so, is this something we can do ourselves, or do we need to hire someone to do it? We hooked the stove up to the flue ourselves, but I really don't know how difficult it is to put in a damper. Thank you for your advice.

 

[velvetfoot]

Possible to throttle intake air?

 

[Rearscreen]

Any gasket leaks?
I don't know the design, but is there any possibility that the intake adjustment has a problem from the factory? In other words all the way closed is not all the way closed. Let's say I had this problem with my Progress...I'd check gaskets first then (since I have an outside air intake kit) I'd limit the intake air via restriction all the while checking the surface temp to see if I'm not limiting the air too much.

 

[showrguy]

Any gasket leaks?

Nope, all is tight..
If I open the damper, I'll be at -.19 - -.22 w/c

 

[Rearscreen]

Sorry was referencing the thread starter.

 

[begreen]

Yessir, 15'of double wall black to ceiling box, then another 15' of class A stainless, then another class A painted black through the roof, so about 35' total..
Recently removed the 1st 4' section from the stove, installed a 3' section, then 6" key damper section. Drilled a probe hole 32" from stovetop for manometer, just looke at it -.13-.15 w/c, with damper shut as tight as possible....22 deg. F, calm conditions..
My chimney is all Ventis piping that I was really happy with the quality.... The 6" key damper section is a real POS, it's made in CHINA, is nowhere close to fitting correctly, is outa balance, lop sided, ect...

Edit;;; all straight..

Yes, with the tall stack it probably drafts like a Hoover, but has it been measured? what is the metric for determining draft is still strong? As noted in another thread, if the blower is on, burn times are not going to be all that great. The stove is heating a lot of sq ftg..

 

[sheeshshe]

i am not positive how long the chimney is, I think its 25 or 26 feet long, but not positive. It goes straight up from the T that connects to the back of the stove.

 

[sheeshshe]

Any gasket leaks?
I don't know the design, but is there any possibility that the intake adjustment has a problem from the factory? In other words all the way closed is not all the way closed. Let's say I had this problem with my Progress...I'd check gaskets first then (since I have an outside air intake kit) I'd limit the intake air via restriction all the while checking the surface temp to see if I'm not limiting the air too much.

As for the gasket, possibly? that's the rope looking thing, right? When we got it, the rope kept falling out. They sent us a new one and we had to install it ourselves, so it is quite possible that it's not in correctly.

 

[sheeshshe]

As for the gasket, possibly? that's the rope looking thing, right? When we got it, the rope kept falling out. They sent us a new one and we had to install it ourselves, so it is quite possible that it's not in correctly.

Also, I've often wondered if something isn't right with the air intake thing.

 

[sheeshshe]

I don’t see how it is a draft issue (implying it is too strong and burning up the fire too fast) when you also state you can’t get a fire going and need to open the ash pan door (not a good idea btw).
I have a strong draft and my stove burns great. Can get a fire going easily because of it.

I have learned to cut the air back a lot sooner than I normally would to account for the draft and get good burn times.

How full are you loading it, with what sized wood, and what temps are you seeing?

I think before installing a damper or anything I would reasses what you may be doing to add to the situation. Not criticizing or questioning you just mentioning it as you said you were newbies and there are a lot of factors for burn times etc.

I don't really know, quite honestly, I think there's something not right with this stove. I've felt this from the beginning. I emailed the company and that's what they told me, that it sounded like the chimney was too long and needed a damper. I don't like having to open the ash pan door, but sometimes it is the only way to get it going. We have various kinds of wood we are burning. Oak, pine, maple, birch. We have all sizes of logs and we've loaded it with small, medium, and large loads. there may be some pieces that aren't dry enough, but most of the wood is dry.

 

[sheeshshe]

Also, how do you know if the combustor is actually working, is it supposed to not make any noise? do we just trust and assume that it is actually doing something?

 

[sheeshshe]

As for lighting it and wondering how seasoned the wood is, we still had trouble lighting it when we used our neighbors wood that weighed basically nothing because it was 4 years old. I swear something isn't right with this thing. Or, we just have no clue what we are doing.