VC Defiant - Help! Creosote Driving Me Out!!

[Iron One]

I've burned wood for more than 40 years. This year I thought I'd treat myself to a non catalic VC Defiant. The house is big and I felt the size would be appropriate. It's the bordeaux porcelian coated one-pretty! BUT I just can't seem to get it to burn right. Small kindling fire is fine, the minute I make it any bigger, I start getting creosote build up. The windows get so black, I have to razor it off. Temperature is 600-700 degrees. I close the damper as the instruction book says, and set the intake about half open. I can't tell if the "reburn" is happening or not, but I know for sure the creosote is not good. One night it stunk up the whole house! The wood is seasoned, and dry. Can someone give me a clue as to what I'm doing wrong?

 

[Diabel]

What do you see coming out of the chimney while burning (damper engaged)? If clear then your secondaries are working!

 

[myzamboni]

I know you say seasoned and dry, but it sure does not appear that way based on your results. Please provide your definition of seasoned and dry wood and what type of wood. (I have a feeling there is a misconception) .

 

[begreen]

This stove needs dry wood and good draft. If you've been burning for that long I'm going to assume you know dry wood, so the next thing is to look at the flue on the stove. Can you describe the flue system from stove connection to the top cap?

 

[Iron One]

This stove needs dry wood and good draft. If you've been burning for that long I'm going to assume you know dry wood, so the next thing is to look at the flue on the stove. Can you describe the flue system from stove connection to the top cap?

The wood is 3 iyear old, split oak that has been covered.
The flue is an 11" oval coming out of the stove. It reduces to an 8". I have further reduced it to a 7" straight pipe that is about 2' long, an elbow then goes into the chimney flue. Flue is 7" opening into a 7" clay tile in a masonry chimney. It travels 2.5 stories on inside walls to the roof. The lined brick chimney on the roof is 3' high, has a cover, screened around the 2' opening all the way around.

No matter how I fiddle with settings, the minute I shut the damper completely down, the flame disappears. If I crack it open a little, it burns well. It burns really well if I open the ash drawer while the fire is burning. I do realize that you're not supposed to run it like that. I tried putting a pipe on the air intake and extending it close to an open door to see if there was an air supply problem-it made no difference.

 

[Brian VT]

Could your secondary air intake or exhaust be restricted or blocked somehow ? It seems to be stalling back there.
At that temp. when you close the damper to reroute the exhaust through the secondary it should sound like a freight train.
Do you have some good coals on the bottom and in front of the entrance to the secondary ? The superheated exhaust enters
there into the refractory box, gets another shot of air, is reburned, exits the box through holes on the left and right, and then up to the flue collar.
This sounds like a new stove but if it's used then maybe those holes on the sides are blocked with ash. See "spring cleaning" in the manual.
This all assumes you are burning dry wood.

 

[humpin iron]

VC strikes again !

 

[propguy]

IS THE CLEAN OUT clean at the base of the chimney? It sounds like a draft issue

 

[Brian VT]

IS THE CLEAN OUT clean at the base of the chimney? It sounds like a draft issue

That's another good thought. I've heard those can cause a problem if they're not sealed well.