# Caddy Install



## tobes (Nov 10, 2014)

Hello,
I just installed a caddy wood/electric furnace and have a flue pipe question I hope someone can help with. From the furnace I have used an adjustable single wall elbow, to a single wall tee (with barometric damper), to a telescopic double wall length, to a double wall 45 which connects to my through the wall 6" diameter 2"insulated chimney section. I read on the forum that in Canada I cannot interchange double and single wall. The Caddy manual recommends a barometric damper but I cant find a double wall tee with one, so I though I would interchange the pipe to accommodate a single wall one. Any suggestions what I should do ? I need the double wall to meet clearance requirements for the first few feet.

Thanks


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## velvetfoot (Nov 11, 2014)

I have double wall dvl stove pipe with a double wall tee. The baro damper just plugged right into the tee.  You buy the baro damper separately.
I'll try to post a (not current) picture:


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## tobes (Nov 11, 2014)

Hmmm....what make of Baro is that ? I purchased a Baro at Home Hardware (probably a cheep version) and could not get it to fit.


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## velvetfoot (Nov 11, 2014)

It's a fancy Euro one.  I don't think it's really necessary.  I would think an ordinary Field Controls baro should fit.  I don't know why it wouldn't, but I'm no expert.  Maybe Field Controls make several kind.  They seem to sell them with collars, mostly?  Maybe the R-C model can be removed from the collar and put into a 6" pipe.  Why doesn't the one you got from HD fit.


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## newyorker (Nov 11, 2014)

I just installed my caddy and didn't install a baro its burns great I just ordered a dwyer manometer to test draft just incase


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## brenndatomu (Nov 11, 2014)

I don't know if they still make these, but I had a Fields baro on my old oil furnace that was installed in a "tee" fitting over top a hole cut in the side of the pipe. It was attached via a strap around the pipe. It was definitely a factory made piece, not cobbled up by the installer...


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## brenndatomu (Nov 11, 2014)

newyorker said:


> I just installed my caddy and didn't install a baro its burns great I just ordered a dwyer manometer to test draft just incase


You may be surprised how much your draft goes up when it get cold and windy. It makes a dramatic difference in how your furnace burns...and for how long...good decision on the Dwyer


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## Morganc08 (Nov 12, 2014)

Hey quick question  new to this forum thing as well as to the caddy. Just fired it up today for the first time using wood and was curious as to how often the blower should be on?  It seems to be on more than it is off blowing air that isn't very warm. It only shuts off for about 5 minutes and is on for more any help or information would be greatly appreciated


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## laynes69 (Nov 12, 2014)

It all will depend on when the blower cycles. A normal fire won't put out raw btus, but more cruise for a while. Register temps won't be as hot as a central furnace (lp,oil,etc) but will run far more often. It's a steady supply of btus instead of an on off setup. Once heat is needed the damper will open and the furnace will produce more heat based on demand.


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## Morganc08 (Nov 12, 2014)

OK thank you. It was the damper that needed to be adjusted it wasn't fully closing


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## newyorker (Nov 12, 2014)

laynes got my caddy operational and i am burning well seasoned ash and the secondary combustion is just plan amazing i couldn't be happier so far with the caddy im confident 15 below 30 mph winds and all ill need is a few sticks of wood to be warm


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## newyorker (Nov 12, 2014)

if i just wire a on off switch to the damper motor will that override the thermostat for loading purposes?


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## laynes69 (Nov 12, 2014)

I just raise the thermostat a couple degrees, load then turn it down when things are burning well.


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## newyorker (Nov 12, 2014)

yea thats what iv been doing but it would be nice to have a overide i spend alot of time in the basement


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## laynes69 (Nov 12, 2014)

Once you learn, things won't be so bad. I did that for a while till I figured out what I needed. When it gets cold, you can let the thermostat temp drop a degree or two and load. Once the thermostat is met it will close, that way you don't need to watch it. It's new, it will take a while to dial things in.


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## newyorker (Nov 12, 2014)

Yea I understand I just meant I spend a lot of time in the basement because I have my workbench down their always doing something


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## brenndatomu (Nov 12, 2014)

newyorker said:


> if i just wire a on off switch to the damper motor will that override the thermostat for loading purposes?


Something that I read about someone doing was to wire in a bathroom fan switch (you know, one of those 15 minute rotary dial jobbies) to override the 'stat after reloads. I thought that was a pretty good idea.


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## newyorker (Nov 12, 2014)

yea that does seem like a good idea so what are your stack temps running i have been running low 300s or high 200s with small hot fires it seems low to me but im used to my old stove runnning 450 to 600


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## laynes69 (Nov 12, 2014)

When I came home from work, the furnace was burning with a 1/3 load or so. There was a nice secondary burn and the flue temps were reading 150 external. If the damper is open on a fresh load it will jump around 250 once the damper closes, those temps drop around 200 on a larger load. They run alot lower than than our old furnace. Was those temps with your damper open or closed?


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## newyorker (Nov 12, 2014)

that is good to hear that is with them open this thing really extracts the btus


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## laynes69 (Nov 12, 2014)

Yeah they will run higher with the damper open.


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## brenndatomu (Nov 12, 2014)

Yeah I have heard it said that as a general rule of thumb with modern secondary burn type fireboxes that they flip the numbers of the old stoves upside down. For example, if you had the old smoke dragon rockin at 400* stovetop and 600* pipe, a new stove would be 600* stovetop and 400* pipe. Of course with a furnace you have a much larger heat exchanger so I would think that this rule would apply even more so


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## newyorker (Nov 12, 2014)

so does anyone use the little door to push their ashes in? i have yet to use it


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## brenndatomu (Nov 12, 2014)

I have the same ash plug setup in my lil stove in the fireplace...it's never been out since the day I bought it


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## laynes69 (Nov 12, 2014)

It's a pita, but sometimes I do use it. Occasionally when the wife doesn't get everything cleaned out and I'm left with a large pile of coals and ash, I use it. In the mornings usually there's ash up from and the coalbed in the rear. I just scoop out the ash and pull the coals forward.


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## joes169 (Nov 12, 2014)

I think I'll be taking the ask clean out door out and replacing it with a firebrick.  Even after all the times I've already scooped sh out, I still tend to forget tha tstupid thing is sticking up.......

As for flue temps, I've got to be playing "catch-up" for an hour or two for my temps to get near 350 degrees, and they most often stay in the low 200's.....


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## newyorker (Nov 14, 2014)

just curious what you guys have you fan limit switch set points at


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## joes169 (Nov 14, 2014)

150 F on, 110 F off with the fan speed set at 2 (low/medium).

I've played with it a little last year and found that to be about the best for my situation.

As Laynes noted, the air is cooler than conventional fossil fueled furnaces, so the fan may need to run more often to give out the same heat in comparison.......


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## newyorker (Nov 14, 2014)

What about the high limit? Ibwas thinking of lowering it


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## STIHLY DAN (Nov 14, 2014)

I have 110 on 95 off. Low speed fan.


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## STIHLY DAN (Nov 14, 2014)

I have 110 on 95 off. low speed fan, high speed kicks on for a call for heat.


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## brenndatomu (Nov 14, 2014)

160 on, 120 off, 200 high limit. I run my temps on the higher side of normal, it seems to help keep my heat exchanger a bit cleaner. The heat exchanger on the Yukon is huge and it captures a ton of heat from the exhaust stream so it is easy to drop temps to creosote level.


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## joes169 (Nov 14, 2014)

My high limit is set at 200 F, and I can't say I've ever been remotely close to it yet.  I have the cover off of the fan limit switch, and my office is in the basement near the furnace, so I get to monitor it pretty regularily, and I don't think I've ever seen it over 165 F..........


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## JRHAWK9 (Nov 14, 2014)

STIHLY DAN said:


> I have 110 on 95 off. Low speed fan.



I have mine set at the factory 105° on.......

Is the off always 15° lower than the on and non-adjustable?

Do you like the 110° on better than the 105°?  I thought about raising mine, but haven't yet.


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## STIHLY DAN (Nov 15, 2014)

Yes it is a locked in 15* diff, I lower it to 105 when it gets to winter. I find changing the temps for the season helps with even heat.


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## JRHAWK9 (Nov 15, 2014)

I just upped mine to 110°.  It's 11° outside right now -HERE- with a low of 9°, so we'll see.


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## STIHLY DAN (Nov 15, 2014)

110 will actually blow less heat. As in the fan wont run, you are only getting gravity heat.


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## JRHAWK9 (Nov 15, 2014)

STIHLY DAN said:


> 110 will actually blow less heat. As in the fan wont run, you are only getting gravity heat.



yep, found that out last night.  I figured that may be the case, as the fan doesn't run once it nears the end of the burn.  It was just an experiment.  I now have it back to 105°


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## STIHLY DAN (Nov 15, 2014)

When it gets to below zero temps I'll put it to 100.


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## JRHAWK9 (Nov 15, 2014)

hmm, I may keep that in mind and try that out    Supposed to be all single digit nights almost all next week.


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## tobes (Nov 19, 2014)

velvetfoot said:


> I have double wall dvl stove pipe with a double wall tee. The baro damper just plugged right into the tee.  You buy the baro damper separately.
> I'll try to post a (not current) picture:
> 
> 
> ...


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## newyorker (Nov 20, 2014)

if i wanted to change the blower setting on my caddy to i just move the red wire to which ever speed i want?


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## tobes (Nov 28, 2014)

I have my caddy up and running, happy so far, a bit of a learning curve though. For the past 5 years we have been burning wood in our old cookstove in the kitchen, this is a totally different animal.
When my electrician and I hooked up the electric back up element we noticed a 3/8" gap between the electric housing and furnace panel wall. There is no way to adjust the position of the element housing, and  the screw holes line up, so not sure about this gap. Has anyone seen this issue before ?(I'll try and post a pic) I contacted the dealer a week ago and e-mailed a pic. He is supposed get in touch with SBI but is now on holidays for a week.
Also, still figuring out how much to load the furnace depending on the demand (weather has been all over the place....+10C.....-15) not just loading it right up every time. I have noticed creosote on the back of the damper and am a little concerned. Would this be from overloading it and have a smouldering fire ? I have also been raking a trough from the bottom front combustion gas port to the back of the furnace to get some air to the coals. It seems if I don't I end up with just chared wood at the back of the firebox in the morning. Is this normal operation ? Sorry for the berrage of questions ....


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## laynes69 (Nov 28, 2014)

Not sure about the electric elements. With creosote and unburnt coals, it sounds like a few things that could be going on. First would be the wood, is it seasoned and how large is your splits? Second would be lack of draft, did they test your draft, do you have a barometric damper? How tall and what size is your chimney. Then last, what's the square footage of your home, and is it tight and well insulated?

 If your loading too large of loads and the damper is closing soon after loading, it will smoke. The furnace needs to come up to temperature before closing the damper. We have our damper adjusted to stay open slightly during the burn. If we were burning small splits or soft woods, I wouln't need to.


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## tobes (Nov 28, 2014)

The wood is seasoned and the splits vary. I had a cord of maple split and stacked last winter for the cook   we didn't decide to buy the furnace until this past summer so we were stuck buying the rest of our wood for this year. We bought 4 cord of Ash and Maple from a friend. It was blocked up last fall but split recently. 
we live in a 120 year old century farm house with approximately 1600 square feet to heat. It is moderately insulated, 2"paperback insulation with drywall. I have replaced half the windows and have the rest sitting in the garage. Just trying to find time to stall them. The flue consists of approximately 2' of single wall ( 45 elbow and tee with damper) 3' of double wall,to a double wall 45 into a 6" x 2" insulated wall kit. From there it is 27' up the outside of the house to the cap. I have a barometric damper and set it with a digital manometer...I set the draft to 0.05 - 0.06. Before I set the damper I was drafting an easy 0.10. I also wondering about keeping the furnace damper open a hair to slow a little more combustion air. I tried a paper clip on the damper itsel, it worked well. The coal bed burnt down secondary combustion looked good, but it almost put out too much heat. The furnace blower would constantly go and the house temp kept climbing. I'm learning as I go, this past week I have increase the thermostat to call for heat when loading the furnace. After I load it I let it build for 15-20 then turn the stat back down. That seems to keep a good lingering flame.


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## laynes69 (Nov 28, 2014)

It sounds like your wood, while it does season in rounds, it seasons better once split. You'll find next season when your ahead on wood, it will be easier. As long as the firebox is hot, you'll get heat. You might try reducing the fan speed one setting, or load smaller loads to match heating demand. As your finding out, they can produce alot of heat. When we don't need a ton of heat in the 30's, I let the furnace cycle off a coalbed for a while. Your draft speeds sound fine. Initially I thought something was wrong with our furnace, but there's numerous threads where Epa stove owners can't shut their air down 100% and it's no different with the furnace. If I was burning dimensional lumber then yeah its easy, but the larger denser hardwoods require a little extra air. It doesn't hurt the burn times, and it improves combustion. Sounds like you'll need to experiment and burn based on our needs. I load a few splits in mild weather, and if a constant heating demand is needed, I'll load tightly and let the thermostat cycle the furnace.


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## tobes (Nov 28, 2014)

Thanks for the help ! I was wondering if it was the wood, but hoping it wasn't because there isn't much I can do about it. We are looking to get a load of logs this winter, so that should get us head for a few years. I'll try fighting the urge to load it right up on milder days as well. I keep reading a smaller, hotter fire is better.
Do you find you need to keep a clear line from the front air vent to the rear of the firebox ? I have been raking a trough down the centre to the back for air flow, it's a bit of a pain in the ass though


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## laynes69 (Nov 28, 2014)

No, I don't keep the doghouse air clear to the rear of the box. I do keep it clean in front, but load with a gap in the wood in that area like a tunnel. Many times, a few large splits will carry is for quite some time depending on heating demand. I just make sure to leave some gaps or spaces around the splits and it will keep a nice bright fire that way. At the end of a burn, usually the front of the firebox is all ash. I scoop that out, pull coals forward and load on that. If I have too large of a coalbed and need heat, I'll place a softwood split on top and open the damper. Once it's burned down to what I want, I load. Other than one night where we hit 8° F with -20°F  windchills, I have yet to fully load our furnace. As our home gets tighter, things get better.


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## tobes (Dec 1, 2014)

Finally managed to post a picture of the gap in the electric insert


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## tobes (Feb 4, 2015)

Looking for a little advice. I have been running our Caddy Wood/electric since the beginning of November and all around impressed with how it is running, for the most part. -25C evenings we are getting around 7 hour burn times with about a 5 degree drop in the house temp overnight, not bad for a drafty old farm house. I have a batometric damper installed in a tee about 15" from the back of the furnace. With a week of starting the furnace up I noticed creosote building up in the back of the damper and gumming up the hinge. To avoids this I turned the "T" down and placed a 45 degree elbow in it, then placed the Baro on the elbow. This seemed to keep it out of the smoke path and still regulate my draft. All was good, until last weekend. I noticed I wasn't getting any draft. I checked it with my manometer and was reading .01" and smoke was weeping out of my flue pipe. My rain cap, with spark arrestor, was completely plugged at the top of my 27' chimney.  My wood situation this year is less than perfect, not totally seasoned, some of it between 25-30 moisture content.the guy who cleaned my chimney said to remove the Baro and run it hot 400-450 once a day to clean out the cap. I have done this but am now worries about over firing. When I load the stove now with a call for heat I get 450 F withinh 15 minutes and the draft is reaching 14" WC. Not sure what to do now. I'm stuck with this wood for this year. Any suggestions ? Sorry for the rant.


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## brenndatomu (Feb 4, 2015)

Yup, wet wood is tough. Put a manual pipe damper in the stove pipe to help keep things in check. shoot for -.05" WC to -.06"WC
I use the manual damper sometimes if the Baro is cooling the chimney off too much and making it get crudded up. I cover the baro with HD aluminum foil when running this way.


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## tobes (Feb 4, 2015)

We are on a hill and the wind can be erratic. Would I be constantly adjusting a manual damper ? Maybe I should try putting the "T" and Baro back in line and use your tinfoil over the Baro idea for 15-20 minutes each morning,getting the flue around 400F,  it may help to keep the rain cap clear. Then let the Baro do its thing for the rest of the day and evening. What do you think ?


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## brenndatomu (Feb 4, 2015)

tobes said:


> Would I be constantly adjusting a manual damper


No, I don't. Set it and forget it unless it is a REALLY windy day. You could try the foil trick...see what happens


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## laynes69 (Feb 4, 2015)

Yeah, it's going to be tough burning wood with that moisture content. There is a way to eliminate your barometric damper, and that involves blocking the secondary ports a percentage and adjusting the primary to open less. This mimics a shorter chimney and allows for control of the burn. We have a 32' chimney, and 3 months ago did this. My draft hits .14" at times (open damper fresh load) but towards the middle and end of burn, the draft levels out. I've had such good results, I'm going to eliminate my barometric damper which is currently covered.


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## tobes (Feb 4, 2015)

When you are getting a draft of 0.14" WC what are your flue temps like ? Are the secondary air inlets the square holes on either side of the door ?


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## laynes69 (Feb 5, 2015)

I went back and looked at your post, you have a good setup. One of the reasons why your capped is plugged is wet wood. Are you required to have a screen on the chimney cap, and how does the chimney itself look? If the chimney looks good with little creosote and the cap is plugged, I'd consider eliminating the screen or opening it up a little. Your wood should be around 15-20%, when it's 25-30, it won't run well. My temps remain the same as before I eliminated the baro, and the secondary ports are below the door on either side. I wouldn't do that for now however, your wet wood is the culprit to your issues.


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## tobes (Feb 5, 2015)

I was thinking about removing the screen, the only problem is access. The chimney extends 9' feet above the roof to meet requirements, so I have to remove sections to get at the cap. That's the main reason I hired a sweep earlier this week. The guy who cleaned the chimney said the chimney wasn't bad, just the cap was plugged. He also said that I shouldn't have a Baro on it and if I did I can't run it off an elbow like I had. On a side, an HVAC friend said it shouldn't be a problem that is does the same thing on the elbow as it would on the Tee. I am not required to have a cap but had issues with birds getting into the old oil chimney the last few years, so I was  trying to head the problem off.


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## tobes (Feb 5, 2015)

Also, I would say approximately 1/3 of what I have isn't completely seasoned. I had some cut ahead last year, just not enough for the winter.


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