cant seem to figure out....

[coaly]

The reddish inner things are the flue liners that are a material to withstand the heat. Regular masonry blocks and cement would degrade fast from the intense heat of a fire, so it's like the fire brick made for heat inside the stove.

Your second post sounds like they are both for the same fireplace ??
If you have double flues behind the Insert, you have WAY too much area to try to heat all the way up to cause the proper draft............. Should be no larger than 7 X 7 inch flue.
Time for pictures.

If blocking a unused flue causes a change in operation, it shows a leak between flues. Normally they are not connected and each one is for a different appliance. One flue should never effect the other. Make sure if they have clean out doors at the bottom they are sealed tight, and not connected together, or something strange.

The heated exhaust gasses are lighter than the air in chimney flue, and rise up and out. This causes a lower pressure area inside the flue than surrounding air. The ONLY way for the air (atmospheric air pressure) to get in to fill this low pressure area MUST be through the air intake dampers and through the stove. Any other leak will allow cool air in to equalize the pressure and cool the flue, slowing or stopping the draft going up. (no air can leak past the Insert between the block off plate and hearth face to be able to go up the flue)
Here is the operating and installation manual if don't have one;
https://www.hearth.com/images/uploads/fishinsertmanual.pdf

If you don't know what you're looking at inside the flue with a bright light, you need to have the chimney inspected by a competent sweep to make sure the flues are in good enough shape to not leak fire OUT.

A flexible liner is like a long slinky that goes right down the chimney. There may be a smoke shelf or damper plate built into the hearth that makes it difficult at that particular point, but it's a relatively easy job to put one in. If the chimney flue is straight, a solid liner can be installed straight down. They are just like the connector pipe that connects to the back of a stove, but made of stainless steel. The sections are screwed together as they are put down the chimney. A chimney sweep should be able to tell you if you have broken flue tiles (the reddish liner) or if they leak between their sections.

 

[blowinsmoke9907]

There is 2 different flues inside inside the chimney. From the smoke shelf it is one big open area then branches into the 2 flues. Once it warms up some and can take a picture I will show you. It has another one that looks like it only goes about half way down and then don't do nothing. I got some insulation around the surround so Idk if it ain't working properly or not. I'll also check the clean out out back to make sure it's closed tight. You can see just a Lil buildup on the tiles but not much. I don't burn any pine at all and always use a creosote log to help get rid of home. Also my neighbor has a sweep he used so I can clean my own once the season is over.

 

[DonoBBD]

Not sure if this is relevant to your problem but it really sounds like the problem I had. I have added a smoke plate to my Grandma bear fisher and it made the world of difference but the biggest difference was to get the smoke plate to the correct height to the stove top. After creeping around this site for some time I signed up. While creeping around I chose to add this smoke shelf.

After speaking with Coaly in another post of mine I chose to move the front of the smoke plate up closer to the top of the stove to match the square inches of the 6" stove pipe. I could not burn my pine cut offs with out filling my shop with smoke. To get them to burn well with lots of heat if I left my doors open they would burn really well but would fill the shop with smoke. I found this really odd because the stove before worked flawlessly on the same 6" stove pipe. Only change was going to this fisher stove.

So the attached pictures shows the smoke shelf. The dimensions are 3/8th flat stock cut 22 3/4"s wide and 12"s deep with a 1" lip bent down at a 45* so the shelf is 11 1/4"s deep after the bend. Then I docked the corners off at the front at 3"s X 2"s on a 45* angle again. These angle cuts on the front lets the smoke up there and evens out the heat on the top of the stove right out to the corners. The angle cuts help with fitting the shelf in all in one piece as well. There is one 45 cut on the back corner about 1"x1" so I could turn the shelf when putting it into the stove.

In this video you can see how much velocity there is in the stove because of the smoke shelf being the right distance from the top. With out this the flames would not curl as tight and the smoke would role out the front of the stoves doors. As you can see in the still pictures I just have the shelf sitting on the fire brick and cut a sliver of fire brick to tip it up closer to the top. This will suck up ash it pulls so hard now. With out this shelf being so close there would not be as much speed to the draft and smoke would spill out.

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This took this stove from nice to just the most beautiful stove I have ever owned and will throw so much heat when filled with good wood it is staggering. My good wood is walnut, red elm, and maple cut at 12"s. I can stack 10-12 blocks in the back and two or three across the front and she is right full. Have a look at how nice and white the ash looks and how nice and tan the doors are with a touch of white. Even how nice and tan the top of the stove is and the sides. The burn is nice and clean now. Before I could creosote up the pipe with liquid black goop over night. I could get the doors dripping with creosote.

To be able to burn all this nice white pine I have I need to close off the dampener to slow the draft down. It really don't matter how much the knobs are open on the front of the stove just how closed the dampener is in the stove pipe letting the hot exhaust out. With my 6" close right off I can burn a load of pine with out the chug chug and fire puffing out the primary air vents. If I let this open and run and close the doors the stove will chug up in minutes and fill the shop with smoke.

Hope this helps. It worked for me.

Cheers Don.

 

[blowinsmoke9907]

I prolly don't have it as high as it should be. I just got it sitting on bricks that are laid sideways. Prolly could make it go a Lil higher. But shutting on flue at the top did seem to help. Before I couldn't leave both doors open when it was starting and now I can. I guess it's just messing with it and doin a Lil of this and that sense I've never had one before.

 

[coaly]

Guess that puts to rest how well an 8 inch vented double door stove works when reduced to 6 inch.


"Look Mom no gaskets !"

I can't get the plugs in my 8N tractor that color ! Perfect.
Thanks for posting the video Don !

 

[DonoBBD]

Coaly I do owe it all to you. It would have taken me years to figure I needed to move her up a touch.

Yes no gasket. These stoves are as good as they are because of beautiful and precise craftsmanship. Can't beat the solid cast doors. The right door was 1/4 turn open more the night of this burn. If you pay close attention to the way the inside looks you can get these baby's to really burn well.

Cheers Don.

 

[ponderosa77]

How much did it cost to build your baffle? Do you have any stove or pipe thermometers to take readings with? The video makes it look like you have a torch or a forge going on there!

 

[tommyleacher]

The chimney is the engine that drives the stove. So we're going to need lots of info.

1). Have you read the owners manual installation and operating instructions ?
2). Metal liner (stainless steel pipe) connected to Insert all the way to top ?
3). Chimney; Inside house, or exposed to outside?
4). Masonry or metal ?
5). Inside flue diameter ?
6). Height ?
7). Chimney cleaned and inspected ?
8). Fuel species and time seasoned if known ??
9). Screen for open door burning, or only burning with doors closed?

When you shut the damper all the way, do you mean smoke comes into the building ??

After 4 1/2 hours what did you have left? Charred wood, coals, or all ash ??
Thermometer reading anywhere, preferably on stove top that sticks out of hearth ?

A full size Insert holds enough to burn well over 8 hours with a pile of coals to lay the next load on. Are the measurements the same as the diagram I posted in post #9 above?

Always leave an inch of ash in the stove when cleaning out. And ONLY put ash in a metal container. Use wood ash the same as lime or potash in soil.

Another tip; If this has sat around a long time and you added some new brick....... The firebrick inside will absorb moisture from the air, and new brick has moisture in it that still needs to be evaporated. So your first fire isn't going to bring the Insert up to temperature like normal. The moisture in brick consumes heat to turn to steam, taking lots of heat along with it. So you will notice more heat output next time without doing anything different.

Coaly,

I just bought a full size fisher fireplace insert like in your drawings above. Here are my answers to the same questions:

1. Yes
2. No
3. It is in basement, then ground level is outside of house.
4. Masonry
5. 12"
6. About 30' feet
7. Yes new install
8. Hardwood - oak, hickory, etc
9. Primarily closed door.

Here is the previous install:



And I am working on cleaning it up before I install in my basement. I pulled the firebricks out this morn. I am going to work on the rust and then paint it.



Am I going to have to install a stove pipe in my flue to cut down on wood consumption? (I read where you said a flue should be no more than 7"x7")

Or could I just connect the top of my insert to the top of my open fireplace with some type of boot? There is an opening at the bottom of my chimney that is rectangular that can be opened and shut. Also, what type/brand of insulation should I use an that connection and in the firebox area? If any?

I live in TN.
Thanks for your time!
Tommy

 

[bholler]

Am I going to have to install a stove pipe in my flue to cut down on wood consumption? (I read where you said a flue should be no more than 7"x7")

Or could I just connect the top of my insert to the top of my open fireplace with some type of boot? There is an opening at the bottom of my chimney that is rectangular that can be opened and shut. Also, what type/brand of insulation should I use an that connection and in the firebox area? If any?

You need a stainless liner all the way from the top of your stove out the top of the chimney for it to work correctly