Sweet! So still firing from the tubes, just not so robustly. So you shut primary air first, then the damper if necessary?
Englander 32 Modification
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Not a stupid question. My secondaries are still getting enough air to fire properly as seen in the video below.
With the secondary air being more restricted it can’t pull as hard and as much volume with the primary air shut all the way down. When run unrestricted on some installs it will pull too hard causing an increase in temps which increases draft which increases flow which increases firing and temps in a spiral out of control
Right. Which was why I installed my damper. I went over 1000 flue and 800 stt once before the damper and that scared the bejesus out of me. Solved the problem except for the length of time it took to be able to get to my overnight settings.
I am at my overnight settings now 10 minutes after loading and hoping to not close up any more. We'll see if I have a takeoff in an hour and what my coals are like in the morning. I wonder if decreasing the secondary air, which will increase the doghouse and air wash percentage, might allow me to close the air control more...? So far things are looking good!
Is that single wall pipe? If so, I'm curious if you are loosing a bit of heat through the pipe before it hits the probe?
Yes it is single wall. The probe is only 20” above the stove top I doubt I’m losing over 100* in that short of a run
Looked a lil taller.
I was guessing 24''....not that far off but, yea100* is a lot. Maybe if the room was stone cold.....
Yes I only shut the damper when necessary. Which last night it was actually necessary to shut it all the way unfortunately.
After the season is over I’m pulling the stove and adding an actual secondary air control and the ability to completely shut down primary as well. I want complete control over a fire burning inside my house no matter what. If I have to sweep once a month so be it.
Yea pics don’t always give the best view. I do have a magnetic gauge on the stove pipe elbow at 18” off the top of the stove which corresponds with what I see on the probe adjusted for the angle. When I took those measurements room was about 73
It was good! I am going to leave the magnet where it is for now and see how it goes for a few day before considering covering any more.
Heaters were kicking in this morning, but the house was pretty chilly last night already when I went to bed. All the experiments and trying to burn down coals put me behind. I had both the air and damper a little more closed than normal, good coals but a little more charcoal than normal, just a little bit of buildup on the lower corners.
Today is supposed to be up to 20, tonight 5, tomorrow 16, tomorrow night -1; so not quite as cold but still pretty danged cold. Will be good weather to continue the experiment, then when (if?) it gets a little warmer I can see how much that affects it.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
If you close the key damper until your draft is more in the 0.05 to 0.06" WC range, you will find yet another level of efficiency, and probably be able to open that secondary air back up a little (50% closed?) as I bet you are not burning quite as clean as it was in stock form.
Amen brother, preach truth to the masses!! 👍
Well... I didn't know what my new overnight settings would need to be... I ended with air at 1/8 open instead of 1/4 open and damper a little more closed than typical (15-20% open instead of 25% open). It worked pretty well.
Now I can play with trying to run a little hotter with the damper more closed air more open, or longer with the damper more open air more closed and see what happens. Stove definitely has a better stt in relation to flue with the damper more closed, so I think draft is pretty strong (hot). Going to be doing some manometer research...
Weather warms up a little through the weekend, Sunday's high is 35; so it will give me a chance to see what happens then.
Noted!
I will be installing manometers on all burning appliances save one. The one that will be used the least.
I will be installing manometers on all burning appliances save one. The one that will be used the least.
Funny enough sitting on lunch I’m actually reading a thread on FHC from a few years back with you and highbeam talking about this very subject.
I did actually have to dial my damper all the way down to .05-.06 last night as even with it being closed 75% they were absolutely screaming hot. I didn’t want to open up the primary air any to relieve some of the air flow through the secondaries as I was afraid it could potentially make the situation far worse.
So I'm getting frustrated by manometer research...
Local stove shop said they don't even check draft for installs, which sounds crazy...
Is there no such thing as a simple analog manometer like the analog flue probes that you just stick in a hole in the stovepipe? Everything I'm finding is a copper tube and fittings and mounted unit...
Local stove shop said they don't even check draft for installs, which sounds crazy...
Is there no such thing as a simple analog manometer like the analog flue probes that you just stick in a hole in the stovepipe? Everything I'm finding is a copper tube and fittings and mounted unit...
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Piss poor!! That's just wham bam get paid sloppy dont give any F's right there...
All us furnace guys use the Dwyer Mark II model 25...can buy on ebay for $30ish usually ($40?)
You could mount it on a small panel, prop up against the wall, and just probe a hole like you mention...gotta be level to be accurate though (built in level)
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A manometer works by sticking a tube in an area that is either positive or negative pressure and having the opposite fitting outside of said area. It then measures the pressure differential. So there will always be a tube setup with a manometer
Right, but couldn't they be made with the tube integral to the gauge and slid in the hole with a high temp gasket?
Also to add on to my previous post, even with my modifications I can tell you last night it was burning clean as a whistle. There’s no way everything wasnt being combusted with how hot it was at the secondaries.
So in my experience with running the secondaries less covered (or not at all) on this nc32, it tends to run away. As in once it’s closed down, even with key damper being shut, it gets really really hot and doesn’t slow down until it gets into the coaling stage.
To me, this is a potential dangerous situation as it turns into a self feeding blast furnace that I can’t stop. This is the whole issue with why I am modifying the stove in the ways that I am. I need to be able to control the fire burning in my home because in it’s stock form it is not an enjoyable experience.
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