Im about to freeze, a challenging question

[wmhgs]

I cleaned & painted my lopi mh 440. I tryied to burn a fire in it outside to cure the paint but it only fills with smoke & dies unless I open the door. The vent plate does open & close

 

[wmhgs]

..... the heat slits above the door seem to work. There are two plates that have a lip on them up top near the exit hole, does anyone know if they should be pulled forward or back? Maybe not having the pipe hooked up is the problem but I'm reluctant to drag it inside until I know it works. Any info is greatly appreciated as it is 8 degrees....brr

 

[eclecticcottage]

Try sticking a length of pipe on it. We had an old fisher that we were going to use as a "fire pit" that would do the same outside until we threw an old 4' or so pipe section on it. Must be a drafting thing.

 

[wmhgs]

Thanks, I should've mentioned that I had a 2 length & an elbow but maybe that wasn't enough. I'm thinking its the two steel plates inside near the exit hole. I don't know their correct position so I have them pushed to the back but they seem really restrictive

 

[eclecticcottage]

I am unfamiliar with your style stove. It sounds like it can't get air in or out, but I don't really know why. What are you trying to burn (paper, fire starters, kindling,??) 2' might not be enough, reading here when people have 13' stacks and weak draft.

 

[pen]

@eclecticcottage , it sounds to me like his troubles were with trying to cure the freshly painted stove outdoors.

 

[eclecticcottage]

huh, i've been "tagged"...

Yeah, but he said he couldn't get the fire to get going and stay going. I'm thinking the 2' section he's using isn't enough (don't know what would be enough though) to get the draft going so it can get hot enough to cure.

 

[wmhgs]

I've seen about 13 feet or more of pipe on here before but this is the MH version & I don't see how you could get that all the mobile home. I'm wondering on the pole position of the two baffles in the top near the exit hole if I have them forward or back

 

[wmhgs]

Sorry, I ment correct position.
this is the MH 440 Lopi a guy on here helped me find in the fall. I thought I would have it buttoned up by winter but here I am at 8 degrees, can't go hunting there wo a stove. I found the manual online, it just has a sketch, hard to see but something is definitely blocked. The baffles are so close to the top I don't see how smoke could get
out at all.
I appreciate your interest and responses. I used fat wood, paper and maple

 

[wmhgs]

Its been a season & my lopi is hooked up & purring. I closed the damper the other night to put the fire out before bed & woke to what I guess was a creosote smell in the cabin & the stove glass was stained brown. My old stove would just go out without this back drafting. Is this how a modern stove works. How do I safely put out the fire?
Also, I noticed creosote dripping from the pipe joints the same night. With the old stove I never had creosote or build up in 20 yrs. Maybe because that stove was always running wide open. I read to have the pipes going bell end to tapered. Wouldnt that make the smoke come out at joints? In plumbing thats a major mistake. Overall the stove is a dream compared to the old one, thanks to the suggestions here. Any advice on narrowing down the new problems?

 

[Enzo's Dad]

We didn't want to plastic seal the windows in case the stove leaked smoke, I know pretty pathetic. All the stoves I've seen in pa, md, de craigslist are non epa. Never heard of looks ill keep my eye out for it

I would get on a ladder and caulk/or sprayfoam around the windows and cover with trim......Or take off the interior trim and sprayfoam. Pretty inexpensive and will help.
That plexiglass triangle window looks like a major leaking point.

Tyvek and siding and new windows will make it so you could heat that cabin win some candles, but for now 50- 60 dollars of spray foam will help

 

[wmhgs]

Would that help the creosote & back drafting?

 

[Enzo's Dad]

Would that help the creosote & back drafting?

Dont know how drafty the house is/ and or current chimney

 

[Sprinter]

Its been a season & my lopi is hooked up & purring. I closed the damper the other night to put the fire out before bed & woke to what I guess was a creosote smell in the cabin & the stove glass was stained brown. My old stove would just go out without this back drafting. Is this how a modern stove works. How do I safely put out the fire?
Also, I noticed creosote dripping from the pipe joints the same night. With the old stove I never had creosote or build up in 20 yrs. Maybe because that stove was always running wide open. I read to have the pipes going bell end to tapered. Wouldnt that make the smoke come out at joints? In plumbing thats a major mistake. Overall the stove is a dream compared to the old one, thanks to the suggestions here. Any advice on narrowing down the new problems?

In a previous post you said the stove was circa 1982 I believe. That's not a "modern" EPA style which began around 1990. The newer stoves are built to always allow some air coming in even with the control fully closed. If you close the air control on this one (depending on design), the fuel will just smolder and create lots of creosote. I'd suggest you not fully close it at night. It needs some air.

I don't know how dry your wood is, but if it's not well seasoned, that will make the problem even worse, modern stove or not.

Smoke won't come out of joints under normal operation. A back puff may force smoke out, though.

 

[wmhgs]

I appreciate your input, thank you.
My new stove has baffles and is mid modern compared to my old one from the sixties (In the pics above). the new one takes forever to heat up and cool down but draws like crazy which was my goal.

My two concerns are:
Why did the fire not just go out when I shut the damper instead of putting a strong smell of creosote back into the cabin and possibly starve my air?
To always have the damper open would blow a ash & smell back in on a windy day. I'm used to shutting the damper to let the fire go out when I leave the cabin after being there for the weekend.
&
My old stove never produced one drop of creosote in the pipe, which I changed almost yearly early due to rust.
Both of these are hazard concerns. The creosote dripped out when the fire went out from the damper being shut then burned off. I read on here that you should have female going around the male instead of male into female to avoid creosote. That can't be right cant be right can it? Because I've never dealt with creosote, how should i deal with regular build up?
I'm sure I'll catch hell for saying this but I've always ran single walled pipe. I have two pieces of double walled DuraVent that doesn't appear to be insulated. Should i use them outside?

 

[humpin iron]

thats not a chimney, thats a nightmare and thats why it's dripping. You stated you are a contractor, take a nail gun and start beating nails with it- thats improper use. You have black pipe- class A- some F-ed up connection thats pouring creosote. If your NOT going to do the job right from bottom to top, you have NO right to complain. Hunting camp or not, do it right and ALL your problems will go away.

 

[begreen]

View attachment 140938 View attachment 140938
I appreciate your input, thank you.
My new stove has baffles and is mid modern compared to my old one from the sixties (In the pics above). the new one takes forever to heat up and cool down but draws like crazy which was my goal.

My two concerns are:
Why did the fire not just go out when I shut the damper instead of putting a strong smell of creosote back into the cabin and possibly starve my air?
To always have the damper open would blow a ash & smell back in on a windy day. I'm used to shutting the damper to let the fire go out when I leave the cabin after being there for the weekend.
&
My old stove never produced one drop of creosote in the pipe, which I changed almost yearly early due to rust.
Both of these are hazard concerns. The creosote dripped out when the fire went out from the damper being shut then burned off. I read on here that you should have female going around the male instead of male into female to avoid creosote. That can't be right cant be right can it? Because I've never dealt with creosote, how should i deal with regular build up?
I'm sure I'll catch hell for saying this but I've always ran single walled pipe. I have two pieces of double walled DuraVent that doesn't appear to be insulated. Should i use them outside?

Yikes, that is a completely illegal and unsafe setup waiting to ignite. Single-wall smoke pipe is not chimney pipe and it looks like it is install upside down. Clearances and pipe bracing are very wrong too. Don't burn with this hokey setup. It could end up with a seriously tragic ending.

PS: The baffles go toward the back of the stove.

 

[wmhgs]

Ok. Not sure what i should beat with a nail gun. I am an interior remodeling contractor not a wood stove or chimney installer. But Im sure I can Install whatever I need once I learn what it is. What Is class A used for? My stove came with 2 sections of black duravent. Looks double walled but not insulated, is this suitable or do I need something else? I guess having creosote for the first time has something to do with the different stove, it burns hotter? Would chimney pipe have dripped creasote too? It only happened once when I closed the damper. As stated, we used this set up for with no problem to the pipe. This is a remote hunting camp, we grew up city slickers & didn't know any different.
I thought you want the crimped end closer to the stove & the bell end towards the sky so smoke wouldnt leak out, is this wrong? Any advice to these problems would be appreciated

 

[begreen]

The Duravent pipe sounds like interior connector pipe. If so it goes from the stove to the wall or ceiling where the stove pipe transitions to class A insulated chimney. You need to stick with one brand of pipe for the whole system.

 

[Woody Stover]

You had plenty of creosote with the old setup if the chimney (stove pipe, not proper chimney) was rusting through in a year. When you have stove pipe outside, in a cold climate, you are going to have condensation in the pipe, burning hotter just minimized it. I was burning wet Red Oak and had stove pipe all the way up, but it was inside a masonry chimney so the pipe only needed to be changed every three years. When I threw pipe sections off the roof, they would flatten out when they hit the ground. I finally went to stainless, but it was still stove pipe. Why the stove shop guys didn't ask me why I was buying 16' of stove pipe, I don't know. I got away with it, didn't burn down the house, but thanks to finding this place, my flue system is now second to none (well, maybe one or two.) Any pipe or chimney should be installed with the male ends down. Seems counter-intuitive but chimney draft will be pulling airk into the joints, smoke won't come out of them. Good luck, and I hope you have plenty of fire extinguishers on hand.

 

[Woody Stover]

Like someone said, put plastic window film around the inside window frames, at least on the windward side of the house, then caulk between the edge of the trim and the wall (hopefully that won't exacerbate draft issues.) I did that on my one remaining old window, and when the wind blows, the plastic film bulges inward.

 

[wmhgs]

I don't want to beat a dead horse for those of you who have been kind enough to respond. just want to make sure I understand everything. I ordered some double walled duravent to match the 5' of pipe that came with the stove. I see what you mean, now that it's colder I'm having smoke pour into the room until the flu is hot. For two nights there was no more creosote, on the third night there was, dripping down the pipe on the outside. Will Insulated pipe cure this? The creosote would end up between the 2walls & I wouldn't see it. Is that normal?
I dont know why im seeing it at all.
Concerning my previous post I replaced a section of pipe every year or so. It felt like all the time, but I never saw any creosote or build up. Just a little dirty
Thank you

 

[wmhgs]

This might also be worth mentioning. When the fire goes out it doesnt just leave ash. It looks like a bed of coals and turns to ash when you touch it? ...the manufacturer approved what I bought as outside insulated chimney pipe. I asked if the straps i bought disappated heat better than regular strapping & he said "no but the stainless will last longer".

 

[wmhgs]

I also doubled up my durock on the walls and tested the temp. Having a modular home approved stove should help too. Building a brink wall around itcant happen in this ssituation. I plan to put insulated pipe inside to be safe from the ceiling. Its 2' but gets hot. Shame to lose all that heat but better to be safe.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I don't want to beat a dead horse for those of you who have been kind enough to respond. just want to make sure I understand everything. I ordered some double walled duravent to match the 5' of pipe that came with the stove. I see what you mean, now that it's colder I'm having smoke pour into the room until the flu is hot. For two nights there was no more creosote, on the third night there was, dripping down the pipe on the outside. Will Insulated pipe cure this? The creosote would end up between the 2walls & I wouldn't see it. Is that normal?
I dont know why im seeing it at all.
Concerning my previous post I replaced a section of pipe every year or so. It felt like all the time, but I never saw any creosote or build up. Just a little dirty
Thank you

Properly installed pipe will have any condensation, creosote or not, drip back into the stove. It will not be dripping into a wall cavity.

Can you post a link up to what you bought?