Is this too much fire in Drolet Deco?

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

I'm doing my first day of burning on a Drolet Deco Alto and I've had a low burning fire for hours trying to cure the paint. On top of a low bed of coals, E/W I loaded three smaller pieces of pine and two larger pieces of fir as per the instruction manual. Left the air wide open for four minutes as specified and then closed it off slowly in 1/4 turn increments down to totally off. It had little flames that seemed like they'd burn for a long time. Came back about a half hour later to this. :| Only heat vapor coming out of the chimney.

Edit: Part of the reason I upgraded from my old stove is that I'd get fires that would burn up to 600+ degrees, sometimes 800 with the air totally shut off. And I also realize the thermometer is in the safe zone, but it's on the stove top, not the flue, so I don't know if I'm overheating my chimney.

 

[stoveliker]

Seems perfect to me

 

[EbS-P]

I got my Drolet insert too hot night before last. 850-900F stove top. Refresh my memory how tall is your chimney and bends or elbows?

 

[begreen]

Take that area to around 650º the next fire and that should bake in the paint. As long as the stove top stays below 700º it should be fine.

 

[stovelark]

X3- that looks ideal, as long as you can control the STT, all is good. Stove seems like its happy. Stay warm.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

I got my Drolet insert too hot night before last. 850-900F stove top. Refresh my memory how tall is your chimney and bends or elbows?

I'm the house, the flue is 8' and the chimney starting at the second floor is a 9.3'. I don't know the measurement when it passes through the attic. Probably another 3-4'? And then when it sticks out of the roof it's about 4+'? We've got a Western storm blowing in with a small craft advisory and I'm not getting up on the rainslick roof! Lol. It's also really hard for me to get into the attic. Let's say from the stove to the cap it's got around 25' of flue/chimney minimum to create a draw.

Take that area to around 650º the next fire and that should bake in the paint. As long as the stove top stays below 700º it should be fine.

I'm trying to get her got! I'm almost at 600. I got it loaded up with century old ash that's been curing for four years.

X3- that looks ideal, as long as you can control the STT, all is good. Stove seems like its happy. Stay warm.

Not sure what STT is, but here's a pic of it with the air control totally shut off around 600F. Still rip-roaring!

 

[begreen]

STT = stove top temperature

 

[stoveliker]

Stt is stove top temp.

At your total stack height you may benefit from a key damper to decrease the flow and get a bit more control. Though if you have to "work" to get to 600 stt, it's not overdrafting much, I'd say.

 

[begreen]

With a 25' flue I would add a key damper for this stove. It's an easy breather. It looks like 3? medium splits. The stove is burning robustly for that little fuel. Kudos for having good dry firewood.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

Stt is stove top temp.

At your total stack height you may benefit from a key damper to decrease the flow and get a bit more control. Though if you have to "work" to get to 600 stt, it's not overdrafting much, I'd say.

My poor old worn out PE would be at 800 now and the side rails would be noticably red.

With a 25' flue I would add a key damper for this stove. It's an easy breather. It looks like 3? medium splits. The stove is burning robustly for that little fuel. Kudos for having good dry firewood.

I actually bought a damper but couldn't figure out how to install it with my pipe. It fit down in the stove perfectly, but was the exact same size as my flue pipe and so it wouldn't go down in. It's a Selkirk and I thought they were universal. The company that installed my flue peeled the sticker off and I couldn't tell you what brand it is. Some pics for reference? I made myself a single wall flue damper, but when I shoved the double wall flue down in, the crimped part of the single wall left a little gap and actually bent the double wall in a bit to accommodate it. It worked to slow the fire down, but then I kept getting whiffs of smoke near the stove. It was my understanding with single wall, because of the crimps, they always have little gaps, but the draw of the chimney keeps air coming in rather than letting flue gases out.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

Alright, in an effort to clear the stove paint stink out, I got a rip-roaring fire. I had a mixture of ash, hemlock, pine, fir, spruce and red alder. All 2+ years. Some of it's been 4+. At one point, it was at 750F. First pic is wide open and the second is totally closed after I got concerned. I took temps all around with my infrared, which seems to always run 40F low when measuring something black.

 

[begreen]

My poor old worn out PE would be at 800 now and the side rails would be noticably red.

I actually bought a damper but couldn't figure out how to install it with my pipe. It fit down in the stove perfectly, but was the exact same size as my flue pipe and so it wouldn't go down in. It's a Selkirk and I thought they were universal. The company that installed my flue peeled the sticker off and I couldn't tell you what brand it is. Some pics for reference? I made myself a single wall flue damper, but when I shoved the double wall flue down in, the crimped part of the single wall left a little gap and actually bent the double wall in a bit to accommodate it. It worked to slow the fire down, but then I kept getting whiffs of smoke near the stove. It was my understanding with single wall, because of the crimps, they always have little gaps, but the draw of the chimney keeps air coming in rather than letting flue gases out.

Can you post a couple of pictures of the actual stove pipe and whole install that includes the ceiling support box? For double-wall stove pipe, the damper section either needs to match the brand, or if just buying the damper, it needs a longer mandrel to accomodate the additional pipe width. It might be possible to pull the damper out and install it in the connected stovepipe if you are handy at DIY installs.

 

[stovelark]

That is a DW with damper built in, be mindful on install to make sure the arrow is going up, thats the direction the smoke needs to go. If in a singlewall pipe, a damper is pretty easy, two 1/4" holes in the pipe and assemble the damper in. For DW pipe you might need the stove adaptor for the stove first, then the damper section (6SA1, 6DK-1 I believe are the PNs.) Stay warm.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

That is a DW with damper built in, be mindful on install to make sure the arrow is going up, thats the direction the smoke needs to go. If in a singlewall pipe, a damper is pretty easy, two 1/4" holes in the pipe and assemble the damper in. For DW pipe you might need the stove adaptor for the stove first, then the damper section (6SA1, 6DK-1 I believe are the PNs.) Stay warm.

Luckily not only does it have an arrow, but it says "to stove" so even a Caveman like me can't mess it up. But with it installed correctly, there's no way to get my DW pipe on it. The second PN you gave me, is what I bought, pretty sure. Someone mentioned in an earlier post that I'd have to find a damper that matches the brand of the pipe. I did make myself this little monstrosity out of snap-together single-wall, but smoke kept seeming to come out where the crimp is if I'd damper it down.

 

[begreen]

I did make myself this little monstrosity out of snap-together single-wall, but smoke kept seeming to come out where the crimp is if I'd damper it down.

How tight (or loose) was the crimp fitting into the flue collar.

Note that draft is not going to be weaker when the temp is above 50ºF outside. In that case, leave the damper open. It may only be helpful when temps drop below 40 or lower, depending on the draft strength and how tightly packed the firebox is.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

Can you post a couple of pictures of the actual stove pipe and whole install that includes the ceiling support box? For double-wall stove pipe, the damper section either needs to match the brand, or if just buying the damper, it needs a longer mandrel to accomodate the additional pipe width. It might be possible to pull the damper out and install it in the connected stovepipe if you are handy at DIY installs.

Sure, I don't know if my attachments are making any sense. On the first pic, the smaller sliding section that slides out is going down. The second pic is the top of the double wall pipe. And the third one is my support box. The fourth is the whole setup. The last one is where the pipe goes in the ceiling support box. The installer said he didn't understand the fitting of the support box, like something was missing, but it fit kind of loosely, so he added some stove cement and put in the screws and signed off on it. But why is the crimped section on the outside? Oh my. Did he put the flue on upside down?

 

[begreen]

That looks a bit like Selkirk at the top, but not at the joints. They have the outer jacket crimp facing upwards. Maybe this is an older, discontinued style?

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

That looks a bit like Selkirk at the top, but not at the joints. They have the outer jacket crimp facing upwards. Maybe this is an older, discontinued style?

Is it possible it's upside down? There are two crimped ends smashed together.

Edit: I don't have a clue collar? I don't think so, anyway.

 

[begreen]

Did you have the new Selkirk damper facing the right way with the crimp at the top? The crimped end goes on top. and fits between the inner and outer later of the double-wall stove pipe.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

Did you have the new Selkirk damper facing the right way with the crimp at the top? The crimped end goes on top. and fits between the inner and outer later of the double-wall stove pipe.

I had it with the arrow up like this.

 

[begreen]

That's correct. This is for modern Selkirk DSP pipe. The crimped end fits as previously described.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

So, I just read the Selkirk double wall chimney pipe installation instructions and they say that the crimped end goes up and into a chimney adapter that connects to the crimped end coming down from the box. However it also shows a lower crimped end inside that can go down into the stove. Mine is totally smoothe inside, though.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

At this point I think I'm missing a chimney adapter and have been for three winters now. But I don't understand the smoothe bottom of my telescoping pipe. All the instruction manuals show both ends being crimped.

Is the smaller section of the telescoping piece that comes out supposed to be coming down or going up?

 

[begreen]

If this was DSP stovepipe then the bottom inner layer would be crimped. That's why I wondered if this is an older product. How old is the stove pipe?

This is what modern DSP looks like.


The chimney adapter is up top at the ceiling support box. Not at the bottom.

 

[Gray_Day_On_Oregon_Coast]

As Stovelark said, I think I'm missing this at the top: https://www.amazon.com/Metalbest-26...sprefix=chimney+pipe+adapter+,aps,289&sr=8-12

I also think I'm missing this at the bottom by the stove: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007JVLFAC?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

All I literally have on there right now is a DW telescoping pipe.