I don’t shut the stat because I think it has anything to do with draft, I do it to slow down the smoke production from the fire. I want the fuel to be sleeping, not angry.
preventing smoke puff when opening door to reload
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That’s really strange. My insert down drafts really bad, it’s really difficult to get a fire going sometimes. Once it’s warm, it’ll stay good for a few days.
I was sweeping the floor beside my Woodstock earlier and I noticed the dust and ash being sucked through the door and up the flue. It’s amazing how differently stoves can act on similar flues. Each persons setup and experience differs greatly sometimes with the same product.
Some folks here have reported this as an issue, but I wouldn’t call it common. We install and service dozens of BKs a year and we don’t have people reporting this or observe this happening when we build a fire. We typically build the first fire for people if it’s cool enough. Some of the minimum height flues do try to spill some smoke, but Ive not observed it on a chimney that exceeded the minimum height. As for only smoking out on a reload and not on startup, I can’t really comment. We aren’t around for that usually. That’s really strange.
I believe you, you would know better than anyone. It’s just weird to me. Once draft is established it seems it would keep rolling till the flue cools.
Maybe the hot innards cause a different air circulation dynamic in the Princess box...?
solved this mystery and wanted to post an update
I paid a chimney sweep to get on my roof last weekend and clean from the top down. Here's what he found.
![[Hearth.com] preventing smoke puff when opening door to reload](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/242/242558-f99279b098d046e71898c4d9eb2b76b6.jpg?hash=_i8ky3BP7m "[Hearth.com] preventing smoke puff when opening door to reload")
He reported that the pipe was almost totally clean, until the top 6-12", then it was clogged almost totally shut with creosote. Happily just the crumbly flaky stuff, no glazing.
I pondered how this build-up occurred, since I swept with the soot-eater after last season. He mentioned that he measured 32' of liner height. I went downstairs and counted my soot-eater rods, and I have 8x 3' rods, so 24' length. So apparently I have NEVER swept the full height of my liner, and this represents 7-8 cords of buildup.
So now I need to shop for 3 more extension rods (or 4, since they come in sets of 2). I understand there are black and white rods. My current set is black - should I stick with those, or can I mix and match white and black? Liner is straight up after the first bend
I paid a chimney sweep to get on my roof last weekend and clean from the top down. Here's what he found.
He reported that the pipe was almost totally clean, until the top 6-12", then it was clogged almost totally shut with creosote. Happily just the crumbly flaky stuff, no glazing.
I pondered how this build-up occurred, since I swept with the soot-eater after last season. He mentioned that he measured 32' of liner height. I went downstairs and counted my soot-eater rods, and I have 8x 3' rods, so 24' length. So apparently I have NEVER swept the full height of my liner, and this represents 7-8 cords of buildup.
So now I need to shop for 3 more extension rods (or 4, since they come in sets of 2). I understand there are black and white rods. My current set is black - should I stick with those, or can I mix and match white and black? Liner is straight up after the first bend
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Wow. Good find. Makes a guy wonder how many reported performance problems are related to this situation!
Wow indeed
what's most amazing to me, is that the stove operated normally up to this point. I still had enough draft to run at any t-stat setting in any weather. I could run full-blast to char a new load, or throttle back for warm 50-degree days. The only clue I had that something was amiss was the smoke spillage into the room on a hot reload.
spudman99
Feeling the Heat
bholler reports a similar condition, maybe his flue top is clogged. Suggest a good chimney sweep look at his flue for a possible obstruction!! (joking of course)
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