Battenkiller said:
Is there are a reasonably cost effective way to measure draft? Seems like this might almost be more useful than flue temp for these stoves?
What temp. do you trust?
- Thread starter Beetle-Kill
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
- Status
Is there are a reasonably cost effective way to measure draft? Seems like this might almost be more useful than flue temp for these stoves?
SolarAndWood said:
A simple manometer can be had for less than $40. I was told by an engineer at PE that one of the few things that wood stoves all have in common is the amount of draft they need - between 0.04" and 0.08" of water for most stoves at operating temperature (roughly 300-350ºF flue pipe temp, or 600-700ºF internal flue gas temp). He said most stoves will perform poorly below 0.02" and will tend toward difficult to control or even overfire above 0.12" of water.
Sorry guys, I spent all day/overnight in Denver, didn't clean things up until today. After today, pretty sure 95% of my problems are MY fault. I do think (know) my stove is OK, but my T-stat is sticky(that's the 5%). Cont.-
Battenkiller- my flue is adequate, but marginal. I'll check this week on the manometer, see what I'm really dealing with. As soon as I find one, I'll use it and report. And yeah, 8" class A-Metalbestos.
BBart, whatever you dropped stays where it lays. I aint picking up anything.
For everyone else, I'm shutting my T-stat off too soon. Stove was fairly cold when I started on it. I still had hot embers after all that time, so I emptied the stove in 3 stages. 5 gal. bucket, 1/3-1/2 full each time, lots of ash. After the ash was gone, I left the door open for a good hour, just to cool it off. And then the fun started.
Creo buildup, yup. Back corners of the firebrick, behind the heat shields, and all the upper nooks and crannies. I scarfed out what I could by hand, chisel on other areas, and I bent a piece of 16g. strap to fit behind the interior shields. I removed some impressive chunks. After the majority was gone, I broke out the shop vac. Then, on to the flue.- Cap was crapped up, so I cleaned that and tossed the residue off the roof and onto the wifes flowers. Be under snow in 48 hours, so...? The actual flue was crapped up with fluff, but only 2' of the exposed pipe. I scrubbed the heck out of it, and only the last part of the exposed pipe was gunked up.
Inside the stove, the residue was powder gray, with the expected flakes. When I finished, the flue was cleaner than expected- I could see the int. surface steel, just a dust coating. I scooped and vacumned the by-pass area as much as I could, then blew compressed air up the flue, with the wife watching. Ash blew out, and some flakes, but nothing serious.
Now the first fire. Clean box, so I need some ash to fill in some areas. Splitter trash, cedar shake, and a Bic. lighter- off she goes. After a bit, add some more cedar, let it get going, the two pine splits N/S spaced, with 2 more E/W across the top. And thats where I'm at, so off to bed for me, check in tomorrow. Thanks to All! JB
BBart, whatever you dropped stays where it lays. I aint picking up anything.
For everyone else, I'm shutting my T-stat off too soon. Stove was fairly cold when I started on it. I still had hot embers after all that time, so I emptied the stove in 3 stages. 5 gal. bucket, 1/3-1/2 full each time, lots of ash. After the ash was gone, I left the door open for a good hour, just to cool it off. And then the fun started.
Creo buildup, yup. Back corners of the firebrick, behind the heat shields, and all the upper nooks and crannies. I scarfed out what I could by hand, chisel on other areas, and I bent a piece of 16g. strap to fit behind the interior shields. I removed some impressive chunks. After the majority was gone, I broke out the shop vac. Then, on to the flue.- Cap was crapped up, so I cleaned that and tossed the residue off the roof and onto the wifes flowers. Be under snow in 48 hours, so...? The actual flue was crapped up with fluff, but only 2' of the exposed pipe. I scrubbed the heck out of it, and only the last part of the exposed pipe was gunked up.
Inside the stove, the residue was powder gray, with the expected flakes. When I finished, the flue was cleaner than expected- I could see the int. surface steel, just a dust coating. I scooped and vacumned the by-pass area as much as I could, then blew compressed air up the flue, with the wife watching. Ash blew out, and some flakes, but nothing serious.
Now the first fire. Clean box, so I need some ash to fill in some areas. Splitter trash, cedar shake, and a Bic. lighter- off she goes. After a bit, add some more cedar, let it get going, the two pine splits N/S spaced, with 2 more E/W across the top. And thats where I'm at, so off to bed for me, check in tomorrow. Thanks to All! JB
- Status
Similar threads
