My Hyfire II Installed...and a Concern

Hey everyone...for the past few weeks everything has been running great.

The Hyfire is still running great and still no more CO issues....
...but I did notice something recently that I wanted an opinion on.

Up until the past week - after I had made the initial adjustements to the baro after I installed the mano - the mano was reading .04 - .045 on full burn (baro about 1/3 open) - when it was 20s - 30s outside...and it maybe it dropped to .025 - .03 (baro usually closed) or so on "idle" burn...

Then we hit a week of warmer weather...and Hyfire was in "idle" burn quite a bit...during this time I noticed the mano at slow burn started to decrease over that week...sometimes down to .01 (even with the baro comepletely closed)...I figured it had to do with the warmer weather and would show the "normal" readings once the weather turned colder again...

Well this morning it was 19 F outside and the stove had kicked up to full burn early this morning - and when I went down to check the mano it was reading .02 with the mano about 1/4 - 1/3 open...I had to readjust the baro weight from from slightly less than 4 to approx 6.5 (which almost closes it at full burn) to get the mano to read .035 - .04.

So I am wondering - is there something going on that I need to investigate the drafting has seemed to have changed? Nothing I can see on the surface indicates anything is different from a few weeks ago...

I appreciate any help/opinions you guys can offer...thanks.

AJ

Hi Aj, I can only guess at the reason for the change, but here are some of the things I have found and others have said. The change could be in part because of flyash build up in your flue, and also some of it sticking to the back side of your baro which may change the weight distribution on the flapper. It could also be that your chimney has not come up to heat completely thus reducing your draft. Another thing I have found is that the temp on the mano or fluid itself will change your reading up to about .01 I found that if I have not used the mano in a couple of days the guage reads about .01 lower. I then zero it and take a reading and after about a min. or so it seems to be reading on the high side. I pull the tube out and let it set for about 5 min. to let it settle and it will be reading .01 instead of .00 where I had set it. I do check mine regularly on warmer days and my draft will actually be lower than recommended, but have not had any issues as of yet. Hope this helps. Hopefully someone else has a better answer for you.

Jeff

Hey Jeff - Thanks so much for the info....

If anyone else thinks that disconnecting the mano to "reset" it might help - I could give that a try...has anyone else had experience with that?

I also thought about flyash buildup...is that something that needs to be checked/ cleaned out more than just after the burning season? I am sure this is a stupid question - but I assume I would have to shut the Hyfire down before disconnecting the flue pipes to empty them of any flyash buildup correct?

I also wanted to ask about the ash - is it the norm to have a "chunky" type of ash (vs. a powder type of ash) in the pan when using a stove like the Hyfire? There is what I assume to be powery flyash that kinda sticks to the glass door and builds up on the "ledge" where my glass and door comes together - but the ash that falls into the pan is def. "chunky"

Thanks for the help and opinions...

Jeff...I just wanted to let you know that you were "spot on" with your suggestion about the mano being "off"....I disconnected the hoses and the oil actually went down to about -.02 past 0 - so it was off by quite a bit (not sure how that happened) - so I re-zeroed it and hooked everything back up...and bingo - she is now drafting at .03 while in an idle burn when it is 49 F outside...so that seemed to be the problem....

I was still wondering about the ash - is it the norm to have a "chunky" type of ash (vs. a powder type of ash) in the pan when using a stove like the Hyfire? There is what I assume to be powery flyash that kinda sticks to the glass door and builds up on the "ledge" where my glass and door comes together - but the ash that falls into the pan is def. "chunky"

Thanks for the help and opinions...

Aj, your ash is about right. You will get "powdery" ash inside of your stove and in the flue pipes. The ash that drops into the ashpan will look more like, as others have called it "granola". One thing I do on occasion is to use a brush to clean the flapper door on the baro. This helps to keep the balance on the door right. I have a round brush that came with my stove. It fits in there just about perfect.

Jeff

install a powervent fields hst2 model for the old furnace out the N.W wall for back up heating and keeping it operational reasons/resell home value ect..and I would remove any draft damper on the coal its always very weak in the low fire or low on coal side and -04 to -07 at high fire so the damper is a loss and a leak too. but the co issue this maybe off the wall but as a certified co responder and coal burner and heating and installation tech. did you remodel or paint or stain or burn candles if not its probably all fron the downdraft of the poorly drafting coal stove through the oil burner and anywhere else it can leak out.

Weather, barometric pressure, and ambient temperature affect the Manometer, so you should always pull the tube and check the 'zero' before readjusting anything.

DON'T remove a barometric damper. it is there for a very good reason. There are extensive threads on this topic. A coal burning appliance burns best when the draft is as steady as possible.. and that is what a barometric damper is designed to do, regulate the maximum draft.

Greg L

Excellent tread!