Some Things I Learned That Might Help

When in Cleveland, had a Hitzer hopper 50-93 with a 6" vent. At first had trouble with the heat - would not go above 375 or so. Problem was the stove was sitting in front of the fireplace and the draw must have been tremendous because the flue was at least 16x24 or so! Finally figured out that the stove was over drafting. Started out installing a manual damper and did not notice a big difference with it shut! The stove was still sending all the heat up the chimney. With the air turned up I could see that the flames were roaring up the chimney. Finally I surmised that the combustable gases were being ignited above the fire and flaring up the chimney due to excessive draft. So I installed a barometric damper - a Field Control RC. I bought a Tee and stuck it into place. Amazing difference! After that I could melt the paint off the stove. I think I shut it down at 575 or so cause I smelled the paint burning. Called an HVAC friend and asked him how to set it. He told me set it where it stays open 1/2 inch consistently due to the draft. This will change depending on wind conditions and the length of chimney. The longer the chimney the less affected by gusts. Used to reset it every day. Found out coal consumption dropped about 20% with the barometric damper.

In our house we noticed that the big stove changed the air quality so much that our noses and throats felt bad. I went to Slum Depot and bought some rectangular register ducts and some 6" ducting and made an outside air feed that attached to the back of the stove with a hole for the control chain and ran to the cleanout door at the bottom of the fireplace. After that no more problems with sorethroats and runny noses. When I would turn the ait intake control up on a cold night the intake pipe would get ice on it. Fire seemed more compact and tight after that. Perfect blue flames were easier to come by. Just my 2 cents. Hope that helps someone.

Just guesing on the baro setting is NOT the way to set it, it vary with draft, you don't just say Oh, about 1/2" or so. That is not a very professional, especially from an HVAC guy.
You need a Manometer (Draft gauge) to set it correctly and not waste fuel and get the most from your stove. every stove/chimney is different. most should be set around .04 for stokers, I think hand fed are .04-.06 roughly. some may stay open all the time, others may only open when needed.

I didn't think of that. This was before I found this site. He didn't know how to set it for a coal stove and told me how for an oil furnace. Worked pretty good, but in wind storms it would flap. Anyone try a wind directional chimney cap? Wonder if that would help stabilize the damper setting?

I agree with WNY, the Dwyer manometer, ~$25-35, is the way to go to setting the draft and if you can do a permanent install, it's a great indicator to tell you when your pipes are getting too much ash in them (you may have to clean the pipes mid winter)or when ash is accumulating on the back of your barometric damper.

In my feeble opinion, the wind directional thing is another thing to go wrong in an ice storm, etc. Go best effort simple and less goes wrong, less variables.

b

I hope so on the wind. It blows constantly here.

NosmoKng wrote:I didn't think of that. This was before I found this site. He didn't know how to set it for a coal stove and told me how for an oil furnace. Worked pretty good, but in wind storms it would flap. Anyone try a wind directional chimney cap? Wonder if that would help stabilize the damper setting?

You don't want to stabilize the baro. setting, you want to stabilize the draft. By swinging open and closed as wind, flue temp. and other factors dictate, the damper is maintaining your preset draft setting. The manometer will show this clearly. When I get a hard buff of wind the baro. door will open a lot. When the wind subsides, the baro. door will close back down somewhat. All the time the manometer is showing a fairly steady .04 inches of water columb. That is the function and purpose of the barometric damper.

The markings on my Field Controls damper weight adjustment are right on the money according to my manometer. If you use these markings you will come a lot closer to the setting you want than using the 1/2" open method of setting your baro.

grizzly2 wrote:You don't want to stabilize the baro. setting, you want to stabilize the draft. By swinging open and closed as wind, flue temp. and other factors dictate, the damper is maintaining your preset draft setting. The manometer will show this clearly. When I get a hard buff of wind the baro. door will open a lot. When the wind subsides, the baro. door will close back down somewhat. All the time the manometer is showing a fairly steady .04 inches of water columb. That is the function and purpose of the barometric damper.

Grizzz, This is the best description for the use of the Baro Damper, that I have seen. Hey! This should be put in the Knowledge Base !

Chris,
A while back I made a first attempt at a baro and manometer description in the knowledge base hoping that someone would add / subtract / clear up my initial attempt at a description. Have at it man!!!

titleist1 wrote:Chris,
A while back I made a first attempt at a baro and manometer description in the knowledge base hoping that someone would add / subtract / clear up my initial attempt at a description. Have at it man!!!

No no No... You-guys have great descriptions! You can have Grizz Check what you already wrote. I bow to the Baro-Gods

If you have a lot of wind, it could keep a 6" baro open to a point where the baro inlet flow will be limited, in that case you'll start to pull more heat from the stove. If ya think that you may have that condition, a 7" fields baro will fit on a 6" pipe. I did that and the 7" baro worked great with the sheet metal housing forming a slight cone. Fields install info says that if you have a chimney with a length of approx 26 ft or more (me, basement to 2nd story, on a hill), consider doing a 7" baro on a 6" pipe. Some times the 7" is cheaper on ebay cause no one wants them except me and a few others here :].

Ugly

Ah Heck: I just got my 6" RC yesterday. My chimney will be going through a split level - probabaly 15 feet. Was thinking about 7" above the baro though because of potentiall short chimney. The bigger hole sucks harder, right?

NosmoKng wrote:The bigger hole sucks harder, right?

You won't need a 7" with a 15' chimney.

It might end up being 12. Havent checked yet. 7" to be on saafe side.