Got a Manometer - Now What

If we ever get a break in the weather, I'll check the chimney. In the meantime I'll get a manometer and see what I find. Thanks for the input!

all you need..

Ok, I have a Dwyer mark II manometer. I have a Hitzer 983 fireplace insert installed in the fireplace sealed with an airtight shroud. No vent pipe up the chimney. No barometric damper but the stove does have a manual pipe damper. I'm curious what my draft actually is. How/where do I insert the sampling probe? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Hi Carbon12,you can get a piece or 1/4" copper tube and put some sealant on the hose and slide it inside the tube then slide the tube behind the surround kind of like I didbut I have a 8" flue pipe and a baro on mine so you just have to get it behind the shroud(my #25 had a oil leak so I found a new Magnahelic gauge on ebay for $52.00 shipped to my door,I don't like the way it looks so all this is a temporary set up for now )but that should work for you.I hope this helps,Keepaeyeonit

Thanks Keepaeyeonit! I was hoping all I had to do was sneak a length of noncombustible tubing behind the shroud. I'll sneak it back with my thermocouple probe wire. Not sure what I'll do with the draft info but it will be amusing to monitor. Hmm,.....I wonder if I should cut a circular hole in the front of the shroud and install a barometric damper??? Lol! I guess I'll wait and see what the draft reading turns out to be first.....

Carbon12,I have a outside bi-polar chimney,when it's cold it pulls like a freight train but when it's 55*+ out and damp it drafts like S--- so when the draft gets .02 or so I kick up the air(put foil over baro and pull the slider out 1/2 way) to get the chimney drafting better so I use mine for the day to day operation of my stove.Keepaeyeonit

Maybe I missed it in here, but, when connecting a mano, I get that the "low" side port goes in the pipe on the stove side of the baro, but does it go between the MPD and the baro or between the MPD and the stove?

You want it to sense what the stove does, so between the MPD and stove.

Installed my manometer today. It was 64 degrees here and winds to 10 mph. I'm trying to idle the stove along thru this warmer weather and join the one match club. I thought I had my baro adjusted pretty close but the manometer showed I was off on the weight setting. Interesting to hold the baro closed and watch the wind speed on my weather station and the change in draft at different wind speeds. And with the baro working, how changes were minimal.

I searched this forum high and low and for the life of me could not find what combination of compression fittings to use. I spent about an hour in Lowes engineering how these fittings are going to work. Mind you I've never used compression fittings before so this was all new to me.

Anyway, the picture below would have been worth an hour of my time and would have saved me from having to hear my nagging wife trying to drag me out of the store. lol! Hope this helps someone.

Just for the sake of others that might see this, I just wanted to say that there is an easier way. All you need is a hole in the stove pipe that a section of metal brake line will snuggly pass thru for a mano probe. It just depends on how fancy you wanna make things. The advantage of using a section of brake line slid thru a hole instead of the fittings is that it's much easier to pull out the brake line than it is to disassemble fittings to clear off fly ash accumulation. Fly ash can obstruct the airway and make readings inaccurate.

Lightning wrote:Just for the sake of others that might see this, I just wanted to say that there is an easier way. All you need is a hole in the stove pipe that a section of metal brake line will snuggly pass thru for a mano probe. It just depends on how fancy you wanna make things. The advantage of using a section of brake line slid thru a hole instead of the fittings is that it's much easier to pull out the brake line than it is to disassemble fittings to clear off fly ash accumulation. Fly ash can obstruct the airway and make readings inaccurate.

That's my setup....exactly. Fits nice and snug in the hole don't need to put some sort of sealer around it. Easy to clean the inside of the pipe with a small drill that fits it closely. I just twist it around in my fingers and slide it up and down a few times then tap the junk out on a block of wood.

I have a hole in an elbow. When I'm done reading the manomter, I shove a probe thermometer in the hole. Brake line here too.

Lightning wrote:Just for the sake of others that might see this, I just wanted to say that there is an easier way. All you need is a hole in the stove pipe that a section of metal brake line will snuggly pass thru for a mano probe. It just depends on how fancy you wanna make things. The advantage of using a section of brake line slid thru a hole instead of the fittings is that it's much easier to pull out the brake line than it is to disassemble fittings to clear off fly ash accumulation. Fly ash can obstruct the airway and make readings inaccurate.

Same here.

There is no need for an air-tight seal at the joint of the brake tubing to the stove pipe. Any very tiny amount of air leakage from a sliding-fit of the tubing into the stove pipe, is negligible and has no affect on stove draft, or the mano readings.

And having a slip-fit makes it very easy to once a month, slide the brake tube out, tap it against the pipe to knock loose any fly ash and then check to see if the mano gauge reading goes to zero. If it doesn't then turn the calibration dial until it does read zero. Then just slip tube back into the pipe. Your back in business and that all only takes about 30 seconds.


Paul

Having your whole unit air tight would improve quality of burn also correct? Thinking about antique stoves if there’s a point to seal them.