Unseasonably Warm and a Question on Draft...

 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 4:53 pm

Ok, I've got an 18' chimney, it is a 7x7 terra cota flue that I installed a 6" liner in (when I had the wood burner) as you may already know.

My question is in regards to these warmer temps; it's 57* in Vernon, and draft.

My stove is currently idling at 290*, stack temp is at 140* the MPD on the DS is open all the way and my manometer is reading .03"WC (DS recommends .06"WC but I'm not sure how to achieve that at almost 60*). My CO detector a mere 46" from the stove still reads 0.

Aside from turning the stove up and opening windowstats (which are already opened BTW) or going out to the store and buying a few extra lengths of double wall for the top of the chimney, should I be worried about losing my draft?

I'd think not but I just want to confirm with the guru's of the site.

My wife has been texting me updates all day and the stove has been sitting at .03"wc pretty much all day.

Now it does say it's going to drop back down to 31* and I'll probably turn it back up tonight and close the MPD. But I'm concerned about tomorrow as well as they are calling for temps above 60*.


 
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CoalHeat
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Post by CoalHeat » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 5:02 pm

Stop fooling around with the MPD, leave it all the way open. :nono: You lose draft when the outside air is warmer then the chimney. Keep the chimney warm and your draft will be fine. Just remember hot air rises. When the air outside the chimney is warmer then the chimney, you lose draft. If needed cover the baro with foil.
My Harman has been out since Sunday. The draft reversed today, the chimney is cold inside.

 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 5:08 pm

I've been leaving the mpd open. I only close it when its cold. I also didn't think of covering the baro in this weather. I'm gonna do that now.

 
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Post by nortcan » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 5:34 pm

IOF, just reffer to: "I seem to be burning too much coal". All the climate changes are explained there. LOL

 
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I'm On Fire
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Post by I'm On Fire » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 5:36 pm

Right. Because you're stove is heating the entire North American Region. :D

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 6:11 pm

I'm On Fire wrote:My stove is currently idling at 290*, stack temp is at 140* the MPD on the DS is open all the way and my manometer is reading .03"WC (DS recommends .06"WC but I'm not sure how to achieve that at almost 60*). My CO detector a mere 46" from the stove still reads 0.
That isn't to bad for an idling stove. When they say .06 recommended, they mean that as a high limit, not a operational requirement.

 
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Post by lowfog01 » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 6:18 pm

I'm in the same boat. We were 73* today and it's going to be even warmer tomorrow. I am watching my draft, too. I'm pulling a .03 and everything is fine but I'd be worried about going much lower and about CO seeping out of the chimney connector pipe. I covered my baro with foil and that's helped. I am burning next to nothing in coal and getting almost no ash. I even dropped back from shaking the stove twice a day to once a day. I am torn between using nut coal because it burns easily and that will cause a stronger draft or using pea to slow the fire even more. It's all just a big experiment. Anything that works safely is a go. Lisa
Last edited by lowfog01 on Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 6:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.


 
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Post by Uglysquirrel » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 6:20 pm

coaledsweat wrote:
I'm On Fire wrote:My stove is currently idling at 290*, stack temp is at 140* the MPD on the DS is open all the way and my manometer is reading .03"WC (DS recommends .06"WC but I'm not sure how to achieve that at almost 60*). My CO detector a mere 46" from the stove still reads 0.
That isn't to bad for an idling stove. When they say .06 recommended, they mean that as a high limit, not a operational requirement.
Listen to Coaledsweat,the more I get to know him, the more of a "life mastermind" he is (besides coal).

Though I can appreciate your safety concern which is to be applauded, I have a CO alarm hooked up to a telephone dialer, have 3 dogs.

 
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Post by I'm On Fire » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 6:25 pm

I didn't think it was bad. I just wanted to be sure. I put foil over the baro but the manometer hasn't moved off of .03"wc. I'm getting ready to shake the stove down and load it up for the night. I'm gonna turn the stove up a little bit since it's supposed to go to 31* tonight.

Lisa,

Yeah, I'm still burning Nut myself. I only have a few bags of Pea and I'm trying to save them for next month when the temps start to come back up steadily. Like I said, I'm gonna turn the stove up a little bit for the night. My wife'll keep a close eye on it tomorrow.

Uglysquirrel,

I tend to listen to everyone on here. I'm not even a year into burning coal. I don't know anything yet. I'm still surprised I was able to get the Chubby to run for the nearly 3 months I had it and I'm really amazed the DS is still going strong too. :D

Thanks to everyone on here for the help.

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 7:15 pm

If this warmer weather brings on a problem in your stoves operation, it may be an accumulation of ash in the stovepipe. Late in the season, this is a fairly common occurrence.

 
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Post by jschaefer7406 » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 7:16 pm

Hello all,

My first year with coal as well. Burning nut coal in a Kogen forced air furnace (no stove here). Anyway, I too am now wondering about this. It was in the low 50s here today and, other than being closed up, I'm running as normal (in regards to the baro and MPD). Running with the baro set for .04" and the MPD closed (most here suggested closing it along with the baro). In reading this though, I am wondering if I should open the MPD in the warmer weather. Thing is, the baro is still open slightly, so I assume I still have at least .04" draft (no permanently installed manometer yet :(). That in mind, I see no need to open the MPD or foil the baro. Thoughts?

Thanks,

Joe

P.S. - Stack temp is still @ 175 (magnetic thermometer), even with the bottom draft all but closed...

 
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Post by I'm On Fire » Thu. Feb. 17, 2011 8:31 pm

coaledsweat wrote:If this warmer weather brings on a problem in your stoves operation, it may be an accumulation of ash in the stovepipe. Late in the season, this is a fairly common occurrence.
I've been cleaning the ash out of the horizontal run weekly. In fact I blew it out this evening, though I didn't see much of a build-up. I did notice that after shaking it down and refilling the hopper; I didn't bother raking the coals out as I do every night since it didn't seem like it burned much coal all day, the draft went to .04"wc for about thirty minutes but then dropped back down to .03"wc. Then when I started seeing blue flames it jumped back to .04"wc. I've turned the stove up a smidge since it's supposed to get cold tonight and walked away. The MPD is still wide open. I'm gonna leave it like this for the night.

 
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Post by lowfog01 » Fri. Feb. 18, 2011 5:56 am

I'm On Fire wrote:I didn't think it was bad. I just wanted to be sure. I put foil over the baro but the manometer hasn't moved off of .03"wc. I'm getting ready to shake the stove down and load it up for the night. I'm gonna turn the stove up a little bit since it's supposed to go to 31* tonight.
The fact that the manometer hasn't moved is immaterial. The foil over the baro has forced all the draft to come from under the fire and that's the goal when idling your stove. Remember, coal needs under the fire air to burn, little or no under the fire draft and your fire will go out. The baro splits the draft - pulling from both the room and under the fire. Personally I don't care if some of the heat goes up the chimney at this point. My windows are open already. I just want the fire to last until tonight when seasonable averages temps are supposed to return. Good luck, Lisa

 
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Post by I'm On Fire » Fri. Feb. 18, 2011 6:20 am

Yeah, I've got the baro foiled over as well. I've got the stove idling at 300* and hopefully she won't go out as like you said, it'll be back down into the 20*'s again tonight.

 
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Post by CoalHeat » Fri. Feb. 18, 2011 7:44 am

The reason for foil over the baro even when it's not opening is you do have some flow around the baro flap even when it's closed, when the warm weather comes poking around you need all the draft you can get.


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