Trouble with Hitzer install

Put my new Hitzer insert in and ran 10ft of stainless flex up into my chimney which is 12x12 masonry 22 ft tall. Sealed around the flex with insulation. tried a small wood fire to start off with and got a house full of smoke quickly.

Tried later at night when the temps dropped to the 30's and no better luck.

I guess a 6inch S.S. insulated liner is what I need unless someone has a better idea.

Any thoughts?

Bk

what were you doing draft wise?,smoke just came out the stove???

983 insert? I've had no trouble with mine for the month and a half I've had it. Do you have the single or double door model?

it might just be burning the paint and oil off the stove?

come on guys, bk's been around long enough to to know if paint & stuff is smoking--good Lord at least I hope so.

Its a Model 503 single door, smoke came out the ash door vent, was getting no draft at all, outside temp was 46*.

The stove temp wasn't warm enough to cure the paint.

I get a little draft when it got colder, im just afraid my fire will die every time it warms up a bit. If I need a liner I would rather do it now before the weather gets nasty.

Bk

Hi Bk. I have a 503. I ran a liner to the top of my chimney, with a cap. The total liner length is about 25 feet. When I lit my first fire, with an outside temp of about 50 degrees, it took a minute or so to gain draft. I would start the fire with matchlight and the ash door closed with the slide vent all the way open, and close the glass door. I noticed that after the fire became warmer that the draft became stronger. My draft is so good now that I keep the slide vent open about 1/8", and you can hear the draft. If this method does not work for you, perhaps you do need to run the flex pipe to the top of the chimney. I know the Hitzer recommendation is the flue opening area should he no greater than three times the outlet area. Therefore since the outlet is 6", the area is 28.27" squared. So the maximumum outlet are should be 28.27 X 3, which equals 84.82" squared. If you are going from the current pipe you have now into a 12 X 12 chimney, which would be 144" squared, then you are oversized by over 70%, which could lead to the draft problem you are experiencing.
Good luck and keep us updated.

CT coal burner wrote:Hi Bk. I have a 503. I ran a liner to the top of my chimney, with a cap. The total liner length is about 25 feet. When I lit my first fire, with an outside temp of about 50 degrees, it took a minute or so to gain draft. I would start the fire with matchlight and the ash door closed with the slide vent all the way open, and close the glass door. I noticed that after the fire became warmer that the draft became stronger. My draft is so good now that I keep the slide vent open about 1/8", and you can hear the draft. If this method does not work for you, perhaps you do need to run the flex pipe to the top of the chimney. I know the Hitzer recommendation is the flue opening area should he no greater than three times the outlet area. Therefore since the outlet is 6", the area is 28.27" squared. So the maximumum outlet are should be 28.27 X 3, which equals 84.82" squared. If you are going from the current pipe you have now into a 12 X 12 chimney, which would be 144" squared, then you are oversized by over 70%, which could lead to the draft problem you are experiencing.
Good luck and keep us updated.

Coalburner seems right on the money.

Ug

How did it work as a fireplace with wood?
Is the fireplace on an outside wall?

Before giving up I would run a hair dryer for an hour to try to warm the chimney. That's a lot of masonry to heat. Once heated the stove will keep it warm. It will also be worthwhile to cap the chimney with a smaller hole at the top. This will also keep heat in the chimney.

Stupid, but are you sure your smoke shelf damper is open??

bksaun wrote:Put my new Hitzer insert in and ran 10ft of stainless flex up into my chimney which is 12x12 masonry 22 ft tall. Sealed around the flex with insulation. tried a small wood fire to start off with and got a house full of smoke quickly.

Tried later at night when the temps dropped to the 30's and no better luck.

I guess a 6inch S.S. insulated liner is what I need unless someone has a better idea.

Any thoughts?

Bk

i know every situation is different but i have the same setup as you and have no trouble at all with proper draft,,, it will take a few minutes to heat up the chimney to draw a good draft

As a wood burning fireplace it sucked, had to open the front door just so it would draw.

The damper is removed so the flex pipe would fit.

Last night outside temps were in the upper 40's, very windy, being impatient I hooked up my barometer and with wind gusts it was reading .02-.04 with no fire, so I put a baby formula can full of match light charcoal in the center of the grate, surrounded it with nut coal, pulled the can out and lit the charcoal.

It burned a few minutes then the wind died and it was pumping smoke and fumes in the house, so I started cussing! opened the door for some air and it made it worse the draft went to .0 to +.02!, Nasty downdraft, cussed even more!

Then I closed the door and opened a window on the upwind side of the house, that presurized the house and gave me .04 draft, finally the fire took off and I added more coal, closed the damper, filled the hopper, opened the draft slide about 1/4 inch and let it settle for about an hour.

Now I have a stove temp of 250* above the door, draft between .04-.06, and it's 55* outside.
Its hot in here!

Theo was right, I just needed to heat it up. Guess I was spoiled with my old house, that chimney would pull .04 on a 70* day with no fire, but it was 9x9 tile 35 feet tall.

So, impatience and a nagging wife are a poor combination for dialing in a new set up.

All seems OK now, thanks for the advise.

Bk

The 503 has the stove damper on the center top knob...
Pulled out is open, pushed in closed...
It was in the full open to start?...
The 'rents had a very poorly drafting outside chimney...
Installed full liner and insulated with blanket...
No issues with draft to 70*+...
No ash from shake downs either...

Yes had the damper wide open to start it, all seems fine now.

Thanks

Bk