Found my Fields Type M Baro stuck wide open

lsayer, did you give any thought that you may of just had a mini-puffback?

That would certainly be one cause of how you found your baro. this a.m.

McGiever wrote:lsayer, did you give any thought that you may of just had a mini-puffback?

That would certainly be one cause of how you found your baro. this a.m.

No, I don't think that was the case at all. If anything, I believe a mini- puff-back would jam it closed, or jam it "beyond" closed. Not jam it open. Its a pressure vs. vacuum thing.

My M type also used to hang up a little. I believe it was the 22 Gauge T I inserted it into. I had to tweak the tabs a little, and file the areas around the pins but it seems fine now. Mine would hang closed when it bound up.

when it's windy out mine really flaps and it stuck open once,,, was the wind blowing ?

theo wrote:when it's windy out mine really flaps and it stuck open once,,, was the wind blowing ?

I think it was 15 MPH with gusts to 25 MPH last night.

Mine hangs up if it's not 100% plumb & level. The baro is on the oil boiler's connector pipe, which is not fastened at any point ... so it's free to move in many directions - and it does.

I thought I'd mention how I finally solved the problem of the Fields Type M damper sticking wide open. I high temperature silicone adhesive glued a 3/4" x 3/4" piece of aluminum flatstock to the front edge at roughly the 4 o'clock position as seen in the attached photo so it only opens about half way instead of all the way. Therefore it never gets to the juncture where it was occasionally hanging up and sticking.

Nice simple fix--outstanding

Good fix, I was going to add that oil and ash make an abrasive. I don't believe in oiling certain things. My Paslode Impulse nail guns never get oil on the nose or slides. They are designed to work without it. Over oiling a gun is the same thing. It collects dirt and such and gums up in cold weather and causes misfires. Been there, seen that. Those little pins don't have enough surface area to hang up the flapper. Even if they were rusty. I have seen old ones worn right down into the pivots from swinging so long with ash, dust, and creosote on them.

Kevin

Mine hangs open the OTHER way - closed, to where the top points out toward you. First happened after my *EPIC* glass-cracking bitty explosion.

I found that every so often I have to pull the pivots toward me. They end up too far forward, then the baro sticks "closed", but with the top sticking out ... so it's not really closed. I'll have to grab a pic of it the next time it happens.

I keep lube OFF that thing - it's dirty enough as it is - last thing it needs is a dirt magnet.

I put a long machine screw behind the door at about the 7 o'clock position to stop the door from opening past 3/4 wide open. I try to keep the pins in the center of the holes instead of towards the front or back. I have the RC style baro. Works awesome now

I've thought of taking mine off in the winter. But it's not a good idea. I have to add some washers to it to get my draft down.

I always do as Lightning does: add a sheet metal screw, or two so that the 'Max open position' cannot hit the tab, and get stuck. Also, like smitty, I have seen them stuck closed, which is more or a PITA. Light oils help...kinda like a locomotive...keep a oil can handy...a little dab will do ya!

My type M is about to be replaced.

2 seasons ago, it was sticking open, so I put a little machine oil on the pins. Must've been too much, as it collected ash and then barely functioned. Multiple cleanings, even with cigarette lighter fluid to remove the oil and a wire brush slowly improved its functioning.

Then I made the mistake of hitting it with LPS-3 when I shut down for the season. Last season started with a re-cleaning of the damper, etc. It worked better than the prior season, but still got stuck wide open a couple of times. Last season shutdown, I did nothing to it. Just left it in the cleaned out flue pipe Tee.

This year is a disaster. It seems to operate sluggishly. On somewhat gusty days, it only moves a little, whereas in prior years, it would be going almost max open to max closed. Last night, it did it...stuck open. The house stunk a bit, but no CO on either of my 2 digitals and none of the 3 other CO detectors went off.

This weekend will be my first shutdown and cleaning of the season. It gets one more cleaning and one more chance. Then I spring for a new one!

I had to extend the length of the metal tab I placed upon mine as a stop. A puff-back blew it right past my original stop.