channing 3 draft question

i have an alsakan channing 3 model that has been giving nothing but issues since i installed it with a powervent, its a bottom rear vent model. it will not stay lit on setting 1-1.5 and puts out no heat until setting 3 with a large fire. i suspect its a draft issue as i know about 3 other people with the same stove that say 2 will heat them out of their house, and my house is smaller. also my coal consumption seems very high just to get heat. half a hopper in under 9 hours. im looking for help from all the coal burning geniuses here to set me on the right path.. how would i check and adjust draft on this stove? and i want to hear any other ways i can make this stove more efficient and work as it should. also the coal is always burnt i dont have any non burnt coal in the ash pan. the exhaust pipe to the outside is warm but not hot. im wondering if im losing significant heat out the vent

can a barometric damper be used on these and if so how would i connect it? i assume direct to the vent on the stove then connect the power vent to that? please help!! thanks to you all

I just set up my channing III but its a vertical vent.

Yes you need a barometric dampner, Install a wall mount manometer.
The draft for this stove is .04
others will chime in that might know more about the side vent modle.

Sounds like you have the power vent set way too high. It is sucking all the heat right out of the stove.

The only way to check draft is with a manometer. Most use a Dwyer Model 25. After you get the manometer, you set the power vent rheostat to whatever you need to to achieve the correct draft. After that the stove should create enough heat to radiate out into your living area. Toughing the pipe is not a good indicater. Most power vent pipes are double wall. The center is for the exhaust. The outer ring brings in the fresh combustion air.

The combustion blower should be running full blast. This will give you the best burn. If your coal is all burnt, it is doing its job. However you should make sure all the holes are open and that there are no fines under the grate which would restrict airflow.

The 1-5 dial should only control the amount of coal being fed to the burner. At the setting of 5 or close to it, burning coal should be falling off the grate. At the lower settings, there should only be a small strip across the grate that is burning. Only you can determine what the settings should be.

If you can provide your location, there may be a member nearby who can check out your setup.

Any other questions, feel free to pm me a phone number and I'll call you and try to walk you through this.


That stove should be producing some serious heat.




Rick

Hi,

I've had my Alaska Channng III stove for about 6 seasons now and it has never given me one problem. Here is how I have my stove setup and some of the tweaks I made and that you might want to consider.

1. Buy a colatrol. Using a manual control is guess work and you will use lots more coal. When I had a manual setup I was constantly over and under firing the stove. I did get better at using the manual controls but it's crude compared to a Coaltrol. My Coaltrol idles the fire at night and is set to bring up the temp about 4-5 degrees 2 hours before we wake. It keeps the temp in the room within 2 degrees of the set temperature. I can not say enough good things about this device - it will transform your stove into a modern appliance, (customer service is excellent too) imho.

2. Install a barometric dampner. This will prevent hopper fires and let you sleep better at night. I had two hopper fires before I installed mine. You can't let the coal get too low in the stove without a dampner. The dampner goes right on the back of the exhaust vent and then the direct vent comes off the dampner.

3. Install a nanometer. It will allow you to set the proper draft and not waste energy.

4. Install a rheostat on your exhaust blower so you can dial in your draft and not send all the heat outside. You'll need to buy a special one that works with our exhaust motor. You can't just buy a dimmer switch or any old rheostat. I believe it has to work with a pole motor.

5. Install an outside air kit. I used some 2" aluminum flex pipe that I found at Lowes and have it near the hole that sucks air for the fire.

if you do all these things I know all your problems will vanish.

Trader,

He said he had a power vent not a direct vent.......




Rick

I didn't catch that. I sometimes which I had a power vent to cut down on some of the noise.

Rick 386 wrote:Trader,

He said he had a power vent not a direct vent.......




Rick

What were you using before a powervent? I wonder if the suction is too strong. Maybe you can put a rheostat on the motor. I would try a baromstric dampner and a nanometer to start to dial it in.

tgordon12 wrote:i have an alsakan channing 3 model that has been giving nothing but issues since i installed it with a powervent, its a bottom rear vent model. it will not stay lit on setting 1-1.5 and puts out no heat until setting 3 with a large fire. i suspect its a draft issue as i know about 3 other people with the same stove that say 2 will heat them out of their house, and my house is smaller. also my coal consumption seems very high just to get heat. half a hopper in under 9 hours. im looking for help from all the coal burning geniuses here to set me on the right path.. how would i check and adjust draft on this stove? and i want to hear any other ways i can make this stove more efficient and work as it should. also the coal is always burnt i dont have any non burnt coal in the ash pan. the exhaust pipe to the outside is warm but not hot. im wondering if im losing significant heat out the vent

can a barometric damper be used on these and if so how would i connect it? i assume direct to the vent on the stove then connect the power vent to that? please help!! thanks to you all