Manometer Loaner Program

Razzler wrote:Good deal! http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2T650

Thanks With the company account that comes to $35 with tax for a brand new one

I bought one to setup in mine, seems to cheap of a price to not have one in your system.

[/quote]Thanks With the company account that comes to $35 with tax for a brand new one [/quote]


Yah! thats what i thought to... If you watch the one on E-bay they are going for $25 to $35 plus $5 to $10 for shipping and they are USED!!

Razzler wrote: Yah! thats what i thought to... If you watch the one on E-bay they are going for $25 to $35 plus $5 to $10 for shipping and they are USED!!

Yah, that makes NO sense to me! Oh well, I'm, glad you were nearby to send me that link!!! Thanks!!

The one I bought off ebay seems to be brand new, no sign on it having been used or even outside of it's box.

Read the Ebay ad, 99% are new items.. I've bought manometers as cheap as $15 delivered.. This is what Matt and I started the Loaner Program with..

A Dwyer Manometer is inexpensive, but not everyone wants one mounted next to their stove or boiler.. for me, I wouldn't be without one.

The new Loaner Program this fall/winter will be with some new mechanical meters that Matthaus found.. they won't have the red oil to get spilled or be as fussy to use.

Greg L.

Don't know if I should ask here or on the post I started on installing my KA-6 Direct Vent Boiler, but I see that Keystoker has a predrilled hole in the fire door for a manometer reading, I would guess the insulation would need to be removed from the fire door temporarily. The instructions say to start the boiler up and warm up the chimney and boiler then shut down the boiler to make the reading. It says to adjust the baro-damper to a reading of -0.02 and then turn on the boiler. It then says to adjust the air intake shutter to -0.01to -0.02 then turn off the stoker and recheck the draft. Now I have a direct vent unit, so I would imagine I'm still checking the draft inside the boiler itself through the fire door and adjust the Direct Vent unit shutter or should I be measuring the draft inside my vent stack? I still have some questions for Keystoker as it appears my stoker unit is different than they describe, but I still have this week to get that answer. Will a Dwyer Mark II model 25 be measuring the pressure or the vaccuum? I'm expecting a vaccuum on the fire door and pressure in the vent stack. Anyone have an answer to help me feel more grounded on this?

Mike - Getting close to firing up!!!

Hi Mike, There is not specification for the pressure in the exhaust pipe after the DV fan/motor. The only spec is for the negative pressure in the stove itself.. that is what is important..

The directions you just wrote sound good to me,

Greg L

Greg,
Thanks for the support. I've got a manometer coming tomorrow. It's worth while to have it because I am kindo f curious to see what effect the winter winds have on this when it is blowing out of the Northwest or Northeast.

Mike

Just got a manometer care of Greg...Thanks Greg!

2 questions:


1. Are there specific instructions on how to install it (Dwyer Mark II) here someplace? (the instructions that came with it aren't great)

2. I don't have a damper (barometric or manual) connected any more. (haven't for over 20 years ) Is there a benefit to even installing this manometer w/o a damper installed?

Well it will tell you what your draft is but without a baro, you won't be able to dial it in to optimum. You really should have a baro.

Devil505 wrote:Is there a benefit to even installing this manometer w/o a damper installed?

The benefit is you will know what the actual draft is at the time you measure it.
If it is too high, you will begin to realize how much money you threw away over 20 years and run out and buy a baro.
If it isn't too high, then you will know you are not wasting money.

The cost of 20 years of too much draft could easily exceed what it will cost you to heat your home this winter.

Hi Dev, yes there is a benefit to hooking up the manometer, even without a barometric damper.. the manometer will show if you have way too much draft or not.. like coaledsweat wrote, you will be able to see if you are wasting coal and heat.

What I suspect you will see is that when it is windy and cold, the draft will be quite high, that is in excess of .08" maybe as high as .15" wc.. and at the same time, your probe thermometer in the flue pipe above the stove will show a big increase in temperatrure. This means that with the excess draft, the coal is getting excess air pulled through the coal, and this heat is not staying in the stove, but being pulled out of the stove and up the chimney..

With a barometric damper, you would have a steady draft, the baro would open allowing some 70* room air up the chimney, but the really hot, 800*-1200* air would stay in the stove, where it can heat your room.. and your fan can wash this heat off the stove body.. Since you have for many years gone without a fan, you probably have had a very hot stack temp for a long time.. the distribution fan and a baro will get the most out of your stove..

But the interesting thing about this experiment, and why I sent you that manometer, is that your coal use for the number of square feet of house you are heating is very low already.. so my curiosity is high...

Do you 'tweak' the combustion air control to the fire every several hours?? or do you have a "set it and forget it setting"?

Greg L

coaledsweat wrote:The cost of 20 years of too much draft could easily exceed what it will cost you to heat your home this winter.

If that turned out to be true......I don't want to know!! (I'd be suicidal!)

LsFarm wrote:Do you 'tweak' the combustion air control to the fire every several hours?? or do you have a "set it and forget it setting"?

I change the air control (a slider) very little & only would say I "set & forget" it, based just on room/outside air temps. (The TLC is such a tight stove that I literally will only have to slide it about 1/4" to maybe 1/2" to get the temp I want. (When it's real cold out, I may slide it (open) to the right about an inch or so. Secondary air controls (vertical sliders next to the window door...above the fire) fully closed all winter.

Edit: Will the manometer work if I slide the tube/probe into the chimney beside that stove pipe, (through the wall thimble) or does it have to go directly into the stack (from the stove) to read correctly?

You want to measure inside the stovepipe itself, the stove end of the thimble is probably OK but stay away from the chimney itself as the numbers may change when the gas reaches it. I use a hole in the elbow where it turns to the thimble. I keep a probe thermometer in it, when I check the draft, I simply pull the thermometer and insert the metal tube into the elbow and take the reading. When done, the thermo goes back in.

Anyone following this thread, the reading is always taken prior to the baro if so equipped.