My new Glenwood Oak 30 - pics attached - I need advice!

Marty,
if I am seeing your pic. correctly you are bypassing your indirect pipe completly and this is causing your spikes and fast burn ...here is a pic of how mine is setup and works great on wood and especially coal.
I am running both a MPD and a Barometric on mine and it is super happy.

Marty,
just took a look at your Hearth and you should be OK as you will need to move your stove out bought 8" too hook it up correctly.
that is onna the Demons of our stoves, they need to set out pretty far from the wall to use the indirect back pipe correctly.
Tim

Hey guys,

So I just took apart my stove pipe and got a better look at the back pipe. Based on what I see it looks like it was possible to mount the stove pipe to either the top (like I have) or halfway up the back pipe like Tim's setup. If you look at the attached picture you can see the backpipe hole rear right below the direct vent damper. Both holes (top and rear) are in the rear chamber of the backpipe.

Here's my wild assumption - Glenwood put two stove pipe connections to give some flexibility to installs. If you look at Tim's picture, he has the decorative scroll work cover plate on the top of the backpipe where my stove pipe currently comes out. I have a decorotive scroll plate halfway up the back of my back plate where Tim's stove pipe comes out (I attached a picture). Tim, I'm wondering if we have different back pipes. My rear hole is a shade higher that 1/2 way up. Yours looks like it's closer to the bottom?

So I guess I'm thinking I can use my existing setup as is and still take advanated of the backpipe feature? If so this would be great as it would save me the cost of another 2 pieces of pipe and the original Glenwood bracket and top cover plate.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks again for everyone's input to date - especially Steve and Tim. I've learned so much in two days.

Update - I picked up a box of Noxram refractory today, two bags of coal and ordered a damper for my stove pipe. Getting closer to burning coal!

Thanks again.

Looks to me like you are good to either way Marty. The backpipe is divided front to back so that when the damper is closed the exhaust flows down the front (closest to the stove body) and up the back side of the back pipe. Makes no difference if it goes out the middle or the top based on your picture. When in direct draft, it just passes through to the back side of the pipe and up and out. I would say your good with the top vent.

Ok Marty I just took a look at the Innards of my back pipe and You are good to go in your current configuration (OUR PIPES ARE IDENTICAL)...I actually asked ?'s and such thinking that if my exhaust was higher up I would get more heat but William S. told me she is as she should be on the pipe exit, you are actually sending your exhaust & heat in a far longer path than in my setup and you should be seeing a a higher bit of control than I am?. so I am now confused on your issues of the SPIKE/ FAST burn on wood and such....I am kinda stumped!..you should be able to choke her down to near puttin the wood fire out!
OK so lets look at the only other thing it can be and that would be that you are suckin AIR somewhere below the load door that is over riding your damper inputs through the bottom valves wich i doubt ...I think if you install a MPD and a Barometric you will have a stove that behaves and you will fall in love with.
Mine is so easy to control with that setup you will like it.....try installin a MPD first and play with it and if you live in a windy place like me here in PA on top of the mountain I have to use a Baro to keep the winter wind under control you may not need it.
KEEP ME POSTED and if ya need anything let me know ...I will try and help.
Tim

Tim wrote:Ok Marty I just took a look at the Innards of my back pipe and You are good to go in your current configuration (OUR PIPES ARE IDENTICAL)...I actually asked ?'s and such thinking that if my exhaust was higher up I would get more heat but William S. told me she is as she should be on the pipe exit, you are actually sending your exhaust & heat in a far longer path than in my setup and you should be seeing a a higher bit of control than I am?. so I am now confused on your issues of the SPIKE/ FAST burn on wood and such....I am kinda stumped!..you should be able to choke her down to near puttin the wood fire out!
OK so lets look at the only other thing it can be and that would be that you are suckin AIR somewhere below the load door that is over riding your damper inputs through the bottom valves wich i doubt ...I think if you install a MPD and a Barometric you will have a stove that behaves and you will fall in love with.
Mine is so easy to control with that setup you will like it.....try installin a MPD first and play with it and if you live in a windy place like me here in PA on top of the mountain I have to use a Baro to keep the winter wind under control you may not need it.
KEEP ME POSTED and if ya need anything let me know ...I will try and help.
Tim

I think part of the problem is those bio bricks he was using with the wood Tim. They burn pretty hot. The secondary over the fire air (at least on mine) is never totally closed off. Even when closed I can some red through there at night looking at an angle. I'd say once he tries coal that will be that!

SteveZee wrote:

Tim wrote:Ok Marty I just took a look at the Innards of my back pipe and You are good to go in your current configuration (OUR PIPES ARE IDENTICAL)...I actually asked ?'s and such thinking that if my exhaust was higher up I would get more heat but William S. told me she is as she should be on the pipe exit, you are actually sending your exhaust & heat in a far longer path than in my setup and you should be seeing a a higher bit of control than I am?. so I am now confused on your issues of the SPIKE/ FAST burn on wood and such....I am kinda stumped!..you should be able to choke her down to near puttin the wood fire out!
OK so lets look at the only other thing it can be and that would be that you are suckin AIR somewhere below the load door that is over riding your damper inputs through the bottom valves wich i doubt ...I think if you install a MPD and a Barometric you will have a stove that behaves and you will fall in love with.
Mine is so easy to control with that setup you will like it.....try installin a MPD first and play with it and if you live in a windy place like me here in PA on top of the mountain I have to use a Baro to keep the winter wind under control you may not need it.
KEEP ME POSTED and if ya need anything let me know ...I will try and help.
Tim

I think part of the problem is those bio bricks he was using with the wood Tim. They burn pretty hot. The secondary over the fire air (at least on mine) is never totally closed off. Even when closed I can some red through there at night looking at an angle. I'd say once he tries coal that will be that!

Thanks for the reply Tim. Today I replaced a few loose bolts on the stove, sealed around the gaskets with cement and lined the stove with Noxram. I bought a manual damper and it should be here next week and then I'll fire it up. And yes, I agree with you guys that it's partly the bio bricks. I think the main problem is the lack of damper which I am addressing. With the wood burning plate I think it let the air circulate too much under the bio bricks and they burn too fast. That's the reason I had made a solid plate so only the top of the bio bricks were exposed to air like in a conventional wood stove. Hoping the new damper takes care of my problems.

I did the dollar bill test in the cleanout door as you suggested Steve. It seemed pretty tight. My primary drafts dont have springs inside as you mentioned, but they seem pretty tight and I'm guessing I'll have them open most of the time anyway. Thanks again for all your help, I'll send an update as I make more progress.

Since you have the wood-burning plate removed, can you take and post a photo of the grates in the bottom of the firepot??
We can then see the Noxram installed and the type of grates your stove has.

Have you checked the operation of the grates to see if they work smoothly ??

Greg L

glenwoodoak wrote:

SteveZee wrote:

Tim wrote:Ok Marty I just took a look at the Innards of my back pipe and You are good to go in your current configuration (OUR PIPES ARE IDENTICAL)...I actually asked ?'s and such thinking that if my exhaust was higher up I would get more heat but William S. told me she is as she should be on the pipe exit, you are actually sending your exhaust & heat in a far longer path than in my setup and you should be seeing a a higher bit of control than I am?. so I am now confused on your issues of the SPIKE/ FAST burn on wood and such....I am kinda stumped!..you should be able to choke her down to near puttin the wood fire out!
OK so lets look at the only other thing it can be and that would be that you are suckin AIR somewhere below the load door that is over riding your damper inputs through the bottom valves wich i doubt ...I think if you install a MPD and a Barometric you will have a stove that behaves and you will fall in love with.
Mine is so easy to control with that setup you will like it.....try installin a MPD first and play with it and if you live in a windy place like me here in PA on top of the mountain I have to use a Baro to keep the winter wind under control you may not need it.
KEEP ME POSTED and if ya need anything let me know ...I will try and help.
Tim

I think part of the problem is those bio bricks he was using with the wood Tim. They burn pretty hot. The secondary over the fire air (at least on mine) is never totally closed off. Even when closed I can some red through there at night looking at an angle. I'd say once he tries coal that will be that!

Thanks for the reply Tim. Today I replaced a few loose bolts on the stove, sealed around the gaskets with cement and lined the stove with Noxram. I bought a manual damper and it should be here next week and then I'll fire it up. And yes, I agree with you guys that it's partly the bio bricks. I think the main problem is the lack of damper which I am addressing. With the wood burning plate I think it let the air circulate too much under the bio bricks and they burn too fast. That's the reason I had made a solid plate so only the top of the bio bricks were exposed to air like in a conventional wood stove. Hoping the new damper takes care of my problems.

I did the dollar bill test in the cleanout door as you suggested Steve. It seemed pretty tight. My primary drafts dont have springs inside as you mentioned, but they seem pretty tight and I'm guessing I'll have them open most of the time anyway. Thanks again for all your help, I'll send an update as I make more progress.

When I say springs Marty, I mean spring that hold the vent wheel tight to the ash door. Not to spring shut if that's what you meant. The spring just holds the vent wheel at the position you set it and tightens it against the door frame a bit. Hope that makes sense. Yes you will have them open to some degree most of the time. Looking forward to seeing the noxram job too. How did that go?

LsFarm wrote:Since you have the wood-burning plate removed, can you take and post a photo of the grates in the bottom of the firepot??
We can then see the Noxram installed and the type of grates your stove has.

Have you checked the operation of the grates to see if they work smoothly ??

Greg L

Hi Greg,

I'm posting a picture in the thread. The grates operately smoothly. The left crank has a hard time going 360 degrees, but seems good enough to shake.

Hi guys,

Here's a few pictures. I lined the stove with Noxram 45 on Saturday. My wife was kind enough to pick up a box from a refractory supply company as well as few bags of coal on her day off Friday. It was pretty easy to install and took less than 30 minutes. I banged the large bricks into smaller, flatter pieces in the basement with a rubber mallet and then tapped them into the stove.

The damper I ordered is still about a week out so I haven't had a fire yet. The Noxram is still soft in some areas, but I'm guessing by the time the damper arrives and I have a few small fires it will be good.

I also made a template of an ash bin out of cardboard and dropped it off at a fabricator in town.

Steve, here's a picture of the back of my primary vents. I don't think this is how they were installed originally?, but it seems to work.

I'll send another update once she's fired up.

You have prismatic grates as are common on many stoves of the era. Do you also have the crank to shake the grates.
The draft controls are as they did it originally. The pin that hold the damper is heated on the end, then hammered to make it stay put.
On the outside of the dampers, there are little cone shaped caps on them. Under these caps there are coil springs that are designed to push the damper plate firmly to the door. This spring pressure makes the dampers air tight. Some times the springs weaken with age and need to be replaced, however; replacing them is beyond a do it yourself job unless one is very skilled. An easy and effective fix is to get a 1/4 inch lock washer, cut it so that it slips around the center pin, underneath the spring loaded cap. This will compress the spring and the damper will once again be air tight.

wsherrick wrote:You have prismatic grates as are common on many stoves of the era. Do you also have the crank to shake the grates.
The draft controls are as they did it originally. The pin that hold the damper is heated on the end, then hammered to make it stay put.
On the outside of the dampers, there are little cone shaped caps on them. Under these caps there are coil springs that are designed to push the damper plate firmly to the door. This spring pressure makes the dampers air tight. Some times the springs weaken with age and need to be replaced, however; replacing them is beyond a do it yourself job unless one is very skilled. An easy and effective fix is to get a 1/4 inch lock washer, cut it so that it slips around the center pin, underneath the spring loaded cap. This will compress the spring and the damper will once again be air tight.

Thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind if I ever have problems with them. I do have the crank to shake the grates. I saw your videos on YouTube and found them very helpful. I'm going to watch them again before my first coal fire.

glenwoodoak wrote:

wsherrick wrote:You have prismatic grates as are common on many stoves of the era. Do you also have the crank to shake the grates.
The draft controls are as they did it originally. The pin that hold the damper is heated on the end, then hammered to make it stay put.
On the outside of the dampers, there are little cone shaped caps on them. Under these caps there are coil springs that are designed to push the damper plate firmly to the door. This spring pressure makes the dampers air tight. Some times the springs weaken with age and need to be replaced, however; replacing them is beyond a do it yourself job unless one is very skilled. An easy and effective fix is to get a 1/4 inch lock washer, cut it so that it slips around the center pin, underneath the spring loaded cap. This will compress the spring and the damper will once again be air tight.

Thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind if I ever have problems with them. I do have the crank to shake the grates. I saw your videos on YouTube and found them very helpful. I'm going to watch them again before my first coal fire.

Nice job on the liner Marty! Looks great. It's hard for me to see the pix well at the moment due to a graphics prob on the laptop here but the primaries do look a little different than mine? As long as they work and stay where you set them and are not floppy you're be fine. Can't wait to see a coal fire in the old gal!

You did a great job on the liner. Looks good. That liner will help to preserve the firepot of the stove. You have a really nice stove there. Fill us in when you fire her up.