Barometric Damper Adjustments on a Coal Stove

I read on here that many people "set and forget" their barometric damper so it limits the draft to -.05 (or whatever their stove requires) and never have to touch it again. It seems I have to adjust my damper weekly, depending on the outside temps and/or wind. I try to keep my sf260 draft between -.045 and -.05. My damper is 5 years old and does not show any signs of wear. The pivot point is slightly oblong in the horizontal axis and I can raise my draft slightly by pulling the flapper forward.

Am I the only one who has to routinely adjust their damper?

Mine is a few years old and the pivot holes aren't exact anymore so as it moves around it gets 'off' a little per the manometer reading. The only adjustment I make is to nudge the flapper back so the pivot is toward the back of the holes when I fill the hopper and swap ash pans.

I do vac off the back of the flapper when I vac out the horizontal flue pipe too.

I don't remember the last time I moved the counterweight.

Are you re zeroing your manometer with it disconnected? Do you burn wood at all?

Yes, I zero it out with it disconnected (just rechecked and it.. It was right on). I sometimes burn a load of wood in the spring and fall but I cap off the damper. Here is a pic of my setup.

I have my baro set to maintain -.03 and during normal temps outside (25-30 degrees) it holds steady right there.

When it falls below 20 outside the mano will read -.04.. when it gets around zero outside it will read -.05

It varies a little depending how cold it is outside and how hard I'm pushing to produce heat. I've accepted the -.05 reading when it's really cold out since I need it to run hot anyways.

If you see a variance like this, I wouldn't be concerned. Just set it and enjoy the smooth steady heat.

Lightning, that sound about like mine... The problem is that at much below .04 the recovery time for the boiler is too long. Conversely, at just a little above .05, it burns white hot. I can see adjusting the weight for warm shoulder months, but it seems mine needs a setting for above 25 and another setting for below 25.

These days of 40 for a high and 15 for a low are tough to adjust for but I always err on the low side to prevent a meltdown

I usually don't adjust mine, clean the back side of it maybe once a month or so.

it may go up a little more draft when it's really cold, but it opens way up and still gives me a .05 or so, I don;t worry about readjusting it all the time.

I feel bad for the folks with fussy drafts and/or stoves. After reading many posts It seems like I have the most trouble-free installation out there.

My chimney is simple-I go straight up to the ceiling with 5 feet of black pipe and then 8 feet of SS chimney exposing 3 feet of it above the roof line. The cap is about 6 inches above the roof peak. A simple mushroom cap to keep the birds and rain out.

On very windy days the baro does its thing, otherwise it stays closed.

I have a MPD between the stove and baro, it stays totally closed until I poke/shake when I open it fully to recover the fire. My primary air stays wide open and I throttle the output with the MPD. If it's very cold overnight I crack the MPD accordingly before bed and on warm days outside I close down the primary air in addition to the closed MPD.

We had to drive our daughter back to Boston after Christmas, I shook/filled the stove before leaving and closed down the air to a minimum figuring I'd clean it out and restart it upon return. To my surprise when I returned 34 hours later I had 75% visible glowing coal. I poked/shook it and it took off again. It was untouched it for all that time.

I'm using Blaschak pea, I worked with some nut last year during the cold times, it was more trouble than it was worth.

My stove is pretty much 'set it and forget it' morning and night. Why I don't know but I'm thankful.

nepacoal wrote:Lightning, that sound about like mine... The problem is that at much below .04 the recovery time for the boiler is too long. Conversely, at just a little above .05, it burns white hot. I can see adjusting the weight for warm shoulder months, but it seems mine needs a setting for above 25 and another setting for below 25.

These days of 40 for a high and 15 for a low are tough to adjust for but I always err on the low side to prevent a meltdown

Ok so how bout this? Set the baro where you want it and use a clothes pin to hold the baro shut while it recovers after a fresh load. I use the clothes pin sometimes. Like this..

I've currently got mine adjusted to begin opening at 0.05". But once it's open, my manometer reads steady at 0.03". I find that a bit odd.

I do hold mine closed with a wire sometimes after a reload, but just until I get strong blue ladies...

Sounds like I'm not alone but I may be obsessing more than most do over the draft.

In researching this issue and reviewing my setup, I concluded that the existing barometric damper was not installed correctly. It had an air restriction where the damper pipe connected to the stove pipe. The installer (previous owner stated stove was installed by a professional) left a great deal of metal blocking the airflow of the damper. The existing pipes were at least 4 years old so I replaced them and correctly installed the damper pipe following the field control directions. It has been in operation for a week with temps ranging from -2 to 36. The draft has been rock steady at -.05 with no adjustments necessary except at initial installation. I found a type M on eBay for $30.99 delivered and used durablack pipe.