flames in pipe from stove to chimney

another type of thermometer that works well for the flue pipe is a probe thermometer used on bar-b-q grills. the big box stores have them for around $10. they are threaded so you drill a hole in the flue pipe and thread the probe in, the 2" or 3" probe gets into the heated exhaust.

I'd recommend updating your gaskets too since they are 6 years old. probably fairly compressed after all that time. check your manual to see if they are 1/2".

Stoves with a therostatic controled damper like the free-standing Hitzer stoves can function well without a Barometric damper,
and an MPD is a good idea with these stoves if the draft is strong..

ONLY stoves with a thremostic camper work well without a baro. The thermostat corrects for the variations in draft caused by wind, weather and temperature.

The BARO is NOT the cause of the flames in your flue pipe, your coal has changed and has more volitiles in it, this
is the reason for the flames in your pipe. Even if the coal is from the same retailer, the coal coming out of the
mines changes from time to time.

You can put foil over the baro, but the flames are still there, you just can't see them. .

The normal operation of a Hitzer stove is to just have a very small opening in the front vents, and use the
back thermostatic damper to control the stove's output.

Greg L.

cram4400 wrote:do u mean cover the baro completely with foil nd close it off? where do i put an mpd? do u know wat is causing the flames? All other years we have only used the vent on the ash door. did not use the back vent. did not even understand how it worked, however this year i found info on this site that explained the back vent enough for us to try it. so we set that one at 7 but it has a habit of continuously closing bcuz i turn it down after shaking due to the flames in that pipe. nd then of course it ends up closing. but had the back at 7 and the ash door vent only open a little less than a quarter of the way. thank you

I use to get flames in my pipe once in a while. Thinking back, I believe it was from the stove body cooling off, and the back flapper openning up. When the stove is tended, it takes a while for the mass of the stove body to heat back up, closing the back flapper. Meanwhile, the coal takes off, roaring away. Burning gasses off, which are headed up the pipe. The stack temps acually get higher and higher from gasses burning in the pipe. After a bit, things will settle back down. My suggestion: Should the mass of stove body get cooled off, turn the back dial down, closing the back flapper. After the stove is back up to temp, you can then put the dial back where it was. You can also do as others have said; Add a manual pipe damper.

LsFarm wrote:The BARO is NOT the cause of the flames in your flue pipe, your coal has changed and has more volitiles in it, this
is the reason for the flames in your pipe. Even if the coal is from the same retailer, the coal coming out of the
mines changes from time to time.

I think Greg is right,I had the same problem when I got a load of South Tamaqua nut,it did the same thing your is doing with flames in the flue pipe but I haven't had a problem since I quit burning it and I have not changed my tending routine.Keepaeyeonit

Lightning wrote:My guess is that the coal was getting a bit over drafted when you shake it down. I see a big blueish with some yellow flame, probably 12 inches high off mine when I shake down a hot coal bed and its very cold outside. It too would head up into the pipe if the baffles weren't in the way.. I'm not on the team that thinks the dampers are the culprit

How far up the pipe would you say the flames are reaching?

I'm not on the damper culprit team either. It's not the barometric dampers fault. I had no dampers what so ever on my 50-93. I do agree that the manual pipe damper may hold the flames down some. Flames go up the pipe on many stoves. I've seen it many times over the years. The only difference is; most people never know it. I happen to be standing just right in a low light situation, when I happen to spot flames going past a pipe connection (just off the stove) on my HITZER 50-93. I'm guessing they were going about 1 - 1-1/2 feet up the pipe. It's excess draft/gasses burning off. The pipe temp continues to rise untill gasses are burnt off. It would remind you of forgetting to close the ash pan door, but not as severe. Oliver

LsFarm wrote:Stoves with a therostatic controled damper like the free-standing Hitzer stoves can function well without a Barometric damper,
and an MPD is a good idea with these stoves if the draft is strong..

ONLY stoves with a thremostic camper work well without a baro. The thermostat corrects for the variations in draft caused by wind, weather and temperature.

The BARO is NOT the cause of the flames in your flue pipe, your coal has changed and has more volitiles in it, this
is the reason for the flames in your pipe. Even if the coal is from the same retailer, the coal coming out of the
mines changes from time to time.

You can put foil over the baro, but the flames are still there, you just can't see them. .

The normal operation of a Hitzer stove is to just have a very small opening in the front vents, and use the
back thermostatic damper to control the stove's output.

Greg L.

well done LTfarm! more volatiles makes for more flames shooting up the pipe and thats this posters problem im 99.9% sure... it also makes for clinkers the size of softballs too. Have you noticed less of the blue ladies during this period of the flame thrower? if so... its your coal and you can make some adjustments to your stove by trial N error as LT says to try to lesson the problem but you should go back to your dealer and tell him not to do that again (he surly went to a different source), You can get get some slight variations (to pinkinsh ash) from the same mines but ive never seen the kind of change your talking about here from one mine/source, i think he went cheapo on you to make more $$$ for himself! like buying a cord of ash and getting pine

LsFarm wrote:Stoves with a therostatic controled damper like the free-standing Hitzer stoves can function well without a Barometric damper,
and an MPD is a good idea with these stoves if the draft is strong..

ONLY stoves with a thremostic camper work well without a baro. The thermostat corrects for the variations in draft caused by wind, weather and temperature.

The BARO is NOT the cause of the flames in your flue pipe, your coal has changed and has more volitiles in it, this
is the reason for the flames in your pipe. Even if the coal is from the same retailer, the coal coming out of the
mines changes from time to time.

You can put foil over the baro, but the flames are still there, you just can't see them. .

The normal operation of a Hitzer stove is to just have a very small opening in the front vents, and use the
back thermostatic damper to control the stove's output.

Greg L.

Yes Greg, You are on the money with both; the flame up the pipe situation, as well as stove operation. Couldn't have said it any better myself. Would not have said anything if I read your reply first. Oliver

oliver power wrote:

LsFarm wrote:Stoves with a therostatic controled damper like the free-standing Hitzer stoves can function well without a Barometric damper,
and an MPD is a good idea with these stoves if the draft is strong..

ONLY stoves with a thremostic camper work well without a baro. The thermostat corrects for the variations in draft caused by wind, weather and temperature.

The BARO is NOT the cause of the flames in your flue pipe, your coal has changed and has more volitiles in it, this
is the reason for the flames in your pipe. Even if the coal is from the same retailer, the coal coming out of the
mines changes from time to time.

You can put foil over the baro, but the flames are still there, you just can't see them. .

The normal operation of a Hitzer stove is to just have a very small opening in the front vents, and use the
back thermostatic damper to control the stove's output.

Greg L.

Yes Greg, You are on the money with both; the flame up the pipe situation, as well as stove operation. Couldn't have said it any better myself. Would not have said anything if I read your reply first. Oliver

ouch... i wont take offense to that anyways, the reason for the reply was 2 fold... #1 to explain to the poster that his dealer quite possibly pulled a "fast one" on them by changing the coal quality but not changing the price.(something maybe Greg did not wish to convey because he's needs to be appropriate as a mod) #2 to re-enforce to the poster that of the 37 suggestions and posts the only correct one I feel was Greg's. (how will the poster pinpoint which suggestion is in fact the correct one if nobody re-enforces it since he has no clue who Greg is). anywho.... sorry i upset you and feel free to PM me next time. Thanks

dcrane wrote:

oliver power wrote:

LsFarm wrote:Stoves with a therostatic controled damper like the free-standing Hitzer stoves can function well without a Barometric damper,
and an MPD is a good idea with these stoves if the draft is strong..

ONLY stoves with a thremostic camper work well without a baro. The thermostat corrects for the variations in draft caused by wind, weather and temperature.

The BARO is NOT the cause of the flames in your flue pipe, your coal has changed and has more volitiles in it, this
is the reason for the flames in your pipe. Even if the coal is from the same retailer, the coal coming out of the
mines changes from time to time.

You can put foil over the baro, but the flames are still there, you just can't see them. .

The normal operation of a Hitzer stove is to just have a very small opening in the front vents, and use the
back thermostatic damper to control the stove's output.

Greg L.

Yes Greg, You are on the money with both; the flame up the pipe situation, as well as stove operation. Couldn't have said it any better myself. Would not have said anything if I read your reply first. Oliver

ouch... i wont take offense to that anyways, the reason for the reply was 2 fold... #1 to explain to the poster that his dealer quite possibly pulled a "fast one" on them by changing the coal quality but not changing the price.(something maybe Greg did not wish to convey because he's needs to be appropriate as a mod) #2 to re-enforce to the poster that of the 37 suggestions and posts the only correct one I feel was Greg's. (how will the poster pinpoint which suggestion is in fact the correct one if nobody re-enforces it since he has no clue who Greg is). anywho.... sorry i upset you and feel free to PM me next time. Thanks

"ouch... i wont take offense to that". I don't understand.......Not trying to offend anyone here. Please explain......... EDIT: DARNED COMPUTORS!!! Simply a mis-understanding. We've all been there.......... OK, Back to playing.

my 50-93 would run blue flame up to the baro. if i left the ash door open to long. Close the ash door and it would die down in a matter of seconds, I would use a magnet to keep the baro. closed ,so it would fire up quicker after a shakedown.

thank you to everyone for all the info. when you buy a coal stove, there are a ton of things nobody seems to tell you. i honestly believe we've just been limping along in our ignorance. have replaced the stove gaskets and that has made a world of difference. never had this issue with coal and volitiles. i do believe we got some different coal. we also will be putting in a manual damper as well as leaving our baro in. i now understand the use of both. thank you very much. i believe the manual will help cut back on the draft when extremely cold and windy. will be more aware of questions to ask when getting coal. does anyone know of places to buy coal in bags? we always have 4 tons delivered and dumped in the coal shute. thanks again everyone

cram4400 wrote:thank you to everyone for all the info. when you buy a coal stove, there are a ton of things nobody seems to tell you. i honestly believe we've just been limping along in our ignorance. have replaced the stove gaskets and that has made a world of difference. never had this issue with coal and volitiles. i do believe we got some different coal. we also will be putting in a manual damper as well as leaving our baro in. i now understand the use of both. thank you very much. i believe the manual will help cut back on the draft when extremely cold and windy. will be more aware of questions to ask when getting coal. does anyone know of places to buy coal in bags? we always have 4 tons delivered and dumped in the coal shute. thanks again everyone

Where do you live? Please finish filling in your information.

sorry filled it in.

did a quick search on the forum and Sanderson and Sterner are two names of businesses that sell coal in the york area. Don't know if they have bagged or not but it at least gives you somebody to call and ask.