getting smoke out

[Warfarin]

My brother in law is very frustrated with his wood stove and wants to remove it from his house. He would like to use it but it smokes too much. He says he tries to heat the flue but it cools to fast to be effective. It is in the basement. The flue take a 90 degree 1 foot up from the stove goes into the wall another 90 degree turn and up the side of the house in a brick chimney. It passes the ground level then the up stairs and out the top. Any body have any suggestions on how to get the stack to evacuate the smoke? I know they would enjoy it if they could get it to work properly.

 

[Photog95]

I have the same problem. Mine runs up the south side of my house. I have found that if I crack a basement window on the south side it will kinda pressurize the basement and help it breath ubtill the chimney gets warmed up enough to create a draw. If I dont it will fill the whole house with nasty sooty smelling smoke.

 

[MrWhoopee]

Does the pipe (or liner) go all the way to the top of the chimney or does the pipe just open into the chimney? If it doesn't go all the way up, it will be very difficult to get the stove to draw properly. In that case, a flexible liner will probably solve the problem.

 

[imagineero]

Does the pipe (or liner) go all the way to the top of the chimney or does the pipe just open into the chimney? If it doesn't go all the way up, it will be very difficult to get the stove to draw properly. In that case, a flexible liner will probably solve the problem.

+1

Even further, if it goes all the way to the top but still won't draw, adding 6'~10' of extension out the top can help, particularly if the existing chimney is below the peak of the roof.

Shaun

 

[blades]

Basement rig into lined, insulated, masonary flue, I have to run a forced draft for a bit when starting the wood burner down there or it reverses on me filling the basement very quickly. Even with a window cracked open. Once I get it warmed up its fine.

 

[RVALUE]

I'll bet the flue has sooted up already. In some cases this can happen fast. Adding more pipe won't help.

Check that the pipe is clear, especially on level runs.

 

[Fyrebug]

Not the stove... Bad installation.

Use 2 45 degree instead of one 90 above the stove. Go as high as possible above the stove before elbowing out to give the venturi effect the chance to take over.

if you dont have a liner you "MUST" install one. I dont care what brand of stove you use, every single one of them will have drafting problem with this type of installation if you dont size your flue to your stove as per MFG recommendation.

Do not blame the stove, It's a black square box made of metal and bricks.

Please provide us with pics of inside and outside installation so we can help further.

 

[stihly dan]

I had the same problem, when cold there was a down draft, when hot way to much draft. Try a BDR.

 

[Warfarin]

---

Basement rig into lined, insulated, masonary flue, I have to run a forced draft for a bit when starting the wood burner down there or it reverses on me filling the basement very quickly. Even with a window cracked open. Once I get it warmed up its fine.

What is forced draft and how do you accomplish it?

 

[Warfarin]

I will try to get up to his house and check it out further and get more details based on what has been posted. Thanks so far for the help.

 

[740jsmayle]

I'm having sorta the same problem . My seut up is almost identical . 90 is 1 ft up 40" run thru wall to the T and a insulated flex liner up 19 ft . Masonary chimney is 2 ft above the peak liner is 6" above that. When I open the door to load it it smokes me out .Even with air and draft wide open it still does it. Basement is not air tight. What Needs To Be Done To Fix This Problem ?

 

[cantoo]

I use a propane torch to light mine to get the draft going.

 

[PEKS]

Pre-heat flue good, (more so in damp cold weather) use a heat gun or torch and make sure the basement windows are open..
Using a small amount of rolled up newspaper, ignite and ensure the smoke is being drawn up the flue before sparking up the wood stack..
The flame and smoke should be getting inhaled up the flue. If the smoke is not being drawn, do not light the stack, heat the flue more..
(This will also minimize the amount of smoke if a backpuff occurs (smoke only from lit newspaper) if the draw is not strong enough..)

 

[Macman125]

As stated earlier make sure the chimney is taller than the peak of the roof. This is a common draft
problem.

 

[740jsmayle]

Thanks for the reply. The flue is hot . It's be burning all day I can go down and put wood in and before I close the door smoke will start rolling out. There is a pretty good draft coming in to the basement around the door ( 6x8 garage door )

2 ft above the peak of the house. Before installing the liner i could light nespaper in front of thimble and it would draw newspaper out of my hand and up the chimney

 

[woodchuck357]

If the stove pipe exits out of the back of the stove instead of the top, you may need to hang a hinged metal flap inside the door to make the effective top of the door below the stove's flue opening to keep it from smoking up the house

 

[740jsmayle]

It exits out the top and has the hinged flap at the door also

 

[blades]

Need to raise the top of your flue. Perferable higher by 3 feet than any other peak of house. It is also possible that nearby structures and /or trees are having a negative influence on your draft. Basement installs are always problematic in regards to drafting issues. what diameter is the liner on the inside? Do you have any horizontal sections from the appliance to the flue? If so you need to find a way to estabish a rise from the appliance to the flue. I have a unit in the basement, on a cold flue I have to induce a draft with the output of a shopvac. ( redneck draft inducer) Even when the unit is running hot I still get some smoke spillage, flapper at top of door. This due mostly to the design which requires the combustion by products to travel to the front and rise right above the door into another chamber then across that & out the rear. The whole unit is a pia. I have also had that unit do a draft reversal completely filling the 2000 sq ft basement with smoke in a couple minutes. That was fun. Getting it cleared out was even more so. Fortunately it was not tied into the main level so the smoke was contained.

 

[woodchuck357]

I designed a sliding plate that allowed the smoke a short cut up and out the back of the fire box when the stove door was opened. With the door closed the gases had to come to the front and then along the top to the back where the stove pipe came out the top. If the chimney is not to big and is insulated so it isn't cooling the smoke to fast, a lot of news paper may be needed to be burned to heat the whole length and get the draft started.

 

[haveawoody]

I'm in the 2- 45 change of the 90 and addition of 6' to the chimney group.

You might find just the change of the 90 makes a huge impact so I would try it first and you might find that adding to the chimney isn't even needed.