Roofgunner
ArboristSite Member
I figured this would make a good Christmas story and be related to fireplaces. Most every year I make English suet pudding in my grandmothers Mary Dunbar cooker "The Waterless Steamer" This is the same desert that would have been made by Bob Cratehet's wife in the movie "Scrooge" It has to be steamed for 3 hours.
We have two, FPX 36 fireplaces that we had built into the house-one in the finished basement and one in the sitting room upstairs which is off of the kitchen. In this incident, the one was going in the basement and the one upstairs was not fired. Generally, unless the temp goes below 5 or 10 above, the one heats the house (about 3200 sq ft) fine.
Last year, around Christmas, on the day I made the pudding, it was cold, windy. Probably around zero and the wind was hitting the house on the chimney side, and the FPX was a little cold. So I started the pudding which put allot of humidity in the air. I noticed it because the glass block windows in the bathroom were sweating (have made storm windows for them as they are not energy efficient like the rest of the Pella's we have) I think it was the next morning the blower on the basement fireplace quit. The breaker had blown so I reset it. Then it blew again. Investigation of the bottom blower, switch, wiring looked OK. I also didn't think as to whether or not the fireplaces were wired together. I called the dealer and he said Travis industries had issued a bulletin to the dealers about humidifers being used in homes in the winter. So after investigation I found the following
1) The stove motors were wired in the same breaker. (2) Due to the humidty put into the house air the upstairs fireplace sweated just enough for enough water to get around the switch which is located on the right side of the fireplace that activates when you close the door. (This is tied into the heat sensor) (3) The clearence between the screws where the wires hook on to the switch is very close to the stove and these wires have a wrapping on them. So, when enough moister:hmm3grin2orange: got on that area POP goes the breaker. This never happend before and we've run the 36's since 2006. So can steam pudding shut down a fireplace the answer is yes. Additionally, if you have a tight house, a 1200 cfm stove vent with four speeds, if you don't open a window wide enough when you are cooking steaks in the indoor bar-be-que it will suck the smoke right down the chimney! Merry Xmas and Happy New Year.
We have two, FPX 36 fireplaces that we had built into the house-one in the finished basement and one in the sitting room upstairs which is off of the kitchen. In this incident, the one was going in the basement and the one upstairs was not fired. Generally, unless the temp goes below 5 or 10 above, the one heats the house (about 3200 sq ft) fine.
Last year, around Christmas, on the day I made the pudding, it was cold, windy. Probably around zero and the wind was hitting the house on the chimney side, and the FPX was a little cold. So I started the pudding which put allot of humidity in the air. I noticed it because the glass block windows in the bathroom were sweating (have made storm windows for them as they are not energy efficient like the rest of the Pella's we have) I think it was the next morning the blower on the basement fireplace quit. The breaker had blown so I reset it. Then it blew again. Investigation of the bottom blower, switch, wiring looked OK. I also didn't think as to whether or not the fireplaces were wired together. I called the dealer and he said Travis industries had issued a bulletin to the dealers about humidifers being used in homes in the winter. So after investigation I found the following
1) The stove motors were wired in the same breaker. (2) Due to the humidty put into the house air the upstairs fireplace sweated just enough for enough water to get around the switch which is located on the right side of the fireplace that activates when you close the door. (This is tied into the heat sensor) (3) The clearence between the screws where the wires hook on to the switch is very close to the stove and these wires have a wrapping on them. So, when enough moister:hmm3grin2orange: got on that area POP goes the breaker. This never happend before and we've run the 36's since 2006. So can steam pudding shut down a fireplace the answer is yes. Additionally, if you have a tight house, a 1200 cfm stove vent with four speeds, if you don't open a window wide enough when you are cooking steaks in the indoor bar-be-que it will suck the smoke right down the chimney! Merry Xmas and Happy New Year.
