Plugged chimney cap

I exppect to have one in the not so distant future.

 

I had to clean the cap again today. The chimney was very clean, though I brushed it while on the snow-covered roof.

The wood is dry, seasoned 2+ years (douglas fir, pine, aspen), the Codar STT and Condar flue thermometer confirm I am burning hot enough, there is no smoke, I have quit very low overnight burns, and use no paper to light.

I have no explanation, but I am now running screenless. I will look at putting a coarser screen when burning season ends.

 

The screen will be cold. Regardless of flue temp. Enlarge or delete.

 

We had a problem almost two years ago in the fall, we had it taken off for good. I clean the chimney from the bottom up so that could've helped it plug but the guy who took it off said they all plug sooner or later unless you clean the screen.

 

Installed the Condar flue probe.

 

Right there with ya, but you knew that. After I removed my screen on the 26th, I've seen a dramatic improvement In draft. Also double checking my wood and found some I thought to be ready was still close to 30%. Now I've got temp gauges and my own mm, so no excuses for not checking often until I have this figured out.
Keep learning. The warmth is worth it!


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You might want to experiment some more with over night burns; mine are getting better but I am making sure the stove and flue are fairly hot before shutting the damper down. I am not stuffing the stove; idea is to have some overnight heat and coals to help start the morning fire.

 

Good to hear that your's are going better.

I have been doing some "mild" overnight burns, not stuffed to the gills and not shutting down as much. Last night I went to bed with a mid-range STT and 4 splits on a bed of coals. This morning the house was at 67 and outside was 17, and there were coals for the relight, so that was quite fine. (I only slept 6 hours though.) Burning lodgepole pine and douglas fir, not known for overnight burns.

Tonight I am going to try to fine-tune it a little more using the new Condar flue thermometer. New toy, oops, I mean new tool!

 

Glad you removed the screen bushpilot

 

You're on your way now.

 

So far the flue temp and STT pretty much mirror each other, so I am not sure why having both is useful.

 

During the whole burn cycle?

 

Where do you have the thermometers placed? Is the STT in the place recommended by the manufacturer?

 

Not sure I am doing it correctly or not but from a cool start I let a small fire burn hot and watch the flue thermometer; once the flue is up to temp; I will add more wood; larger pieces and then shut the door tight and let the normal air flow feed the fire. The STT won't be in the operating range at all. From what I understand, you need a hot chimney to help the stove draft.

 

The flue thermometer is 19 inches up from the stove top. The installation instructions said to install it "slightly more than 18 inches" above, which I found entertaining. But I did exactly what they said.

The STT thermometer is mounted on the hottest part of the stove top. There are no stove manufacturer's recommendations for placement, not even a vague one like provided for your Madison.

Pretty much. But I only have a couple of days with the flue thermometer, more observation to come. And I haven't done a sustained HOT burn yet with it, that will be on Tuesday, according to the weatherman.

What would you normally expect me to see between the two?

 

BTW, when I say they mirror esch other, I am not referring to specific numbers. The flue temps are obviously much higher than STT! But their scale movements pretty much match each other, as well as the "burn zone" indications (too cool, good burn, too hot).

The flue temperature probably is a little quicker at responding.

 

Maybe different stoves and different climate, but mine makes it a lot easier to figure out what's going on, and how to get the best "gas mileage" so to speak. My stove temp and flue probe are not linear to each other. My flue probe can be registering say 400 f on a cold start with the door cracked a hair, while the stove temp has only walked up to 150 f. Then I might close the door completely and throttle the air back 25 % The flue temp will now hold or creep slightly, but within the next few minutes the stove temp goes up.

I'll cut the air again, and the stove temp keeps walking up, while the flue might stay, or doddle up as well. I'm not sure I'm getting my point across, but basically you don't need to rage the flue temp to 800 f and the stove temp to 500 f before cutting your air. This is how the probe helps, as you know what's going to happen before it happens.

Kind of like progressive shifting with big trucks, where you shift as soon as the next gear can keep you moving forward and you get going quicker and save fuel. As opposed to winding the truck out in every gear (raging the fire and blowing heat up the chimney).

 

Therein lies the trick!

 

Thanks, very helpful. I haven't done a cold start with the probe yet, so I have yet to see all its magic.