Potential problem with new stove

Draft is generated by the chimney. That's the engine that drives the stove. The stove is designed to operate with a certain amount of chimney draft. In this case, 0.04" - 0.08". That is what the intake control is designed to work with. So if the chimney makes more draft than that, it will pull more air in through the intake than designed for. And make the stove burn hotter or overburn. I read through the manual and there are a couple of advisories in there on that. I would bet there is more than that by the description of your chimney. Mine is 30' and it can pull over 0.2".

So - sounds like you either have an overdrafting chimney, or a leak (which could also be from the control not working right somehow). Either way, since this is a new stove (I think - didn't go back & re-read from the beginning), I would think a competent and service oriented dealer would want to be on top of things like that, and maybe send someone out to verify chimney draft, and potential leaks. Then the fix should become apparent - fix the leak (which should be on the stove guys somewhere along the line as that would be a defect), or limit the draft. Which is almost always done with a pipe damper. But I did find it curious that there was no mention of a pipe damper or possible need for one anywhere in the manual. That I saw. It just said the max limit, but said nothing about what to do if over that. Which might then lead to the conclusion that this stove is a bad match to your chimney and you should have a different one. But I wouldn't take the big jump to that step, without actually first contacting the company that made the stove and asking what you are supposed to do if your chimney pulls over 0.08". And ideally you would get that answer in writing (via email?) - then if they tell you to use a pipe damper, that should satisfy your insurance person. Actually, along with getting a manometer to check your draft with yourself - I would also likely right away email the stove company and ask that question anyway. Curious what they come back with.

Also noted from the manual and their notes on the stove top thermometer and temps that it does seem like it is burning too hot. And IMO the blower kit might lower stove temps some but that isn't what it is made for - it is purely optional. So yes does seem like a bandaid in this case.

BTW sounds like you have a real PITA for an insurance company. My sympathies. That is a big enough racket to deal with sometimes without having an agent with an attitude on top of it. Mine are all very good with this kind of stuff (deal with two - one has the house & other has the cottage) - although I don't have a log house so not sure what their hangup is there. Might still be worth asking another insurance company about it depending how this plays out - there's quite a few of them around here and I live in nowhereville.

 

Burn a stick of incense and watch to see if the smoke gets sucked in anywhere around the stove. This should find leaks and also the designed air sources.

 

To be clear, when you adjust the single air control fully closed you should know that the actual intake to the stove does not close all the way. This is on purpose and is intended to prevent a consumer from running the stove too cool and causing pollution. Given your strong draft, that minimal inlet air is too much which causes the stove to run away.

Fully shutting down a modern woodstove never closes the air off and very often results in stove temps going up.

 

If you've a OAK, try to restrict air flow by percentage amounts to test burning results. Doing a draft test is the way to go to know what's going on.

 

It does sound like you ruled out the stuff I mentioned. I thought it was important to rule them out since they are the easiest things to check. Sometimes they get overlooked.
I do agree that adding a fan is a patch job. There would be a real problem if your power went out. Not a great solution.

 

Get back to us once you try the temporary key damper.

Sorry your ins companies are the way they are.

Do yourself a favor and move to Wisconsin!

 

Finally someone echoing what I'm thinking about the blower. Thanks for the detail. I will look into the draft reading and go from there as well as email the rep about what to do with excessive draft if that's what I find.

Here's the issue however and one thing I have a real pet peeve for. I HAVE to go to my sales rep. He then goes to his rep and eventually somewhere in there, it goes to the manufacturor. Why I can't call them direct is rather irritating. Sales rep told me to bring him the stove and he would drive it to Iowa for his rep to look at. Talk about a huge PITA. There has never bee not a time that anyone has ever offered to come service what they sold me.

Insurance company and their inspectors are a complete joke. Multiple really stupid issues every time they come out. My wife calls them the house nazi's.

 

Good old Illinois - thieving bastards for a government, insane taxes, state is absolutely broke, Chicago is a dumpster, no incentives for new business and the tax base is leaving in droves. Sounds like a terrific place to live.

 

You remind me of the old "Don and Roma show"

You deserve better!

 

Agreed. The air inlet into the stove is about a 1/4" hole. I do not have access to the actual draft door mechanism that I can find - it's behind steel that I cannot get to.

 

Bring the stove to them? How do they expect to properly diagnose an issue if they can't diagnose it in place and burning on the chimney it is to be used with? This sounds like a no service shop. If they didn't raise a potential draft issue the first time you asked them about this I have to wonder if they should be in the stove business or not.

 

Yea, I thought it was a bit ridiculous to me also. He did mention a possible excess draft issue but still prescribed the blower. Otherwise and if I didn't like that option, I needed to bring the stove to him.

 

So, as an experiment tonight, I went around the entire stove with a inscent stick and checked everything. The only air that I see going into the stove is at the primary air intake on the bottom of the stove - good so far. I also have partially blocked the primary air intake on the bottom of the stove. It's about 3.5" opening and I have it about 1/3 closed off. A magnet from the shop seemed to have been a good solution for now. The stove is now acting much better. So, this tells me that it is most likely an excess draft issue.

The next question is now, if in fact this is the issue, am I better off with my temporary solution or is a damper a better idea? I guess it's just a matter of where the air is restricted, either at the entrance of the stove or in the stack. I'd much rather have a reduced air inlet than install a damper just because of the insurance issue. Any thoughts?

 

Seems like a good solution to me, and a common one.

I took mine apart and grinded down a metal stop so I could shut it further. Yep, voided warranty and yada yada yada. It works better now.

 

This

 

To me it was the simplest test to try! If you can get a letter from the stove manufacturer requiring a damper to control excess draft in your set-up could be your ticket needed for insurance or start shopping around. Your dealer better step up to the plate and help you out on that letter.

 

Well I'm wondering now if I even want to go the damper route, given all the hassle. Why not just leave my temporary restriction in place? Is there a fault of doing it this way? A bit more inconvenient to adjust when needed, but it's a solution that won't be found by the geek, black glasses, pocket protector wearing, cancellation notices in his briefcase house nazi.

 

Nothing wrong with your fix. It works. It's done. Enjoy the heat.

Sent from my SM-T280 using Tapatalk

 

That sounds promising. I would run with it.

I would still try to contact the company and ask them what they recommend to do if your chimney has too much draft - their reply might be worth capturing & saving for posterity sake. Never know what the future will bring. Especially in dealing with insurance companies.

The only 'bad' thing I can think about for the magnet thing is that it is also a sort of bandaid - if your stove developed a future leak for some other reason (like dirt on a gasket or whatever), that strong chimney draft would still be there to suddenly pump your temps up again, maybe without you noticing it or being aware right away.

 

Sawdog, the reasoning behind of not disclosing your make of stove has me stumped. By having us know from the start can only help you troubleshoot the situation much quicker. We're not the house nazi's but a friendly bunch willing to help each other out at times of need
Now you can add your stove into your signature
You can make a adjustable screened inlet for your OAK with a locking screw and be done with it