Turn draft/damper all the way open, wait, then very slowly open the door. The way I was told to do it with my circa 2001 insert.
Thank you all for the answers. In orderd to answer everybody: - I considered a fan in the pipe, but would be my last resort; - there are no restrictions around the cap or the pipe. I replaced the cap that the builders did with a Chinese cap. Slightly improved, but still got the problem; - I opened doors and windows when opening the stove door, didnt help; - total rise of the chimney, from stove to the cap is about 4mt. I have 2.40mt inside, including 2 45degrees bends. And about 1.5mt on the roof.
I have it, tomorrow when is cold I will take a photo. The screws in it are burned, I wanted to open it, tried to take off 1 screw but it broke so I stopped.
That's pretty short...adding another 3'/1 meter to it would certainly help! Most stoves need at least 15-16'/4 meters, some more.
I opened your pictures to full view to get a better look, Do you have a "Restrictor plate" just below the pipe outlet? If you do, how big is it? Is it as wide or nearly as wide as the inside of the stove? There could be your problem! The distance between your door opening and the bottom of the restrictor plate may only be a few inches!!! Of COURSE it's gonna puke smoke! It can't flow out fast enough...
This is the inside. I still not have clear what is the front handle for, removing smoke from the glass? While the iron plate that is directly below the pipe, that is one of the pieces for which I am not sure is placed the correct way
YES!!!! As I suspected! There lies your problem! I'n my opinion... Your only means of smoke escape from what I am seeing is those openings on the sides of the plate. Having smoke move "Sideways" before it can go up will creat that problem. Your smoke can't go up easy until you create a heat flow... "IM NOT" telling what you should do, but If you have a welding shop close by, or you own a torch, (I) would open those holes a few inches larger inside, I believe you'll get a better smoke flow and lose very little heat.
If you burn or cut some baseball size holes, one on each side of that plate, I believe your have a WORLD of difference!
I agree with what everyone has said. I also will add two things, first figure out what the sliding knob on the front does. It is attached to something and does something. Without a fire burning use a mirror or stick your head in the stove, move it repeatedly until you figure out what it does, It might help release the smoke. Or try taking a photo of where the other end of it is. Second thing, with my insert this works best, start a fire and let it burn. First with the door just cracked open until it gets going pretty well, close the door, let it burn until it is red hot embers, then reload. I don't try to reload when I still have smoky burning wood. After everything is good and hot, say second or third reload, I might put a chunk in while there still are a few flames but not when it is smoky in the firebox, and every time I reload, open the bypass, crack the door, wait a minute, then open and put wood in.
With some holes in the upper plate, you won't have that issue! Do you have a date when that stove was made? I'll tell you why. The stove Industry was experimenting with trying to cut the "Poluttion" down of wood smoke, so many tried difussers, baffles re burn chambers and CAT's! All of those things did nothing but cause a big FVC-KN head ache for most people. I built/made a baffle for my Grandma Fisher, all it basically does is create a longer burn of gases and doesn't send them up the pipe that fast. You can accomplish the same situation by taking a hole saw or a torch and making some holes in that upper plate. (My Opinion) but I've seen a lot of these issues and 98% of the time is caused by "Restriction" and thats exactly what you have going on in your fire box and also, taking into consideration the distance your heat/smoke flow has to travel.
There is a gap the whole way across the front too (along the lines of a more typical baffle setup) And that plate looks to be more or less like factory parts/design to me. I strongly suspect that the underlying issue here is the short chimney, especially since its not a "straight up" chimney. I just realized that this is a 2 sided stove...now THAT is unusual! People with a 2 sided masonry fireplace would kill for that unit! When you twiddle that knob above the door, what happens inside? I suspect that you are adjusting the air wash for the door glass, and/or "boost" air... Edit: OR, since this is 2 sided, does the knob change where the air goes, as far as which side is being viewed/loaded from?
