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Heeelp with new manometer...

Discussion in 'Modern EPA Stoves and Fireplaces' started by Lucy, Dec 15, 2017.

  1. Lucy

    Lucy

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    To all those smart guys on here. I bought the Dwyer Mark 2 #25. It doesn't come with a pitot, do i need to spend another $100+ so i can use this on a chimney or am i not understanding the instructions?:hair::hair::hair:
     
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  2. TurboDiesel

    TurboDiesel

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  3. brenndatomu

    brenndatomu

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    No pitot needed to test wood stove chimney draft.
    You can make the connection as fancy or as simple as you want...I have mine on a furnace in the basement, so I just drilled the appropriate size hole in the stove pipe and then inserted a 12-18" metal tube (copper tubing or automotive brake line works well) bent into an S shape so it just hangs from the pipe. The rubber meter tubing then just gets attached by shoving it onto or into the metal tubing. Oh, you need to drill this hole between the stove and any dampers that you may (or may not) have, and placed a foot or two away from the stove, and any bends in the pipe...if possible.
    If you don't want to leave the metal tube in there permanently, you can remove it, the hole can then be plugged by "threading" a bolt or screw into it.
    Some people get real fancy and thread "NPT to compression" fittings into the pipe, then attach the metal tube to that...really there are a thousand different ways you could tie into the pipe...
    A little tip, you can peel those 2 Dwyer hoses apart...you only need one for this test...then hook it into the "high" port on the right...that will give you a much larger scale to work with since the "low" side on the left of zero only goes to -0.05".
     
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  4. Flamestead

    Flamestead

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  5. Lucy

    Lucy

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    Thank you so much for the info. I was hoping you had some other way than those pitots. Should the opening of the tubing point down on the inside of the pipe?
     
  6. Lucy

    Lucy

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    Thanks for the pic Flamestead. It always helps to see things.
     
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  7. jdonna

    jdonna

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    If you already have a probe thermometer installed on the chimney pipe you can pull the probe out and insert a tube. I use a section of old brake line ground down to fit inside the hole.
     
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  8. justdraftn

    justdraftn

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    ...so, I get that you can measure the pressure in your stove pipe.

    I guess I'm old school....
    either the smoke goes out or it does not.
    It goes out faster when clean and slower as it gets dirty.
    When is doesn't go out fast enough, it needs to be cleaned.
    I guess I'm an eye witness manometer.
    ....sort of like Les Nessman's eye witness weather.
     
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  9. brenndatomu

    brenndatomu

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    True...but that mindset worked better on old school stoves...many of the newer units call for a specific draft, and if you are having problems, the only way to eliminate draft as an issue is to put a meter on it. I personally find it amazing that it isn't more common to have draft checked on a problem stove...but you rarely hear it talked about. If I were a stove tech, it would be one of my first tests.
    Since it is the chimney that is the "engine" driving the stove, I find it akin to driving a silent car that is not performing well...and you have no gauges...you have no clue what the problem is...it may or may not be an engine issue...a simple inexpensive gauge can eliminate the "engine" as a problem or not, and also get things setup to the manufacturers specs for best performance on a new install too...which is the case here.
    They're also necessary for setting up a barometric damper on units that use them...or even on manual dampers for people that don't know how to set them old school style...
     
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  10. justdraftn

    justdraftn

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    ...wow....I had no idea.

    Think'n I'm just going to stay old school.
     
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  11. Flamestead

    Flamestead

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    I’ve run five stoves on my current chimney, and was happily uninformed about quantifying the amount of draft, until that 5th stove. It was at times borderline unmanageable. Turns out our draft goes from 2x to 3x of what is considered “normal”, depending on temp and wind. It didn’t take much effort to obtain that information, and once I knew the problem it was easily to address.
    (unrelated to when it gets cleaned)

    Plus the winter nights are long as dark. It is interesting to observe the differences in draft relative to weather. No real surprises, but cheap entertainment for folks like me who are easily amused. That phase came and went - now I’m measuring the length of the cutters on my chainsaw with an adjustable wrench. This site is full of terribly useful ideas!
     
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