Barometric Damper Staying Open

Post Reply
 
longbeard24
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 7:20 pm

Post by longbeard24 » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 7:55 pm

I have a stove that was manufactured by Vansco Industries model c1000t (It was under a different brand name)and am having issues with the damper staying open. I installed a manual pipe damper thinking I was getting too much draft. It is windy here today and I think I should see the barometric bouncing back and forth with wind gusts but if I dampen with the manual the baro doesn't seem to do much, if I open it the baro opens and stays open and this is with the weight the whole way back. The Barometric has nothing dragging or catching , it moves fine.

 
User avatar
WNY
Member
Posts: 6307
Joined: Mon. Nov. 14, 2005 8:40 am
Location: Cuba, NY
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 90K, Leisure Line Hyfire I
Coal Size/Type: Rice
Contact:

Post by WNY » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 8:40 pm

when dampening it down with the Manual damper, you are limiting the heat and draft up the chimney, therefore, the baro doesn't function properly (hopefully you have the manual between the stove and Baro damper?)

If its staying open, then you have have very good draft on the stove and it has to open to limit the draft.

 
longbeard24
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 7:20 pm

Post by longbeard24 » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 9:04 pm

I have the manual above the Barometric, my thinking was to cut down on the chimney draft. How would it help me to have it below?


 
rberq
Member
Posts: 6445
Joined: Mon. Apr. 16, 2007 9:34 pm
Location: Central Maine
Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1300 with hopper
Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Anthracite Nut
Other Heating: Oil hot water radiators (fuel oil); propane

Post by rberq » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 9:23 pm

longbeard24 wrote:I have the manual above the Barometric
Potentially unsafe, because if the manual damper blocks the flue, where will the products of combustion go? Answer: they may come out through the baro and into your living space. Do you have carbon monoxide detectors?

As for your baro staying open all the time, that could just mean you have a strong-drafting chimney, as WNY said. The only way to know for sure is to check it with a manometer. In this weather, my baro is almost always partly open.

 
longbeard24
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 7:20 pm

Post by longbeard24 » Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 10:56 pm

Thanks I opened the manual until I have time to switch and get things straightened out. Yes I do have two new detectors.

 
User avatar
WNY
Member
Posts: 6307
Joined: Mon. Nov. 14, 2005 8:40 am
Location: Cuba, NY
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Keystoker 90K, Leisure Line Hyfire I
Coal Size/Type: Rice
Contact:

Post by WNY » Wed. Dec. 30, 2009 6:56 am

What he said! Very dangerous....

Also, with it being above the Baro, you have pretty much decrease the draft from both the baro and stove and therefore, the baro doesn't open since you have now limited the draft below the setpoint of the baro. Therefore, if you get a fire cranking, and foget to open the damper, some fumes could leak out thru the baro if your draft is too low.

My baro is open at least 1/2 - 3/4 all the time with it being so cold and the stove is cranking....


 
User avatar
grizzly2
Member
Posts: 844
Joined: Tue. Feb. 12, 2008 7:18 pm
Location: Whippleville, NY
Other Heating: Oil foilfurnace, Jotul#3 woodstove,electric base board.

Post by grizzly2 » Wed. Dec. 30, 2009 7:59 am

Longbeard, You say you moved the baro. weight "all the way back". If you move the weight AWAY from the stove pipe on a Fieldcontrolls RC you are making the door open more easily and reducing the draft pulling exhaust from the stove.

As mentioned, it would be best if you could add a manometer to your set up. Setting the weight on the baro. between 3 and 4 will get you close, but you never know for sure what you have without an actual draft measurement (inches of water columb) with a manometer.

I agree that a manual damper after the baro. would be more effective in preventing heat loss from the stove and from being drawn through the baro from the room. However as others have pointed out this is a dangerous set up. The manual damper before the baro. will still reduce the loss of stove heat when the draft is greater than the baro. can handle.

So the ideal setup would be, as the exhaust leaves the stove: 1. Manometer probe 2. Manual damper 3. Barometric damper

Adjustment: 1.Open the manual damper fully. 2. Set the barometric damper weight between 3 and 4. 3.Bring the stove up to normal operating temperature on a day that is not exceptionaly cold, warm or windy. 4. Fine tune the Baro. weight by monitoring the manometer reading. 5. Close the manual damper a little at a time as requiered to maintain a draft within tollerable limits.

Don't forget to open the manul up if baro. readings drop below desired levels. This is the problem. When you leave your home, you are leaving a manual damper at the last setting that was correct at the time. Before you return home, the conditions may change totally. Idealy you would control draft with baro. only, simply because it adjusts itself as needed. :)

 
User avatar
CoalHeat
Member
Posts: 8862
Joined: Sat. Feb. 10, 2007 9:48 pm
Location: Stillwater, New Jersey
Stoker Coal Boiler: 1959 EFM 350
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Harman Magnafire Mark I
Baseburners & Antiques: Sears Signal Oak 15 & Andes Kitchen Range
Coal Size/Type: Rice and Chestnut
Other Heating: Fisher Fireplace Insert

Post by CoalHeat » Wed. Dec. 30, 2009 8:11 am

Idealy you would control draft with baro. only, simply because it adjusts itself as needed.
Exactly.

If the stove is air tight there is no reason to use a manual damper especially if you have a barometric damper installed and set correctly. Manual dampers are used on older stoves that are not necessarily air tight to help control the burn rate. Burn rate in an air tight can be controlled with adjustments of the air intake and baro damper without a problem.

No manual damper between the baro and the chimney thimble for the reasons stated previously. :idea:

We need more details on your stove and chimney type and size, and pictures would be nice. We love pictures. :D

 
longbeard24
New Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 7:20 pm

Post by longbeard24 » Wed. Dec. 30, 2009 10:20 pm

My chimney is an 8x8 square flue 24' tall 2' above my peak with a brick exterior that I built myself last year, not to worry I was a mason and talked to my ex coworkers and had them with it, I will post some pictures when I get some time.

I only got to burn this stove last year for about a month and just fired it back up yesterday so bear with me. I left for work at 6:30 today nice fire burning, after shaking the coal down and leaving it (stoked) banked from the fire brick in the back to the base of the window in the front. I got home at 7:30 to find A medium size salad bowl burning in the center with ash burnt around it. I made the fatal mistake of trying to spread the coals out and lost the fire.

When I left in the morning I have four 1 to 1 1/4 inch air vents on a slide with a center adjustment (all move at the same time) they were open 1/8 of an inch or less and holding @ 500 degrees. I am guessing the box is 16 x 14 and can get it 9 to 10 inches deep in the back of the stove.

So If I were more airtight on the stove would that help my Baro problem and slow down my burn?

 
User avatar
Cheetah
Member
Posts: 94
Joined: Sun. Jan. 18, 2009 9:10 pm
Location: New Hampshire

Post by Cheetah » Fri. Jan. 01, 2010 6:27 pm

Wood'nCoal wrote:If the stove is air tight there is no reason to use a manual damper especially if you have a barometric damper installed and set correctly.
I currently have a baro with no MPD. I have noticed when the draft is strong the baro opens wide and draws a lot of nice warm air out of the room and sends it up the chimney. I have seen set-ups where a pipe was attached to the baro so that when it opened it would draw air from outside rather than from the room. Seems like a good idea but still wasting BTUs. The cold ouside air is getting heated either way and then goes up the chimney. I think it would be better if the draft could be controlled while minimizing the flow, allowing just enough heat to go up the chimney to provide the draft needed.

With the MPD above the baro you can restrict the draft to the point where the baro doesn't open at all. If you open the MPD with a strong draft above it the baro will open to draw in air and reduce the draft seen by the stove to the value set by the baro, sending some BTUs up the chimney. The ideal would be to have the MPD set so that the baro fluttered and barely drew in any air. The danger is that conditions change and the MPD could end up providing too much restriction.

I was thinking, wouldn't it be possible to link the flap on a baro to a damper just above it in the pipe. If the baro is closed the PD would be open allowing the stove to see the full draft. If the draft increased it would open the baro, which would partly close the PD do reduce the draft. The whole thing would be self regulating, like a regular baro, but it wouldn't lose so many BTUs up the chimney to a strong draft.

Thoughts anybody?

Post Reply

Return to “Hand Fired Coal Stoves & Furnaces Using Anthracite”