Manual Pipe Dampers .. How, Why, When

Thanks, good post. I love this site. I have just started burning Coal and have left it Open but I will figure out what a sensibile amount is. Co2 monitor says zero either way bit the Coal seems to ash up of I shut it too Much.

Wren wrote:Thanks, good post. I love this site. I have just started burning Coal and have left it Open but I will figure out what a sensibile amount is. Co2 monitor says zero either way bit the Coal seems to ash up of I shut it too Much.

Just be careful about closing the MPD to much. This morning I had a back draft when I closed mine.

Ya closed it to soon C. Give the gas's a chance to evac.

freetown fred wrote:Ya closed it to soon C. Give the gas's a chance to evav.

Yeah I think you right Fred.

I have never had a back draft, caused by closing the MPD, ... that I'm aware of.

If it were my situation, I'd ask myself: If the chimney was high enough? Is something else pulling air from the house, such as the furnace or an exhaust fan, coming on? I witnessed my upstairs curtains, suck in (in the fall, with window open), when my furnace started, in my 1880's house, which shouldn't be that air tight. After that, I added an outside air source for the furnace. I now also, have outside air source for the coal stove and the fireplace.

The other thing, which it might have been, rather than a "down draft", was the rapid ignition of the coal gasses, which is, essentially a "mini explosion" within the stove. This can happen, after adding coal, as the gases heat and build up, before "rapid" ignition. This will blow dirt, etc. out of every opening in the stove. ??

Dallas wrote:The other thing, which it might have been, rather than a "down draft", was the rapid ignition of the coal gasses, which is, essentially a "mini explosion" within the stove. This can happen, after adding coal, as the gases heat and build up, before "rapid" ignition. This will blow dirt, etc. out of every opening in the stove. ??

Might have a a mini explosion I'm burning very smoky bit coal.

Not had problem since then.

Yes, it helps to close the mpd somewhat after loading. The Coal seemed to last and burn better. I have to keep reading. It's twenty six below tonight but warm in the old kitchen. Not sure about the Lower air supply. I read Open them both when loading and then shut the top one. It takes me top long to full the stove though... Took me from six until noon to get a good bed going. I need to be quick...trying fire started tomorrow morning. The first night there were coals nine hours later but the second night it was out cold and unburned three hours later. Have to keep reading!

When, first getting it going, leave both top and bottom open ... most air through the coal. After that, close the MPD as permitted and then close the lower under fire draft for the correct burn.

D, are you burnin BIT????????????????????

freetown fred wrote:D, are you burnin BIT????????????????????

I'm burning anthracite!

Your not the only one confused Fred, this whole page 24 has me confused.

Wren, my neighbor to the north, are you burning bit or anthracite?

Beat me to it W. There is space in profile section to put all this info just for this reason. Makes giving suggestions way easier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, you too D!

I just watched William in white shirt sleeves again. He says to close the bottom almost all the way. Not the same stove but perhaps the same principle. Now that I am covered in coal from my efforts I'm very impressed with his clean shirt but I hope to improve. Lol. Clean coal, eh?

i just installed a mpd for my alaska kodiak hand fed stove. i was just using a baro damper. after burning 25 bags of coal in less than 2 weeks, i had to do something different. i was burning roughly 60 sometimes 80 pounds a day. stove idling between 465 and 525. but my stove pipe stayed 275 300 degrees all the time. so i pulled the baro cap off the t pipe and proceeded to installed my mpd. in just 5 hours i could see a huge difference. after talking to guys that are in their 80s telling me to throw the baro damper in the trash well i finally listened to them. after an over night burn. my stove was still 500, my house was 74 upstairs. mind you i live in a drafting 70s farm house. but after my over night burn, i burnt less than 10 pounds of coal. less ashes to shake down and less time to get the fire nice hot and ready to add coal ten times quicker. as long as im running a hand fired stove ill never run a baro damper again. im also burning anthracite coal. so i dont have the smoke or fly ash issue either. i shut my mpd all the way shut. i also live in the valley with a ton of trees around me. if i lived on the plains i could prolly understand a baro maybe. but if you know when to shut your stove down so its ready to run for the day. you wont ever have a problem with a mpd. just m,y 2 cents