Draft Meter

wenchris · Post by **wenchris** » Mon. Oct. 30, 2006 3:18 pm

This draft meter was given to me. It only shows draft and presure. What draft should I be looking for on my Harman Mag Stoker for the best burn? Min. draft, max draft or somewhere in between. Thanx Jimmy

red ash · Post by **red ash** » Mon. Oct. 30, 2006 7:52 pm

Harman recommends that stoker have a draft between .04-.06 in the fire box for the most efficient burn. The Bacharach draftright you have is a high quality draft gauge! Most of their models are numerically graduated for a specific range of draft in the positive or negative. If there are no values listed for the meter in the instructions or on the gauge itself you will be getting a general indication only! It would only tell you if that stoker was under positive or negative pressure. It would not give you a specific value for the reading!

wenchris · Post by **wenchris** » Mon. Oct. 30, 2006 8:21 pm

Was hoping to get an idea were on the guage I should set it. If I could find someone with a guage I could set my stove then check it with mine and mark this guage.Thanx Jimmy

Matthaus · Post by **Matthaus** » Mon. Oct. 30, 2006 10:54 pm

Based on the literature with the units that Bacharach makes, the full scale number should be .12 of an inch H20, therefore one third scale is .04 and two thirds is .08.

Not 100% sure about the above information, but if you google "Bacharach draft-rite" you should get the information you need to use it.

Hope this is a small help,

red ash · Post by **red ash** » Tue. Oct. 31, 2006 1:06 am

I googled that meter and found squat! Unless you get a numerical reading from another meter or contact Bacharach directly you are really just getting a ballpark idea of what that stoker is doing!Their addy is
Bacharach,inc.
621 Hunt Valley Circle
New Kensington,Pa. 15068
Phone# 724-334-5000
Fax# 724-334-500

If you do contact them it will be interesting to see if they will give a value scale for that meter! I have a feeling that meter is designed as a basic yes there is draft or no there is not draft meter! If they knew the min. and max. value why not just print it on the meter?Give them a call and see what they say!

Matthaus · Post by **Matthaus** » Tue. Oct. 31, 2006 8:25 am

Wow, I thought this was a friendly place.....

red ash · Post by **red ash** » Tue. Oct. 31, 2006 9:29 am

Matthaus wrote:Wow, I thought this was a friendly place.....

No, I was not trying to imply you were wrong! I was just saying that I could not find any information! I would also like to know what that meter is really designed for! I apologize if it sounded negative, it was not my intent!

Matthaus · Post by **Matthaus** » Tue. Oct. 31, 2006 9:59 am

my bad, all your exclamation points sounded like yelling. The written word is so much more open for interpretation...

Thanks for explaining. :silly:

LsFarm · Post by **LsFarm** » Tue. Oct. 31, 2006 10:43 am

I understand Red Ash's frustration, why build and sell a meter without some indication of what the values the meter is measuring? This is like the instruments on some automobiles, a needle moving between a top and bottom line, with no indication of what it means.

Hopefully the manufacturer can give you some rough values for what half deflection and full-deflection of the needle means.

Greg L

wenchris · Post by **wenchris** » Tue. Oct. 31, 2006 1:30 pm

Everybody calm down LOL, called bacharach and they said they never made a draft meter without a number scale????? Well I told him its sitting right in front of me. He said maybe the #'s wore off??? Nope, Still a "0" and draft and pressure as clear as day. Said I can get a new meter for around $90. (OUCH!!!!) Finally admitted maybe its really old, anyway, he's gonna e-mail a closeup of their scale so I can get a general idea of the #s and where there at. Matt, Red Ash thanks for the contact info, saved me some leg work. Stay warm. Jimmy

red ash · Post by **red ash** » Wed. Nov. 01, 2006 12:15 am

Hey, all of us coal burners are like brothers. We are definitely the smartest of all the fossil fuel users. We get the satisfaction of telling our friends and neighbors that we can heat our homes to 120 degrees on the coldest nights and all it costs us is half a ton per month.

That meter may indeed go back a few years. That would explain the absence of graduation on the face. The old time installers would not have been very concerned about a specific value for the draft. They only wanted to know if the stoker was drafting up the flu or not. They most likely never heard of a power venter and would laugh at you and I for fussing to get a specific draft reading. That probably was when coal went for $6.00/ton or something along those lines.

crmoores · Post by **crmoores** » Tue. Nov. 07, 2006 10:32 pm

I have this gage, bought it from Keystoker for my K-6 boiler, excellent gage and easy to use.
Bacharach model# 13-19008 "Draftrite". Phone 724-334-5000

Has a 6" tube (approx) and a hole on the tube side.

To use the gage -
Put your finger over the hole and insert the tube about halfway into the draft hole (on my fire door on my K-6 unit).
Level the gage so that it reads zero, Holding the gage steady, remove your finger from the hole and note the reading. Negative pressure is to the right of zero, that's what you want.

The scale on the gage is 4, 8, 12 - these are -.04, -.08, -.12. Ther are smaller increments of .02, .06, and .10 but they're just not numbered.

My unit runs at -.02 over fire, -.04 idling (when stoker is idle and timer is on). Don't want to get too close to zero or you'll get gas coming out of the stove into the room.

IM me with any other questions.

barley master · Post by **barley master** » Tue. Nov. 14, 2006 9:01 am

that gauge is supplied with a baccarach combustion analyizer and is used when tuning a fire to indicate what the draft setting is or should be. it's not intended for continous use.

if the drafts were high enough a simple u- tube water manometer would work great and simple to make but were dealing with -.04 to -.08 iwc which is like the pressure from you exhale from breathing.

what I use is a dwyer, mark two. model 25 inclined manometer. with a range of -.05" to 3" indication. I just reverse the the tubing connection so that it reads on the positive side for better indication above .05". with this unit you can dial that sucker right in to any draft you want to operate at plus youll always know what your chimney is doing. at one time I had two of them. one to watch the stove and the other to watch the chimney.

on my mag I set it for a -.05" I also notice that when it holds a constant -.05 because of the firing rate the air wash system keeps the window spotless then when its banking due to thermostat being satisfied.

crmoores · Post by **crmoores** » Tue. Nov. 14, 2006 8:14 pm

[quote=that gauge is supplied with a baccarach combustion analyizer and is used when tuning a fire to indicate what the draft setting is or should be. it's not intended for continous use.

I use the gage to set my draft and to check it periorically because I'm using a direct vent. I assume this is not what you mean by continual use?

barley master · Post by **barley master** » Tue. Nov. 14, 2006 8:44 pm

correct. I use to use a bacharach bi metal thermoter also and it failed in time. it too wasnt meant to be used continously as with the draft gauge. I think the byproducts of combustion or continously exposed to hi temp. wiped it out over time.

these are used for spot testing or tuning procedures. I have the draft rite gauge but never use it any more due to my current set up.

this is what I use now and plumbed it in between the stove and the barometric damper using 1/4" o.d. copper tubing and the plastic hose supplied.

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Draft Meter

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