Chimney draft

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MINO
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Post by MINO » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 3:29 pm

I’m going to try to explain my situation as short of a story as possible…. After numerous (weeks) tries to dial in the AHS 260 playing with ash temp grate cycles with the timer adjusting flapper on sight hole with the hole in it I just can’t stop the fire propagating toward the feed tube I just couldn’t establish the dark pile of fresh coal ontop of the fire always end up with a column of cherry coals …Originally had a k6 in garage with no problems due to not having 50 plus pounds of coal sitting on a sled smoldering…. Installed in April and originally had draft problems pressuring the chimney come to find out a 6x6 flue lined chimney wasn’t even in spec in their manual… (my fault) solved that problem with a draft inducer that only comes on during combustion….. now that winter is here the boiler is cycling more and the fire column grows I was at a total loss…. Finally bought a manometer and it came in and installed it zeroed it out and drilled the pipe and stuck the hose in with an extension of brake line… it’s pretty windy as it always is where I’m at wind storms literally blow water out of my pool onto my deck in summer and a flagpole is a no go at my place as it won’t last to long…. I’m situated in between 2 valleys and I’m the first house it hits… anyway the scale is bouncing back and forth like the front end of the knight rider with the red light going back and forth pulling as high as 1.0 and now that the front passed I’m pulling between .04-.05 constant at idle … boiler is located in a 40x26 garage and boiler sits in a 10x10 boiler room also when boiler is firing with draft inducer on im pulling about .07-.08…. I have window open and even went as far as opening a 12 foot garage door to see if draft changes and it doesn’t stays on the high side….I will post pics of what I have going on chimney is about 22ft high and pipe enters about 7 ft up so I have 15ft of chimney …. I also tried to open the clean out on the outside to see if draft increases or decreases and it kind of stayed the same even with wind gusts…. Trying to find a solution as winter is here and possibly adding block isn’t going to happen…. I tried looking at chimney wind caps and I’m sort of understanding they prevent down drafts and can increase draft which I don’t need…. Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated

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MINO
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Post by MINO » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 3:30 pm

Additional photos

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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:28 pm

Where are you probing the pipe to get your mano reading? It should be between the baro and the boiler.

I really think you don't need the inducer since we're getting into colder weather..

 
MINO
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Post by MINO » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:33 pm

Lightning wrote:
Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:28 pm
Where are you probing the pipe to get your mano reading? It should be between the baro and the boiler.

I really think you don't need the inducer since we're getting into colder weather..
I have it after baro by base of the chimney… easy fix…. Inducer only runs on combustion …. Any ideas on a wind diverted cap? I can go take readings and post with new location

 
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Post by waytomany?s » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:38 pm

MINO wrote:
Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:33 pm
I have it after baro by base of the chimney… easy fix…. Inducer only runs on combustion …. Any ideas on a wind diverted cap? I can go take readings and post with new location
It needs to be between stove and baro.

 
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Post by MINO » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:39 pm

.05 at idle and pulls .09 on gusts before baro

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Post by MINO » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:47 pm

Here is how I’m currently piped


 
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Post by MINO » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:47 pm

MINO wrote:
Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:47 pm
Here is how I’m currently piped

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Post by MINO » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 10:10 pm

As the wind continues im showing 190 on the grate so draft is definitely stoking the idle fire…. I’m also thinking maybe a chimney cap isn’t the answer because I’m pulling .05 when it’s calm…. So im guessing I need a bigger volume of air to enter the pipe to go out the chimney? Am I thinking towards the right direction for a solution? What I am experiencing isn’t a downdraft correct? It’s actually pulling hard across the top to create a vacuum if I’m thinking right? It’s almost like I need a bigger damper I do have a half pipe in there like the axeman guys do I will try in the morning to remove that to see if it changes anything… im open for any input to help solve this

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I will remove this in the morning


 
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Lightning
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 10:30 pm

I'll try to help but I think there is some confusion going on here. You have a tall chimney which creates a lot of draft. When we say draft, we mean a vacuum. A strong draft (vacuum, negative pressure) pulls exhaust up and out of the chimney. The draft inducer is meant to ADD to draft. My feeling is that you need to disengage the draft inducer, cut power to it, don't run it.. The baro is there to limit your high draft. I don't think it's set right. There is a weight on the baro door that will adjust the amount of effort (draft, negative pressure, vacuum) to open, which will limit your draft pressure. Removing the baro will make your high draft issue worse. I don't recommend you do that.
MINO wrote:
Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 10:10 pm
So im guessing I need a bigger volume of air to enter the pipe to go out the chimney?
Yes. Set the baro to open earlier. It appears in the picture that the weight on the baro can be moved forward a little more.
MINO wrote:
Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 10:10 pm
I’m also thinking maybe a chimney cap isn’t the answer because I’m pulling .05 when it’s calm….
Yes, .05 is fine when calm. Caps are more meant to keep rain out of the chimney and for special circumstances that create down drafts.
MINO wrote:
Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 10:10 pm
What I am experiencing isn’t a downdraft correct? It’s actually pulling hard across the top to create a vacuum if I’m thinking right?
That is correct.

 
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Post by Lightning » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 10:51 pm

How much of a gap is there at the draft break plate when the boiler isn't firing?

 
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Post by MINO » Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 11:36 pm

Lightning wrote:
Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 10:51 pm
How much of a gap is there at the draft break plate when the boiler isn't firing?
None now!!!! I can’t let things be!!!! I legit worked on this for 3-4 weeks no joke I legit have a Wyze cam looking at temps so I can monitor…. There “was” about 3 finger width before ….the picture is kind of deceiving… but I added the slip pipe with dust and c02 sneaking out on startup this was there since April when I fired it…. The draft inducer on startup solved this… but guess what I removed that slip pipe and at calm I have .02 and hard gusts it was pulling .05-.06 on a hard spike…. I think this solved my problem “I hope” and while firing I have .04 ish…. Prior to removal of slip pipe on full burn I was around .08 where the manual said not to exceed .08 so I was flirting with a hard draft on full burn and shutdown I had way too much draft helping the fire creep up high…. Thing is I will know tomorrow if it solved it because it is supposed to be windy till the afternoon… plus it will take around 48 or better hours or so to settle in because the fire was to the grate/sled to the fill tube due to excessive draft…. I will definitely report back on this thread with answers because it didn’t show its ugly head until the cold months due to a higher demand on the unit….. I will say I dealt with flatbed stokers to bottom feeders and never dealt with a puss case like this lol…. I’m sure this is the fix because prior I had no manometer to show real world results… also I have 24/7 constant circulation so I never seen a huge temp overshoot…. Thanks for your reply

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After slip pipe removal on idle


 
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Post by waytomany?s » Sat. Nov. 26, 2022 8:18 am

What's a slip pipe and where is it located? Is it a stoker thing?

 
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Post by StokerDon » Sat. Nov. 26, 2022 8:38 am

MINO wrote:
Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:33 pm
I have it after baro by base of the chimney… easy fix….
Did you move your manometer to before the baro yet???

It doesn't make any sense to measure the uncontrolled draft at the chimney. You need to know what the boiler is actually seeing.

-Don

 
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Post by waytomany?s » Sat. Nov. 26, 2022 9:04 am

StokerDon wrote:
Sat. Nov. 26, 2022 8:38 am
Did you move your manometer to before the baro yet???

It doesn't make any sense to measure the uncontrolled draft at the chimney. You need to know what the boiler is actually seeing.

-Don
MINO wrote:
Fri. Nov. 25, 2022 4:39 pm
.05 at idle and pulls .09 on gusts before baro


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