Major issue with wood-stove - Need advice!

[MH8675309]

There is regular gasket material that is really nothing more than a high temperature rope that is cemented into place in a recess that is built into the door or the opening. If cash is tight and you have access to wood - keep burning wood. Pellets are nice but if times are tough they cost money and, I still haven't been able to find a pellet tree,,, We buy our wood by the semi load and it has to be cut and split but only costs us about $500 a year to heat our house here in Michigan. Its extra work but provides me with chores and exercise (through the winter) I wouldn't have otherwise. The power vent seems like a neat idea but wouldn't be very convenient if the power went out. Good luck.

 

[mbohuntr]

RS,

1) - Is there such a thing as high temp silicon I can use to MAKE a door gasket?
2) - After I am working and have paid off all the lawyers, fixed the leaking roof, etc, I will def look into the 2 45's and maybe put a damper in even...
3) - the electric dryer vents into the basement where it sits, yes there is a Heat Pump fan on the main floor.

All others on this thread,

A couple clarifications... I DID NOT BUILD THIS, it came with the house in August 2010 & I never intended to use it, in fact I planned to tear the house down and rebuild. I lost my job 3 days after buying it. Plans change. Currently I happen to be unemployed again, 6 months out of work so far, and I am in the middle of a horrible divorce and my financial situation would have to improve to be "broke", trust me you really do not want to know more.

The stove will not fit through the door in any angle, and will require being cut up to be removed.

This stove worked as is, and heated the house for the folks living here from 1991 until 2007. It has worked fine for me both in May, and for at least 2-3 weeks prior to Sunday. I failed to get a draft ONE time I am sure due to cross wind etc., if I had known to open the window I bet it would have drafted just fine then also. I can easily get the entire 1400 square foot basement up to like 90 degrees when it is burning well, even with rotten wood...

All the tiles under the stove have peeled up and it is bare concrete underneath. Once again I did not build this.

When is it burning, the chimney pipe seems to flow awesome. Either it is too huge to be effective, or it is clogged with creosote. I will get it swept somehow (no idea how to get up there with out a man lift) once I am working again.

So far, I will try opening the window when lighting, and vinegar in saucers to absorb smoke odor.

I kept the basement door and main front door open all day with a prevailing breeze and aired the house out, luckily it was 68 degrees today.
Things are much better now smell wise.

Thanks for all of the advice and concern for my well-being (and sanity?) I am being careful and will not burn anything down, or die of smoke inhalation.

Thanks all,
David

I second the 2/45degree elbows, and get the combustibles away from the stove. You will also need to screw those pipe joints together. Your biggest problem appears to be the chimney. A tall cold chimney is a poor draft as well as a creosote building machine.

You should look for a cleanout at the bottom, and put a mirror up there to check for creosote build up. If there is no clean out available, you can remove the inside pipe from the thimble and use the mirror there. You can use the flexible screw together brush rods from the ground to clean it.
Only use well seasoned hardwood, and let it heat up. no small fires. Run it hotter, and use windows to adjust the house temp.
NEVER leave the draft open and walk away from a hot stove.

We used to light some crumpled up newspaper to start the draft in ours.

Now for some advice... If that "device" isn't UL approved, and inspected, your running the risk of having your insurance company refuse to cover you after a fire... NO MONEY to replace your home and pay your mortgage.

Just my two cents... be safe!

 

[fishheadbob]

32 posters, one of whom stated the obvious first thing to do: CLEAN THE CHIMNEY !!! I've heated with wood for 40 years, the first ten on an unlined chimney, the last 30 on an up to code new one. Maybe 20 cords a year. When I get lazy and the chimney "shrinks" because the creosote and soot are building up the chimney won't draw as well, my wife can tell pretty soon because the house starts to smell a little.


Odds are after the house sold but before closing the previous owners got a little lax about unseeable maintenance items like cleaning the chimney. You could hire a chimney sweep for a lot of money, or you could get a brush and the right length of fiberglass rods and D.I.Y., it's not rocket science. If they were there for decades there has to be a cleanout port at the base of the tall stack. How often you clean depends on many factors like quality of wood, dryness, and how much you burn. When I had the unlined brick chimney and little kids I kept it spotless, cleaning maybe once a month. I also had a lot of smoke detectors and the occasional fire drill. Once I had a better chimney, always dry wood, and had learned the art of woodburning I slacked off to 2 or 3 times a season.
Again, in caps, CLEAN THE CHIMNEY.

 

[2458n]

Just a thought I use a 20 lb propane tank and weed burner to start my stove insert in a two story flag stone chimney. With it you have heat going and a draft. Two minutes and your fire is burning. Cap needed on chimney pipe. Cold air and rain will all go back down that chimney the way it is. Forget about insurance if you have a fire, it just will not be there for you. I burn wood because it is cheap. That is not counting the chainsaws,truck,tractor,and log splitter. I AM DOING WHAT i WANT TO DO. Used to be nothing wrong with that. Things have a way of getting better.

 

[MH8675309]

32 posters, one of whom stated the obvious first thing to do: CLEAN THE CHIMNEY !!!

I'd laugh if it wasn't the chimney,,,, Just sayin

 

[westcliffe01]

David, that chimney is illegal / not to code and will 100% invalidate any insurance you have on the house if there were to be a fire.

It did not sound to me like it was essential to use it. I suggest you take down the chimney, plug the hole and suck it up this winter until your circumstances change for the better. The stove itself will also likely never be covered by your insurance.

The right way to do this job is to install a small plate steel stove (lowest price I saw was $450 for one at Menards) on the main floor of the house, and install a chimney (class A double wall insulated) from the ceiling through the roof. The stovepipe you need will depend on the stove position and may be single wall, signle wall with a heat shield or double wall.

The current chimney is all single wall from the stove to the top of the pipe. Stovepipe is not permitted to breech any wall or ceiling. That is where it is supposed to stop and the class A has to begin. Even if the vertical run and T through the wall had been class A, it would still be a poor chimney, since an exposed stack that long will cool rapidly and you can expect it to backdraft anytime the fire burns down. Any air consumption in the house will exacerbate the issue. The backdrafting you are experiencing is extremely common with external chimney instalations, even if the proper class A pipe is used. It is simply something that one sees a lot due to the preferences of speculative builders who prefer to put the chimney for fireplaces on external walls since they are usually "optional" appliances.

Do it right or don't do it at all. I have seen far too many houses on fire, and if you live with the stink long enough you will be sure to have a chimney fire once the creosote in that long pipe collects to the critical point.

 

[rswyan]

RS,

1) - Is there such a thing as high temp silicon I can use to MAKE a door gasket?

As mentioned by MH8675309, there is a specific material for stove door gaskets: fiberglass rope

I just did the main door on my Vogelzang double barrel stove up in the shop a few days ago. Used a kit by Rutland that I picked up ten or so years ago - looks like this (image courtesy of walmart.com):

Ideally, there should be a channel on the inside of the stove door for the gasket ... but there may not be, given that it was home-built. Regardless, you can cement the gasket in place where it needs to be, channel or no channel.

Key thing to know about cementing it: The stove cement in the kit above is water-soluble (it contains water) ... they tell you to knead the tube before opening (because the water in the cement separates) ... it's good very advice - be thorough.

Mine was so old and separated that I had to cut the top off the tube and dig it out and then add water and work it in a dish with a piece of 5/8" steel rod (mortar & pestal) to get it thin and gooey enough. Should be about the consistency of "thin" putty or caulking (but not "runny") ... because you want it to embed into the fiberglass rope.

Measure out the rope gasket material before you start with the cement. Better to have the rope a little too long than too short. If you need to shorten it, trim it when you actually place/cement it.

If you don't have a channel in the door to place the cement into, I'd pull the door off and lay it flat (a good idea in any event) and place a bead of the cement where you want the gasket to be and then place the rope gasket onto the bead of cement, and work the cement into the gasket a little ... but not to the point where the cement is coming thru the rope gasket to the side of the gasket that will contact the stove.

The metal where the cement will be placed needs to clean - preferably bare meal ... wire wheel in an angle grinder.

Give the cement 5 or 10 minutes to set up a little (so the gasket doesn't slide out of place) and then CAREFULLY take the door to the stove and put it back on, then close the door and clamp it shut. Leave it dry for awhile (6 hours ?) and then fire it with a small, low heat fire or two to cure it.

2) - After I am working and have paid off all the lawyers, fixed the leaking roof, etc, I will def look into the 2 45's and maybe put a damper in even ...

Yup ... damper is a good idea. The 45's are relatively cheap ... reuse the straight pipe that's there if it's solid and not rusted out.

3) - the electric dryer vents into the basement where it sits, yes there is a Heat Pump fan on the main floor.

Doesn't seem like any of those would be a problem

I was looking for an appliance that needs air for combustion - which could create a negative draft down your stove chimney.

 

[rswyan]

All others on this thread,

A couple clarifications... I DID NOT BUILD THIS, it came with the house in August 2010 & I never intended to use it, in fact I planned to tear the house down and rebuild. I lost my job 3 days after buying it. Plans change. Currently I happen to be unemployed again, 6 months out of work so far, and I am in the middle of a horrible divorce and my financial situation would have to improve to be "broke", trust me you really do not want to know more.

The stove will not fit through the door in any angle, and will require being cut up to be removed.

This stove worked as is, and heated the house for the folks living here from 1991 until 2007. It has worked fine for me both in May, and for at least 2-3 weeks prior to Sunday. I failed to get a draft ONE time I am sure due to cross wind etc., if I had known to open the window I bet it would have drafted just fine then also. I can easily get the entire 1400 square foot basement up to like 90 degrees when it is burning well, even with rotten wood...

All the tiles under the stove have peeled up and it is bare concrete underneath. Once again I did not build this.

I don't know ... 'cause I ain't there and haven't actually put my eyes on it - in person so to speak - but it seems to me that those condemning the stove itself may be a little off base here ...

Certainly, the chimney needs addressed.

From the pictures it's hard to tell what the quality and condition of the stove actually is ...

When I zoom into David's pictures they become pixelated and it's hard to make out the detail ... but one thing I did notice is that the front seems to made of really thick (1/2" ?) plate. If so, that's pretty substantial ...

Could be a quality piece ... could be junk ... hard to say without actually inspecting it in person.

When is it burning, the chimney pipe seems to flow awesome.

There ya go ...

Either it is too huge to be effective, or it is clogged with creosote.

At the house I run 6" stove pipe out of our LTD Limited wood-burning furnace into an 11" x 7" tile-lined masonry chimney that is inside the house ... it draws like mad ... especially if there is any wind at all.

I will get it swept somehow (no idea how to get up there with out a man lift) once I am working again.

You need a capped tee or clean out at the bottom of the outside portion of the chimney - so you can sweep it from the bottom.

You get the appropriate-sized brush for the chimney (I have two: a 6" round and an 11" x 7" rectangular for our various chimneys) and 3' or 4' sectional fiberglass rods that screw together.

Be prepared to get dirty ...

BTW - the bottom of that stove should be lined with fire brick. If it isn't and you plan to use it, add some.

 

[andrec999]

This installation is a fire waiting to happen.
Forget about trying to fix it, just take it out. My 2 cents.

 

[TomSeller]

I know these have been mentioned a number of times each, but I don't see how That stack could be brushed out given how high and location is. So it must be running choked up. Second, as others have said yo need a safe installation. Running a home made stove in a barn or something is one thing. With a house full of kids or even yourself,the CO could easily have killed. Time to get rid of it.