Re: pot belly stove

Posted by Billy NY on February 05, 2014 at 07:49:52 from (72.226.79.200):

In Reply to: pot belly stove posted by bkpigs on February 04, 2014 at 21:00:41:

I think the first thing to realize, your stove and set up is unique to you, so how you operate it, will depend on the wood you burn, moisture content, draft, how much stack you have, and how well you are able to maintain flue temperatures to keep the stack clean.

However, typically with dry seasoned wood, which is really a "must have" once the fire is going and its burning hot, you should be able to employ the use of your flue damper. You may or may not be able to adjust combustion air coming in through that type of stove, I am familiar with them from seeing many over the years, but have never used one. A simple little device is a magnetized thermometer that you can place on the metal stack, smoke pipe or whatever you want to call it, at least then you can monitor the temperature. You will have to by trial and error, monitor the condition of the stack inside, note any creosote build up, clean, maintain and continue to monitor that until such time you know by what wood you burn, how you have the fire adjusted, what will or should typically happen inside the pipe.

I can sit here and say, well I do this with mine burn that kind of wood, seasoned, semi-seasoned or whatever and this is the results I get, I don't see how that would help you accurately. Hold that thought.

I run an old ashley automatic, the oval one. I do burn seasoned wood, including some pine at start up, and a chunk once in awhile. I have good draft, the smoke pipe rises up, makes a 90 degree bend, and terminates into masory, whereas it transitions to a clay flue lined chimney rising approximately 30 feet. I do have a flue damper, and I have tried both ways, its imperative that I do use it once I have draft, well not too often I do have to establish it, odd weather and southerly winds seem to be the cause, otherwise it drafts very well. Once the stack is warm, I can apply that damper until I smell smoke, then back it off, open it a tad more, then re-check for smoke or combustion gases by odor. I can restrict oxygen if I want but find most times I leave it open fully. This stove and or with the draft, if you build a fire close to the smoke pipe outlet on it, or in the middle of the firebox, can and will roar like a blast furnace or a giant torch, and that pipe will glow orange in no time, that flue damper prevents that, of course I try not to overfire and put too much wood in when first firing it up, seems to do that more then, cold start, better oxygen maybe ???

The result of me doing this with it for many years now, I get very little creosote, most if not all of it is on the last 2-3 clay flue liner sections at the top, I have one that projects a full section, so that is surrounded by cold air, and this is where creosote seems to accumulate, the main part of the flue is clean and requires no cleaning, I have not had to clean it yet, most is gray and soot color, it is rectangular and 8x12. I burn dry wood, don't choke the fire so its smoldering, and try to maintain a regular flue temperature, I don't even have a thermometer on the metal pipe, though I'd like to see how high it was when that pipe did turn orange, I did rig one up to hang down into the flue from the top of the chimney, to spot check, and I think it was around 300 deg F give or take, that will change but I know how the fire has to be, so with all that in mind, its a very simple stove to use with minimal maintenance. It provides quite a bit of heat, I can make the entire basement stay at 70 deg and its large, one half would fit 4 cars, double that and that's about the size.

I noted that with the flue damper closed better than half, 2/3 or somewhere around there, I burn less wood and get more heat, thats really common sense, but I did monitor and still do, these are nothing to fool with, I have a ladder against the chimney all winter and check it monthly or more, the condition stays the same.

These things do apply but your set up is unique to you.

Use seasoned wood, maintain decent flue temps, check, don't close down the combustion air and flue damper to make the flame so low its basically smoldering and smoking, and you are very likely to have a safe stove and pipe to enjoy. I have closed mine down later at night, both flue damper and door damper if you can call it that, bed of coals and a bigger log, and I have seen where that log, often times Black cherry or even a nice chunk of elm will reduce itself to a smolder or small flame because the bed of coals has gone out and is ash. Hard maple and oak won't do that so much or at at all, now even with that, I still don't get creosote, because I do NOT run the stove like that constantly, but that would certainly be a bad practice, and this was with 1 year seasoned wood. Main thing is never take chances if you suspect something is wrong or is not working as should, shut it down and correct the problem until its right, its not worth taking risks with any of this.

Just my take on this, hopefully of some help, a bit drafty, LOL (long winded) but with good intent, they're all different so its really up to you to make sure its right, safe installation and the use of it.

Replies:

Add a Reply Name: E-Mail: Subject: Comments: Optional Link URL: Link Title: Optional Image URL: Optional Video Title: Optional Video URL: Advanced Posting Options Email Notification: If you check this box, email will be sent to you whenever someone replies to this message. Your email address must be entered above to receive notification. This notification will be cancelled automatically after 2 weeks.   Advanced Posting Tools   Upload Photo  Select Gallery Photo  Attach Serial # List  Return to Post

TRACTOR PARTS	TRACTOR MANUALS

We sell tractor parts!  We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]