wood stove insert stopped drawing

[Lineman North Florida]

My insert has performed flawlessly for 8 years but it stopped drawing last night when I went to build a fire so today I pulled the cap off and cleaned the 6" stainless steel liner with brush and rods, my question is when I installed this 6" liner inside existing 8" flue I installed what the stove store called fireproof insulation around the 6" flue to give it a tight fit in the 8" and make the stove draw better it is not as tight now as it was then would regular fiberglass insulation with the paper pulled off of course work or do you buy into the fireproof insulation thing, I remember paying about 3 prices for the stuff at the stove store and I've always heard that fiberglass insulation wont burn any info appreciated.

 

[jimmyj]

I did not know there was a special fireproof insulation. When we reno'd the house I know all we have is regular fibreglass around ours. Ours is double walled chimney pipe and the two SS walls have about 2" of insulation between them (I assume fire grade from the factory). Then where it goes through the wall there is regular fibreglass around it.

I would not mess around though, had I known I would have bought the proper stuff just for peace of mind and perhaps insurance safety.

NOTE: Did you try opening a windown when it stopped drawing? Sometimes that will work.

 

[LD1]

I would first check with you insurance company and/or any local code requirements before I did anything.

I just use regular insulation around my stove pipe in the shop and no problems yet, BUT if you have a fire, and the ins. company finds out, and/or it is against code, you may be in a pickle.


PS, do you have punctuation keys on your keyboard (.,?:; etc). Your post is VERY difficult to read as it all just runs together.

 

[dmccarty]

Since you cleaned the chimney you do not have an obstruction....

Was the clothes dryer running? In our city house if the clothes dryer was running it would make starting a fire very difficult. In fact it would pull smoke out of the fireplace. Once the fire was drawing the dryer could be run. Just the start'n was a problem.

A clothes dryer dump a LOT of treated air out of the house.

Later,
Dan

 

[Egon]

Wind conditions?

Atmospheric pressure?

Soot build up on the top plate in the insert?

 

[Frosty2]

LNF, your the winner. Best run on sentence so far. As someone who can't write a gramatically correct sentence either, thanks for making me feel better. I'm saying this in jest, so I hope you don't get mad. keep up the good work lol.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Sorry about my typing skills or lack there-of, but I resolved the problem, I had put the baffle back in the stove upside down. After much head scratching I figured it out and tore it all back apart and put it back right this time and it is drawing like a champ, thank's for the reply's. Frosty2 I can take a joke and constructive criticism,for many years I had no need for a computer or typing in my line of work, all I needed was a bigger hammer if something didn't fit.

 

[LD1]

I am glad you resolved the issue. :thumbsup: Nothing worse than a house filled with smoke.

And that was a MUCH easier post to read:thumbsup:

 

[jimmyj]

for many years I had no need for a computer or typing in my line of work, all I needed was a bigger hammer if something didn't fit.

If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem!:confused2:

 

[Lineman North Florida]

If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem!:confused2:

I'm fair with electrical problems too,at least a little better than I am at putting a wood stove back together.

 

[dmccarty]

I'm fair with electrical problems too,at least a little better than I am at putting a wood stove back together.

Given your TBN name I hope you are being modest about your electrical skills. :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Glad you figured out the problem. :thumbsup: Good to know that baffle can cause problems.

Later,
Dan

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Given your TBN name I hope you are being modest about your electrical skills. :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Glad you figured out the problem. :thumbsup: Good to know that baffle can cause problems.

Later,
Dan

Dan, I'm working on my 26th year in the electrical distribution and transmission business, I started out as a grunt worked my way up to line crew foreman and now I'm a general foreman over line crews, so I figure I'll do till somebody else comes along:laughing:I enjoyed hi-line work better than anything cause it kept me out in the woods and out of town and traffic and away from mad customers. My fondest memories are as a lineman, if I could only go back 20 years Thank's, Charlie.

 

[patrick_g]

Not a wood stove problem but an interesting furnace problem... One of my two Lenox propane fired furnaces (backup heat for heatpumps) threw a trouble code and failed to work. This during our coldest weather with records being set (-32 F up by Kansas border but only -5 here.) The code (pattern of flashing LED's) decoded as flame detected with gas valve shut off. It was bogus as there was no flame so I suspected the flame sensor. My heat and air guy emailed me a 63 page manual for the furnace so I could pursue the problem (he could not get out of his driveway due to snow.) Nothing made sense...

Conditions improved and he came out Saturday morning (yesterday) to have a look at it. We tested/swapped out vacuum sensors inspected the igniter and the flame sensor and on and on and on. Finally we disassembled the volute for and removed the motor for the draft inducer fan (My unit uses a fan rather than depending on natural draft for combustion air.)

So we open up the volute and pull out the fan complete with squirrel cage blower. O___M___G___ a mud dauber nest which had undoubtedly been constructed near the flue cap above the roof had become dislodged and fell down the flue /chimney pipe and interfered with the fan's output causing turbulence and back pressure sufficient to reduce the vacuum available to the vacuum switch so the unit would not fire.

We reassembled everything using the original parts and none of the new ones we had been trying. It works perfectly now.

MUD DAUBERS.......... yet another reason to hate them. We had a little laugh about having found the bug(s) in the system.

Pat