poor draft!

[david newbie]

We have a Drolet wood stove that was here when we bought the place, probably not super efficient, I wake up once a night to add wood as it will definitely not hold a fire overnight .. ( us old guys get up at night anyway). When we open the door to add wood we tend to get a lot of smoke, especially when my wife does it). I just realized that all the the draft has to pass through a steel baffle plate, with approximately 50 holes that are slight bigger that 5/32 and smaller than 3/16. I was thinking about taking my drill and enlarging those holes so we don't get so much smoke!! and if we end up slightly less efficient but get less smoke, I'm okay with that. Anyone thing that could work? Thanks, Smoked in Oregon. Btw, our stove pipe is probably 12 feet total and its a straight pipe with some sort of cap on top with plenty of air space.

 

[Patrick62]

We have a Drolet wood stove that was here when we bought the place, probably not super efficient, I wake up once a night to add wood as it will definitely not hold a fire overnight .. ( us old guys get up at night anyway). When we open the door to add wood we tend to get a lot of smoke, especially when my wife does it). I just realized that all the the draft has to pass through a steel baffle plate, with approximately 50 holes that are slight bigger that 5/32 and smaller than 3/16. I was thinking about taking my drill and enlarging those holes so we don't get so much smoke!! and if we end up slightly less efficient but get less smoke, I'm okay with that. Anyone thing that could work? Thanks, Smoked in Oregon. Btw, our stove pipe is probably 12 feet total and its a straight pipe with some sort of cap on top with plenty of air space.View attachment 1238233View attachment 1238235View attachment 1238236

look at it a little closer. I wager that those holes are the secondary burn holes... meaning that they flow air to make a more efficient burn. similar to what my stove, and mothers insert uses. there will be a baffle back up in there that the smoke has to go around, and then up the stack. could have accumulated a bunch of soot/ash on top of that baffle. Also, go check that cap to be certain that it is free and clear. it's a large door (nice) learn to open it a little and pause for 3 seconds and let things stabilize.

enjoy, it's a nice looking stove!

 

[SS396driver]

I have a newer Drolet with the secondary tubes instead of the plate . Those are for the air to enter not for the smoke to exit . I would open the air vent for a few minutes before adding more wood

 

[david newbie]

I already do those tricks, and they do help a little. I tried to examine the baffle plate and I sure cant find any potential openings other than the 50 small holes. No openings around the edges as far as I can tell

 

[david newbie]

I have a newer Drolet with the secondary tubes instead of the plate . Those are for the air to enter not for the smoke to exit . I would open the air vent for a few minutes before adding more wood

My little brother Lives in the Catskills, somewhere out side of ellenville and is learning to use a wood stove

 

[SS396driver]

I already do those tricks, and they do help a little. I tried to examine the baffle plate and I sure cant find any potential openings other than the 50 small holes. No openings around the edges as far as I can tell

Mine the exhaust goes out the front just above the door not a great picture but this is the general idea

 

[SS396driver]

My little brother Lives in the Catskills, somewhere out side of ellenville and is learning to use a wood stove

I’m right next to the Rondout reservoir. Near Ellenville

 

[david newbie]

Mine the exhaust goes out the front just above the door not a great picture but this is the general idea View attachment 1238301

Mine the exhaust goes out the front just above the door not a great picture but this is the general idea View attachment 1238301when the stove is out I will try lighting incense or some other smoke and see where it wants to go

Maybe

 

[Patrick1903]

For our insert, I rarely try to load it unless it’s down in the low coal part of the burn cycle. Otherwise it will roll smoke out. But it sounds like you are doing some of the normal things to avoid extra smoke rollout.
- Open primary air/damper to max for several minutes ahead of opening door. (Will help get things as hot as possible)
- crack door open for 5 seconds before opening door to load. Slowly open door to avoid pulling smoke out.

Definitely don’t want to drill those secondary burn tube holes. That will not affect draft.

Was your flue cleaned before you burned this season? And have you or your chimney sweep inspected the cap? The spark arrestor on the cap (diamond shaped metal mesh) will clog and create drafting issues. Easy things to check first.

 

[david newbie]

Yes, I’m doing all the tricks to reduce smoke before I open the stove door and try to shut it quickly as possible. I forgot to clean the pipe last spring so it went extra long, thus blocking it up by cleaning it. The cap is good. Maybe I just have to accept that it is what it is

 

[Patrick1903]

Yes, I’m doing all the tricks to reduce smoke before I open the stove door and try to shut it quickly as possible. I forgot to clean the pipe last spring so it went extra long, thus blocking it up by cleaning it. The cap is good. Maybe I just have to accept that it is what it is

I forgot to mention but you probably already know, but consider opening a door or window slightly while you reload. Make sure all vent fans or dryer is turned off in the house. Recommend also burning a hot fire each day, letting it burn with primary air fully open for 30 mins (to get flue hot for less buildup) and after reloads so your not smoldering as much. As I said, my main way of reducing smoke it to be down at coals before reloading. Not great if you want to keep cranking out high heat all day but it works for us better than getting smoke in the house. It lights back and heats pretty quickly even still. Good luck and enjoy the heat.

 

[MudgeHollowBeaver]

Are there exhaust fans or other chimneys that are creating a negative pressure in your home wrt outside? You may need a heat recovery air exchanger.

 

[Sidecarflip]

Is the house tight? By that I mean no air ingress? Try opening the front door before opening the door to the stove and then open the stove door. If no smoke eminates when doing that, then to house is tight and you need to provide outside air to allow the flue pipe to naturally draft. On our stoved, we have outside air coming into the stove via a flex pipe connected to the outside and the backside of the stove to supply air to it. You could also have a clogged up flue pipe.

I like providing outside air for combustion anyway because supplying outside air means you aren't using the interior already heated air for combustion. Outside air is not heated.