Problems with Johnson Energy J9000

[Otahyoni]

I lit a fire in my wood furnace for the first time since moving here and quickly discovered two problems.

The first is that with the loading door shut the air flowing in through the damper pulses and the damper bounces. If the damper gets close to closed, the draw sucks it shut. What do I need to do/check?

The second problem was a stuck blower motor, but after cleaning and re-oiling it works. The thing I'm wondering here is that I can't really feel any air coming from the floor vents, but a paper towel kinda floats above it. Should there be more air coming from the vents?

 

[olyman]

I lit a fire in my wood furnace for the first time since moving here and quickly discovered two problems.

The first is that with the loading door shut the air flowing in through the damper pulses and the damper bounces. If the damper gets close to closed, the draw sucks it shut. What do I need to do/check?

The second problem was a stuck blower motor, but after cleaning and re-oiling it works. The thing I'm wondering here is that I can't really feel any air coming from the floor vents, but a paper towel kinda floats above it. Should there be more air coming from the vents?

try to check the inside of the furnace walls.. if it sat for a looong time,, spiders may have it full of their webs........bouncing damper,, got a outside air intake in the house???

 

[Otahyoni]

There's no spiders (or mice) that I can see.

I don't have a dedicated fresh air supply, but I had plenty of windows open. I'm wondering if I have too much draft. My barometric damper on the oil furnace opens up quite a bit when it is running (I use the same chimney and switch between furnaces by swapping out connection pipes).

 

[NSMaple1]

Chances are if your other furnace needs a baro your wood one might too or you'd have too much draft.

Is there one in place when your wood furnace is hooked up?

What do you have for a chimney?

EDIT: I'm not sure what you mean by the damper pulsing & being sucked shut though. Do you mean the draft door on the loading door?

 

[Otahyoni]

Chances are if your other furnace needs a baro your wood one might too or you'd have too much draft.

Is there one in place when your wood furnace is hooked up?

What do you have for a chimney?

EDIT: I'm not sure what you mean by the damper pulsing & being sucked shut though. Do you mean the draft door on the loading door?

No, the baro is on the pipe I removed. The chimney is a 7" stainless liner in a brick chimney that's probably 25-30' tall.

Yes, I mean the automatic draft control on the loading door. Its a metal flap supported by a chain and bi-metal spring, so it can 'bounce'.

 

[NSMaple1]

I'd say you're pulling too much draft. I have a 30' chimney, stainless class A, and it can pull over .3" when the wind is blowing. Maybe .15" when its not blowing. Might want to check the furnace specs but I think most like .05". Dwyer manometers are cheap for measuring it. Some get by with using a key damper & seat of pants tuning, I like using a barometric damper & manometer for constant correct draft.

Not sure on your other question, but a manometer can be used for measuring duct flows too. You might get a better handle on things by measuring plenum & duct temps with an IR temp gun (might need to spray some flat black paint spots where you're measuring to get decent readings, they don't like reflective surfaces). But if your fan was stuck, it might be sick.

I'd get a thermometer to monitor your pipe temps too.

 

[Otahyoni]

I'd say you're pulling too much draft. I have a 30' chimney, stainless class A, and it can pull over .3" when the wind is blowing. Maybe .15" when its not blowing. Might want to check the furnace specs but I think most like .05". Dwyer manometers are cheap for measuring it. Some get by with using a key damper & seat of pants tuning, I like using a barometric damper & manometer for constant correct draft.

Not sure on your other question, but a manometer can be used for measuring duct flows too. You might get a better handle on things by measuring plenum & duct temps with an IR temp gun (might need to spray some flat black paint spots where you're measuring to get decent readings, they don't like reflective surfaces). But if your fan was stuck, it might be sick.

I'd get a thermometer to monitor your pipe temps too.

I did notice on top of the stove it says "Do Not Operate In Excess Of .06" W.C. Draft". I would prefer to use a baro damper to reduce operator error, and to reduce the chances of something going wrong while i'm away at work.

I just ordered a Dwyer manometer so I can get teh draft set properly.

If the blower motors are weak or getting ready to fail (and at $300 each!), could i build a plenum and install a regular furnace blower in place instead? I've got a couple of those laying around...

Edit: I've got an infrared thermometer, is that fine for checking temps, or do I need one made for a woodstove?

 

[NSMaple1]

I like having a thermometer permanently mounted on my smoke pipe. Have to be wary of the magnetic ones, they read low. I like a probe.

The IR should be good for quick checks of most anything - just have to watch where you point it & shiny surfaces.

Don't think I'll be much more help, I'm not exactly a furnace guy and don't think I've even seen pictures of a Johnson - I was thinking it had a regular furnace blower.

 

[brenndatomu]

Those "automatic draft control" doors controlled by a bi-mettalic spring are kinda prone to bouncing if there is no damper or baro on the chimney. Hopefully getting things set to specs will cure the issue for you. Too bad I didn't see this before, I just listed some Dwyers over in the Tradin Post for sale.
You may want to go ahead and take those blower motor(s) apart to clean and lube now before they blow up. Even if you have to take 'em to a motor shop for service it will be cheaper/easier than replacing them later during heating season

 

[Otahyoni]

You may want to go ahead and take those blower motor(s) apart to clean and lube now before they blow up. Even if you have to take 'em to a motor shop for service it will be cheaper/easier than replacing them later during heating season

Did just that and they seem to be running fine now and when I cut the power they coast for a good bit. There just dosent seem to be enough air coming from the vents. I've got an old furnace fan so I think I'll mock it up and seem if I like that better. If not, then I'm not out anything..

 

[A.S.Woodchucker]

Look for those blower motors in a grainger catalog, I have a Johnson energy stove and had mine go out mid heating season, my advice would be replace them before you have to shut the stove down in January to replace them. Mine was a real PITA with a return box mounted.

 

[Otahyoni]

Look for those blower motors in a grainger catalog, I have a Johnson energy stove and had mine go out mid heating season, my advice would be replace them before you have to shut the stove down in January to replace them. Mine was a real PITA with a return box mounted.

If it was just the return box it wouldn't be that bad. What makes it suck is my oil furnace about 18" behind the wood furnace. Hard to see what I'm doing while crammed in there.

I'll see if I can find them on Grainger's site.