Multifuel stove problem

hollydays

I had a problem with my multifuel stove-one minute working ok-next time i used it after a few months smoke would come out of the doors. Arranged for someone competant to come and look at it, and he had subcontracted it out to a chimney sweep who had very basic knowledge and experience (thats a polite way of saying it)I have to say he wasnt exactly confident in what he was saying though. He took the main pipe off and shone a torch inside and i could see that the "damper" was only opening by a couple of inches,he thinks maybe it should open up completely? What can I do?

John_3:16

I asume by damper you mean a plate inside the chimney pipe. If so can't you open it and try it again.

When did you last have your chimney swept? It would have to be open for this.

hollydays

He swept the chimney yesterday-think they just sweep the chimney,not the pipe.
Have tried to open it several times.

amd

We have woodburner, the damper (when fitted) is usually pivoted with a lever. It should also be possible to put your arm into the flue at the rear/top of the stove to check it's working. If the chimney was swept, did the person access the flue from below and pull out the debris into the stove? I'm sure the damper should open fully but not close fully. There should be no way of closing the airflow so that smoke would have to come back in. It's much safer to control airflow from the actual stove itself, the flue damper would provide extra control on very windy days.

Sometimes when burning wood, especially on a slow burn, it creates something like 'puff candy' which sticks to the walls of the chimney and falls down itself or when cleaned. The pieces can be up to the size of a handfull - enough to jam the damper mechanism or reduce airflow.

We have a baffle plate in the top of the stove which we remove to access the rear pipe. For some reason, only in this particular house, we get puff candy falling down almost every day even though our wood is very well seasoned! It sits in the 90 degree bend at the rear of the stove and obstructs the air slightly - so we clean it almost every time we light it!

On odd days it can just be wind pressure and direction which can cause an odd 'puff' of smoke to come back down the chimney. Could that be the smoke you see?

What we've learned in 20 odd years of woodburning, is that no two chimneys or stoves are the same - so much even depends on where your house is sited and what buildings/trees are around your house.

stoveman

right ok

the smoke coming out the doors could be a few simple things.

Check the rope seals around the door and glass do they look warn? they may need replaceing in order to keep a good seal around the door or glass, if not replaced this can cause smoke to escape.

The pipe would have to be extremely blocked for the damper to not open so i doubt this is the problem, although it may be adviseable to check this.

My money is that the stove door and glass seal need sto be replaced, all it is , is a fireproof rope and costs around £1.30 a meter and you would need a heat proof glue to stick it on with (around £2.99)

stoveman

a good test is to trap a piece of paper around the door and see if you can pull it out easy if you can then the seal is definatly very poor