smokin squirrel

[dreadnought]

hi, i`ve just installed a squirrell stove in my nb and i`m a little disappointed, its not drawing very well and when i open the door a great dollop of smoke is let into the boat, even whe the door is left open smoke enters the boat,i`ve tried opening the door real slow no difference,hot flue no diff,appart from putting a twenty foot chimney on it is there anything else i can try, cheers

[Nightwatch]

Is the baffle plate in the correct position? Gap at the front.

 

Also, when opening the door open really slowly to allow equalising of air.

 

Others will be along soon.

[bizzard]

And if it has the the half moon shaped restrictor up under the top plate across the flue hole held by 3 nuts its recommended that its removed for boat use.

[nicknorman]

Ours is fairly smokey too. I think it's down to the baffle plate that makes the stove much more efficient, but stifles the draw.

 

I try to avoid opening the door except when the fuel is well burnt, only burn smokeless fuel or dry wood.

[Jess--]

sorry for the derail.... the topic title conjured up this image.

 

[Taslim]

As per Bizz #3.

 

The plate is a nusance even in a house instalation. As Nick says the plate improves efficiency but is a pain in the but when cleaning.

[rgreg]

As per Bizz #3.

 

The plate is a nusance even in a house instalation. As Nick says the plate improves efficiency but is a pain in the but when cleaning.

Strangely, I never find this a problem. Once a year I clean the flue and tilt the baffle plate to brush off any crud with my hand. I do only burn smokeless ovals as a rule so maybe that's why it doesn't get particularly dirty.

[system 4-50]

Some of the ventilation holes in your cabin take air in and some take it out.

Mostly I would expect those upwind to be more inclined to be "in"s and the remainder "out"s.

(But hot air in the vicinity of a ventilator will encourage them to be "out"s rather than "in"s.)

Try closing/blocking ventilators (& doors) (briefly) so that the stove flue becomes the most downwind and therefore tempted to be an "out".

When the wind is abeam then its a bit more difficult!

Its a nice theory & probably useless, but it can do no harm to try.

[NorthwichTrader]

I started a thread recently to this effect.

Basically, I'm coming 'round to the idea that you have to live with it, or otherwise throw your expensive heat up the pipe by removing the baffle plate, which I suspect would ultimately knacker the comparatively thin top plate of the morso stove?

We've adopted Nick's approach and gone for loading quickly, and at appropriate times.

I question the effectiveness of the air wash system on narrowboat installs, and wonder whether they are worth it at all? I think the heat that is necessary to make the fire draw as it's intended (ie in a house installation with the longer flue), which then activates an effective draw for the air wash system to work effectively, would make the boat inhabitable.

We're getting a slightly taller and properly insulated chimney fitted in the hope of some improvement, though our expectations aren't high.

I have to say, wood's a pain, but coal is far more tolerable, if a little more expensive.

[bizzard]

There's no need to keep opening the stove door to put coal on. The coal can be fed down the chimney, plop, plop,plop, from outside. To save climbing about on the roof to perform this task a long handled soup ladle could be used from the bank. Even a simple automatic stoker could be rigged up on the roof. The down the chimney method will of course eliminate ash dust flying about inside when the stove door is opened, also no buckets of coal at hand inside anymore affording you more space. Those with baffle plates will either have to remove them or cut a large hole in it for the coal to plummet through.

[NorthwichTrader]

Not forgetting, of course, that 25kg of coal rattling down the flue each week will also do wonders for keeping chimney deposits down! No more chimney sweeps!