Symptoms of poor performance related to flue draught include:
•Excessive fuel consumption (high flue draught)
•Poor burning control, overheating (high flue draught)
•Wind noise from air controls (high flue draught)
•Difficulty getting a fire going and keeping it burning well (low flue draught)
•Low heat output (low flue draught)
•Smoke entering room when doors opened (low flue draught)
The construction, position, size and height of the chimney are all factors that affect the performance of the flue draught.
Other factors that can effect the flue draught include:
•Trees or other buildings nearby causing turbulence
•High and gusty winds
•Outside temperature
•Outside weather conditions
•Incorrect additional ventilation to building
•Blocked flue / chimney
For advice on the correction of persistent flue problems consult a qualified solid fuel heating engineer before continuing to use the Huntingdon stove.
10.5Weather conditions
The weather conditions outside the building could have an effect on the burning performance of the Huntingdon stove. These could include:
Windy days - Smoking from the appliance. This could be caused by turbulent airflow around chimney terminal, possibly caused by the position of other buildings or obstacles nearby. This problem is, also, sometimes associated with oversize chimneys, which may even have downdraught problems on calm days. If smoking is a common problem on windy days make a note of the wind strength and direction before consulting your appliance installer, who will advise you on possible solutions to the problem, after visiting the installation.
Damp / Rainy days – These sometimes result in problems when lighting and maintaining the fire, due to the lower flue temperatures and smaller difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures reducing the flue draught. Also, rain water running down the inside of the chimney reducing the flue temperatures. To help with this problem care must be taken to use good quality kindling wood, when starting the fire, and running the stove at a higher heat setting than normal for a period after start-up to fully heat the chimney. It could be possible to fit a rain cowl to the chimney to reduce this problem. Your appliance installer should advise you on possible solutions.
If the Huntingdon stove emits smoke into the room continuously close the air controls and allow the stove to go out, and ventilate the room to clear the fumes.
Do not re-light the appliance until the cause of the problem is identified and rectified.
10.6Troubleshooting
STOVE GLASS BLACKENING:
This occurs as a result of four possible causes:
1.Burning unseasoned wood – See page 8 (section 10.1) for more information on how to identify when your wood is ready for burning. Properly seasoned logs will have been kept for a minimum of a year but are best burnt at 2 years.
2.The stove being burned at too low a temperature - A good working temperature is 300-500° F (120 – 250° C). A stove pipe thermometer will help identify this problem. (Stovax part no 3046). Burning the stove with the airwash control fully open for a period of around 20 minutes ought to cure this. This might be caused by damping your stove down overnight.
3.Problems with your flue – in particular insufficient air pull. If your flue is not doing its job efficiently this can cause blackening of the glass. A flue which is too short, experiences a downdraft, needs lining or has too many bends can promote blackening. If you suspect your flue may be contributing to the blackening of your stove glass you should contact the installer or a flue specialist.
RIDDLING MECHANISM JAMMING:
This occurs when fine ash builds up under the riddling bars preventing their movement. To prevent this we recommend that you follow a regular cleaning routine for the inside
of your stove, taking care to lift out the riddling bars and remove all ash. Replace riddling bars when cleaning is complete.
STOVE GLASS CRACKING:
Please ensure when replacing the glass in your stove that you do not over tighten the screws on the glass clips as this will cause stress in the glass and with the intense heating and cooling of burning your stove it may well cause the glass to crack.
STOVE IS PRODUCING TAR:
You can recognise this from the following traits:
Very strong pungent smell shortly after the stove is lit and as the stove heats up, glass blackening and, possibly, can be seen as a thick, brown and sticky material oozing from your stove pipe joints.
This is caused by burning damp wood and burning your stove at too low a temperature. To resolve this only use well seasoned wood and ensure your stove is operating in the ideal temperature range. Tar is a major cause of chimney fires - if you experience problems with tar build up, please consult a chimney sweep before continued use of your stove.
Ideal working temperature range is 130°C and 240°C (270°F – 465°F). If you fail to close down your primary air control once the stove has heated up to this range you may cause your stove to overfire and the temperature to exceed the ideal range. Overfiring can cause permanent damage to your stove and will invalidate your warranty.
