Dampers
Mechanical troubles with fireplaces: dampers
Corrosion and debris are the most common causes of stuck dampers. Your chimney professional can lubricate the moving parts and make adjustments, or recommend a new damper if yours is damaged beyond repair.
Top-Hat Moment
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Who knew this special “top-hat moment” would turn into a 2nd Generation Legend? Growing up around chimney cleaning all his life gave David Pixley a special and unique knowledge and understanding of the trade, clearly an advantage like nothing else could have. By default, he gained first-hand experience by being able to learn from the best in the industry! As you would expect, 2nd Generation Chimneys, Inc. assists local residential and commercial customers with their chimney cleaning, inspection and repair needs with safety as their first priority.
Odors: woodstove, fireplace, chimney
There are several types of odors that could detract from your enjoyment of the wood stove. Creosote has a very strong, acrid odor, generally much worse in wet weather or in the summertime when the chimney is less effective in drawing the odor up the chimney.
Creosote
One of the great misunderstandings in the world of woodstoves is how creosote fits into the picture. Contrary to popular belief, creosote is not an inevitable product of wood burning. Creosote forms when wood is burned incompletely, and is an indication of improper use, poor installation, or a poor wood stove design.
Woodstove problems: poor performance
Sometimes it seems that the stove just isn’t working as well as it used to. If there is no obvious problem, such as smoking, catalyst malfunction, etc., but it just doesn’t seem to be doing the job it used to, consider the possibilities in this article.
Woodstove problems: dampers
Woodstove damper problems are sometimes fixed with little effort. Other times, a fix is not so easy.
Smoky woodstove: smoky on wet days in other rooms
Some stoves seem to work just fine except when it is wet out. If this seems to be the case, pay close attention to the weather when you have smoking problems. It is easy to confuse wind-related problems with rain-related problems.
Smoky woodstove: smoking on windy days
Some stoves seem to work okay except on windy days, or if the wind is coming from a specific direction. Chimney height should be considered as a possible cause. We will look at this and other possible causes.
Smoky woodstove: constant or erratic smoking
If your stove seems to smoke all the time, or erratically, consider these possibilities: undersized flue, blockages, multiple appliances connected to the same flue.
Smoky woodstove: smoky endings
If your stove seems to work okay once you get it going, but smokes when you are done using it, as the fire is going out, here are some possibilities.
Anatomy of a woodstove
Although there are many different models of wood stoves, there are several basic components in all stoves. We will take a look at parts found in all woodstoves as well as those found only in some woodstoves.
