Wall tent wood stove chimney/smoke pipe.

[jackelope]

From a draft standpoint, is a taller smoke pipe better?
Total greenpea rookie newb wall tent/stove guy but in Idaho last week we had a tent and stove. The 3 of us that were there had never used one before. We had some draft issues and were wondering if the pipe wasn't long enough to provide adequate updraft. Just thinking out loud here..in case a wall tent ever ends up in my garage.
Thanks.

[jackelope]

[jackelope]

For what it's worth, I know the stove was too small for the tent but still had a hard time keeping a good fire burning. If we opened the door slightly, the fire would get going good. That tells me not enough air through the stove.

[Woodchuck]

I have that exact tent and that is the height of my pipe. I am wondering if the draft on the stove is too high  . My stove worked way better after I started using a grate under the wood to get better air flow to the bottom of the wood. 

[2MANY]

For one, it appears the taper of the pipe gets smaller as it rises?? Should be the other way around or straight piped.
For two, ditch the stove cap. Completely unnecessary.
For three, add a length or two of pipe. It will draft twice as good and get you above the ridge. The extra height also allows the sparks time to cool before landing on the roof.
For four, sometimes the pipe recesses too far into the top of the stove. If it sticks in more than an inch cut some off.

Burn bone dry wood!!!

[CP]

The rule of thumb is to get the opening above the highest point of the roof.

[jackelope]

For one, it appears the taper of the pipe gets smaller as it rises?? Should be the other way around or straight piped.
For two, ditch the stove cap. Completely unnecessary.
For three, add a length or two of pipe. It will draft twice as good and get you above the ridge. The extra height also allows the sparks time to cool before landing on the roof.
For four, sometimes the pipe recesses too far into the top of the stove. If it sticks in more than an inch cut some off.

Burn bone dry wood!!!

Thanks. We borrowed all of this stuff from a friend who wasn't there so we did with what we had to work with. That stove pipe was telescopic/tapered, and maybe we had it upside down. I thought we had to have something on top of the pipe for sparks.  Anyway...
Thanks for the input.

[Woodchuck]

For one, it appears the taper of the pipe gets smaller as it rises?? Should be the other way around or straight piped.
For two, ditch the stove cap. Completely unnecessary.
For three, add a length or two of pipe. It will draft twice as good and get you above the ridge. The extra height also allows the sparks time to cool before landing on the roof.
For four, sometimes the pipe recesses too far into the top of the stove. If it sticks in more than an inch cut some off.

Burn bone dry wood!!!

On the pipe cap. Possibly the biggest waste of money by me ever. I have a guy in camp with the tapered nesting pipe and it seems to work ok. 

[bobcat]

Isn't the cap at least good for keeping rain/snow out when the stove isn't in use?

[jackelope]

Isn't the cap at least good for keeping rain/snow out when the stove isn't in use?

That's what I was thinking too, and I thought there had to be some sort of spark arresting device on it. Granted, that cap is not much of a spark arrestor, but that's all he gave us.
 
Total amateur hour adventure here...

[Woodchuck]

Isn't the cap at least good for keeping rain/snow out when the stove isn't in use?

It can be but they clog with creasote very quickly.

[92xj]

Looks like your air intake on the door is wide open yet something is blocking the top 3/4. You said when you opened the door the fire burned great. Intake air flow is your issue, not the exhaust. I know a lot of stoves have a guard on the inside of the door to block Ashe and wood from coming out the intake holes, maybe yours got bent in closing of the intake even though the damper was wide open.

[WAnoob]

If you can manage the extra weight, Duraflame fire logs are awesome in stoves when hunting.  No worries about splitting wood or making sure it's dry.  We only had to chop off a few pieces from a log to start a good fire for the whole night.

[Woodchuck]

Looks like your air intake on the door is wide open yet something is blocking the top 3/4. You said when you opened the door the fire burned great. Intake air flow is your issue, not the exhaust. I know a lot of stoves have a guard on the inside of the door to block Ashe and wood from coming out the intake holes, maybe yours got bent in closing of the intake even though the damper was wide open.

Good point, when I made my stove I made the intake out of 2 pieces of 2x4 tube cut at a 45 to make a 90 and it faces up, put a flapper on top. 

[92xj]

I would also almost assume you had at some point of the camp a time where smoke would come out of the intake holes, would chug like a train puffing smoke out, you would panic, being a woodstove newbie, open the door, the flame would take off and then right itself to take the smoke out the exhaust.


that's what happened to me anyways when I had issues that you're describing. frustrated the crap out of me.

[trophyhunt]

Isn't the cap at least good for keeping rain/snow out when the stove isn't in use?

It can be but they clog with creasote very quickly.

if you were using it in dry conditions it's a good idea but mine clogs up fast so I just bent the wire so it doesn't constrict.  That and a longer pipe like already said will help a ton.

[jackelope]

Looks like your air intake on the door is wide open yet something is blocking the top 3/4. You said when you opened the door the fire burned great. Intake air flow is your issue, not the exhaust. I know a lot of stoves have a guard on the inside of the door to block Ashe and wood from coming out the intake holes, maybe yours got bent in closing of the intake even though the damper was wide open.

There was that plate/guard there. Not sure if it was bent or not. Didn't think about it.

If you can manage the extra weight, Duraflame fire logs are awesome in stoves when hunting.  No worries about splitting wood or making sure it's dry.  We only had to chop off a few pieces from a log to start a good fire for the whole night.

I bought a few of those in town when we were about out of wood, but we ended up bailing out a day early due to sketchy white out blizzard conditions at 4k'. That is a whole other story.

[92xj]

check out image 8.  http://www.walltentshop.com/4dog_detail.html#thumb

in your stove, if that was made out of solid metal instead of the mesh like the picture and then pushed in any towards the door it would kill your intake flow. 

[jackelope]

I would also almost assume you had at some point of the camp a time where smoke would come out of the intake holes, would chug like a train puffing smoke out, you would panic, being a woodstove newbie, open the door, the flame would take off and then right itself to take the smoke out the exhaust.


that's what happened to me anyways when I had issues that you're describing. frustrated the crap out of me.

Negative on that. I'm not a "woodstove newbie", just a wall tent/stove/set it all up newbie. I grew up back east in a house where we only used wood to heat with. Both guys were from back east and both burn lots of wood.

[92xj]

I would also almost assume you had at some point of the camp a time where smoke would come out of the intake holes, would chug like a train puffing smoke out, you would panic, being a woodstove newbie, open the door, the flame would take off and then right itself to take the smoke out the exhaust.


that's what happened to me anyways when I had issues that you're describing. frustrated the crap out of me.

Negative on that. I'm not a "woodstove newbie", just a wall tent/stove/set it all up newbie. I grew up back east in a house where we only used wood to heat with. Both guys were from back east and both burn lots of wood.

Roger that,
I still vote intake flow restriction.  Looking at your second picture, looks like tab is at the top right meaning it's wide open but that plate behind it looks crazy close to the hole restricting air flow causing the draft issues you are describing.  Just my thoughts.

[Woodchuck]

I would also almost assume you had at some point of the camp a time where smoke would come out of the intake holes, would chug like a train puffing smoke out, you would panic, being a woodstove newbie, open the door, the flame would take off and then right itself to take the smoke out the exhaust.


that's what happened to me anyways when I had issues that you're describing. frustrated the crap out of me.

Negative on that. I'm not a "woodstove newbie", just a wall tent/stove/set it all up newbie. I grew up back east in a house where we only used wood to heat with. Both guys were from back east and both burn lots of wood.

Well next year you need to make a trek over and I will give you a tutorial on wall tent woodstoves and all the joys that accompany them. 

[trophyhunt]

I've read also that drilling some small holes in the pipe just above where it leaves the tent, allows air to be drawn in which helps burn up the Sparks.  Less pin holes in your tarp or tent, we haven't tried that trick yet.

[huntnfmly]

Like someone posted before rule of thumb the pipe needs to be above ridge of tent but the intake on your stove is the issue by the look of the pic.you do want a spark arrestor but they don't always get all the Sparks lol here is my new tent from early elk

[rtspring]

Stove pipe needs to be higher than the peak of your tent.  I never use the arrestor thing up top.  I just have a simple piece of screen over thd open pipe. 

When not using stove, disconnect pipe and close the stove jack so rain and snow dont get in the stove.. 

[2MANY]

I have the exact stove. I run it in a tent made of the same material.
Not saying the air intake isn't collapsed but it appears in the picture just like mine.
The advice I gave is spot on.

I would make the changes I mentioned.
My stove pipe starts at 5" and tapers up to 6" for an unrestricted draft.
I also install the damper in the second section up as this creates more hot metal surface area below your pipe damper which equals more radiant heat in the tent when the pipe damper is closed. Having it so close to the stove is a waste.

I also noticed that the wood in the picture is not split down small enough for that style stove whether it is bone dry or not.

The amount of rain that comes down that pipe hole has always been a non factor IMHO.

[ghosthunter]

You can improve your burn by laying three smaller pieces of wood parallel to each other but spaced apart than lay other wood across that. Create air on bottom. But I suspect others are right that the problem was air intake.


http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=how+to+build+a+fire+in+three+dog+stove.&FORM=VIRE1#view=detail&mid=138FA7C4DFA818C9AB9A138FA7C4DFA818C9AB9A

[huntnfmly]

X 2 on laying 3 pcs of wood on bottom

[Todd_ID]

Overall height is a main problem with what I see. Getting above the peak COULD help in the certain wind directions where eddy currents could spill down the top of your pipe. But, that's the only reason for the wives tale of peak height. One more section of pipe, and you'd have been ripping along. The vertical run generates the draft with the gasses running from hot toward cold. The longer that run, the faster it goes. The cap on top is a plug in the system: use it only when you're in fire hazard times or when you're borrowing the tent.

[follow maggie]

Having a taller chimney help with draft, like Todd said. With a taller chimney, the top is farther away from the stove, so has a bigger temperature difference, which improved flow up the chimney.

[CplRaines]

One thing I learned with my barrel stove over the years, besides what others have mentioned, is that the back of the stove where the pipe is needs to be ever so slightly higher than the front. If the front is higher, it will create this weird rolling effect inside the stove where smoke comes out whenever I opened up to add wood. Shimmed under the legs in the back, no more problem.

[rosscrazyelk]

I do not remember where we found the info but we bought a extra length of pipe to move it above the peak of the tent.. the stove works better now and also the sparks don't seem to fall back onto the tent like it used to do.
We have two wall tents, One for the living room and one for sleeping. we have two different types of stoves. for the longest time we had a light weight thin wall one. much like the one in your picture.. Heats the room fast but it fluctuates quickly. We have to maintain the wood more often and always messing with the flu.
In the sleep tent we got a new stove. thick walls, heavy sucker... Heats up slowly but maintains the heat longer and do not have to mess with the flu nearly as much. or add as much wood.
As far as the spark arrestor we have two kinds. The cap on one and a mesh net on the other. less cleaning with the cap but we have lost the cap off in the wind before. It is nice to have a arrestor of some kind for those days it rains..

[dscubame]

Nice setup Jackelope.