New Rmh...some anxiety

I did my test fire today. I piped it up and enclosed the manifold and fired it up. I have some anxiety cause I had some smoking. Is it because my insulation may be damp from the slip. Or the manifold was wet, my dimensions are 7x7x52 7x7x22 and 7x7x9 it'll be extended soon to 11" 11")

Pictures?

Philip; If this was your test fire in a wet core & mass then smoke back is normal. I had to use an assist fan (blowing down the feed tube) to help mine get going the first few times . I also had moisture leaking out anyplace it could. Never fear ... it all stops once you get your core and mass dried out. To totally dry out and heat up took weeks (4-6) but the smoke back quit within days.

Some photos for you.

its getting warm out in some areas and warm outside can affect draw. also depends how high your outside chimney is and if its insulated.

It looks as if you have built your RMH in the basement. If this is so, you may be getting the house itself competing with the RMH for exhaust draft, and occasionally the house drawing more than the chimney and pulling smoke back in. Google "whole house stack effect" for details.

What is your house configuration - stories above the heater location, chimney size and configuration? What is the weather when you get smokeback?

Okay, Yes it is in a basement. There are if you count the basement three floors. We have encountered this particular problem before attempting to burn a wood burner here before as seen sitting in the background. The chimney hole was originally cut for it. I assumed that problem would be resolved if I quit burning my larger potbelly upstairs. This particular day it was warm enough to let the potbelly go out. So you may be onto something. Or it could be a combination with what Thomas stated earlier. Since my manifold was wet along with my vermiculite. This particular day was about 60 Fahrenheit.

Could I offset this with a bigger chimney? The smaller wood burner smoked so bad we never burned it again. I never attempted shutting the bigger potbelly down to try it, since it was our main source of heat. Our house is 28 feet tall basement floor to peak.

If your attic and upper floor has air leaks, the whole house will probably outcompete the chimney for draft. Sealing all leaks, starting at the top, will help... and it will also reduce your heat loss significantly. Double win.

After that, your chimney could be an issue. What is it like? Insulated? Old block or brick? It appears to be entirely external, which means it will be colder and less effective at drafting than a chimney that goes up inside to the roof peak.

Well, the whole house stack effect competing with the chimney is one thing. The other is bare metal pipes. It often happens, that an unfinished rocket is tried in the state yours is in. And nearly every time, bare pipes shed too much heat to leave any for the chimney.

But if your wood stove didn't work in there, i doubt much would work.

For experimenting, put some batt insulation on your pipes. See if it works.

If not, make a board which will cover your window hole. drill a hole big enough for may be 6 inch drier vent, and puta piece of vent from the window, to right next to the feed tube. If it works, good, but i doubt it.

There's another solution, but that would involve an architecture change.

having a rocket stove in the basement defeats the purpose. sealing the basement or at least shutting the basement door but then that would not let the heat up to the house there ya go catch 22. if you had an air access port you could try to pipe cold outside air straight to the air port but i dont think you designed it that way. i have always understood you have a hard time with any stove in the basement let alone a rocket stove. satmax is right, try insulating the heck out of it and if that doesnt work you may be doomed to have it in that location.

Glen, on my top floor is a cathedral ceiling which my wife and I plan on closing off. The floor of the second story is rough lumber with gaps EVERYWHERE. We also have plans to sheet it soon, considering those two issues, and I only had a little smoke and bare pipes I think my chances are good!