damper in stovepipe

[markct]

i have a 2 by 8 forced draft evaporator do i need a damper in my stovepipe? i know my last small evaporator i basicly always had the damper wide open anyhow so should i even bother to install one?

[dano2840]

ive never had one nor seen a wood fired rig w/ one
but ive never seen a forced draft rig set up

[Haynes Forest Products]

I have seen them on big wood stoves to keep the fire and heat in the stove and stop the wind from sucking the heat from the fire box. What could it hurt?

[Amber Gold]

I was wondering the same thing. I have a 2.5x6.5, which will likely become a 2.5x8 next season with a 14" stack and forced draft. I think most evap's this size have a 12" stack. I'm thinking I may be losing a lot of heat up the stack and was wondering if adding a damper would keep some more of the heat in the arch and lower fuel consumption. Thoughts??

[mountainvan]

I use the stack cover as a damper once my fire gets going well. It's only opened an inch or two. I did have a damper in my stack when I had a 2x6 with a 8 inch stack.

[maple flats]

I have never had a damper but that does not mean it will hurt. I think it may not help because you are trying to burn as hot as you can but as i say, i never tried one.

[danno]

I experimented with this a little. I've got a 3x10 with 24' of 14" stack. I partially closed my stack cover at different heights. In every situation the stack temp and rate of boil dropped - I guess that makes sense. Thus, I run it wide open with forced air. I get good evaporation rate, but boy does she eat wood.

So, yes, with a damper I expect you would burn wood slower, but boil longer as well.

[brookledge]

I don't feel as though you need a damper. It is not like a wood stove where you want it to burn slow. Fast and furious will give you greater GPH.
Keith

[markct]

thanks for the replys guys, i didnt think it was that neccesary since its basicly just a wild burn not a slow fire like a woodstove but wasnt sure. it was one of those things i forgot about till yesterday when i was installing my stack temp gauge i drilled into the stovepipe and was thinking i gota make sure the probe clears the damper, then realized in my excitement of putting up the stack i had forgot all about putting in a damper! i know my stack temp gauge probably should be down lower in the tapered transition section to be acurate, but its just a old stack temp gauge from a huge oil fired boiler so it tops out around 800 so i figured by putting it up a little higher in the stove pipe it might get a little lower reading, not looking for real acuracy to a number, just sorta to give a comparison idea of how it affects it firing the evap different ways