Eco Range T3 Installation Instructions & User Manual - page 9
Baffles are made of stainless steel or ‘vermicuboard’: compressed, expanded volcanic rock, a bit like chip
board. If these crack, again it is not a major problem and no harm will occur as long as they haven’t fallen
out exposing the walls behind them. Of course they should be replaced if excessively cracked or broken, as
soon as is possible and these parts all just slot into place. Spare can be ordered from the manufacturer or
cut from a sheet of ‘Skamolex’ using a wood saw & the old broken baffle as a template.
If installed correctly, running problems can only be caused by:
a) Poor and/or wet fuel
b) Poor chimney.
Fuel should be cut and split and then stored for a minimum 2 years to bring the water content down below
20%. That’s still a lot of water 200ml/1kg log! You cannot burn water and it reduces the efficiency of the
appliance dramatically. If you can purchase a small moisture meter (about £15.00), then take a sample log
and split it, press the meter into the newly exposed wood. That is the only way to check your wood.
The word ‘seasoned’ is meaningless, and usually a con trick.
Chimneys: If you definitely have dry wood but are still having difficulty with your wood burning appliance, it
is almost certain that it is the chimney.
Chimney problems divide into 2 clearly different sections: Down Draught & Lack of Draught.
Lack of draught: A chimney is like a hot air balloon, the air inside want to rise up as it is hotter that the air
outside. The 2 things that determine the performance of a hot air balloon are the size of the balloon, which
equates to the height and diameter of your flue, and the temperature of the air inside, which equates to
the quality of the chimney. If the pilot want to go up he turns the burner on and heats the air so it has more
lift. If you have a large ‘cold’ chimney, as the smoke goes up it will cool and lose its buoyancy. This stops
the rise and it is this rise or draw, that draws the oxygen through the fire to make it burn. Without the lift or
draw there is insufficient oxygen and the fire just smolders on.
Signs of lack of draw
: When, at all times, burning good dry fuel the cooker struggles to get to
temperature and when the door is opened to re-fuel, large quantities of smoke come out.
Solutions:
Check that the flue is not blocked in the first place. Line the chimney, insulate the
chimney/liner. No cowls will increase draw, they all reduce it.
Down Draught: A roof is like the wing of an aircraft or the sail on a boat and causes pressure changes as the
wind flows over and around it. To make matters worse, the surroundings also affect the flow and pressures.
So if a chimney it not ‘tall’ enough it can end up in a high pressure zone, the air will then want to come
down the chimney and out the back or front door, which can be at a lower pressure.
Signs of a down draft:
When burning good dry fuel the cooker struggles to get to temperature and
when the door is opened to re-fuel, large quantities of smoke come out, only on certain days only when the
wind is blowing from a particular direction. (Usually from the opposite side of the roof that the chimney is
Solutions:
Raise the chimney, more twin wall or taller pot. Cut down surrounding trees. Fit a ‘Verdette’ or
spinning type of cowl.