smokey fireplace problems

anyone else have or have had a smokey fireplace problem? my fireplace is weird as hell. when you first start a fire in it......and yeah, its an open fireplace...no insert in it........it'll barely smoke at all while the flue is heating up. after a fire has been burning for a while....it'll start acting like its not drawing good, and it'll get the living room smokey as hell. im not too sure what to do at this point...as we are needing it to work this time of year. we had it cleaned last year, so i dont think that would be something thats wrong with it. ya'll got any ideas? im planning on trying to find a insert for it soon, but cant afford a good one right now.

 

how far back is the wood?

if you have a rack that you set the firewood on it may be to far forward.

 

Has it worked in the past or is it a new house/fireplace? Does it have a damper in the flue?

 

this time of year we go on a lot of calls where people smoke out their living rooms due to having the rack of wood not all the way back.

 

Do you have a powerful kitchen hood fan or bath fans , sounds like you are backdrafting into the house .

 

How cold is it in South Carolina ?

 

If you have a cap on top of your chimney maybe its too close. I had this problem. Raising the cap a couple of bricks fixed me right up.

 

x2 on this as a problem too.

if the tip of the chimney isn't where it should be in relation to the pitch of the roof; the wind could be forcing the smoke down the chimney into your living room.

 

Make sure the flu is open and have someone go on top of the house and make sure they can see your flashlight looking from the top down. You may have a birds nest in there or a bat's nest....(I know you've already done this but do it again...maybe this time with a friends help and not your wife or gf!)

 

x2 to all of these. Also, check to see if a bird or some critter has made a nest in there.

 

Here is a troubleshooting list for you:

http://www.chimneys.com/burning_secrets/chapter_7.html

I just did some work on mine. The cap was smashed in on one side, which closed a bunch of louvers and such, and this prevented it from exhausting/drawing correctly. So give the cap a good inspection. I had to drill it apart and repair the filthy damn thing myself beacuse they aren't made anymore for my pre-fab fireplace and nothing else would fit...

Also, as someone else mentoned, check the correct height and distance from any nearby roof ridge. I think the chimney has to be at least 3 ft high in general, and the top must be ast least 2 feet higher than any roofline 10 feet away.

 

Thanks for the responses. I have a grate in the fp about 3 inches off the floor and all the way back. It almost seems that the opening is too big. I had it all cleaned last year.....and I capped it with an open cap.....there is a layer of mesh..then the open cap......nothing can get into the opening. I may try adding a few bricks and see if that helps with the draft. I may see about getting a smoke guard to drop the height of the opening as well. When I find a wood burning insert....definitely getting one.

 

I had this problem once in an apartment fireplace. I was told to before starting wood on fire, light a piece of newspaper rolled up long ways and stick it as far up into the flu as possible and let it burn. I haven't had a problem since. Basically there could be a pocket of cold air up inside the flu that is not being heated enough by the fire to dissipate. The cold air pocket won't allow the smoke to escape.

EDIT: if this happens to you only in cold weather it's worth a shot. If it happens during warm weather I'm out of ideas haha.

 

I had the same problem last week with the huge wind storm we had. it would backdraft the fire with huge gusts. I do find that with open fire places, there is always going to be some sort of smokey in the room since its so open no matter how much draft you pull. I happen to have a inlet in my fireplace to allow outside air into the fire instead of pulling air from the room. Still working on the damper position for good heat/smoke control. cracking a window briefly might also help with the updraft problems.

 

This is usually the case. Not enough upper draft or pull on the chimney top.

 

crazy fireplace problems which is why I don't fiddle with them I still have a virgin fireplace in my house. I haven't even burned a log in it yet (built the house 3 years ago).

 

Everyone's suggestion here on what might be wrong are good to check out. My first thought is backdraft but it could be any of the above mentioned.

 

My fireplace did the same thing, I'm not sure as to why, as I had it cleaned before I started burning. I found a WB insert on CL for $200 and it draws really nice now. It was the best money I have ever spent. It runs from Friday/Monday in the winter. It heats my whole house up to about 70-80 degrees depending on how cold it is outside. It has def. paid for itself in the last 3 years I have had it. Keep an eye on CL and be sure your the first caller as they go very quick!

 

I def. wouldn't burn green wood but running some good dry white pine thru your stove once a week (during this cold ass winter) is a good thing, since pine burns so quickly (& hot) its a great way to loosen & burn up the creosote accumilating from the slower burning,more stable oak I'm assuming you use now for fuel, theres only one reason for smoke to accumilate , theres some kind of blockage (not saying its plugged up) keeping the smoke from going up the flue properly, could be a faulty damper, maybe a huge ash pile towards the back you can't see, but you def. want to fix this ASAP, not only from carbonmonoxied but if your flue is coated with that much creosote if that shit gets too thick & hot & ignites in the flue you are probably going to lose your house, it burns much like a grease fire only worse & is all but impossible to put out without the right retardent ( DO NOT USE WATER) I mean unless its absolutely neccessary, water will effect it 10X worse than trying to put out a grease fire. Shit will explode & spread like wildfire (no pun intended)
Any fire fighters here can probably confirm this...