Hot Tent Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Worries

[Moserkr]

Actually the opposite is true. The spark arrestor is supposed to be on the top of the pipe outside. Seek Outside puts the spark arrestor on the bottom of the pipe for their stoves which is damn dangerous IMO. I understand why they do it for back back tents as it is easy to pull the smaller pipe and clean the screen every time you fire it up. Not so easy to pull the pipe on a standard hot tent and cylinder stove. If you have a good rain cap with a 1/4 mesh spark arrestor, it will never plug up as long as you burn decent wood.

Curious, never seen em up top except on larger wood stoves for wall tents (had mine clog too on that). Why is the bottom spark arrestor dangerous in your opinion? Ive burned mine like that for a week straight and not had issues. Hot fires keep em clean on the bottom.

Kifaru puts theirs in bottom on cylinder stove and I've had mine clog, this smoking out the tut, good news is the burn time isn't long enough in the 18” to do to much damage

May have answered my question above, but thats crazy!! Never heard of one on the bottom clogging. Makes me want to just not run a spark arrestor at all now, which i do if the conditions are right.

 

[Gila]

Curious, never seen em up top except on larger wood stoves for wall tents (had mine clog too on that). Why is the bottom spark arrestor dangerous in your opinion? Ive burned mine like that for a week straight and not had issues. Hot fires keep em clean on the bottom.


May have answered my question above, but thats crazy!! Never heard of one on the bottom clogging. Makes me want to just not run a spark arrestor at all now, which i do if the conditions are right.

Go to the seek outside website and read what they have to say about the different models of spark arrestors: https://seekoutside.com/spark-arrestor-ultra/

With holes that large i question how effective it is as a spark arrestor.

The forest service requires a spark arrestor. They recommend 1/4 inch mesh which is standard. I run a wood stove for my home's primary source of heat. The raincap has a 1/4 inch mesh also.

 

[Gila]

I meant to mention that the diameter, length of the pipe, wood quality and operating temperature are all factors with how much smoke and cresote is generated, accumulated. Operating teperatature between 300 and 500 degrees at the pipe bottom is optimal.

 

[BoneTaco]

You can easily test the set up in your front yard with a monitor

 

[Moserkr]

Go to the seek outside website and read what they have to say about the different models of spark arrestors: https://seekoutside.com/spark-arrestor-ultra/

With holes that large i question how effective it is as a spark arrestor.

The forest service requires a spark arrestor. They recommend 1/4 inch mesh which is standard. I run a wood stove for my home's primary source of heat. The raincap has a 1/4 inch mesh also.

Interesting. Each application is different for sure. My arrestor is 1/4” mesh, and sits inside the burn chamber at the lowest point on the stove pipe possible. Explains why mine stays clean even with poor wood. With my damper on low, and stove piping hot, my stove pipe is not that hot after 8’ of travel in cold weather.

 

[Bighorner]

^ this. Never again will I have a spark arrestor at the top of the stove. It is not hot enough to keep things cleared out.

 

[prm]

My stove is an old EdT Ti model. The arrestor is just above the stove. Never had an issue and it’s been burned a lot in the 9 years (?) I’ve had it.

 

[Gila]

^ this. Never again will I have a spark arrestor at the top of the stove. It is not hot enough to keep things cleared out.

If you put the flat SA on top of the pipe that is designed to be inserted in-line at the bottom, yes it will clog up! The only function of the SA is to keep the sparks from burning the roof of your tent or starting a forest fire. Look at the rain cap link, the mesh is vertical around the side of the rain cap. Any floating debris falls back down the pipe. There is nothing to burn off. However with a short stovepipe that has a small diameter, may get the "black gunk" in the raincap. Just pull it and clean it if you are worried about it but it shouldn't be enough to clog up. At least you can see it and it doesn't get that hot.

 

[Bighorner]

I did have particular trouble on a short stack. My problem was that I would let a fire burn out at night and the next time I went to stoke it would light, but once I put some fuel to it would choke out and fill the tent with smoke. I pulled the spark arrestor and it was nearly completely blocked with soot. It was at one of those strange times when a SA is required, but we had just got a soakers making for relatively wet fuel. My comment about burning off is really more about the volume of air and the heat keeping the SA clean, not so much actually burning it clean.

 

[Gila]

I did have particular trouble on a short stack. My problem was that I would let a fire burn out at night and the next time I went to stoke it would light, but once I put some fuel to it would choke out and fill the tent with smoke. I pulled the spark arrestor and it was nearly completely blocked with soot. It was at one of those strange times when a SA is required, but we had just got a soakers making for relatively wet fuel. My comment about burning off is really more about the volume of air and the heat keeping the SA clean, not so much actually burning it clean.

A bottom in-line SA would be more attractive if it didn't get so hot and you could get to it without pulling the stack. A raincap takes up more precious space in the back-pack. I get that.
If you are burning dry, hard, wood and you can get the base of the stack between 300-500 deg rather quickly, there will be virtually no smoke or creosote. When the stove is at that temp, look what is coming out of the top of the stack and you will see only hot air. The problem with a backpack tent is you have use whatever wood is along the trail. Green or wet pine is the worst wood to burn. Dry pinion or oak is the best if it is around. Cedar is good. The trick is to get up to operating temp quickly. Sometimes that is easier said than done.

 

[*zap*]

Seek has a ultra spark arrestor that you can dump without taking it apart, operates like a damper.

 

[Gila]

Seek has a ultra spark arrestor that you can dump without taking it apart, operates like a damper.

All I can see with the ultra SA is larger holes. Does it have a tray with a handle that you can pull out while it is hot? The after market in-line SAs do...

 

[treillw]

I have a large seek stove - setup for backpacking. Just FYI.

Talked with Kevin about the creosote and he said that the ultra eliminates creosote problems and will soon be their new standard.

 

[Gila]

I have a large seek stove - setup for backpacking. Just FYI.

Talked with Kevin about the creosote and he said that the ultra eliminates creosote problems and will soon be their new standard.

Good! that should let you sleep with ease

burn decent dry wood, clean the SA each time before using and try to keep up the operating temperature and you should not have to worry about smoke or CO.

 

[Gila]

my pack packing days are over with....can't get around like i used to Here is my setup:

 

[treillw]

my pack packing days are over with....can't get around like i used to Here is my setup:

View attachment 233250View attachment 233251

Nice setup. I think you and I both just need a couple pack animals to hoof that up on the mountain for us

 

[*zap*]

The ultra has a lever to flip it like a damper, the goal would be to flip it and dump. the crap into the stove and no need to clean it.

 

[Gila]

Nice setup. I think you and I both just need a couple pack animals to hoof that up on the mountain for us

I would like to get a couple of pack mules some day. Right now I am stuck with some knothead horses that get lost outside of the arena.

 

[treillw]

The ultra has a lever to flip it like a damper, the goal would be to flip it and dump. the crap into the stove and no need to clean it.

I had creosote running (black goo) between the stove pipe and damper. Dunno if the ultra would help this.

 

[johnnyg08]

Because science, facts, and terminology matter here...CO2 is Carbon Dioxide. CO is Carbon Monoxide. Carbon Monoxide (CO) Can kill you and is exponentially more dangerous than Carbon Dioxide (CO2).