bad draw from back boiler

LIS

hi there,
i have an open fire with back boiler but i find the draw when the damper is out very bad.so bad that it could take 2 hours to get any heat out to the rads.
was just in my sisters house and her fire sounds like there is a dragon roaring up her chimney and her rads are boiling.
my fire has a 16 inch grate.not the rads as my oil works great.is there any way to improve draft in an open fire
thanks in advance

demanufactured

The thing you have in your fire is not a "DAMPER" as such but just a way to have either the heat going to the back boiler or just have it going out into the room.

As regards your chimney draw , you could get one of those spinning cowls fitted , or open window slightly.

Micky Dolenz

Whens the last time the chumney was swept?

As demanufactured has pointed out, it may be a ventilation problem. Have you a vent in the room? is it open, if not open it. If you don't have one, get one fitted.

All carbon based fuel(and thats all the common ones, oil, gas, coal, wood,turf), when burned produces CO2, if the fire doesn't get enough oxygen, the CO2 becomes CO.

Check for signs of CO spillage into room by rubbing hand under mantle peice, is there black residue there or above fire?

Best to have a spillage and flue flow test done.Fitting a CO detector in a space with a carbon burning appliance isn't a bad idea.

LIS

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Whens the last time the chumney was swept?

As demanufactured has pointed out, it may be a ventilation problem. Have you a vent in the room? is it open, if not open it. If you don't have one, get one fitted.

All carbon based fuel(and thats all the common ones, oil, gas, coal, wood,turf), when burned produces CO2, if the fire doesn't get enough oxygen, the CO2 becomes CO.

Check for signs of CO spillage into room by rubbing hand under mantle peice, is there black residue there or above fire?

Best to have a spillage and flue flow test done.Fitting a CO detector in a space with a carbon burning appliance isn't a bad idea.

the chimney was cleaned not long ago,the room is vented and always open.no black on mantel and correct on the damper front guys.opening a window dosent really help.on a windy night the draw is better still not brill but better.

rx8

I remember we had a similar problem in my mam's old house, my dad would get a wire brush and clean the front face of the boiler,then he got a chain,fed it round the top of the back-boiler and pulled it back and forward to clean the soot off the back surface of the boiler.
He worked for a plumbing supply company, so I assumed he knew what he was doing.
The radiators used to be hopping off the wall afterwards anyway.
Hope this helps.