New Avalon Arbor

[Phil M.]

Just got it installed yesterday. I am brand new to this. I have gotten some good info from the web, from my dealer and from my installer but I am still having trouble with a couple of things. First, I am smell smoke...not a lot and it's only near the stove. Second, my glass is getting filthy! I am using great American pellets. I have adjusted the air flow numerous times. Too much and the fire goes out. I was told too little, and the glass will get brown. I need help

 

[imacman]

First, welcome to the forum.....lots of helpful people here, and I'm sure some that have the same stove.

Is this a brand new stove, or used? Used stoves are notoriously known for being plugged with ash and run poorly (main reason people sell them in the first place....they did poor maintenance). If the stove is used, then it needs to be taken apart and cleaned inside & out of ALL trapped ash. If it's new, then also describe your exhaust system set-up.

The smoke smell has to be coming from a leaky pipe.....best way to see where is to wait until dark, fire the stove up, and just as the fire pot starts making some smoke, turn out the lights in the room and shine a flashlight around the exhaust pipe.....usually will show any escaping smoke. Seal w/ silicone as your installer did, or you can also use furnace tape.

Dirty glass can be a couple of things. Running the stove on low is usually the cause, but pellet brand may have an effect too.

As for airflow, on Travis stoves, you need to get the fire burning normally, and then adjust the air control. Pull it out until you just see the burning pellets start "wigglying" at the bottom of the pot. Too much air and pellets start getting ejected from the pot, and too little will result in the burn pot filling w/ pellets and an incomplete burn. Too little air might effect the window too.

 

[jtakeman]

Smoke smell is from the seams in the piping. Let me guess? Duravent and the installer didn't seal the joints/seams. You'll need to get some hi temp sealer and goop all the joints/seams. The stove adapter is the usual culprit. The gap should be filled with sealer(really stuff it in there). Use the hi heat tape on the tee cap if one was installed(another know leak area). It should stop the smell. Dimming the light in the room and using a bright lite will help locate the seam/joint leaks. You see it best on start up.

Medium to dark gray ash is sometimes the best we see on the ash. I don't own the Arbor. Hopefully someone chimes in to help with the adjustments.

Edit: ya beat me pete!

 

[Phil M.]

It's brand new. It's corner mounted so the pipe comes out and makes a 45 degree turn and goes straight thru the wall out into the yard. Thanks for the tip about waiting to adjust the air. I guess there's a learning curve.

 

[imacman]

It's brand new. It's corner mounted so the pipe comes out and makes a 45 degree turn and goes straight thru the wall out into the yard. Thanks for the tip about waiting to adjust the air. I guess there's a learning curve.

Is the pipe going out a side of the house that the prevailing wind is blowing against? Do you have an OAK (outside air kit) installed on it?

 

[Phil M.]

it is a duravent system. Might be a prvailing wind thing. But it's not windy at all today and I still smell smoke. It's coming from the exhaust pipe where it attaches to stove.No outside air kit...I bought it but they said I didn't need it and I got a refund. Last night, the stove went out. I woke this morning to see the bottom full of pellets and the lights blinking. I am guessing I had the air flow too high and the fire went out? I cleaned out the pellets and fired it up on high and she is working well now. This is starting to feel like I made a bad choice

 

[Wood Nugget]

You didn't make a bad choice. I basically have the same stove and they are excellent stoves. Great reliability track record. Setting the damper takes some time to get a feel for the right mix of pellets and air. The smoke smell is probably from joints in the pipe or stove adaptor. Someone here will help you pinpoint that problem and set you straight. Welcome to the forum.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

How did you attach the venting to the stove's exhaust pipe?

Did you use an adapter? It should be the first piece you attach to the stoves exhaust pipe.

Did you follow the instructions that were provided by the vent maker, you can not short cut them it leads to smoke [and other bad stuff (tm) ] in the stove room and house.

Damper adjustments can take awhile and is done in slow increments.

 

[Phil M.]

They used and adapter. I think the smoke is either coming from where the pipe joins the stove or the 45 degree adapter. I a confident the installers will come back to fix it. I am the kind of guy that wants things perfect from the get go so this learning curve stuff is killing me lol lesson in patience so do u guys think the fire went out last night because I ran too much air?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The installers should never have left the place with smoke coming out of the exhaust system. They can tell the difference between paint curing and wood smoke.

Does that stove require that you change the damper for each heat setting? If it doesn't there should be a procedure to follow in the manual. The damper is usually set by using a device that measures the pressure difference in the firebox. It is set on high burn after the stove has come up to operating temperature. After this setting you usually do not need to play with the damper. Just keep the stove clean. It does take patience and one can learn what is required for a correct burn and the patience, frozen buns in the morning can teach one a lot.

I haven't looked at the manual for your stove but the key is the flame and adjustments are done an 1/8" at a time with a delay (measured in multiple minutes) between each change to allow the stove to settle into the new setting and the flame to stabilize.

 

[Wood Nugget]

I have found that too much air will blow the fire out and too little will starve it. Both end up with a pile of unburnt pellets in the pot and the stove shutting off. I would start your stove with the air rod only pulled out about a quarter inch, Maybe half. Let it burn for a while and observe the pellets in the pot. They should move around a little bit (wiggle) with with some sparks blowing out of the pot. If the pellets aren't moving around, pull out the air rod another quarter inch and observe again. If the pellets are moving a lot and lots of flaming embers are flying out of the pot, push the rod in a little. I hope this helps. It definitely takes some getting used to, but after that it is easy. When you change pellet brands or as your stove gets dirty you may also need to re-adjust the air.

 

[imacman]

They used and adapter. I think the smoke is either coming from where the pipe joins the stove or the 45 degree adapter......

Firstly, as mentioned above, Travis make a VERY good stove, so no worries there. Just a bit of a learning curve, I'm sure.

Second, can you take some close-up pics of the exhaust pipe where it meets the stove and post them? Did the installers use Hi temp silicone on the adapter (if it's really there) and the other pipe joints inside the house?

 

[Phil M.]

update: The installer came back and fixed the smoke problem I am learning how to burn properly. The glass is still getting filthy but getting better. Thank you all for your advice!