Smoke in house - ideas (CB1200i)

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borland2000

Member
Oct 30, 2009
20
portland,me
I have a quadrafire classic bay 1200i. Ive had it 4 years and have had virtually no problems. It heats whole house wonderfully (located on first floor - insert in fireplace). I took it apart Jan 1st to clean. Several days later the 2nd floor starting getting smoky. I turned it off. I thought it might be gasket connecting flue (4 inch flex liner) to stove. I replaced gasket, and it worked for a few days and its getting much worse.
I havent clean flue (besides checking it out) for 1.5 years. I could sweep it, but its a little tough this year (I also thought they burn so clean, that its not so much of an issue).
Any ideas?
I called repair shop and they cant see it for one month. (anyone in maine (portland) want a job?)
Thanks all,
jb
 
I have the same setup as you but a different stove. I bought a 4 inch brush and cleaned from bottom up. Took a while but worked. I did a lot of reading on this brush and found out that some people said they break. So what I did was to tie a 1/4 inch rope to the brush just in case it broke off the poll I could pull it back down.

I also thinking of doing the leaf blower trick but also from the bottom up. Could hurt right.

Here is a link to the brush I bought.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OAXTYY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00


.
 
How many tons of pellets have you run through the stove so far?

How bad was the flue when you did clean it out 1 ½ years ago?

The flue needs to be cleaned at least once a year. Some do it every ton of pellets burned.
 
Is the smokey smell coming from an access hatch to the chase the flue is in? I had that happen recently because of a leak in the chase cap. Air was being sucked in just below the vent cap and the smokey smell was only evident on the second floor in the room with the access hatch. It varies by weather and what else was consuming air in the house.
 
The stove is negative pressure. So it's not "leaking".

The venting is positive pressure and could leak. But that means your liner is leaking, stove adapter is leaking, or the block off plate on the roof isn't sealed and air may be coming down the chimney?

Either way, the stove is probably not the issue.. The venting and/or block off plate is where I would search?
 
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This is very strange. You do not see the smoke on the first floor or smell it on the first floor? So the smoke would have to seep through the pipe and the chimney to get into the second floor only? Any open windows on the second floor near the chimney? What kind of shape is the chimney in?
 
The venting should be cleaned yearly, thats clearly outlined in the owners manual. These stoves burn clean, but produce fly ash that can crud things up.

If your termination cap on the top of the chimney is clogged (happens all the time) then your positive pressure exhaust is under more pressure and it can leak out of the smallest hole.

Another possibility, is that your chimney has left over or residual creosote from the fireplace burning. And your liner is touching the "Sote"??

I would get the venting clean and take a look at that cap up top.
 
Thanks all for the input; Im going up the chimney today or tom, and going to do a cleaning. I wish I had done it w/o snow on roof though...
Ill report back.
As to those questions. There is no access hatch on second floor, but chase goes right through bathroom and there is outlets on chase wall - maybe seeping around that? It not so thick its visible. Im going w/ the hope that its blocked and a good cleaning will fix.
Ill get back to you all,
JB
 
Thanks all for the input; Im going up the chimney today or tom, and going to do a cleaning. I wish I had done it w/o snow on roof though...
Ill report back.
As to those questions. There is no access hatch on second floor, but chase goes right through bathroom and there is outlets on chase wall - maybe seeping around that? It not so thick its visible. Im going w/ the hope that its blocked and a good cleaning will fix.
Ill get back to you all,
JB

BE SAFE on the roof. It's not worth geting hurt over.
 
Hopefully the chimney is fully lined with the 4". If not you need to make it so.

Eric
 
That was it, my liner was junked up big time; The cap was clogged badly. It was a scary pain getting up there, but it is clear and running smooth. I think Ive been burning diryt pallets and its been too long between cleanups. Thanks all. Burn on.
 
That was it, my liner was junked up big time; The cap was clogged badly. It was a scary pain getting up there, but it is clear and running smooth. I think Ive been burning diryt pallets and its been too long between cleanups. Thanks all. Burn on.
Glad it worked out for you. Try burning pellets instead of pallets and it may work better. ;lol Just kidding. Like a lot of the old timers say around here cleaning is always the first place to start.
 
Glad it worked out for you. Try burning pellets instead of pallets and it may work better. ;lol Just kidding. Like a lot of the old timers say around here cleaning is always the first place to start.

Several times sometimes ;):p:cool:.
 
I have the same setup as you but a different stove. I bought a 4 inch brush and cleaned from bottom up. Took a while but worked. I did a lot of reading on this brush and found out that some people said they break. So what I did was to tie a 1/4 inch rope to the brush just in case it broke off the poll I could pull it back down.

I also thinking of doing the leaf blower trick but also from the bottom up. Could hurt right.

Here is a link to the brush I bought.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OAXTYY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00


.
I like the rope idea.
 
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