A Little Smoke - Progress Hybrid

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toddnic

Minister of Fire
Jul 13, 2013
782
North Carolina
Good morning all! We are having our first fire of the season. Got the PH up to around 500 degrees and closed the air almost all the way down due to it only being around 45 degrees outside this morning and I just want it to burn enough to keep the house warm throughout the day. After about two hours of burning I noticed a little bit of smoke in the house. There is no smoke in the attic and there doesn't seem to be any smoke coming from the PH. I have plenty of draft so I'm wondering why I am dealing with a little smoke. Any thoughts.....
 
Could just be the paint curing on the stove and pipe. It may take a few fires before it's fully cured.
 
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There was a smoke issue with some of the early stoves. BUT, I believe that was only a faint smoke smell and certainly not visible smoke. It's probably what Todd said.
 
All stoves will stink for the first fire (or even few fires) of the season. On well used stoves just the dust and dander that settles on the stove will need to be burned off and on new stoves you have the dust plus the burn-in smoke of fresh paint. New paint smokes when it bakes in, even high heat paint.

This first fire stink may be accompanied by visible smoke.
 
Todd, did you do a burn-in?




1. First fire. Up to 6 pieces of kindling (1" x 1" maximum). Light the fire (super cedar works great), leave the draft full open and just let it burn out.

2. Second fire. (Stove should cool some but should not have to be cold before second fire.) Same amount of kindling. No more than 2 small or medium splits. Light the fire and let it burn. After splits get burning good, close draft to about 50%. Let the fire go until it is out.

On the second burn you may or may not get hot enough to engage the cat but you should on the third burn. (200 degree stove top and 400 flue (measured on single wall flue pipe.)


3. Third fire. Stove should cool down some but no need to wait for total cold stove. Just luke warm. Same amount of kindling. This time 3-4 splits and light the fire. Stove top should reach 350-400. If the temperature goes higher, no worries. Again turn the draft down to 50% as on your second fire but after you feel the fire is good and established, turn the draft down to at least 25%. Let the fire burn itself out.

At this point you should be good to go with hotter fires. I'd suggest aiming for 500-550 on the next fire and finally to 600 or more. The stove should be ready for big time burning now.
 
Todd, did you do a burn-in?




1. First fire. Up to 6 pieces of kindling (1" x 1" maximum). Light the fire (super cedar works great), leave the draft full open and just let it burn out.

2. Second fire. (Stove should cool some but should not have to be cold before second fire.) Same amount of kindling. No more than 2 small or medium splits. Light the fire and let it burn. After splits get burning good, close draft to about 50%. Let the fire go until it is out.

On the second burn you may or may not get hot enough to engage the cat but you should on the third burn. (200 degree stove top and 400 flue (measured on single wall flue pipe.)


3. Third fire. Stove should cool down some but no need to wait for total cold stove. Just luke warm. Same amount of kindling. This time 3-4 splits and light the fire. Stove top should reach 350-400. If the temperature goes higher, no worries. Again turn the draft down to 50% as on your second fire but after you feel the fire is good and established, turn the draft down to at least 25%. Let the fire burn itself out.

At this point you should be good to go with hotter fires. I'd suggest aiming for 500-550 on the next fire and finally to 600 or more. The stove should be ready for big time burning now.


Did a burn in in August when we had some colder weather! I have heard that it could take up to 10 fires for it to totally season. It was just weird when I had some smoke in the house and I had not had that before. Just wanted to make sure that everything was working right and that there was not a problem that needed to be addressed.
 
Did a burn in in August when we had some colder weather! I have heard that it could take up to 10 fires for it to totally season. It was just weird when I had some smoke in the house and I had not had that before. Just wanted to make sure that everything was working right and that there was not a problem that needed to be addressed.

Do not believe it to take 10 fires to season. Also do not confuse the Hearthstone stoves with the Woodstock stoves. They are similar but certainly not the same. If you do the burn-in as posted, you'll do just fine. If, after you do the burn-in, you have a smoke problem then for sure you need to call Woodstock.
 
Every time you hit a new high temp you'll get a bit of curing smell. So, it could be 2 fires or 10 fires depending. It's the paint that stinks not the stone itself which is easily "seasoned" by Dennis' great advice. I don't recall my seasoning was too terrible but there was definitely some smell. Some folks have reported the burn-ins setting off the smoke detectors.

Can you explain more what you mean by "smoke"? Was it just a smell, or did you actually see smoke? Was it really 2 hours after hitting 500? I doubt you have a problem, but would hate to write it off without more info.
 
Every time you hit a new high temp you'll get a bit of curing smell. So, it could be 2 fires or 10 fires depending. It's the paint that stinks not the stone itself which is easily "seasoned" by Dennis' great advice. I don't recall my seasoning was too terrible but there was definitely some smell. Some folks have reported the burn-ins setting off the smoke detectors.

Can you explain more what you mean by "smoke"? Was it just a smell, or did you actually see smoke? Was it really 2 hours after hitting 500? I doubt you have a problem, but would hate to write it off without more info.

We actually had a "haze" in the front of the house. It was not terrible but definitely noticeable by me and the family. I started the stove at 6:00 AM and by around 8:00 AM we were seeing the smoke. At 8:00 AM the stove was at 500 degrees.
 
sure sounds like the paint, I had the same when I started mine
 
Yup, sounds like the paint to me too. Bet you are about done with it now. You might get a touch when you get to 600, but 500 is pretty hot so it should be mostly cooked now.
 
Did you do any checking of the stove and flue pretty close to when you got ready to fire up the stove? I know some people do their stove cleaning in the spring so they will be ready to burn in the fall. That's the regiment I follow, but before my first fire I make a trip up on the roof and pull my chimney caps and shine a light down my liners to make sure everything still looks good to go. You can have screens on your caps and think you'll be safe from critters, but the last time I was on my roof I noticed a spider had set up shop inside one of my rain caps and there were pretty thick webs in there that I plan to remove before I fire up that stove this autumn. It doesn't sound like this would be your problem since you say your burned for two hours before noticing the hazy smoke in the room, but maybe this reminder will be of help to others as they prepare for their first fires of the season.
 
We actually had a "haze" in the front of the house. It was not terrible but definitely noticeable by me and the family. I started the stove at 6:00 AM and by around 8:00 AM we were seeing the smoke. At 8:00 AM the stove was at 500 degrees.

Get yourself a few candles. That will cut the smoke and haze while getting the stove burned-in. Two or 3 candles will work wonders.
 
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