Enviro Mini exhausting into house

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Ok, no raising the stove. No new pipe yet. (And yes, it is the O-ring pipe from Duravent. Can't remember if the O-rings were orange. It's very posh-looking pipe, with no seam showing.) As the existing pipe was sealed on the inside inside with high-temp caulk when it was installed, I won't be able to get it apart.

So, here are the steps:
1. take the fan motors off and cleaning every possible passageway in the stove.
2. brush out the existing vent pipe
3. Replace he adapter to the stove so I an properly attach it to the rest of the vent.
4. seal every outside seam and joint of the vent pipes I have (that picture was very helpful).
5. wait until nightfall, turn on the stove, turn off the lights and see if I can spot any leaks. Which I caulk some more and retest.
6. After I've eliminated all the leaks, if I still smell smoke, then I run the stove for while and remove the lowest outside cap and see if the smoke seems less than enthusiastic about going up that 6' run of pipe outside. If it does:
7. I remove all that excess outside pipe, caulk the seams of what's left and re-test.

If none of that works, we go to the stove itself, right? I keep reading about modified Minis. What does that mean?
 
Excellent - I've got it now:
1. take the fan motors off and cleaning every possible passageway in the stove.
2. brush out the existing vent pipe
3. Replace he adapter to the stove so I an properly attach it to the rest of the vent.
4.Remove all the outside pipe and put the end cap on the 1.5' vertical.
5. seal every outside seam and joint of the vent pipes I have (that picture was very helpful).
5. wait until nightfall, turn on the stove, turn off the lights and see if I can spot any leaks. Which I caulk some more and retest.

If none of that works, THEN we start talking about control panels and combustion fans.

I'm going to do all that right now. Back here when I've made some progress. Or get confused by all those tiny wires.

Thanks, all.
 
Liz W. said:
4.Remove all the outside pipe and put the end cap on the 1.5' vertical.

No, just put the end cap on the HORIZONTAL pipe that is sticking outside the wall.

This will give you a simple exhaust that will still have some vertical to help with the draft flow, and will also give you a reasonable EVL with only a small section of horizontal pipe.
 
Liz W. said:
Excellent - I've got it now:
1. take the fan motors off and cleaning every possible passageway in the stove.
2. brush out the existing vent pipe
3. Replace he adapter to the stove so I an properly attach it to the rest of the vent.
4.Remove all the outside pipe and put the end cap on the 1.5' vertical.
5. seal every outside seam and joint of the vent pipes I have (that picture was very helpful).
5. wait until nightfall, turn on the stove, turn off the lights and see if I can spot any leaks. Which I caulk some more and retest.

If none of that works, THEN we start talking about control panels and combustion fans.

I'm going to do all that right now. Back here when I've made some progress. Or get confused by all those tiny wires.

Thanks, all.

Pretty much. To simplify:

1) Find out exactly what is leaking. Seal it until it doesn't leak. A good way is like others said, dark room, starting stove and watching for smoke. You can wet the pellets in the firepot a tad so they smoke more which will give you more time to find the leaks. An LED flashlight shows smoke like wonders. My pipe was a mix of Pellet Vent Pro w/orings and some without. i can tell you that I don't trust the o-rings and that it took a lot of RTV to form what I thought would be a proper seal on the pipes without them.

2) Clean up the the stove and piping. You can do this step first IF you are going to be taking apart sections of pipe.


3) Enjoy stove finally not trying to cure you like a salmon while you sleep.
 
Liz W. said:
Ok, no raising the stove. No new pipe yet. (And yes, it is the O-ring pipe from Duravent. Can't remember if the O-rings were orange. It's very posh-looking pipe, with no seam showing.) As the existing pipe was sealed on the inside inside with high-temp caulk when it was installed, I won't be able to get it apart.

So, here are the steps:
1. take the fan motors off and cleaning every possible passageway in the stove.
2. brush out the existing vent pipe
3. Replace he adapter to the stove so I an properly attach it to the rest of the vent.
4. seal every outside seam and joint of the vent pipes I have (that picture was very helpful).
5. wait until nightfall, turn on the stove, turn off the lights and see if I can spot any leaks. Which I caulk some more and retest.
6. After I've eliminated all the leaks, if I still smell smoke, then I run the stove for while and remove the lowest outside cap and see if the smoke seems less than enthusiastic about going up that 6' run of pipe outside. If it does:
7. I remove all that excess outside pipe, caulk the seams of what's left and re-test.

If none of that works, we go to the stove itself, right? I keep reading about modified Minis. What does that mean?

Looks like a plan, don't forget to seal the outside annulus at the thimble (you can get stuff coming in that way and a few people seem to forget that area).
 
Removed the outside vent and put the cap on (see pic). Easy. I've got 2 questions about the inside vent pipe though:

1. I can properly attach the adapter to the vent pipe, so there is no need to replace the adapter. And, the fastener for the stove is securely HT caulked in there, so that's all good. What looks skanky to me is the way the fastener attaches to the stove. At one time there was a thin piece of white, fibrous material that went in between the two flat pieces of metal that get screwed together. It's mostly gone now as you can see in the picture below. How do I seal where these two plates come together?

2. The 36" vertical vent pipe inside the house is an 24" fixed length pipe and an 18" adjustable pipe. (Although it nets out to 36" vertical, we had to use an adjustable pipe to work with the fittings.) I can't get a good picture of where the pipes overlap. I'm assuming I should load up that overlap with lot's o' caulk and make sure I get the screw holes too.

After this is all over, I'm thinking of making my own line of vent pipe out of heavy duty aluminum foil and high-temperature caulk. ;-)
 

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Liz W. said:
Removed the outside vent and put the cap on (see pic). Easy. I've got 2 questions about the inside vent pipe though:

1. I can properly attach the adapter to the vent pipe, so there is no need to replace the adapter. And, the fastener for the stove is securely HT caulked in there, so that's all good. What looks skanky to me is the way the fastener attaches to the stove. At one time there was a thin piece of white, fibrous material that went in between the two flat pieces of metal that get screwed together. It's mostly gone now as you can see in the picture below. How do I seal where these two plates come together?

2. The 36" vertical vent pipe inside the house is an 24" fixed length pipe and an 18" adjustable pipe. (Although it nets out to 36" vertical, we had to use an adjustable pipe to work with the fittings.) I can't get a good picture of where the pipes overlap. I'm assuming I should load up that overlap with lot's o' caulk and make sure I get the screw holes too.

After this is all over, I'm thinking of making my own line of vent pipe out of heavy duty aluminum foil and high-temperature caulk. ;-)

You need to get a lytherm gasket (that white stuff) to attach that joint at the stove.
 
Also that area that the vent goes through doesn't look all that wonderful either, you should have a thimble there.

To go back to being a member of the code police, you'd get a ticket for that if it were on a house in most places.
 
Liz W. said:
Removed the outside vent and put the cap on (see pic). Easy. I've got 2 questions about the inside vent pipe though:

1. I can properly attach the adapter to the vent pipe, so there is no need to replace the adapter. And, the fastener for the stove is securely HT caulked in there, so that's all good. What looks skanky to me is the way the fastener attaches to the stove. At one time there was a thin piece of white, fibrous material that went in between the two flat pieces of metal that get screwed together. It's mostly gone now as you can see in the picture below. How do I seal where these two plates come together?

2. The 36" vertical vent pipe inside the house is an 24" fixed length pipe and an 18" adjustable pipe. (Although it nets out to 36" vertical, we had to use an adjustable pipe to work with the fittings.) I can't get a good picture of where the pipes overlap. I'm assuming I should load up that overlap with lot's o' caulk and make sure I get the screw holes too.

After this is all over, I'm thinking of making my own line of vent pipe out of heavy duty aluminum foil and high-temperature caulk. ;-)


I would just use RTV to seal the adapter to the stove. While you have it off, reach inside the vent pipe and smear some RTV on the vent adapter to stove adapter seam.

Also, make sure your smoke isn't come back in through the hole where your pipe passes through the wall.

Yes, seal up the adjustable piece of pipe witha liberal amount of RTV.

At this point, I bet you are ready to pull your hair out. Stick with it, you'll get it eventually.
 
Thanks everybody. I can't tell you how helpful it is to have your support. BTW - I never sleep with the stove on, which is probably why I'm here typing. Lytherm gasket, eh? If the local stove stove has it, I'll get some; if not I'll use caulk. Smokey, there is a thimble. What's showing in the picture is me tearing off the metal flashing the vinyl siding installers covered the thimble with. It isn't caulked and I want to be sure to caulk it. That copperfresh air intake is blocked inside the boat. When I fix the metal flashing outside, I'll remove it entirely.

I've taken the stove apart and cleaned all the dust out. There wasn't much in there, and no loose ash. The combustion motor was clean, and I've vacuumed out the the small bit of ash that was in the box-like structure pictured below (shown with the little flapping door removed). Early on, someone said something about a thimble or needle they cleaned out with a toothpick. Can someone give me a hint about where that is before I button everything up and start caulking?
 

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Liz W. said:
2. The 36" vertical vent pipe inside the house is an 24" fixed length pipe and an 18" adjustable pipe. (Although it nets out to 36" vertical, we had to use an adjustable pipe to work with the fittings.) I can't get a good picture of where the pipes overlap. I'm assuming I should load up that overlap with lot's o' caulk .......

A much easier method to seal the overlap on adjustable pipe is to use furnace tape....available at hardware stores, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. Put one wrap around it, and then paint with black hi-heat spray stove paint.
 
The stove is all cleaned out and ready to go except for two gaskets. I called a local Enviro dealer, and they can't get me the gaskets before next Monday (at the earliest). Anyone know if I can do better online or somewhere else in the San Francisco Bay Area? I'm referring to the mini-backdraft gasket, part # 50-1542 (what's left of mine is pictured below) and the above mentioned Exhaust starter tube gasket, #50-1448.
 

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There is a rubber hose that supplies a vacuum to a safety switch, coming out of the box with the flap you just removed. Carefully remove the hose form the box and clean out the nipple that the hose sticks on to. The stove will not start with out a proper vacuum, and one of the causes is a plugged hole to the the vacuum line.

Also for the white gasket replacement, the manufactures are a rip off. You can order a few sheet of the stuff on line and cut your own for a lot less.



Liz W. said:
Thanks everybody. I can't tell you how helpful it is to have your support. BTW - I never sleep with the stove on, which is probably why I'm here typing. Lytherm gasket, eh? If the local stove stove has it, I'll get some; if not I'll use caulk. Smokey, there is a thimble. What's showing in the picture is me tearing off the metal flashing the vinyl siding installers covered the thimble with. It isn't caulked and I want to be sure to caulk it. That copperfresh air intake is blocked inside the boat. When I fix the metal flashing outside, I'll remove it entirely.

I've taken the stove apart and cleaned all the dust out. There wasn't much in there, and no loose ash. The combustion motor was clean, and I've vacuumed out the the small bit of ash that was in the box-like structure pictured below (shown with the little flapping door removed). Early on, someone said something about a thimble or needle they cleaned out with a toothpick. Can someone give me a hint about where that is before I button everything up and start caulking?
 
Found the hose, removed it and cleaned out the nipple with a toothpick. Ordered Enviro gaskets online for faster shipping. Will make templates of them before I install them so I can use the cheaper bulk stuff next time. For today then, I'm putting this to bed. I'll be back after I get the gaskets in and have encased the lousy duravent flue pipe in HT caulk and possible tape. I'm thinking of a barbershop pole design. No reason it can't be festive.

Thanks so much for all your help. It makes all the difference. I feel confident all that stands between me and smoke-free warmth are 2 gaskets and a tube of HT caulk.
 
Liz W. said:
The stove is all cleaned out and ready to go except for two gaskets. I called a local Enviro dealer, and they can't get me the gaskets before next Monday (at the earliest). Anyone know if I can do better online or somewhere else in the San Francisco Bay Area? I'm referring to the mini-backdraft gasket, part # 50-1542 (what's left of mine is pictured below) and the above mentioned Exhaust starter tube gasket, #50-1448.

Here is where I got the exhaust starter tube gasket for my mini this year: http://www.fireplaceandstoveparts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=925

Hope that helps!
 
I'm Baaack! Replaced 2 gaskets, removed most of the exhaust pipe and the fresh air intake, cleaned the flue pipe that was left and caulked every seam I could see or imagine, patched the fresh air intake holes with sheet metal (also sealed them with caulk). Then I turned the stove on at dusk/dark with my led flashlight in hand. I smelled smoke only when it was lighting, and could not see any escaping. I know it may not have been dark enough. The smoke smell went away after the fire caught. Totally away. So thank all of you for all your help with getting all that put right. I'll smoke test again when it's completely dark and see if I can't hunt down the culprit in the start-up smell.

But the BIG NEWS is this: As I was poking around looking for escaping smoke, I noticed that the long cage-like fan in the front of the stove (looks like a mouse wheel for a team of very tiny mice) WASN'T TURNING even though the stove was burning. So I turned the stove off, and then NO FANS WERE BLOWING, even though there was a hearty fire in the burn pot. That freaked me out so I turn it back on and the combustion fan came back on. Eventually, through a scientific process of randomly poking things, I was able to turn the fan on manually, and the stove shut itself down.

So, both fan motors work, just not at the right time.

That's gotta be a control panel problem, right? No idea where to start with that one, or whether I can replace that myself. I will go hunt around and look for what other have done now; just wanted you to know the outcome of round one (one for our team!) and let you know about round two. And to ask once again for your help.
 
I believe the motor is temperature controlled. It won't be on when the stove first lights - only once it warms up.
 
That was it! The fan came on all by itself 10 mins after I pressed the on button. As a bonus, it was dark enough to see where smoke is still leaking: Right where the pipe goes into the stove. When the stove cools down again, I'll fill that seam with caulk.

Thank you, thank you for your help with all this. It will be so good to be with heat again!

I think next I'll look into upgrading this to a mini-A with a bigger burn pot and the ability to alter the settings. That would be awesome.

Thanks again, everybody!
 
If you have any of the foil tape wrap a piece over the connector pipe. Yup on the mini room fan, after the startup when the power light stops flashing the room fan will be on, unless you have manually turned it off. Will eventually upgrade my mini also. Great you got it worked out. We have had our mini for 5 years. Bob
 
Very discouraging day: Turned on the stove this morning and the smoke smell was as strong as before I did any caulking. Turned it off and spent the day running errands. When I checked the caulked joints, I saw the caulk wasn't well adhered in a couple of places. That turned out to be everywhere and it was easy to roll the caulk off.

I cleaned the pipe with rubbing alcohol before I caulked with a new tube of high temp silicone caulk, and waited until the caulk stopped smelling (not 24 hours, I admit) before I fired up the stove. I added caulk to new spots after that (as I saw smoke escaping), but didn't go over existing caulk. I've never had caulk fail so utterly. What am I doing wrong?

And, how do I add caulk to the existing caulk when I am smoke testing? I don't mean go over the existing caulk, I mean having the new caulk join the old when I see a spot I missed? (My understanding of silicone caulk is that, once it's cured, it won't adhere to new caulk.)

Thank you for your help with this.
 
Liz W. said:
Very discouraging day: Turned on the stove this morning and the smoke smell was as strong as before I did any caulking. Turned it off and spent the day running errands. When I checked the caulked joints, I saw the caulk wasn't well adhered in a couple of places. That turned out to be everywhere and it was easy to roll the caulk off.

I cleaned the pipe with rubbing alcohol before I caulked with a new tube of high temp silicone caulk, and waited until the caulk stopped smelling (not 24 hours, I admit) before I fired up the stove. I added caulk to new spots after that (as I saw smoke escaping), but didn't go over existing caulk. I've never had caulk fail so utterly. What am I doing wrong?

And, how do I add caulk to the existing caulk when I am smoke testing? I don't mean go over the existing caulk, I mean having the new caulk join the old when I see a spot I missed? (My understanding of silicone caulk is that, once it's cured, it won't adhere to new caulk.)

Thank you for your help with this.

As others have said you may just want to use foil tape. You can RTV over the existing RTV but ponder the fact that it's not going to leak if the original layer is adhering to the pipe in the correct place, if it isn't, then you are just putting another layer of RTV over an already failing layer which isn't going to do anything.

Don't be afraid to goop it on. Just be systematic. Start at the stove and slowly check every single possible source of leakage and carefully caulk each one. Don't skip around.

When I put mine together, I put the RTV on the joints of the inner liner. I put it on, assmbled the pipes then immediately pulled it back apart to make sure I was getting full contact. It took a LOT of RTV to get what I thought would be a satisfactory seal.
 
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