I did put this in the classic forum but we get more traffic over here and I think this relates to any stove, especially any cast stove so please forgive me if I am out of bounds. PS. as many of you know I am upgrading to an EPA for next season. Any input, feedback or experiance is helpful to me as a newer wood heat junkie.
***I am burning a VC Defiant that was siting for some time prior to my install. I did a total quality inspection, clean up/out and checked for any obvious air leaks with a shop light shut inside in a dark room. Nothing could be seen or identified from that test so I was good to go. Stove was owned by a family member who rarely used it so it is actually in great, like new, condition other than surface rust from sitting under a tarp in their garage for years.
My question relating to smoke alarms is this: If I go from cold or luke warm with stove top temps at around 100 or less to 350-400 rather quickly I am setting off my hard wired alarm system in the house and driving the dog crazy. I can run it at 450-500 no problem as long as I ease it up there. The alarms only go off it it gets there in a hurry. Estimated time is around 10minutes or less from like 290-375/400 and BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!! Also, when I do this I get a funky smell from the stove. Not strong and not wood smoke(there almost never any smoke in the house) just a chemical type of HOT smell. This only happens when it gets hot in a hurry and I am guessing that is what is setting off the alarms. If I take it up slowly from 300-400+ and up this smell does not happen and subsequently - no alarm.
I was guessing that the smell was the little bit of Rutlands I used around the seams or maybe the brand new stove pipe burning in but again, it only happens at certain times, not certain temps. I have had the stove to over 750 on top with no alarm and do not plan to go that high again(learning curve) and like it cruising in the 4-500 range with 450 as my upper, walk away-leave the house-go to bed, comfort zone.
I have also run a lighter around the stove at the seams and doors and do not see any bending of the flame indicating leaks.
So, do you think this is the panels not being seated together well when cold and there is gasses leaking a bit on fast fire ups prior to the stove getting warm and expanding? Or is it that the new alarms(replaced all of them with stove in the fall) are just real sensitive and the sudden change in temp is setting them off?
Sorry to be so long winded but I anticipated as many questions as I could think of to get a more educated answer from the experts. I am not real concerned as far as a hazard because everything is working fine, although I did panic a tad the first couple times. It is more of an inconvenience as related to the noise and my dog.
Thanks for any help with my question - Bob Urban
***I am burning a VC Defiant that was siting for some time prior to my install. I did a total quality inspection, clean up/out and checked for any obvious air leaks with a shop light shut inside in a dark room. Nothing could be seen or identified from that test so I was good to go. Stove was owned by a family member who rarely used it so it is actually in great, like new, condition other than surface rust from sitting under a tarp in their garage for years.
My question relating to smoke alarms is this: If I go from cold or luke warm with stove top temps at around 100 or less to 350-400 rather quickly I am setting off my hard wired alarm system in the house and driving the dog crazy. I can run it at 450-500 no problem as long as I ease it up there. The alarms only go off it it gets there in a hurry. Estimated time is around 10minutes or less from like 290-375/400 and BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!! Also, when I do this I get a funky smell from the stove. Not strong and not wood smoke(there almost never any smoke in the house) just a chemical type of HOT smell. This only happens when it gets hot in a hurry and I am guessing that is what is setting off the alarms. If I take it up slowly from 300-400+ and up this smell does not happen and subsequently - no alarm.
I was guessing that the smell was the little bit of Rutlands I used around the seams or maybe the brand new stove pipe burning in but again, it only happens at certain times, not certain temps. I have had the stove to over 750 on top with no alarm and do not plan to go that high again(learning curve) and like it cruising in the 4-500 range with 450 as my upper, walk away-leave the house-go to bed, comfort zone.
I have also run a lighter around the stove at the seams and doors and do not see any bending of the flame indicating leaks.
So, do you think this is the panels not being seated together well when cold and there is gasses leaking a bit on fast fire ups prior to the stove getting warm and expanding? Or is it that the new alarms(replaced all of them with stove in the fall) are just real sensitive and the sudden change in temp is setting them off?
Sorry to be so long winded but I anticipated as many questions as I could think of to get a more educated answer from the experts. I am not real concerned as far as a hazard because everything is working fine, although I did panic a tad the first couple times. It is more of an inconvenience as related to the noise and my dog.
Thanks for any help with my question - Bob Urban