Woodstock Progress smoke smell gone

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ciccio

Member
Apr 5, 2011
71
new jersey
I would like to report that my smoke smell that I have been getting by the loading door during a cat burn with no flames in the the fire box is gone. Woodstock sent me out the new gasket and it was a very easy fix to replace, just like Binko said and reported that his smoke smell was gone I to have experienced the same thing.
I am very happy with this stove it has done everything that I have expected and more, very easy 12 to 13 hour burns and this morning I did not put wood in before I left for work and when I got home I was still able to start my fire from coals after a 18 hour burn very very happy.
 
Good deal! I barely get any smoke smell, but I'm wondering if that is something that increases with time when using the original gasket? I'm thinking of getting the new one, but if it's not broke...

My record so far on a reload is 20 hours. Stove was not putting out heat at that point (I think it was about 150), but not bad regardless. I have not had to light a match since I completed the break in fires and that includes a quick chimney cleaning and cleaning that darn screen.
 
My feelings are that there shouldn't be any smoke smell. Even a slight smell is both unpleasant and unhealthy on the long term.
The fix is an easy one and it take just minutes to do. For me once the smell was gone, I had a totally different view of the stove as well as a new level of enjoyment in the ownership experience.
The key to the fix was use of a soft compliant gasket that stuck out at least a good 1/8th of an inch past the gasket channel of the door.
 
I've still got a bit of the smoke smell, but it has improved a lot. But, I think my situation/solution differs from yours. WS, and Lorin in particular, has taken a careful look at my installation and she was not happy with the connection from the double wall pipe to the stove, as I had not been. WS sent me an appliance adapter that is supposed to be used with the Duravent double wall pipe I have, but the installer didn't use it, and instead put in a male to male adapter. WS also sent me the back part of the door with the new gasketing in place. All at no cost, I might add. Well, I switched the door parts, but couldn't get the door back on the stove. When the installer came to install the appliance adapter, he managed to get it on with difficulty, but it didn't fit right. Come to find out, the hole on the new door part was not correct for the hole in my stove hinge. So, I had to quickly reassemble the old door and rip out the gasket WS had so nicely put in the new one and use it in the old one. I'm thinking this didn't preserve the puffiness WS was hoping for.

But, the appliance adapter has made a huge difference in my stove. It no longer whistles. The draft is way different, so I'm having to relearn the stove. My glass is finally cleaning itself! It's been dirty (white haze) the whole time without the appliance adapter. The stove is throwing out a lot more heat from the front/glass area than it used to. And the smoke smell has diminished a lot.

That said, I still get a slight smoke smell. It no longer permeates the house, not even the room, but still is there under certain conditions, such as the flameless, low draft times. The door closes so easily now, no need to push it at all, so I'm thinking I don't have enough gasket doing the job. As I say, probably due to the manhandling it received as I ripped it out and hurriedly slapped it into the old door. It does pass the dollar bill test. I'm going to wait on the new gasket with a metal core that WS is getting in and try that. Don't know how many door removals and installs I can take :lol:

So, I'm getting 9 hour burns, but not the longer burns that you guys are getting. As I say, I've got a lot of relearning to do. It's like a different stove, so I'm having to recalibrate.

But, I must reiterate my kudos to Woodstock. They have bent over backwards to help me, even correcting problems that the installer has made.
 
ciccio said:
I would like to report that my smoke smell that I have been getting by the loading door during a cat burn with no flames in the the fire box is gone. Woodstock sent me out the new gasket and it was a very easy fix to replace, just like Binko said and reported that his smoke smell was gone I to have experienced the same thing.
I am very happy with this stove it has done everything that I have expected and more, very easy 12 to 13 hour burns and this morning I did not put wood in before I left for work and when I got home I was still able to start my fire from coals after a 18 hour burn very very happy.

That is great to hear ciccio and thanks for posting this. For others, ciccio and I have had some good conversations from before his purchase and after his purchase. I feel he has done much to get this stove working as he best needs it and is really doing fine. For others, don't be afraid to ask questions as I think he had most of it figured out well. Thanks again ciccio.
 
ciccio, what gasket did WS send you? Was your fix the thin bead of furnace cement and max density gasket or the flat gasket, furnace cement and soft gasket? Talked to WS today and apparently the gasket with the metal core isn't working out, so I'm going to try one of the other options.
 
Yes! Please post what exactly we should be looking for in a gasket replacement.

Thanks!
 
What worked for me was removal of the original gasket as well as the cement holding it in place (it came out easily).
Then I had some old gasketing that was about 1/4" diameter. I put a narrow bead of the cement that Woodstock had supplied into the door gasket channel. I placed this narrow gasket onto the cement. The purpose of putting the smaller gasket in first is to provide a higher starting point for the main door gasket. I then put a similar narrow bead of gasket cement on top of the first gasket that I had just installed. Now I took a larger 1/2" diameter stove gasket (the kind that is soft and feels like a nylon rope) and placed it on top of the first gasket. During installation I pushed that gasket toward itself (so it puffs up to increase its diameter) and laid it onto the bead of cement. This heavier gasket should now stick out about 1/8" above the gasket channel in the door. The whole idea here is to have a soft compliant gasket that will allow the mating surface that's on the stove itself to push well into this new gasket.
If you install the gasket so deep in the door channel that it barely makes contact with the stove side, then you are not going to accomplish what you need to. I think the problem with Woodstock's original gasket was that it was so stiff that once it started contacting the stove side, the high spots touched first and it did not have enough give in it to allow the lower points to get there as well. It's like trying to put your hand print into wet cement. You get a complete hand print. Once the cement start to dry even a little bit you will now only be able to get a few parts of your hand to leave an impression.
I hope this works for all.It's a real easy fix but difficult to explain with words.
 
[quote author="HollowHill" date="1328072038"]ciccio, what gasket did WS send you? Was your fix the thin bead of furnace cement and max density gasket or the flat gasket, furnace cement and soft gasket? Talked to WS today and apparently the gasket with the metal core isn't working out, so I'm going to try one of the other options.[/quote

It was the flat gasket, furnace cement and soft gasket
 
I've been following the threads on the screen cleaning issues for the Progress. Although mine was still about 95% open, I decided to take it out for a cleaning and to see how to best re-install since it has been such a difficult task.
Job done in less than 5 minutes. Here is what I did:
Took top stone and inner heat shield off.
Removed 2 bolts that hold the damper door in place-no need to remove rotating shaft for damper control.
Slide damper toward back of stove so that you clear damper control shaft.

Now you have clear access to the screen. What I did was open up a paper clip and create a small hook on one end. Use that to pull out lower base of screen (the part that is toward back of stove) and maneuver it out of damper opening.
The screen is made up of 2 pieces-left half and right half and they overlap. Just work the pieces and out they come. Re-install in reverse order.
Hope this helps those who have had difficulty and those will be eventually cleaning theirs.
 
Thanks Ciccio and Binko for the info.

On the screen: My issue was not getting it out because as soon as I touched it, it fell into the stove in two pieces. The issue was getting it back in. I don't think mine was installed properly to begin with since there was no way it was going back in the way it was. The shape was off and I had to keep tweaking it until both pieces fit. I'm not positive it is in properly now because I barely have any overlap (maybe one square of the mesh) and the instructions indicate you should have 1/2". It shouldn't matter since it is there serving it's purpose. Besides the fact that it is a real pain to get back in, I'm unhappy that mine was blocked after a month of burning. I'm not sure why. Everything seemed fine and then all of a sudden I was getting huge smoke spillage when opening the door. Letting the stove go cold enough to mess with it every month won't make me happy, but I'm hoping whatever caused such sudden blochage won't happen again.
 
Our stove has been running continuously since early Dec with only a couple of days off due to bizarre warm temps. Again the blockage was less than 5% of total screen area.
When re-installing, I found that there was ample room with the damper door out of the way. I did everything from the top without having to reach around thru the loading door. When you see the screens,you'll find that they are formed such that they can not slide over each other. The re-installation was quick and uneventful.
 
ciccio said:
HollowHill said:
ciccio, what gasket did WS send you? Was your fix the thin bead of furnace cement and max density gasket or the flat gasket, furnace cement and soft gasket? Talked to WS today and apparently the gasket with the metal core isn't working out, so I'm going to try one of the other options.[/quote

It was the flat gasket, furnace cement and soft gasket

Did you find that the flat gasket (with self-adhesive) created a bad smell when you fired up the stove after install?
 
HollowHill said:
ciccio said:
HollowHill said:
ciccio, what gasket did WS send you? Was your fix the thin bead of furnace cement and max density gasket or the flat gasket, furnace cement and soft gasket? Talked to WS today and apparently the gasket with the metal core isn't working out, so I'm going to try one of the other options.[/quote

It was the flat gasket, furnace cement and soft gasket

Did you find that the flat gasket (with self-adhesive) created a bad smell when you fired up the stove after install?

Yes I did it lasted for a day or so then it went away, it was the same smell I got when doing the break in fires...
 
Waulie said:
Thanks Ciccio and Binko for the info.

On the screen: My issue was not getting it out because as soon as I touched it, it fell into the stove in two pieces. The issue was getting it back in. I don't think mine was installed properly to begin with since there was no way it was going back in the way it was. The shape was off and I had to keep tweaking it until both pieces fit. I'm not positive it is in properly now because I barely have any overlap (maybe one square of the mesh) and the instructions indicate you should have 1/2". It shouldn't matter since it is there serving it's purpose. Besides the fact that it is a real pain to get back in, I'm unhappy that mine was blocked after a month of burning. I'm not sure why. Everything seemed fine and then all of a sudden I was getting huge smoke spillage when opening the door. Letting the stove go cold enough to mess with it every month won't make me happy, but I'm hoping whatever caused such sudden blochage won't happen again.

The screen should be curled into an "Arc" shape so that it's dimension from edge-to-edge measures exactly 2 3/4". Any less and it's not wide enough to properly span the opening. Any more and it's not sharp enough of an arc to fit properly in the rear groove and it will slide back towards the flue. My screen came very flat, ( 3.0") . I went nuts trying to get it to stay in the groove. A quick call to WS solved the problem, no more issues.

Waulie's blockage is a bit more difficult to understand. Starting the fire with newspaper might cause it, or maybe forgetting to open the bypass when you stir the coals?? Those hot fluffy ashes can get sucked right up into the screen, I'll bet that's what happened!
 
Waulie’s blockage is a bit more difficult to understand. Starting the fire with newspaper might cause it, or maybe forgetting to open the bypass when you stir the coals?? Those hot fluffy ashes can get sucked right up into the screen, I’ll bet that’s what happened!

No paper in the stove since the break in fires. And, everything is going through the screen whether the bypass is open or closed. I have been burning over 90% ash and half of that didn't even have bark on it. I can't explain it, but I'm just hoping it doesn't happen again.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
ciccio said:
I would like to report that my smoke smell that I have been getting by the loading door during a cat burn with no flames in the the fire box is gone. Woodstock sent me out the new gasket and it was a very easy fix to replace, just like Binko said and reported that his smoke smell was gone I to have experienced the same thing.
I am very happy with this stove it has done everything that I have expected and more, very easy 12 to 13 hour burns and this morning I did not put wood in before I left for work and when I got home I was still able to start my fire from coals after a 18 hour burn very very happy.

That is great to hear ciccio and thanks for posting this. For others, ciccio and I have had some good conversations from before his purchase and after his purchase. I feel he has done much to get this stove working as he best needs it and is really doing fine. For others, don't be afraid to ask questions as I think he had most of it figured out well. Thanks again ciccio.

Thank you Dennis, you have been a great help to me learning this stove...This is my first cat stove, reading your posts and your pm's to me have made the learning curve of this stove very fast and simple to operate.
I am very happy with stove, by the way I got my first gas bill after using my stove for a full month total $44 dollars, that's with a gas hot water heater, drier, and stove range.......my house is a split level 2000 square feet, no complaining from me...
 
That is one bill I bet you didn't mind paying! Great news.
 
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