Empress startup...

Close the air damper all the way (push it in). You will see a tall lazy flame with dull orange on the top of it. Open the damper a tiny bit at a time until you get a brisk flame going, this will only be 1/8-3/8" open. Make sure the stove is turned up to heat level 5 (red light lit up on the top of the heat indicator). If there is no change in the flame height/ heat output in about 15-20 min the stove might be in thermostat mode and. Refer to the manual to change this, it requires changing a jumper on the control board.

Let me know if this works

A varying flame height is normal. Enjoy it installed our empress 6 years ago

May be the paint curing.Usually best to fire stove hot several times,does not have to be for long periods,with windows open.That is why some installers do a test burn outside.

If that isn't the case the number 1 and 2 trouble spots are the stove adapter not being sealed and mechanically connected or the clean out tee leaking at any of its joints or its saddle point.

With a dark room and a good flash light you can locate smoke leaks during the stoves start-up phase which is when most smoke is produced.

There are other places that can be a problem but you have the 2 logical places to start.

Smokey's right, the place you would have any smoke leaks would be there.

I'm really sure that the other 'smoke' you're getting is indeed paint burnoff like bob bare said. The stove burns way too cleanly for that to be combustion smoke. Open the windows and let 'er rip for several hours.

The Empress is a good unit, I had fire in my 6-year-old for the first time this season just a day ago; I had some odd smells that puzzled me for a while, until I realized they were just the summer's dust burning away.

At the very lowest setting, you will have a variation from a low of a layer of pellet 'coals' to a high of a short flame above the burnpot. This is when you would want to optimize your draft setting, and where is "right" depends a lot on your install and your fuel. Too much air and you can close to kill the fire from the draft - burn up all the fuel before more drops in.

I've found that the hopper of pellets I've had in it all summer have gotten a little 'soft' and so have to use a bit more air to get them burnt. The air control isn't really a 'set it and forget it' control; you do have to adjust it every so often. Go for something more than a 'lazy' flame, but not a blowtorch-blast. You'll get the hang of it soon. I had a stick-burning stove years ago (Riteway) and the principle is the same - the trick is to not choke it, but have it burning its optimum. You will also know if you need to add just a bit more air if your glass wants to soot up .

A couple hint on daily cleaning of the burnpot and liner: Take the liner outside and use the side of your cleaning tool to 'chip' out the carbon buildup that you'll get in corners of the liner. Make sure that before you put the liner back in, that you dump out the burnpot itself. If the liner doesn't want to slide down in the burnpot easily, make sure to scrape the sides of the burnpot that the liner slides past. You can get some carbon buildup there that will keep the liner from sliding back in.