Smokey Stove

Hey all! We bought a new house last year. It has two fireplaces. One is a suspended from the ceiling type and works well.
The other is a Kent tile wood burning stove. I can light a fire in it but smoke just rolls when it's burning. So thick you can barely see the fire. It seals well and smoke doesn't escape into the house. But you can't open the door or it will just fill the room. It also does not put off much heat. Apparently it should be able to heat our 1000 sqft bottom level but in its current state it doesnt. It exhausts into a unique chimney. It is an exposed pipe that runs up three stories and through the roof. It is labeled Ameri - vent FB6' T and the piece where the labeling is is a T section. From what I can tell it looks like an insulated chimney. What i cannot find is a flue that opens and closes. I'm having a chimney sweep come to inspect it but i wondered if anyone has any troubleshooting tips?

begreen said:

I think there's a bypass on that stove. Is it opened when starting and before opening the door? If yes, does it feel like it's connected?

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In searching for a bypass I found the serial number plaque! And I think I've found an imposter. This stove looks just like a Kent tile fire but the plaque say ashley automatic heater co. Model number ASP1. Do I have some kind of knock off...
I did not find any bypass control on the stove. Just the damper lever.

Here is the stove.

The wood we used was the kind from a box from the store. It is dried. When we tried to use it last year it was in the teens outside. The stove has about 3.5 ft of chimney inside then makes a 90* turn, goes through the wall and goes up the other 2 stories of the house so about 25-30 foot of chimney outside.

begreen said:

When was the chimney and flue cap last cleaned?

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This I do not know. The people here before us did poor maintenence and never used the fireplaces. But I bet it's been a LONG time. I have a chimney sweep scheduled to come out and check the chimneys and troubleshoot the stove. But they are so backed up, it's over a month before they can get to it!

I think I'll not use it until the chimney sweep comes out. I've hired a very well regarded guy in our area and he said that we will trouble shoot it till its fixed or we're stumped.

I hope we can figure it out. It's old but it looks like it's only been used a few times. Will save me some cash on the den remodel.

The wood was dry. It comes in a cardboard box and is dried. However I am really interested in biobricks. Can you have them shipped to you? I don't see any vendors in my area. I'd love to know where I can order them.