BK Ashford Smoke Smell Follow Up

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Taking all of the different setups and modifications into account I still can't see how this can be purely a draft issue. Perhaps if the draft is ramped up enough it will eventually overcome whatever defect is allowing this to happen, but I just don't buy that this is 'normal' in any way.

I have a 15' single wall in exterior masonry chimney, in a mild climate, and both stoves I've run up this chimney have had zero issues with smoke leakage. The non-cat insert I had before was vented straight up, and I'd almost have to whip the door open just to get smoke spillage, and the cat stove I'm running now runs 2' horizontal out the back, into a 90 then up the 15' from there. It's 50 outside right now and I'm running low cat burn at 370F with zero smoke inside or outside of the house, the way it should be. My setup now also has seams between the back of the stove and the 15' vertical run, none of which are sealed beyond how the pipe fits together.
What you are describing is exactly what BKVP said. Every set up is different. What works good in your house may not in another.
 
Taking all of the different setups and modifications into account I still can't see how this can be purely a draft issue. Perhaps if the draft is ramped up enough it will eventually overcome whatever defect is allowing this to happen, but I just don't buy that this is 'normal' in any way.

I have a 15' single wall in exterior masonry chimney, in a mild climate, and both stoves I've run up this chimney have had zero issues with smoke leakage. The non-cat insert I had before was vented straight up, and I'd almost have to whip the door open just to get smoke spillage, and the cat stove I'm running now runs 2' horizontal out the back, into a 90 then up the 15' from there. It's 50 outside right now and I'm running low cat burn at 370F with zero smoke inside or outside of the house, the way it should be. My setup now also has seams between the back of the stove and the 15' vertical run, none of which are sealed beyond how the pipe fits together.

You're trying to compare your non-cat stove and your current stove to a BK ....it is not.

Different animal. ;)
 
You're trying to compare your non-cat stove and your current stove to a BK ....it is not.

Different animal. ;)

I wouldn't put it quite that way... I'm trying to compare my 'marginal' draft setup with the 'marginal' draft setups that are having these issues with the BK. Now we all know the BK is a different animal when it comes to performance in some ways, but it shouldn't be a different animal when it comes to setup and smoke/safety. What I mean is, the BK manual apparently calls for 15' - this is essentially what every other modern stove calls for. So if it's a 'different animal' in this regard too, which from quite a number of owners with issues here seem to indicate, then someone from BK needs to come right out and say it, and say what exactly it means, instead of running these poor guys in circles spending 100's or 1000's of dollars chasing this ghost. If it needs a 30' chimney, then it should say you need a 30'. If it can't hold the smoke in a mild climate with softwoods, then it should say so. Not this business of throwing gobs of $$$ and time at it all the while making it an owner/operator issue.
 
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Highbeam, "LOTS"?
Respectfully, EVERY single manufacturer has issues from time to time with a FEW stoves. We work with the folks to get them resolved. There are thousands of these models in the field and two or three posters have had this issue. Truth be told, others call here and we work with them to solve the issues.

I spoke with Calentarse this morning. Great guy, understanding. If he has some smoke roll out and smoke smell, something is not correct. Today he said he has a 13' total chimney length and we recommend 15' minimum. So we (he and I) will get this licked. He also has some offsets in the chimney that complicate draft in higher efficient appliances.

As for MotorsargeT the 90 degree will always cause some issues. Also, how far is the rise before the 90 degree? These are influencing factors on efficient stove performance/draft. Keep this all in perspective and we always help the customer. That is why I am on this site!

Yes, lots. If you do a search on this site for an ashford today because maybe you want to buy one then you will certainly run into unresolved smoke issues. In time those reports will be buried or resolved but right now, bad PR. Best thing that a BK rep could do is to stay involved, resolve, or provide some sort of public reassurance that despite these limited problems that the stove is a good buy.

Lets turn some of these "smokey ashford" stories into "fixed my smokey ashford" stories.
 
I wouldn't put it quite that way... I'm trying to compare my 'marginal' draft setup with the 'marginal' draft setups that are having these issues with the BK. Now we all know the BK is a different animal when it comes to performance in some ways, but it shouldn't be a different animal when it comes to setup and smoke/safety. What I mean is, the BK manual apparently calls for 15' - this is essentially what every other modern stove calls for. So if it's a 'different animal' in this regard too, which from quite a number of owners with issues here seem to indicate, then someone from BK needs to come right out and say it, and say what exactly it means, instead of running these poor guys in circles spending 100's or 1000's of dollars chasing this ghost. If it needs a 30' chimney, then it should say you need a 30'. If it can't hold the smoke in a mild climate with softwoods, then it should say so. Not this business of throwing gobs of $$$ and time at it all the while making it an owner/operator issue.


I can only speak from my own experience. But I think the BK has a tendency toward this smoke smell in certain situations. I'm not sure if it is in the minority or if it's the norm. But in my experience I saw it as the norm.

Only BK knows what the broad picture is of this issue. But in my case it I was able to solve it.
The performance of the stove is so great that I was willing to take that risk .

I think this issue is solvable and it will be solved.
 
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I can only speak from my own experience. But I think the BK has a tendency toward this smoke smell in certain situations. I'm not sure if it is in the minority or if it's the norm. But in my experience I saw it as the norm.

Only BK knows what the broad picture is of this issue. But in my case it I was able to solve it.
The performance of the stove is so great that I was willing to take that risk .

I think this issue is solvable and it will be solved.

I love the stove. It is such an improvement over my old stove. I grew up burning in an 80's vintage vermont castings vigilant and then a hearthstone phoenix later. When I bought my house I had to have a wood stove. The house came with a salvo machine citation wood/coal stove. It was old and when I put an addition over the stove room I found the chimney was trashed. I tore it down and installed a brand new class a chimney and planned on a new stove. The sirroco is what I bought and I want to make it work. when it is 50 out (like today) and I can run it with no visible emissions and a temp of 350 on the stovetop it is exactly what I was looking for, my house just smells like smoke. I am willing to spend the money and time but I am running out of ideas and options on what it will take to fix it.
 
I love the stove. It is such an improvement over my old stove. I grew up burning in an 80's vintage vermont castings vigilant and then a hearthstone phoenix later. When I bought my house I had to have a wood stove. The house came with a salvo machine citation wood/coal stove. It was old and when I put an addition over the stove room I found the chimney was trashed. I tore it down and installed a brand new class a chimney and planned on a new stove. The sirroco is what I bought and I want to make it work. when it is 50 out (like today) and I can run it with no visible emissions and a temp of 350 on the stovetop it is exactly what I was looking for, my house just smells like smoke. I am willing to spend the money and time but I am running out of ideas and options on what it will take to fix it.
If you run a hotter fire the problem(smell) is gone?
 
please take me off your list of "owners complaining of smoke smell". i am not complaining. it hasnt been much of a bother to this point and points to poor draft
Give me a break. Would you like me to change it to, "shoot-straight claims his stove makes his house smell of smoke, but he's not complaining about it"? ;lol

No. It is less but It is still there.
Let me phrase HotCoals question a different way: When you run hotter does it stop producing new smoke smell? Sure, the house still stinks of stale smoke.
 
No. It is less but It is still there.

You could try running with the cap/screen off for chits and giggles.
A gasket leak at the door will cause a fire to burn hotter no doubt but it should not leak smoke into the room.
 
Have you guys tried putting a flame or incense around the areas of the suspect gasket?
 
If this were back puffing would there not be accumulation of wood gases with subsequent combustion in the fire box? Back puffing when it occurs in my VC is VERY evident. The flame goes out, there is a pause of 20-30 seconds, then a large woosh of flames dancing around. Only in a few rare situations usually in the shoulder season with high windy days does the backpuff however cause enough force to cause smoke to escape the top loader or the air intake.

Seems like if his ashford was backpuffing it would be pretty evident.
It's nowhere near as violent in the BK as in my old 2n1. It's light and normally short lived, only happening once or twice before the stat responds? or is somehow otherwise alleviated...
 
Give me a break. Would you like me to change it to, "shoot-straight claims his stove makes his house smell of smoke, but he's not complaining about it"? ;lol


Let me phrase HotCoals question a different way: When you run hotter does it stop producing new smoke smell? Sure, the house still stinks of stale smoke.

No, I asked nicely just for you to remove me. Simply beacuse i dont want you speaking for me. That's it.
 
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post: 1927037 said:
Give me a break. Would you like me to change it to, "shoot-straight claims his stove makes his house smell of smoke, but he's not complaining about it"? ;lol


Let me phrase HotCoals question a different way: When you run hotter does it stop producing new smoke smell? Sure, the house still stinks of stale smoke.
It still produces new smell. Put your nose at the top left of the door and it will vary with the stat operation. I have no screen on my cap. I guess i couod pull it off for a test but we are supposed to get rain for the next few days.
 
Taking all of the different setups and modifications into account I still can't see how this can be purely a draft issue. Perhaps if the draft is ramped up enough it will eventually overcome whatever defect is allowing this to happen, but I just don't buy that this is 'normal' in any way.

I have a 15' single wall in exterior masonry chimney, in a mild climate, and both stoves I've run up this chimney have had zero issues with smoke leakage. The non-cat insert I had before was vented straight up, and I'd almost have to whip the door open just to get smoke spillage, and the cat stove I'm running now runs 2' horizontal out the back, into a 90 then up the 15' from there. It's 50 outside right now and I'm running low cat burn at 370F with zero smoke inside or outside of the house, the way it should be. My setup now also has seams between the back of the stove and the 15' vertical run, none of which are sealed beyond how the pipe fits together.
I tend to agree with you. It just doesn't make sense. Yet, I bet if you had an Ashford, for some reason, you wouldn't have these issues. And I bet if I had your ideal steel, I'd smell smoke. I don't personally agree with needing to increase my draft further and it's unfortunate I must continue to put money into this set up, but the fact of the matter is that I don't have the recommended chimney height (even though my chimney guy says the manual says that measurement is from the floor). I bought the stove without considering these things could happen and now I have to sleep in the bed I've made.
 
Have you guys tried putting a flame or incense around the areas of the suspect gasket?
I burnt a real strong candle in it and couldn't definitively say I could smell it coming out of anywhere...
 
I love the stove. It is such an improvement over my old stove. I grew up burning in an 80's vintage vermont castings vigilant and then a hearthstone phoenix later. When I bought my house I had to have a wood stove. The house came with a salvo machine citation wood/coal stove. It was old and when I put an addition over the stove room I found the chimney was trashed. I tore it down and installed a brand new class a chimney and planned on a new stove. The sirroco is what I bought and I want to make it work. when it is 50 out (like today) and I can run it with no visible emissions and a temp of 350 on the stovetop it is exactly what I was looking for, my house just smells like smoke. I am willing to spend the money and time but I am running out of ideas and options on what it will take to fix it.

Glad you like the stove........I think its fantastic. It does everything so well except this issue.
I tend to agree with you. It just doesn't make sense. Yet, I bet if you had an Ashford, for some reason, you wouldn't have these issues. And I bet if I had your ideal steel, I'd smell smoke. I don't personally agree with needing to increase my draft further and it's unfortunate I must continue to put money into this set up, but the fact of the matter is that I don't have the recommended chimney height (even though my chimney guy says the manual says that measurement is from the floor). I bought the stove without considering these things could happen and now I have to sleep in the bed I've made.


Ha Ha..........I made that same blunder too when I first got a wood burning stove . About measuring chimney height from the ground up....My chimney was technically only 13 feet high. ..........Then after I added 4 more feet to it , it made all the difference. It was worth it .

Since your setup has this smoke smell tendency like mine did , then the best place to start is the chimney height . One step at a time.............................
 
I tend to agree with you. It just doesn't make sense. Yet, I bet if you had an Ashford, for some reason, you wouldn't have these issues. And I bet if I had your ideal steel, I'd smell smoke. I don't personally agree with needing to increase my draft further and it's unfortunate I must continue to put money into this set up, but the fact of the matter is that I don't have the recommended chimney height (even though my chimney guy says the manual says that measurement is from the floor). I bought the stove without considering these things could happen and now I have to sleep in the bed I've made.

That's odd, I just checked and the manual states 12 feet from the flue collar (roughly 14-15' total from stove floor), which is pretty much the 'industry standard' flue requirement.
 
Yet, I bet if you had an Ashford, for some reason, you wouldn't have these issues. And I bet if I had your ideal steel, I'd smell smoke.
I really doubt this. I've had 2 stoves on my chimney, neither let smoke in the house. You've had 2 stoves on your chimney, only 1 let smoke in the house. Statistically this points very strongly towards the stove itself.
 
I burnt a real strong candle in it and couldn't definitively say I could smell it coming out of anywhere...
Well I meant to hold the flame or incense on the out side of the door while in low burn to see if the flame/smoke gets pulled into the stove or if the flame/smoke gets pushed away .
 
ote="HotCoals, post: 1927094, member: 15161"]Well I meant to hold the flame or incense on the out side of the door while in low burn to see if the flame/smoke gets pulled into the stove or if the flame/smoke gets pushed away .[/quote]
I'll try tonight.
 
No, I asked nicely just for you to remove me. Simply beacuse i dont want you speaking for me. That's it.
Wasn't speaking for you. You're always welcome to speak for yourself. Just citing you as one of several who have claimed their Ashford 30 makes their house smell of smoke. I was referring to these two statements:

Well, my ashford started acting sluggish. Got some smoke smell too!
i noticed that i would get a little smoke smell after a "gas explosion" in the firebox. you know, a POOF! of flame.
 
ote="HotCoals, post: 1927094, member: 15161"]Well I meant to hold the flame or incense on the out side of the door while in low burn to see if the flame/smoke gets pulled into the stove or if the flame/smoke gets pushed away .
I'll try tonight.[/quote]
Yeah..experiment doing that around the door..seams on the pipes..things like that and get back to us.
BTW you don't have to have a cap on top of the flue..rain won't hurt but codes may call for cap/screen.
 
Well rain could hurt..I meant just for a day or 3.
 
It's nowhere near as violent in the BK as in my old 2n1. It's light and normally short lived, only happening once or twice before the stat responds? or is somehow otherwise alleviated...

H rmm. How often is this happening? Because backpuffing will blow smoke in your house for sure. Suggests poor draft still or wet wood.....
 
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