Ashford 30.1 smoke smell

I just found a small piece that was trimmed off. It is 7/8" wide and looks like the graphoglass stuff made by Rutland sold at Ace Hardware.

kf6hap and Ohio Do you have any reference for the smoke smell you are getting. What I mean is have you ever had another wood burning
stove before. I have never had a stove or fireplace but I would seem to think that any stove or fireplace will have "some" smell no matter
the brand type or kind. This smoke smell issue really freaks me out. Although you say your are still happy you keep posting on here to indicate
all is not well in swellville. I understand this and I want a perfect stove too but I am still researching different stoves.

Troy
As far as I am concerned, the BK is the best stove on the market. The most important feature of a wood stove is turn down-the lowest BTU output attainable without the polluting, creosoting up the flue system or becoming finicky and requiring constant adjustment. This extreme turn down rate gives you the wonderfully long burn times and fuel efficiency. Maximum heat out is important to be sure but controllability is equally important. The action of the thermostatic controller on the BK is excellent-unmatched by any other stove. I have been heating with wood since 1971 and had many other (one costing considerably more than my Ashford) stoves.

My chimney system is a few feet too short or too big around (it is 8", not the required 6") to produce the required draw to make the stove function properly. I acknowledge my chimney system is defective. Next summer I plan on doing something to improve my chimney system (expensive). In the meantime a gasket replacement (quick and inexpensive) has made my situation very livable.

Once ohiojoe has his gasket replaced, I strongly suspect his situation will be as mine-very livable or, perhaps, completely smoke free. If it is not completely smoke free a few feet of flue added on will fix it. It is as simple as that.

In my discussion with BKVP about the "smoke smell" issue, it is the chimney system that is always at fault. A gasket replacement might greatly improve (as in my case) or fix things but the real fix is in a proper chimney system.

From BKVP: All of the operational and smoke problems vanish when the chimney system is proper. This applies not only to BK stoves, but ALL wood stoves.

A proper chimney system (anybody please correct me if you disagree) is 16' of 6" flue with no bends. The stove to ceiling pipe must be double walled. If you have bends, a few feet more will be needed. If most of the flue system is in the outside (unshielded from the cold), a few feet extra might be needed also.

Every installation will have some variations, so the above numbers are not a concrete thing, but they are very close.

I hope this puts things into proper perspective.

kf6hap said:

As far as I am concerned, the BK is the best stove on the market. The most important feature of a wood stove is turn down-the lowest BTU output attainable without the polluting, creosoting up the flue system or becoming finicky and requiring constant adjustment. This extreme turn down rate gives you the wonderfully long burn times and fuel efficiency. Maximum heat out is important to be sure but controllability is equally important. The action of the thermostatic controller on the BK is excellent-unmatched by any other stove.

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Well said, good job. Until you've experienced this control it is hard to properly value it. How can a person ever go back to a stove with 30% of the burn time?

kf6hap said:

All of the operational and smoke problems vanish when the chimney system is proper. This applies not only to BK stoves, but ALL wood stoves.

A proper chimney system (anybody please correct me if you disagree) is 16' of 6" flue with no bends. The stove to ceiling pipe must be double walled. If you have bends, a few feet more will be needed. If most of the flue system is in the outside (unshielded from the cold), a few feet extra might be needed also.

Every installation will have some variations, so the above numbers are not a concrete thing, but they are very close.

Click to expand...

BK used to only require 12' for the princess and now 15'. Seems we are all learning. New owners will be best served with the all vertical, all double wall, 15' tall stack which is ideal. The BK manual doesn't require double wall connector pipe. I too have observed that about every problem stove seems to have a substandard chimney involved.

kf6hap said:

A proper chimney system (anybody please correct me if you disagree) is 16' of 6" flue with no bends.

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I agree that the thermostat is a great feature. I'd like to have it for burning down the coals automatically. The Woodstocks I've had have run well after initially setting the air to cruise. The Keystone has a small air hole in the ash pan housing, so the coals pretty much take care of themselves, Fireview I had to open the air on the coals a little. The Dutchwest needs a little air added in the middle of the burn to keep cranking the heat, and a little more at the end on the coals. A bit too much fiddling, but it's just my backup stove. There's one guy who put an ash pan hole in his IS, and says the coals are totally burned down by the end of the load.
I have to disagree about the 'proper' chimney, though. That depends on how easily a particular stove breathes. Woodstock recommends 15' for the Fireview but Dennis was running his on 13' with a thru-the-wall chimney. My BIL's Fireview is on a 13.5' stack. Both report no problems with smoke roll-out or odors, even with warmer outside temps. The Fireview is also rear-vented, not straight up. The Hearthstone Manchester manual calls for 10' of stack, last time I looked.

Yes, I agree, each stove will have different chimney system requirements. One very important thing I did leave out is altitude correction. So 5 things can effectively reduce the height of a chimney system: 1. Bends 2. Single wall pipe 3. Horizontal runs 4. The amount of pipe exposed directly to the weather 5. Altitude. If you take the "manual minimum height" and add height to compensate for each the above mentioned factors, a proper chimney system can be had if an appropriate amount of additional height is added to return the draw to the minimum required for proper operation. How much needed additional height for each "shortening" factor is the question I, not being a chimney expert, can't answer. The above assumes solid pack pipe is used form ceiling to cap and the appropriate diameter is used. The process of calculating minimum chimney height could be accomplished by the use of charts and be perfect every time.

Altitude correction

Yes, Blaze King support is wonderful. Chris knows knows his stuff.

No news yet.

kf6hap said:

Altitude correction

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I am pretty sure that a 30' chimney pipe would blow away at 11,000 feet! =D

39F and getting warmer at 0500. Smoke smell very light but still have it. No smell change from when it was colder. Still awaiting for a response from BKVP as he is investigating different gasketing.

begreen said:

What are your outdoor temps like now?

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You're just trying to make him jealous, western WA outdoor temps are supposed to hit upper 60s this week!

I just placed ~10' of 6" single wall pipe inside my 8" chimney. This brings it down to the required 6". Need to burn for a few days to analyze.

Magnehelic readings:
At 600F flue it was and remains .11"
At 200F flue it was .03" and is now .05". Substantially higher.

Update on 2-12 added 6" pipe to the last section. Now the full chimney is 6"X17' no bends.

Preliminary-it is warm outside so I can't stuff the fire box completely full (3/4) but the answer so far is yes. The only smell I get now is infiltration from the outside. After the 30 minute load char to drive out the moisture turn down was when I could notice the smell the most. The gasket replacement and the chimney improvement have done it, just as BKVP said it would. It is like I predicted earlier: I thought my unit is on the verge of being smoke free. I liken this to treading water-one inch makes all the difference. The "draw" (chimney suction) has increased somewhat preventing the smell. The total chimney height is now 17', not 18 but the draw is stronger.


I doubt a completely full load will make any difference because the draft will be even stronger.

Interesting points:
The thermostat is quicker to respond to heat request increases. The stove takes a bit longer to cool down when turning the thermostat down as the stronger draw is pulling somewhat more air through the damper plate hole. Comparing the Ashford convection + radiation stove to my other 100% radiative stoves, the other rooms are warmer. My wife says the heat is more consistent. The cast iron outer encasement really goes a long way towards smoothing out the heat flow and is a stove of beauty too.

9.9 times out of 10 it's either the wood or draft.

71F outside, 83F inside, stove top 200 no smell.