We have a 1992 Whitfield Advantage II insert. The hubby is very diligent about cleaning and maintenance. In the last 17 years, he's replaced an auger motor and fan. Other than that, the thing has been exceptional....until now. The first five weeks of the season, the stove worked great. Gradually, over a couple of days, we starting getting a bad smell from it. The hubby recaulked and retaped the joints/cap on the T. The smell just seemed to get worse. We stopped burning and called the repairman. 3 visits and an $860 bill later, the thing is still putting out fumes that give us headaches and we can't us it.
The first trip from the repairman, he thought that there might be exhaust fumes escaping from the combustion housing so, he replaced that. He also replaced the blower motor that was starting to go and found a small hole in the flex pipe a few inches above the T. The hubby siliconed/taped the hole. The new combustion housing didn't help. If anything, the smell got worse.
The second trip the repairman brought the "sniffer" and found multiple places along the flex pipe that registered exhaust leaks. Which lead to the third trip where they pulled and replaced all 25 feet of flexpipe and resealed/insulated the cap at the top of the chimney.
We waited two days to let the silicone cure and then fired it up. We still get the fumes. We have run the stove several times over the last couple of days.
We even ran the stove on high for 7 hours with the windows open and the whole house fan running to vent the fumes to try and burn off everything. No luck.
The fumes we are getting smell like a chemical. They do not smell like burning pellets or the exhaust that comes out the chimney. Our carbon monoxide detector is not registering any CO, even when I hold it in front of the stove. We're burning Golden Fire pellets which is what we have always burned.
Before my husband goes balistic when he calls the repairman yet again on Monday, does anybody have any ideas what could be causing this?
The first trip from the repairman, he thought that there might be exhaust fumes escaping from the combustion housing so, he replaced that. He also replaced the blower motor that was starting to go and found a small hole in the flex pipe a few inches above the T. The hubby siliconed/taped the hole. The new combustion housing didn't help. If anything, the smell got worse.
The second trip the repairman brought the "sniffer" and found multiple places along the flex pipe that registered exhaust leaks. Which lead to the third trip where they pulled and replaced all 25 feet of flexpipe and resealed/insulated the cap at the top of the chimney.
We waited two days to let the silicone cure and then fired it up. We still get the fumes. We have run the stove several times over the last couple of days.
We even ran the stove on high for 7 hours with the windows open and the whole house fan running to vent the fumes to try and burn off everything. No luck.
The fumes we are getting smell like a chemical. They do not smell like burning pellets or the exhaust that comes out the chimney. Our carbon monoxide detector is not registering any CO, even when I hold it in front of the stove. We're burning Golden Fire pellets which is what we have always burned.
Before my husband goes balistic when he calls the repairman yet again on Monday, does anybody have any ideas what could be causing this?
!
