Englander 30 smoke from rear?

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iceisasolid

iceisasolid

New Member
Jan 3, 2011
110
North Central Idaho
I could use some help. I posted a few weeks ago about a change in the way that the flame moves in the stove. This evening, I started the fire as usual:
2 dry splits, crumpled newpaper between and a split across the top. The door partly open. Temp outside 53 degrees and slight wind. I noticed after the paper caught fire that the blower vent/reat heat shield had smoke coming out of it. I looked underneath the stove and saw that the smoke was coming out of the air intake in the rear of the stove. There is also a new ping in the stove as it heats up.

As the draft increased, the smoke went away. I checked the chimney and removed the draft cap and all looks normal. I am now wondering if I may have a crack in the seam. I don't recall an overfired stove, max temp that I am aware of has been 800 for a few minutes while I cooled it down.

I have taken the secondary vent tubes out in the past to clean the chimney. i don't have anything blocking the stove exhaust. I can never seen smoke from the back of a stove. I have no modifications to the stove. Any ideas prior to me calling Englander?

Thanks,

Ray
 
I have had some really crappy start-ups over the years but never smoke coming out of the intake. But I never start a fire with just two N/S splits with one on top and a piece of paper. That ain't gonna get a draft going lately. If I am not doing a top down start I have a blazing hot Super Cedar under those splits. Not so much to heat the wood but because the dang thing burns so hot that it heats the flue.
 
You mentioned earlier having a problem with warped "cement boards". Are these the baffle boards? That is unusual for a new stove. Did you contact Englander about this issue?

Describe the flue system in detail from the stove to the cap, including pipe height, single or double wall, elbows, etc.
 
53 degree day, not so good for draft, considering the inside temp is probably pretty close to that if you are building a fire at this point. I started the Summit up couple weeks ago on a drizzly damp afternoon, and had some smoke back out the air inlets. It's called a stack effect: the house provides a greater draw than the chimney, thus thats where it goes. Run a few wads of newspaper thru the thing before building the fire, helps to quickly preheat the flue. What you saw was likely smoke back out the fixed air inlets, no so much a crack in the stove.
 
If you do a slow start fire, on a not so cold day and conditions are correct (incorrect) I've seen smoke come out of the intake of a stove on dozens of different models.

Have you changed anything in the house? Added insulation, any new appliances that could create negative pressure?

Air goes into that intake, into the stove. If the air in the chimney is reversed, it will push air out of that intake, into the room, taking smoke with it. Once you get enough heat in the chimney to get the air moving the right way, the problem goes away. If your stove does this on certain days, do something to warm the flue before igniting the wood and paper.
 
Thanks for the input.

Setup:
6 " of DSP
17" of Class A chimney and a 15 degree offset kit to avoid the apex of the rafters.
Metal Best draft cap

There are no new appliances. I did place an extra piece of cement fiber board over the top of the other 2 to close the gap made by them and thus fill the baffle tray from E to W completely make all the smoke move from s to N over all the secondary burn tubes. The warped cement boards actually came from Englander with a slight twist in them both.

After the fire was warm enough the smoke went away. I'll preheat with news paper next time.

Thanks.
-Ray
 
The stove relies on a draft from the chimney to suck air in any openings on the stove. If you don't have a strong enough draft, or a negative draft (cold air sinking in the chimney) then smoke will come out anywhere it can. Normally I would tell you to check the chimney and cap, but it sounds like you've already done that.
 
Before my liner I had this happen a few times. Just so happens the wifes hair dryer (don't you ever tell her) is a perfect fit for that air inlet in the back. A minute or so in there and things were corrected.

I too believe this is a combination of poor draft (as I had w/ the old oversized clay chimney, in your case probably because of weather) and poor initial fire configuration.

pen
 
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