Should it be Odorless or will there always be some Smell

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celticsgreen

celticsgreen

New Member
Nov 1, 2011
41
SNH
My installation is fairly simple, no radical lengths of pipe or excessive angles....I have super stove cemented all my pipe joints both inside joints and over the outer seam...door gaskets in great shape...and very anal about keeping stove clean but still there is some smell/taste in the house. Is that normal or should stove be odorless?
 
If exhaust setup is done right, there should be no smell while stove is running. If you still smell smoke after the unit has been running awhile, you have a leak....not good.

I'm assuming you know how to check for smoke during startup w/ a flashlight, correct?
 
imacman said:
If exhaust setup is done right, there should be no smell while stove is running. If you still smell smoke after the unit has been running awhile, you have a leak....not good.

I'm assuming you know how to check for smoke during startup w/ a flashlight, correct?
Click to expand...
Yes I have checked with a flashlight a lot and saw no smoke...the pipe exhausts into a completely open cement porch with roof overhang...the local stove shop said that was ok but I am thinking now it probably isn't.
 
Taste???? You eat pellets too?

J/K... There should be zero smell. Even if its at start up. If so there is a leak. If your venting is sealed. Its still possible that a leak exsists, either at the the combustion blower gasket, or the actual flange peice that has the 3" snout. (Not where the pipe connects to the snout /although possible) Where the snout peice and the combustion blower outlet meet, if that makes sense.
 
oldmountvernon said:
how about windows on that porch ?
Click to expand...

there are replacement windows on the porch, that seem really tight, I mean they are double locked and the locks seem to really force the windows shut.
 
A picture of your exhaust venting would help. In and out..
 
My XXV gives a burnt wood smell once in a while, especially at startup, I still haven't found any smoke though. Mine is using the adapter for stove pipe into a chimney though, so not sure if thats the issue. Whatever it is, its not easy to find.
 
Do you have a carbon monoxide detector in the room? If not, GET ONE! Yes, a picture of what you are describing as venting 'into' a completely open cement porch would be helpful.
 
I have to agree, I have no smell what so ever in my stove. I initally did but re sealed stove adapter including the space between the inner and outer walls of the adapter
The end that slides towards the back of the stove.
On the exhaust setup. I origanilly went straight out and up 3'. This was under a 6' vented soffit. The soffit started turning black and the second story had a faint smell of smoke. The smoke was going into soffit and working its way through the exposed plywood for the second story wall and back into house. I wound up going through soffit and roof and terminating 2' above second story roof.
I would consider doing the same
 
Now that was funny! It's been a bad day so I needed the laugh ;-)
 
If you look me up on here you'll see that I was dealing with a smoke smell for a while. I had a lot of people telling me to tape all of the seams and that's what did the trick. Now, I get no smell what so ever except sometimes at startup (which is normal).
 
I have a slight smoke smell for about 5-10 seconds at start, and then no smell whatsoever. It's possible I have a pinhole somewhere, but after several flashlight tests I gave up looking. I temporarily put 2 CO detectors right by the stove for several hours, both read 0 ppm.
 
Zero smell, period... Just did a clean and re-fire, real smoky start, zip, zero, nada smell.

Is the thimble sealed properly. First time when "the professionals" did my install, the cut a hole in my house, stuck the thimble in and siliconed the hell out of the thimble perimeter. Smoke made its way back through on windy days because the hole behind the siding wasn't sealed. Also, the hole the pipe fits through should be sealed on the inside and outside of the wall to insure no smoke can sneak through the thimble. My 2 cents.
 
There should be zero like Ibcynya stated. If you smell anything, there is a leak. These are sealed systems.

Keep CO detectors if you do smell something. But a proper operating system, should have zero smell/smoke. Leaks can be in several areas and if they are around the combustion blower, the cooling fan on it may be moving the air to fast for you to see it.
 
I am quoting member Mike Holton, stoveguy2esw,

"if you pull apart an exhaust blower you will see that the hole the blower shaft passes through is not sealed airtight. on an igniter stove usually they smoke a bit heavier at the time just before starting the physical flame. during this time its not uncommon to smell a hint of smoke. this usually dissipates rapidly when the actual flame pops up. usually its not overpowering at all, and usually its gone in a very short time afetr light off. if its there constantly its a problem"

just another possibility, though, I doubt it, and there is a leak in the pipe somewhere.
 
vinny11950 said:
I am quoting member Mike Holton, stoveguy2esw,

"if you pull apart an exhaust blower you will see that the hole the blower shaft passes through is not sealed airtight. on an igniter stove usually they smoke a bit heavier at the time just before starting the physical flame. during this time its not uncommon to smell a hint of smoke. this usually dissipates rapidly when the actual flame pops up. usually its not overpowering at all, and usually its gone in a very short time afetr light off. if its there constantly its a problem"

just another possibility, though, I doubt it, and there is a leak in the pipe somewhere.
Click to expand...

I have seen the hole the shaft goes through and wondered if it would let anything out, but it should be "sucking" in through that hole. Its still a Negative pressure system at that point. The quad os the onluone I checked. Took my little black cooling fan off the back of the motor and used a long incense stick. Sucked the smoke right it.

I guess different stoves may be different. But my Englander in the Shop, my Fathers Englander, my Fahrenheit, and all of my buddies (4 at work - Breckwell, Baby Countryside, Quad CB 1200, and a CB 1200i) stoves dont smell.

Again, if your CO monitors are not registering, then I guess I wouldnt worry. But the Fahrenheit smelled of smoke this week when I hooked it up. It was a couple leaky points in the venting.

Not dismissing what Mike says. It may be true for the Englander models. The way the combustion blower and any other components positioning can affect airflow. He is a Pro and has been doing this for Yrs. But in any situation I have encountered ( nowhere near as many as Him) Smoke smell is not present at start up or during regular operation.
 
I am a new pellet stove user. It is an insert. Only burnt a dozen bags or so and there is absolutly no smell. We also have a wood stove downstairs....this is quite the difference. We like it so far.
 
DexterDay said:
vinny11950 said:
I am quoting member Mike Holton, stoveguy2esw,

"if you pull apart an exhaust blower you will see that the hole the blower shaft passes through is not sealed airtight. on an igniter stove usually they smoke a bit heavier at the time just before starting the physical flame. during this time its not uncommon to smell a hint of smoke. this usually dissipates rapidly when the actual flame pops up. usually its not overpowering at all, and usually its gone in a very short time afetr light off. if its there constantly its a problem"

just another possibility, though, I doubt it, and there is a leak in the pipe somewhere.
Click to expand...

I have seen the hole the shaft goes through and wondered if it would let anything out, but it should be "sucking" in through that hole. Its still a Negative pressure system at that point. The quad os the onluone I checked. Took my little black cooling fan off the back of the motor and used a long incense stick. Sucked the smoke right it.

I guess different stoves may be different. But my Englander in the Shop, my Fathers Englander, my Fahrenheit, and all of my buddies (4 at work - Breckwell, Baby Countryside, Quad CB 1200, and a CB 1200i) stoves dont smell.

Again, if your CO monitors are not registering, then I guess I wouldnt worry. But the Fahrenheit smelled of smoke this week when I hooked it up. It was a couple leaky points in the venting.

Not dismissing what Mike says. It may be true for the Englander models. The way the combustion blower and any other components positioning can affect airflow. He is a Pro and has been doing this for Yrs. But in any situation I have encountered ( nowhere near as many as Him) Smoke smell is not present at start up or during regular operation.
Click to expand...

I agree with you, Dexter, and it probably is the pipe somewhere. And I also believe Mike. And like you say, under the right circumstances design flaws can be exposed. I experienced this with my M55 when I realized the exhaust starter tube connection system was not working right straight out of the factory.
 
I just called technical support for Enviro and was told that unless I am continually smelling smoke, it is drafting fine. He said it is normal to smell smoke when starting up the stove. I dont agree with it though..
 
For what its worth, my stove smells a little bit like smoke each time I start her up.
 
johnnycomelately said:
For what its worth, my stove smells a little bit like smoke each time I start her up.
Click to expand...

Thanks.. Which stove do you have?
 
I don't have any smoke smell inside or outside the house. I don't see any smoke coming out of the chimney either, just heat distortion, if I look at it from the right angle. Not having had a pellet stove before, I assumed that pellet stoves made no smoke, just odorless exhaust.

Do others see smoke coming from the pellet stove chimney?

Dave
 
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