Creosote smell

[RiverLogger]

Hey all,

Another newbie question here. My wife and I just installed an Englander 13 in our house. Everything went great as far as the install goes and we have had three small fires to so called "season" the stove and get the paint stank off. My question now is, after we had the first fire we now smell creosote in the house and I think I have pinpointed it down to the connections of the singlewall pipe in the house. There is a small gap in each piece where the seam is and I can feel air moving from inside the pipe to inside the house. It is a very small amount of air but obviously enough to bring the smell of the inside of the pipe in the house. I hope this makes sense. Questions?

Thanks,

RL

 

[edthedawg]

Didja get an OAK installed w/ it? Could be you have a little bit of a backdraft coming from a dryer or bath fan, pulling on the chimney as its air supply. Could try a little Rutland black furnace cement to seal up the holes. Just a thought...

 

[LLigetfa]

You really need to resolve why there is more pressure inside the pipe than outside. As for those gaps, when I worked with single wall pipe, I'd flatten the seams and stair-step them at the joints to keep the gap as small as possible.

 

[snowtime]

If you consistently get air moving down your chimney when not in use then like it has been said your house is tight and some unit is sucking the air down.
You could also just not have enough chimney. Do you have trouble with back puffing when you start a fire? Does this only happen when theres a good wind outside? Is your chimney at least equal to the 2-10 rule.
As far as sealing up the single wall it might help the problem but single wall does not need to be sealed if you have proper draft also the air will probably still enter the house through the stove. The better reason for cementing single wall is to keep air from going up chimney as that cools chimney and causes more creosote.

 

[Fsappo]

An outside air kit is a solid suggestion. Any chimney is gonna have a smoke smell inside it (creosote smell) the key is having the air going up the pipe instead of down when your not using it. Furnace cement is fine but can turn white and crumble after a few fires. More so when using it on a light piece of metal like stovepipe. You can also purchase a product made by Rutland called fireplace deoderant as a last resort.

 

[RiverLogger]

We have no trouble at all with backdraft or puffing when a fire is going, and it seems to pull just fine when burning. I'd be real surprised if the problem was a tight house, but I suppose it has to be something. The house was built in 1963, but has been updated since with great insulation and new windows. Pipe extends about 4ft above the roof peak.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Pipe extends 4' above peak, but what is total height of the pipe? You generally need a minimum of 13' of chimney.

Did you seal the pipe with furnace cement when installing? Hopefully you also put a few screws in to hold them together too.

But the biggest thing I get from your post is that you've had only 3 small fires to season things. Now you are smelling creosote. That sends the immediate signal that you may not be burning dry wood. So I'd question when was this wood cut? When was the wood split? How was it stacked for drying? If you bought the wood, never take a wood seller's statement that the wood is seasoned.

 

[RiverLogger]

The 4' above peak gives us 16 feet of total height from the top of the stove to the cap. The wood was cut last year in March and split and stacked in my woodshed. I know that's less than a year and that could be a minor issue, but rememer I live in Oregon and burn mostly fir which dries alot quicker than the oak, etc. I'm not new to wood and feel my wood is not "wet", but I guess it could be drier. The smell is maybe not so much creosote as it is the general smell of the inside of the stove.

EDIT: I did not seal with anything when installed and yes there are screws in the pipe, but they dont seal the gaps.

Thanks again guys,

RL

 

[Todd]

When was the chimney cleaned last? Some days when the weathers right my chimneys flow down and I can get a whiff of soot. Try cracking a nearby window and see if that helps. I like to smear some Rutland black furnace cement around the edge of the stove pipe male ends before sliding them together. Makes a good tight fit and seal, but is a pita taking them apart if you have to.

 

[RiverLogger]

Everything was brand new about a month ago. Including the hole I cut in my roof. :gulp:

 

[cmonSTART]

So this is an interior prefab chimney?

 

[RiverLogger]

I have about 7' of singlewall black pipe to the ceiling where it converts to 9' of class A chimney through the ceiling extending to the cap. All was bought at Lowes including the kit to go through the ceiling etc. I tried leaving a window cracked last evening to see if that would help. It's hard for me to tell because I can still smell it just because the smell is already in the house. Would the stove suck hard enough say if I put a piece of paper up to the OAK hook up at the back of the stove to suck the paper against it? Then I could try it with the house closed up and then try with a window open and see if that was it. Do you think this would work or is the draft usually not that strong?

Thanks,

RL

 

[Todd]

Fire the stove up hot! Maybe it will burn off the creosote stink?

 

[kenny chaos]

Make sure any adjustable air inlets/dampers to the stove are closed so you don't get so much backdraft when not in use.