I2450 backdrafting

[LandFakers]

Hey folks, In my past home I had an HI300 and recently bought a new to me I2450 insert last year and installed it in the second half of the winter last year. Battled a smoke issue whenever the door gets opened, and mostly blamed it on what I thought was wood that maybe wasnt fully seasoned, and just dealt with it for the year as it ran relatively good and kept the house warm. Well this year have had my first few fires and the issue is still here, even with my well dried oak(Below %20 in a split, on its 3rd year). Even after burning all day I still get smoke coming in the house every single time I open the door. I have read on here to remove the smoke deflector and that has maybe helped a touch, but not by much if any. The only other sign im seeing is the door glass is getting dirty much faster than on my previous stove, and im starting to wonder about my install. My old chimney was a straight shot with 6" flex pipe, and had a beautiful draft... my current has a bit of a dog leg in it and was a pain to get installed onto the stove and then pushed into place, and im wondering if my issues could stem from this? Im going to pull the insert out and check to see if maybe i've somehow kinked the flexpipe, but just looking for anything else to go ahead and check. Thinking maybe a 45* out of the top of the stove and then connecting into the flex pipe might flow better, but think I'd need to make some clearance in the chimney to make that fit. Thanks for any help

 

[begreen]

Definitely check the liner inside for any kink or fish mouths if it's a 2-ply liner. How tall is the liner from the insert to the chimney top? What floor of the house is it installed at? If a nearby window is opened an inch does that help?

 

[LandFakers]

Definitely check the liner inside for any kink or fish mouths if it's a 2-ply liner. How tall is the liner from the insert to the chimney top? What floor of the house is it installed at? If a nearby window is opened an inch does that help?

Definitely will check for kinks, it’s about 18 feet from insert to the top of the chimney, installed in the main living room of a raised ranch. I’ve tried opening the window but didn’t see much difference if any. Nothing noticeable that’s for sure

 

[moresnow]

Does your cap have a mesh screen ? I’d confirm it’s clean if so equipped.

 

[LandFakers]

Does your cap have a mesh screen ? I’d confirm it’s clean if so equipped.

It does but checked yesterday and all clean.
Pulling the stove out this weekend to check the piping. Going through my manual I see they offer a 4” offset for this stove, but can’t seem to find a photo of it online to see if it’s going to work for my application before ordering
P/N 948- 412/P

 

[begreen]

Rockford Chimney sells 15º and 30º appliance adapters that may make the connection nicer.

 

[LandFakers]

As an update, installed a 30* adapter right out of the box and connected into my current liner. I also had the cap on the top “choked” down a little during my initial install that may have been someone impeding the smoke from flowing it’s best(should of taken a photo of this before I trimmed the liner on top). With both those fixes I still get some smoke coming back in at me but not nearly as bad. The hotter and longer I run the stove the better things get. After running for 8+ hours nice and hot all day I can run it like “normal” in my old stove. Overall much happier these days and happy to be burning daily now that temps are dropping.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions and help