Jotul Firelight smoking like mad when lighting

[gregory2327]

I just bought a refurbished Jotul Firelight CB. When I light the stove smoke billows out the front door with in 15 seconds. I shut the front doors and open the ash pan door so it can get a little air and immediately it begins to smoke from the top corner joints of the stove as well as the around the hinges of the door and from the bottom of the doors as well. I tried to let it get going with the air control all the way open and all of the doors shut, but it just won't get going properly. If I open any door to add wood smoke just billows out.

I'm using split pieces of strapping and 2x4 for kindling. It is clean and dry.

I have the stove vented to a 25' - 6" flex pipe which is run up through my masonry chimney. The vent pipe was installed last year with a non cat non clean burning stove. Is it possible that it got clogged up after one year of use and isn't letting the stove vent properly?

What is going on?
Any help/hints/ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

[begreen]

Definitely check the flue first to make sure it is clean, also check the flue cap screen if it has one.

If they are clean then check on top of the baffle to make sure that the insulation blanket is laying flat and not bunched up toward the flue outlet.

 

[DexterDay]

What material are you using to start the fire (Super Cedar, Newspaper, Etc). Sounds like a Cold Chimney. Need to get a good thrust of heat to get things going in the right direction.

A half a Super Cedar is all I use (when I let the stove die down) and when temps were warmer, I put 3 pieces of Newspaper on top pf the Splits. After lighting the SC, I touched the paper and closed the door. Quick rush of heat to get draft started.

 

[Iembalm4aLiving]

TWICE I've made the mistake of trying to start a cold insert with the kitchen exhaust hood running :bug: ......smoke pouring out of the bottom of the stove and filling the house nicely! :red:

I make sure that all fans are OFF, and put 2 1/4's of super cedars in the stove. Light them, and close the door. Wait until I can see that the stove is pulling air in the intakes past the cedars, then start stacking splits around the starters. Works like a charm.

Nice thing about the Super Cedars is that they give off very little smoke.

 

[gregory2327]

I'll look into super cedars as they sound like they work well, but I don't think a cold flu is the problem. The stove eventually gets going, just not real well and no matter what kind of flame I have in the stove, it bellows smoke if I open the door at all. In fact I just walked in the house after being out for five hours. The house was smokey and I saw smoke coming out of corners of the stove and where the vent pipe connects to the rear exit of the stove. I shut the air control all the way down and it stopped smoking.

I also just found water dripping from the bottom of the T-connection at the bottom of the flex pipe. I really have no idea what is going on with this, but it is so frustrating!!

 

[Green Energy]

I hate smoke coming into the house. I have the same problem. The issue is that the flue is cold and is not pulling a draft. So you need to heat the air in the stove/flue to get the draft. I do that by running a heat gun stuck into the air intake for 2-5 minutes. Some people use propane torches in the fire box.

If you can get the draft going with newspaper, that is great. But with my hearth install and a horizontal discharge, it does not work too well. So I use the heat gun (looks like a industrial blow dryer). The way to tell if the draft is going in the right direction is light a match and hold it in the open fire box door. If flame bends into the fire box, you're good. More info can be had by searching on "establish draft".

GE

 

[begreen]

I'll look into super cedars as they sound like they work well, but I don't think a cold flu is the problem. The stove eventually gets going, just not real well and no matter what kind of flame I have in the stove, it bellows smoke if I open the door at all. In fact I just walked in the house after being out for five hours. The house was smokey and I saw smoke coming out of corners of the stove and where the vent pipe connects to the rear exit of the stove. I shut the air control all the way down and it stopped smoking.

I also just found water dripping from the bottom of the T-connection at the bottom of the flex pipe. I really have no idea what is going on with this, but it is so frustrating!!

Did you check to first mentioned items yet? Is this an exterior flue with an uninsulated liner?

 

[gregory2327]

Thanks for your help everyone. I found the problem - it is an embarrassing and dangerous problem. I went up on the roof to check the chimney and cap. Sure enough the cap was COMPLETELY clogged. The flex liner doesn't look bad at all, the cap is nasty though. I cleaned the cap and everything works as it should. Thanks for your input everyone!

 

[logger]

Dang man.. hope you cleaned it good. Thats a friggin messy one. Dangerous too.

 

[oldspark]

Yea that would scare the hell out of me, did you check it from last year?

 

[gregory2327]

I cleaned it well; it wasn't that difficult. But I intent to go up and check in a couple weeks, then again in a month and then again periodically just to make sure. I think the extra creosote came from the old stove and running it with out a catalyst - not smart, I know. But does that sound plausible? Build up that bad form one year of running a stove with out a catalyst?

When I swapped out the old stove and put the new stove in I took an opportunity to look into the vent pipe from the bottom. I didn't see much build up so I figured it was fine. Now I know better.

 

[firefighterjake]

Egads . . . nasty looking!!

 

[oldspark]

Well even a older non EPA stove wont do that unless you have bad burning practices.

 

[Agent]

I had that happen to me in about 3 months using an old smoke dragon as well.
Good thing you didn't ignore the first indications of a problem. I did, and ended up with a house full of smoke at the end of a burn cycle. That was not a relaxing way to wake up.

 

[Huntindog1]

I have found that caps are cooler and when the smoke gets up to the top its not as hot so it will condensate onto the cooler metal chimney cap.

Now with these new High Efficiency stoves it should be less of an issue.

 

[oldspark]

It should NOT happen with a "smoke dragon" unless something else is wrong, burnt one forever and never had the cap plug up.

 

[gregory2327]

I have found that caps are cooler and when the smoke gets up to the top its not as hot so it will condensate onto the cooler metal chimney cap.

This sounds pretty reasonable as the creosote was mostly built up on the cap and not the liner.

I wonder if my wood wasn't seasoned enough which added more moisture to the smoke thereby exacerbating the situation which allowed for the major build up. I'll confess my burning habits weren't good last year. Lots of paper and clean trash like cereal boxes, wrapping paper, etc. I assure you, I will not be burning that stuff in this wood stove this year. I don't need this headache again.

 

[oldspark]

I think you are lucky you did not have a chimney fire.

 

[gregory2327]

I think you are lucky you did not have a chimney fire.

Agreed, and I think I'd like to take luck out of the equation!

 

[oldspark]

I think you are lucky you did not have a chimney fire.

Agreed, and I think I'd like to take luck out of the equation!

You learn well grasshopper!

 

[spirilis]

Good find, now how's that Jotul running? Roasting you out of the house? :D

 

[begreen]

I cleaned it well; it wasn't that difficult. But I intent to go up and check in a couple weeks, then again in a month and then again periodically just to make sure. I think the extra creosote came from the old stove and running it with out a catalyst - not smart, I know. But does that sound plausible? Build up that bad form one year of running a stove with out a catalyst?

When I swapped out the old stove and put the new stove in I took an opportunity to look into the vent pipe from the bottom. I didn't see much build up so I figured it was fine. Now I know better.

Did you clean more than just the cap? I would not run the stove without a complete cleaning of that liner. That is a bad chunk of gunk.

 

[Green Energy]

I cleaned it well; it wasn't that difficult. But I intent to go up and check in a couple weeks, then again in a month and then again periodically just to make sure. I think the extra creosote came from the old stove and running it with out a catalyst - not smart, I know. But does that sound plausible? Build up that bad form one year of running a stove with out a catalyst?

When I swapped out the old stove and put the new stove in I took an opportunity to look into the vent pipe from the bottom. I didn't see much build up so I figured it was fine. Now I know better.

A year of running a cat stove w/o the cat when the wood is not seasoned can do this. Is your flue exterior, do you have an insulated liner?

As said, make sure you clean the entire flue as your cap is indicative of a bad situation in the flue as well.