Jotul Rockland 550 Smoke when I Open the Door

[golfandwoodnut]

I do not seem to remember this problem last year. This year when I open the door, if I do not have it down to just a few coals, it will let out a puff of smoke into the room. Also sometimes as I add wood to the coals it will put out some smoke. I have tried opening the air up for a minute before opening and cracking the door for awhle, but it still seems to put out a puff of smoke. I thought perhaps the chimney was getting dirty so I cleaned it today with my Soot Eater and really did not get that much creosote, perhaps a quart. The only thing I am not sure of is if the cap is totally clean since I am bottom up cleaning. I tried to get up on the ladder but my ladder is a 30 footer and it looks like I need a 40 footer. The fire burns great with the door closed and the wood is dry. My chimney is around 30 feet high.

I have heard this is an issue with some of the newer stoves since they have baffles and the smoke goes to the front of the stove before it exits, to keep the glass clean. Any ideas? Does anyone else experience this?

 

[mkt1]

I f you are useing your central ac/heat fan to move air around turn it off first, On my Quadra fire I unlatch the door and pause about 5 seconds before opening because if I unlatch and open quickley I will sometimes get a puff of smoke. If these two things don't help try cracking open a window before opening the stove as you may have a little negative pressure.Dryer running,powered vent in kitchen,or bath.If this response makes no sense unplug your coumputer and place it in a hot stove for 1 hour.

 

[mkt1]

I f you are useing your central ac/heat fan to move air around turn it off first, On my Quadra fire I unlatch the door and pause about 5 seconds before opening because if I unlatch and open quickley I will sometimes get a puff of smoke. If these two things don't help try cracking open a window before opening the stove as you may have a little negative pressure.Dryer running,powered vent in kitchen,or bath.If this response makes no sense unplug your coumputer and place it in a hot stove for 1 hour.

 

[EJL923]

only thing i can think of is something in your house has changed the pressure. Any projects over the summer? New air sealing, insulation, bathroom fan, stove fan etc... I think i heard someone mention this before. If you suspect air pressure or too tight a house, next time it happens, close the stove, open the nearest window, and open the stove again to see if the air doesnt billow out. Other than that, make sure you check that cap. The top of the pipe gets the coolest so i would imagine thats where the most build up is.

 

[EJL923]

Haha, M, didnt even read your reply till after i posted. I guess ive seen that two places now.

 

[mcollect]

Last year that happened to me did a bottom up cleaning. I had a friend check the cap and it was clogged. he cleaned it and now it sucks just fine. Botom up sometimes does NOT clean the cap!

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Thanks for the replys, I do run the ceiling fan more than last year, and it is on reverse so that may be part of the issue. I am not looking forward to getting on top of the chimney and I think I will have to rent a 40 footer (those tend to get heavy), and I do have a bit of a slope on the side of the house. I guess I could call a sweep but that does kind of defeat the do it yourself mentality. I am trying to find my binoculars to see how it looks. It could be my Soot eater needs another section to get to the very top, I thought I was reaching it but you really cannot tell.

 

[EJL923]

my cap is about 25' high. When standing outside i can see through the screen at the top, telling me its not clogged. If i am starting to miss some daylight through the screen, then i know its time for a cleaning. You can also get another section for the soot eater, and have someone stand outside while you use it. If they see some action in the cap, then you know your getting to the top. I have never used a soot eater, so i dont know how aggressive they are, but they LOOK like they wouldnt be able to handle any heavy clogging. Am i wrong?

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Yea, I think I am pretty sure it is getting clogged. I think you are right about getting another section for the Soot Eater. I am going to try to borrow a long ladder, as mine will not reach. I can not see light through the screen so I think that is it. I have heard some people remove their screens and I am thinking of doing this permanently, it seems like this will be an ongoing issue as I do no get much creosote when I clean so it must be mainly on the screen. I guess I could take my chances on a bird or squirrel falling in. I never had that problem with the Fire Place that was open for 15 years.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

I've had lots of issues with my mesh causing exactly the same issue.

A shotgun maybe....

I have found that all it needs is a light brush without removing the cap - the brush breaks the soot up well enough so that it floats through the mesh. So maybe you could use a shorter ladder and an improvised brush/handle extension affair?

My main problem was using paper to light the fire - my cap clogged in the space of a week - I only think it needs a good size paper chunk to get stuck and start a cascade of clogging.

 

[pyro68]

I had a local chimney sweep explain that if you have a thin layer of creosote, and get the chimney hot enough it will ignite, probably won't even realize you are having a mini chimney fire, not enough heat to damage & doesn't last long, but what it does is puff the creosote up, gets a light & flaky & can change the draft overnite. I personally saw one case where it made a thin shell right over the top of the chimney, think some fell down from the cap for that. We often see that after a sudden temperature change folks that have draft issues may have even a partial blockage at the cap. It can be just enough to change the air flow. Others may have insight on this as well.

 

[EJL923]

Depending on the size of the mesh, you couls always enlarge the holes

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Thanks guys, I think I will start a thread on chimney cap issues. This could be useful.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Thanks guys, I think I will start a thread on chimney cap issues. This could be useful.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

only thing i can think of is something in your house has changed the pressure. Any projects over the summer? New air sealing, insulation, bathroom fan, stove fan etc... I think i heard someone mention this before. If you suspect air pressure or too tight a house, next time it happens, close the stove, open the nearest window, and open the stove again to see if the air doesnt billow out. Other than that, make sure you check that cap. The top of the pipe gets the coolest so i would imagine thats where the most build up is.

EJL you may be on to something, I did have an Outside Air Kit (Pipe) installed on my furnace this summer. Last winter the furnace would struggle when it go cold, even though it was a new Lennox 90 percenct furnace. It was not getting enough air. Perhaps the stove was winning the battle. That is the only that changed. I did just try turning the furnace off and it seems to have helped. I will know better after I load it a couple of times. I would think that an Outside Air Kit would help not hurt, but who knows. I am also having a friend deliver a 32 foot ladder tomorrow and I will see if I can get to the cap to check it out.