Hi All,
New to the forum so excuse my ignorance.
I've had a stand up Harman wood pellet stove that feeds into a full exterior chimney for ten years. Outside of the auger going three years ago, which was professionally fixed and covered under warranty I've had absolutely no problems with the stove.
Southern Maine had been unseasonably warm this year so we've used the pellet stove sparingly without issue this season - twenty bags maximum. On Thursday night it was a bit chilly so I started the stove later in the evening with a quarter bag of wood pellets just to take the chill off and let it run dry. It ran without problem.
On Thursday while I was at work my wife filled it and started it; note it was in the 50's and a beautiful day she later remarked it was so warm she didn't even know why she started. As the ignition process was under way she said she smelled a strange scent and noticed the pellet stove was slowly trickling out some smoke from the back end of the stove. She quickly shut it off before the pellets were engulfed in an actual flame. Ninety minutes later when I got home the chamber was still full of smoke and there was a distinct smell that I don't recall emanating from the chamber.
Saturday was another high-50's. So beautiful we played outdoor tennis, the latest in the season I can remember playing tennis outdoors in all the years I've lived in Maine. When I got home I completely cleaned and vacuumed out the chamber, nothing looked out of place but the strange odor was definitely there. After that I opened and cleaned out the clean out door on the exterior chimney, there was noticeably more buildup in there than I expected but nothing enormous. Using my cell phone I also took pictures to make sure there was no blockage in the chimney itself which there wasn't. Unfortunately, for the life of me I can't see the hole in the chimney where the piping comes in from the stove, I've tried every angle.
I went and started my pellet stove and in terms of the igniting process everything looks completely normal. The auger is feeding the pellets onto the ignition 'plate' and a small amber begins on the bottom of the pellets. However as the chamber begins to fill with smoke you can tell it's not exhausting that smoke as it normally would. From there a small stream of smoke begins coming from the top of the pipe that feeds into the chimney (see picture below). It's not coming from an area where the seal is in place it's coming from the slight lip of the piece where the pipe enters into.
At this point, similar to what my wife did, I quickly shut down the pellet stove before it reached a flame fearing my house might be filled with smoke had I not. I went outdoors to open clean out door and some came trickling out but nowhere near the amount you would think considering how much had built up and was sitting in the pellet stove chamber. Note, that the strange odor seemed to be there but much more faint than the previous day.
Part of me wishes I had let the flame engulf to its normal flame to see if that would've helped with the friction that might help the exhaust process but better safe than sorry.
At that point I figured I should cut out the seals on the back pipe figuring it must be a blockage in there. I spoke to my father first who insisted he thought it was due to the warm weather outside not allowing the friction to exhaust the smoke quickly enough. This didn't sound right to me as I've used this stove in similar climates and have never once had smoke exit from the back pipe. But I can't dismiss that theory as I really don't know my ass from my elbow about this stuff. So I've decided not to take apart the pipe thinking if that is the potential explanation I've just made a lot of work for myself that I didn't need to.
So that I don't waste all of your time I did search this forum and Google for potential explanations. However, the only answers I found were in regard to recent setups where the pipes were sealed properly or following a chimney cleaning where the seals were loosened during that process. Neither is the case in this situation.
So for the long write up just hoping I can find a potential answer before taking the next step.
New to the forum so excuse my ignorance.
I've had a stand up Harman wood pellet stove that feeds into a full exterior chimney for ten years. Outside of the auger going three years ago, which was professionally fixed and covered under warranty I've had absolutely no problems with the stove.
Southern Maine had been unseasonably warm this year so we've used the pellet stove sparingly without issue this season - twenty bags maximum. On Thursday night it was a bit chilly so I started the stove later in the evening with a quarter bag of wood pellets just to take the chill off and let it run dry. It ran without problem.
On Thursday while I was at work my wife filled it and started it; note it was in the 50's and a beautiful day she later remarked it was so warm she didn't even know why she started. As the ignition process was under way she said she smelled a strange scent and noticed the pellet stove was slowly trickling out some smoke from the back end of the stove. She quickly shut it off before the pellets were engulfed in an actual flame. Ninety minutes later when I got home the chamber was still full of smoke and there was a distinct smell that I don't recall emanating from the chamber.
Saturday was another high-50's. So beautiful we played outdoor tennis, the latest in the season I can remember playing tennis outdoors in all the years I've lived in Maine. When I got home I completely cleaned and vacuumed out the chamber, nothing looked out of place but the strange odor was definitely there. After that I opened and cleaned out the clean out door on the exterior chimney, there was noticeably more buildup in there than I expected but nothing enormous. Using my cell phone I also took pictures to make sure there was no blockage in the chimney itself which there wasn't. Unfortunately, for the life of me I can't see the hole in the chimney where the piping comes in from the stove, I've tried every angle.
I went and started my pellet stove and in terms of the igniting process everything looks completely normal. The auger is feeding the pellets onto the ignition 'plate' and a small amber begins on the bottom of the pellets. However as the chamber begins to fill with smoke you can tell it's not exhausting that smoke as it normally would. From there a small stream of smoke begins coming from the top of the pipe that feeds into the chimney (see picture below). It's not coming from an area where the seal is in place it's coming from the slight lip of the piece where the pipe enters into.
At this point, similar to what my wife did, I quickly shut down the pellet stove before it reached a flame fearing my house might be filled with smoke had I not. I went outdoors to open clean out door and some came trickling out but nowhere near the amount you would think considering how much had built up and was sitting in the pellet stove chamber. Note, that the strange odor seemed to be there but much more faint than the previous day.
Part of me wishes I had let the flame engulf to its normal flame to see if that would've helped with the friction that might help the exhaust process but better safe than sorry.
At that point I figured I should cut out the seals on the back pipe figuring it must be a blockage in there. I spoke to my father first who insisted he thought it was due to the warm weather outside not allowing the friction to exhaust the smoke quickly enough. This didn't sound right to me as I've used this stove in similar climates and have never once had smoke exit from the back pipe. But I can't dismiss that theory as I really don't know my ass from my elbow about this stuff. So I've decided not to take apart the pipe thinking if that is the potential explanation I've just made a lot of work for myself that I didn't need to.
So that I don't waste all of your time I did search this forum and Google for potential explanations. However, the only answers I found were in regard to recent setups where the pipes were sealed properly or following a chimney cleaning where the seals were loosened during that process. Neither is the case in this situation.
So for the long write up just hoping I can find a potential answer before taking the next step.
