Whitfield Advantage Internal Cracks?

[kbilling]

What would cause smoke to come out of the stove's convection air tubes and vents during startup? Is there an internal joint or seal that can fail over time due to repeated heat up/cool down cycles? The most likely cause, of course, is combustion smoke leaking external to the stove getting pulled through the convection air intake, but I've confirmed there are no significant external leaks that would produce that amount of smoke from the convection vents. This occurs after lighting but before turning the stove on. After it's on, there isn't nearly as much leakage but I can tell that there is still a small amount because my throat gets irritated after couple of hours. The door and ash pan seals seem fine and that's not where the startup smoke comes from, which is definitely from the convection vents.

Thanks for all ideas,
Ken

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Well, you say you confirmed there were no significant external leaks, does that mean there are zero external leaks if it doesn't you need to make certain there are ZERO external leaks.

Then you need to completely clean the the heat exchanger and inspect that for cracked, dented, or otherwise abnormal tubes and joints. They can and do get damaged at times. A common cause is hitting them thinking it will help dislodge crud. man-machine had a good case of such damage to a Winston stove. He however had all of the tools and knowledge to machine replacements and replace the damaged parts.

This is likely to be a royal pain to do and repairing it is something a "regular" home handyman is not likely to have the tools to do.

Any place along the walls of firebox needs to be gone over looking for loose fasteners, damaged gaskets, etc ...

You need to check all ash traps and the entire exhaust path from the burn pot to the stove adapter for evidence of damaged caused by cleaning tools or buildup of corrosive materials.

 

[kbilling]

Thanks, Smokey.
Well, I can't certify that there are zero external leaks, but I can say that with the surround side panels opened (it's an insert) during startup there's no visible smoke coming out of the back of the stove, leaking from the T, or being drawn back through the block off plate. At the same time, there is a small amount of smoke coming out of the heat exchanger tubes and the side convection vents. Then when I turn the fans on, a brief blast of fire starter smoke comes out of the convection vents. That tells me that there is a leak somewhere in the top of the fire box or heat exchanger tubes, which will be almost impossible (a major pain, as you say) to find and fix without taking the stove out of the house, disassembling much of it and testing and so on. So, my question was aimed at the experience of those in this forum who've maybe resolved this problem a time or two that will help me from going through more trouble than necessary. If it's something that I can resolve, even temporarily, without having to take the stove out of the house during the heating season, then I'll postpone the major fix until summer. If it requires cutting and welding, then I can plan for it.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Ken,

I wish it was something that'd be easy to spot, then perhaps a bit of really high temperature sealant might be able to be used. But in any event the cleaning job will create a good mess, one that should probably be done outside of the house.

The last smoke belching beast I tore apart to fix was in a basement so a little mess wasn't a problem, except when I had to clean myself up.

Good luck.