Newbie with a Matherly Wood Stove Insert

[Noah Ingle]

Hello all,
We bought a house that had an existing Matherly wood stove insert. I fired it up last night for the first time and had no issues. I do have some questions though. There are 4 dampers located on the front of the stove, what is the best method to use with 4? Also, I noticed when i started the electric blower that the smell of wood burning. There was no smoke and our carbon meter that is located inside the den never registered anything above 0. I guess my question is will that faint smell always be present? It wasn't overbearing but it was distinguisable. I did opened the the doors quite often to check the 2 logs that were burning as this was a test of the system itself. I can not find any info on the brand Matherly online. The blower was blowing warm air not hot as the fire wasn't large. Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks for this website.

 

[fbelec]

Hello all,
We bought a house that had an existing Matherly wood stove insert. I fired it up last night for the first time and had no issues. I do have some questions though. There are 4 dampers located on the front of the stove, what is the best method to use with 4? Also, I noticed when i started the electric blower that the smell of wood burning. There was no smoke and our carbon meter that is located inside the den never registered anything above 0. I guess my question is will that faint smell always be present? It wasn't overbearing but it was distinguisable. I did opened the the doors quite often to check the 2 logs that were burning as this was a test of the system itself. I can not find any info on the brand Matherly online. The blower was blowing warm air not hot as the fire wasn't large. Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks for this website.

you might have had a lazy draft with only two logs burning (not hot enough) try 4 logs. sorry don't know anything about your stove. i do know that with a old stove and only two logs going you'll build creosote in the chimney fairly quick.

 

[fbelec]

i'm sorry
welcome to the forum.
also get a stove top thermometer it will be your best friend

frank

 

[begreen]

Is this insert connected to a liner or is the surround providing the seal (slammer install)?

 

[Noah Ingle]

begreen - not sure what you mean by slammer install

fbelec - i will def. check into the thermometer. I haven't fired it up again with 4 logs because of the smell from 2 logs.

The seller had it level one inspected but I have another company coming next week to video inspect and sweep. I think our concern is with the smell since we have a little one. But i believe that my constant opening and closing of the doors was the cause of that but I never saw any smoke and I do not believe the blower would cause that. Let me know if I make any sense.

 

[fbelec]

it is possible that the fan being turned on brought out the smell. if it did i would be looking for a leak via a gasket on a door or were ever there is a gasket. if you replace the gaskets and it is still there it might be time to look for a crack. if you have a stronger fire in the box then the chimney will be hotter and pull out the smoke much better. when you get your thermometer it should not be below 450. i would say it should be run over 500. if you still get the smell at 5 or 550 take a look down your chimney to see if there is a blockage. not fully blocked but half blocked it would still run but the little problems like this is the start before you get lots of smoke. btw what was the temp out side when you fired it up? and was it windy? wind could do it and if it were in the 50's that could have done it also.

 

[Noah Ingle]

The temp outside was high 40's, no wind. I do believe it was a temp issue as the 2nd log didn't burn completely thru the night. I will look at replacing the door gaskets as there aren't any on the door itself now. I did look for blockage when I was cleaning the gutters yesterday and there wasn't any visible. Thanks for everyones input. If it is a blower issue, I have been looking at the ecofan anyways. Thanks again I will update when I fire it back up on the next chilly evening.

 

[jross47]

The temp outside was high 40's, no wind. I do believe it was a temp issue as the 2nd log didn't burn completely thru the night. I will look at replacing the door gaskets as there aren't any on the door itself now. I did look for blockage when I was cleaning the gutters yesterday and there wasn't any visible. Thanks for everyones input. If it is a blower issue, I have been looking at the ecofan anyways. Thanks again I will update when I fire it back up on the next chilly evening.

The temp outside was high 40's, no wind. I do believe it was a temp issue as the 2nd log didn't burn completely thru the night. I will look at replacing the door gaskets as there aren't any on the door itself now. I did look for blockage when I was cleaning the gutters yesterday and there wasn't any visible. Thanks for everyones input. If it is a blower issue, I have been looking at the ecofan anyways. Thanks again I will update when I fire it back up on the next chilly evening.

Have you resolved this? I've had some similar things occur when I was a chimney sweep. it usually is a "slammer install" as the one gentelman suggested. This is when there is no direct connection to the flue and the stove is just sitting in the opening. This creates meandering and cooling smoke in the firebox which leads to creosote and some smell issues. When you have it swept it will be clear....the sweep will find no "direct connect" pipe going up the chimney from the back of the stove. There will also be a great deal of creosote in the firebox, smoke chamber and the smoke shelf. Don't panic, during the summer a good portion will "bubble off" during the hot weather. But if you have a very bad buildup you will need to clean the chimney as per your sweeps advice and then install a liner from the back of the stove up to the top of the chimney. This will seal cold drafts out of your house and also keep the creosote from catching fire (very bad thing). Good luck

Jims brain

(quadrafire 4100i insert is my appliance of choice)

 

[Noah Ingle]

The problem was the fire wasn't hot enough.

 

[fbelec]

nothing like a easy solution