A Trace of Smoke

[Caribfan]

I just did a deep clean of my MVAE today. Leaf blower, wire brush the pipe from the inside and the outside. My rise is on the inside of the house - it makes cleaning more difficult but an outside rise would have been in an area that sees a fair amount of entertaining in the summer. When I fired the stove up after the cleaning I smelled a little smoke. I examined the stovepipe near the "T" that comes out from the stove and saw smoke coming from the seam where the stovepipe attaches to the "T" coming out of the back of the stove. Is it possible that when I ran the brush up the pipe I messed up a gasket/seal somehow? Can I just remove the sheet metal screws and re-seal it with something? Anything I need to cautious of?

 

[Owen1508]

You can bead the seam with RTV silicone

 

[bogieb]

Or high temp silicone stretch tape. I seal up all the seams on the 45's/90's/T's with tape.

 

[DMKNLD]

Caribfan, Did you disconnect your stove from the vent to clean the exhaust plenum as well as the venting? My Quad will have a faint smell of smoke after I clean the stove and venting - moving the stove back to seal it to the vent seems to disrupt the other RTV sealed joints just enough to make a faint leak at start-up. Usually just when the firebox has the build-up of smoke before the pellets ignite.

It typically seals back up once the stove has run for a cycle or two and heated up the venting enough to reseal the high temp RTV silicone. If your smoke is coming out of the T-cleanout you could use silicone tape, which comes in clear as well as a variety of colors to match your vent, and available at Lowe's or Home Depot. It seals well and is easy to remove and then re-tape when you sweep the vent the next time.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Nashua-T...-Fusing-Silicone-Tape-Clear-1210364/203534911

The silicone tape seems to get better reviews than the foil flue tape, which doesn't come off nearly as cleanly if you have to cut it then reseal the connection again, and I've heard that any wrinkles or folds in the foil tape can leak, but Wal*mart carries that as well. http://www.walmart.com/ip/3M-2113NA-High-Temperature-Flue-Tape-1-inch-x-15-foot-White/21176959

 

[SidecarFlip]

"wire brush the pipe from the inside and the outside."...from the OP's post 1

NEVER, never use a wire brush of any kind (rotary or hand ((scratch)) brush on any venting. Only use a non-wire pellet vent approved brush.

One, the wire brush will destroy the seam sealing inside the pipe liner and Two, the ferrous bristles on the wire brush will scratch the stainless liner and compromise the stainless causing it to corrode. You probably shortened the life expectancy of your venting by an appreciable amount.

Thats a big no-no.

 

[DMKNLD]

"wire brush the pipe from the inside and the outside."...from the OP's post 1

NEVER, never use a wire brush of any kind (rotary or hand ((scratch)) brush on any venting. Only use a non-wire pellet vent approved brush.

One, the wire brush will destroy the seam sealing inside the pipe liner and Two, the ferrous bristles on the wire brush will scratch the stainless liner and compromise the stainless causing it to corrode. You probably shortened the life expectancy of your venting by an appreciable amount.

Thats a big no-no.

Good catch, Sidecar, and an excellent heads-up on the wire brush contra-indication. I assumed, (we know what that does.....), that he was using a pellet stove brush, since he described what sounds like an up - then - out vent config, and wire brushing by hand would only access a foot or so of the venting from the T clean-out.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Just guessing but when he said he 'ran the brush (wire) up the pipe'... he compromised or destroyied the internal sealing and thats letting combustion gas escape the inner liner and get between the inner liner and the outer galvanized pipe.

Not sure if that is fixable by sealing the joints with tape or RTV. Reason I say that is because some makes of cleanout Tees and elbows have riveted together outer pipes and the combustion gas can leak around the rivets.

Myself, I never even use any brush on my venting, pellet vent approved ot not. I pressure wash my venting inside end of the season with some Purple Power sprayed in to cut any buildup.

 

[Caribfan]

I mis-spoke. The brush I use is not "wire", but appears to be a stiff nylon-like material. After reading your replies I was a little worried and had to run out to the garage and check. I did get it at (what I would consider to be) a pretty reputable stove shop so I hope they didn't steer me wrong. In any case DMKNLD may be on the right track as I have not smelled smoke or seen smoke since the initial start-up after the cleaning. Thanks again for all the guidance.

 

[DMKNLD]

I did get it at (what I would consider to be) a pretty reputable stove shop so I hope they didn't steer me wrong.

If you bought the vent brush at a stove shop you should be good to go. My chimney cleaning brush for the wood stove flue is metal bristled, but my 3" PL vent brush is made of polypropylene bristles, which the major retail brands out there seem to be - Rutland, Imperial, Sooteater, etc.

Good to hear your smoke smell has resolved - a good reminder for CO and smoke detector battery replacement if you didn't during the 'spring ahead' time change a few weeks back ! Safety first !

Happy burning !

 

[SidecarFlip]

I'm happy that you are happy that you didn't use a wire brush... Thats curtains for pellet venting.

In retrospect I sometimes wonder how many stove owners do use a wire brush????