Ashford 30.1 smoke smell

[ohiojoe13]

I have an ashford 30.1 and Im getting a small smoke smell. I notice it the most right above the top left side of the door. The door gasket passes the dollar bill test. I don't see anything on the gasket past the indent from where It presses on the stove. It happens at all burn settings. It doesn't seem to matter if I'm burning on hi or low. I don't smell anything near the pipe connector. I have about 16' feet of total pipe with 2 45s. Wood is in the 16-18 % range. I love this stove but this is driving me crazy.

 

[GeHmTS]

Do you have a dog that can find the cause. Burn a little meat inside and let your dog lead you to it.

 

[ohiojoe13]

Do you have a dog that can find the cause. Burn a little meat inside and let your dog lead you to it.

No dog.

 

[jetsam]

No dog.

I'm not sure my stove would work right without the dog in front of it. Maybe we've found the problem here!

On a more serious note, is the smoke smell only by the stove, or is it maybe stronger upstairs somewhere?

 

[ohiojoe13]

I

I'm not sure my stove would work right without the dog in front of it. Maybe we've found the problem here!

On a more serious note, is the smoke smell only by the stove, or is it maybe stronger upstairs somewhere?

i only notice it if I'm standing right next to the stove.

 

[GeHmTS]

Some ideas that may help:

1.) Clean the stove
2.) Make sure you have a working CO and smoke detectors. Test it to be sure.
3.) Make sure ventilation and/or draft is properly set up and there are no blockages
4.) It's also important to check for incomplete combustion.
5.) Get a doggie, they have a great sense of smell.

 

[begreen]

We had a few reports on this problem last year. You might want to visit those Ashford threads to see if there are any clues. BKVP may be able to help too.

 

[ohiojoe13]

We had a few reports on this problem last year. You might want to visit those Ashford threads to see if there are any clues. BKVP may be able to help too.

I have read a few of them. I hope I dont need to add more chimney. I really hope it's not a draft issue. The stove seems to burn well and I have no problems burning 24 plus hours on low even when it was 50 60 degrees outside. I did have to tighten the door a few weeks ago and I cleaned the chimney last weekend. Idk if this could cause the problem but when I reinstalled my teloscoping double wall pipe after cleaning I used the same screw holes for the middle section of the teloscoping pipe and it seemed a little loose where it connected to the stove. I then removed the screws from the middle section and I was able to move the teloscoping pipe about an 1/8 of an inch down but then the screw holes didn't line up. I ended up putting the screws back in the original holes. I then lit a few pieces of paper in the stove to see if anything was gonna leak around the stove connector. And nothing the heat must have made it expand enough to tighten up because there was no play. Am I able to have another set of holes in my teloscoping pipe? I was thinking about removing the screws from the mid section and pushing down more and rescrewing just to eliminate that being the cause. Would that cause a problem with extra screw holes? I really don't think that's the issue because I can't smell anything at the stove collection. Hopefully you understand what I'm saying.

 

[rwhite]

This may not be your solution but I will say there is only one thing that I have found that cause smoke smell in the house;
Poor draft.
Now what is causing that poor draft can be a multitude of things.
1. Dirty chimney cap is my usual suspect.
2. Opening the door to fast with the air shut down.
3. Improper chimney diameter or length.
4. Weather
5. Negative air pulling smoke down an adjacent flue.

Basically if your stove is drafting properly you shouldn't have smoke in the house (except for #5). With 16' of pipe and 2 45's I'd lean toward your chimney height assuming all is clean.

 

[ohiojoe13]

This may not be your solution but I will say there is only one thing that I have found that cause smoke smell in the house;
Poor draft.
Now what is causing that poor draft can be a multitude of things.
1. Dirty chimney cap is my usual suspect.
2. Opening the door to fast with the air shut down.
3. Improper chimney diameter or length.
4. Weather
5. Negative air pulling smoke down an adjacent flue.

Basically if your stove is drafting properly you shouldn't have smoke in the house (except for #5). With 16' of pipe and 2 45's I'd lean toward your chimney height assuming all is clean.

I'm getting the smoke smells while the stove door is closed. When I open the door to lold I don't have any problems.

 

[begreen]

Can you describe the whole flue system from stove to chimney cap including turns if there are any?

 

[ohiojoe13]

Can you describe the whole flue system from stove to chimney cap including turns if there are any?

From the stove collar it has double wall teloscoping pipe. Then two off setting 45s into the ceiling box. Then after that it's straight up. With a cap with no screen. 16' total.

 

[begreen]

That's close. The minimum flue height on this stove used to be 12' but they raised this to 15' for the 30.1. As a test you might try adding a temporary 3-4' extension to the chimney using cheap 6" warm air duct. Remove the cap and push it into the chimney crimp end down. Do this during a calm weather period so that you can test with it for a few fires.

 

[ohiojoe13]

That's close. The minimum flue height on this stove used to be 12' but they raised this to 15' for the 30.1. As a test you might try adding a temporary 3-4' extension to the chimney using cheap 6" warm air duct. Remove the cap and push it into the chimney crimp end down. Do this during a calm weather period so that you can test with it for a few fires.

I don't have a way to reach the top of it.

 

[ohiojoe13]

I attached a few pictures

 

[ohiojoe13]

Another picture

 

[rwhite]

The inside looks ok to me. Might have to get on the roof anyway. Looks like the chimney could use some support brackets.

 

[ohiojoe13]

The inside looks ok to me. Might have to get on the roof anyway. Looks like the chimney could use some support brackets.

I can get on the roof but I can't reach the top of the pipe. It now has 2 support brackets. This picture was during the install.

 

[Chettt]

You could try wrapping each inside pipe joint with high temperature tape that would cover both the sheet metal screws and the seams. These el nino winter temps. may be hurting your draft.

 

[Calentarse]

I understand your frustration. You can read about everything I went through. BK is great though, and will work with you, so don't be afraid to reach out to them.

What I've learned:
If there is not strong enough draft these stoves will weep smoke out. I just added 4' of pipe to my chimney, so I now have 17' of pipe with 2 45s like you. This fixed my problem because before, I only had 13' total from flue collar. That was definitely inadequate because I got smoke smell no matter the scenario (once wood was half burnt the smell would disappear though).

One big difference I see between you and I is that your pipe is on an outside wall of the house. Mine is inside the envelope of my house and attic coming out the center of my house. I bet that pipe is cooling and you're losing draft relative to mine because my attic keeps my pipe warm...

I would guess that you are gonna need to create more draft to fix this issue. In the meantime, you can try to compensate with drier wood, burning at higher temps, etc.

Another note, I would not try to keep tightening the door. The appropriate tightness of the door handle, IMO, should take little to no effort to open on a properly drafting stove. I fooled myself once thinking that by tightening it and seeing an improvement in the smell that the problem was the gasket. That's only a band aid. I was smashing the gasket down further and further; this provided temporary relief from a bigger problem.

Does your dealer know of these problems?

 

[ohiojoe13]

I understand your frustration. You can read about everything I went through. BK is great though, and will work with you, so don't be afraid to reach out to them.

What I've learned:
If there is not strong enough draft these stoves will weep smoke out. I just added 4' of pipe to my chimney, so I now have 17' of pipe with 2 45s like you. This fixed my problem because before, I only had 13' total from flue collar. That was definitely inadequate because I got smoke smell no matter the scenario (once wood was half burnt the smell would disappear though).

One big difference I see between you and I is that your pipe is on an outside wall of the house. Mine is inside the envelope of my house and attic coming out the center of my house. I bet that pipe is cooling and you're losing draft relative to mine because my attic keeps my pipe warm...

I would guess that you are gonna need to create more draft to fix this issue. In the meantime, you can try to compensate with drier wood, burning at higher temps, etc.

Another note, I would not try to keep tightening the door. The appropriate tightness of the door handle, IMO, should take little to no effort to open on a properly drafting stove. I fooled myself once thinking that by tightening it and seeing an improvement in the smell that the problem was the gasket. That's only a band aid. I was smashing the gasket down further and further; this provided temporary relief from a bigger problem.

Does your dealer know of these problems?

When I first Google ashford smoke smell I found that you were having issues with yours and the added chimney fixed your smoke smell problems.

If I 100% knew for sure that an extra 4' would fix the problem due to draft I would do it. But I get 24 to 26 hours burning on he lowest setting keeping the act active. I feel like if I had a draft issue I wouldn't be able to get these burn times. But I could be completely wrong.

Did the whole house smell like smoke for you? I can only smell if I put my face right down to the left side of the door.

After reading that the extra 4 feet fixed your problems I want to add more chimney to mine but I don't wanna spend the money if I don't have to.

I haven't called my dealer yet. I'm not a big fan of my dealer and regret using them. They originally only wanted to install 12' of chimney. I had to tell them I wanted at least 15'. They said they were new to blazeking. That shold have been my first clue. They cut the hole In my ceiling in the wrong spot. Forgot parts 2 different times. They are really the last people i want to call.

 

[Calentarse]

When I first Google ashford smoke smell I found that you were having issues with yours and the added chimney fixed your smoke smell problems.

If I 100% knew for sure that an extra 4' would fix the problem due to draft I would do it. But I get 24 to 26 hours burning on he lowest setting keeping the act active. I feel like if I had a draft issue I wouldn't be able to get these burn times. But I could be completely wrong.

Did the whole house smell like smoke for you? I can only smell if I put my face right down to the left side of the door.

After reading that the extra 4 feet fixed your problems I want to add more chimney to mine but I don't wanna spend the money if I don't have to.

I haven't called my dealer yet. I'm not a big fan of my dealer and regret using them. They originally only wanted to install 12' of chimney. I had to tell them I wanted at least 15'. They said they were new to blazeking. That shold have been my first clue. They cut the hole In my ceiling in the wrong spot. Forgot parts 2 different times. They are really the last people i want to call.

1. You can find out if extra height will fix your problems. Get some cheap pipe and put it up there. Trial and error.
2. The whole house would smell for me mostly all the time. Sometimes, it would be less if it were really cold or windy outside, but the problem was always still there. It was always coming out of the stove. It smelled the worst up by the ceiling in most rooms though...
3. I understand your feelings on the dealer; I've had similar experiences regrettably. However, you are going to need to enlist their help if you don't have access to the top of your chimney and/or need them to order you parts. You can read on your own though and question their practices.
4. I'd also reach out to Blaze King eventually, but first go through simple tests that you know BK is going to want before bothering them. Have the dealer come out and inspect the stove in full. Have them make sure there's nothing wrong with it. You need to eliminate the stove as the issue. Then, move on to the chimney. Have them inspect it, clean it and then add some temporary pipe.
5. I too was afraid that the extra draft would reduce burn times. I spoke to BK about this. The way that they explained it, HIGHER DRAFT due to ADEQUATE CHIMNEY SETUPS mean lowers temps in the stove. The stove doesn't have to compensate for weak drafts. When the draft is weak, the stove ups the air intake a bit to create more heat and keep the fire going. Obviously, this lessens burn times. If your chimney is tall enough, your stove can operate at its ideal temps/it doesnt have to compensate; this equals longer burn times. Theoretically this makes sense, yet, I can't say for sure which I have experienced for myself. I'm burning crappy silver maple mixed with a little oak right now so I'm not getting the burn times I was last year when the winter was brutal and I was loading full white and red oak and hickory for 3 months. Plus, I have only had about 8-10 full loads in mine since I added the extra height. I'll reserve my anecdotal evidence and trust BKVP's explanation for now. If I become certain one way or another based on my observations, I'll post.
6. You sound hesitant to spend money on the chimney. I was this way as well. Fact of the matter: you're posting on the forum because you have a problem. If you're taking the time to reach out to us for a solution, you need to do something. it must bother you enough that you're willing to do something. Add a little height and repost. You won't regret it if it fixes your issue. If it doesn't, take it down and give BK a call.

 

[ohiojoe13]

1. You can find out if extra height will fix your problems. Get some cheap pipe and put it up there. Trial and error.
2. The whole house would smell for me mostly all the time. Sometimes, it would be less if it were really cold or windy outside, but the problem was always still there. It was always coming out of the stove. It smelled the worst up by the ceiling in most rooms though...
3. I understand your feelings on the dealer; I've had similar experiences regrettably. However, you are going to need to enlist their help if you don't have access to the top of your chimney and/or need them to order you parts. You can read on your own though and question their practices.
4. I'd also reach out to Blaze King eventually, but first go through simple tests that you know BK is going to want before bothering them. Have the dealer come out and inspect the stove in full. Have them make sure there's nothing wrong with it. You need to eliminate the stove as the issue. Then, move on to the chimney. Have them inspect it, clean it and then add some temporary pipe.
5. I too was afraid that the extra draft would reduce burn times. I spoke to BK about this. The way that they explained it, HIGHER DRAFT due to ADEQUATE CHIMNEY SETUPS mean lowers temps in the stove. The stove doesn't have to compensate for weak drafts. When the draft is weak, the stove ups the air intake a bit to create more heat and keep the fire going. Obviously, this lessens burn times. If your chimney is tall enough, your stove can operate at its ideal temps/it doesnt have to compensate; this equals longer burn times. Theoretically this makes sense, yet, I can't say for sure which I have experienced for myself. I'm burning crappy silver maple mixed with a little oak right now so I'm not getting the burn times I was last year when the winter was brutal and I was loading full white and red oak and hickory for 3 months. Plus, I have only had about 8-10 full loads in mine since I added the extra height. I'll reserve my anecdotal evidence and trust BKVP's explanation for now. If I become certain one way or another based on my observations, I'll post.
6. You sound hesitant to spend money on the chimney. I was this way as well. Fact of the matter: you're posting on the forum because you have a problem. If you're taking the time to reach out to us for a solution, you need to do something. it must bother you enough that you're willing to do something. Add a little height and repost. You won't regret it if it fixes your issue. If it doesn't, take it down and give BK a call.

I feel like I could add the section of pipe myself. But I cant reach the top just from getting on the roof. Does the chimney twist lock together? If so I feel like I could take the top two sections down, add a section in the middle and put it all back up. Hopefully that makes sense. Also at what heights do I need to add braces? Thanks for taking the time to help me out.

 

[Highbeam]

Every 5 feet above the roofline needs a brace. The chimney twist locks, a short like 15 degree twist is all it takes once you engage the "threads". Yes you can lift off the whole chimney from the bottom but it gets heavy and awkward and dropping it can dent it or destroy that expensive pipe. Plus you need to get up there for the braces anyway.

That tall chimney right at the bottom of the roof is challenging. Home depot rents a man lift on a boom looking thing for painting houses that might be just the ticket here.

 

[ohiojoe13]

Every 5 feet above the roofline needs a brace. The chimney twist locks, a short like 15 degree twist is all it takes once you engage the "threads". Yes you can lift off the whole chimney from the bottom but it gets heavy and awkward and dropping it can dent it or destroy that expensive pipe. Plus you need to get up there for the braces anyway.

That tall chimney right at the bottom of the roof is challenging. Home depot rents a man lift on a boom looking thing for painting houses that might be just the ticket here.

I just looked up some man lifts. That might be what I have to do. I'm going to call my dealer and ask how much they would charge to come out and do it. As little as I want to give them my money it might be my best option.

If I do decide to do it myself do I need to use the same brand, or are brands interchangeable? I'm pretty sure the brand it duratech.