Black soot on side of house--Is this normal???

[pelletman]

Hi,

I just had my pellet stove installed this year. I went outside (first nice day in winter) and noticed a lot of black soot on the house. I called my dealer and he said this is normal. I'm wondering if we should have a cap on the end of the pipe to prevent this? Is this normal???

Thanks!

 

[Lousyweather]

guessing here, but it looks like the prevailing wind might be blowing the exhaust back onto the house, or your stove is burning fuel rich/oxygen deficient.....what might help is extending the pipe further from the home, checking the stove, etc.....I dont think a cap wil lhelp.

 

[humpin iron]

spend the $$$ do a full vent up the side of the house. PS it's not normal

 

[jtakeman]

spend the $$$ do a full vent up the side of the house. PS it's not normal

Agree

Looks like its rich to me! Give it more air!!

jay

 

[kinsmanstoves]

You have issues with your air mix. I would get your dealer out. What kind of stove is it?


(Edit) bring in some outside air or atleast something from the basement.

Eric

 

[hossthehermit]

Hi,

I just had my pellet stove installed this year. I went outside (first nice day in winter) and noticed a lot of black soot on the house. I called my dealer and he said this is normal. I'm wondering if we should have a cap on the end of the pipe to prevent this? Is this normal???

Thanks!

It's normal if you're too cheap to run vertical above the roof line

 

[stoveguy13]

not normal waht stove is it?

 

[pelletman]

The stove is a Harman XXV.

The dealer actually just came by and recommended that we put up the vertical vent over the roofline. I'll definitely do that in the spring. One question though--with the chimney, will that just mean that the black soot will now be all over my roof???

I also mentioned what you folks suggested, that the air mix was bad. I mentioned the outside air kit, but he said that there's problems with those as well. That creosote can build up on the slide plate and something else, and be more of a pain in the butt. So, he suggested that I stay away from that. So, he turned down the feed rate 2, it had been on 3.5. He said that would help. I'm sort of at a loss for what else to do.

 

[jtakeman]

If your house is tight, I push for an air kit, At least get the air from the basement or attic area.

edit: Oops, Eric has already mentioned that

 

[stoveguy13]

even with a hor. vent you should not have soot on the house it is air to fuel issue you may want to start with a good cleaning vent pipe as well.

 

[kilbury]

Definately sounds like a air to fuel issue. By the looks of it you have a cap similar to this, I would chuck the screen at the end as I have come across quite a few that have looked like this. This was the pic after I removed it and had already knocked some ash off. Still taking the exhaust vent above the roofline is a good idea as it will help make some natural draft and in turn a cleaner burn and if the power goes out the draft will carry the smoke out the exhaust instead of leaking into the house.

 

[TomPajak]

I never understood why anyone would put the vent on the side of the house that gets the wind..the installers should have known better and told you this B4 the work began...the pipe to the roof is a great idea as the wind should blow it up and over..

 

[jtp10181]

We usually tell customers they can go up above the roof to avoid getting soot on the side of the house. Not a single one has opted for it, because of the price. I guess if it bothers them enough later they will come back and get it fixed.

 

[TomPajak]

We usually tell customers they can go up above the roof to avoid getting soot on the side of the house. Not a single one has opted for it, because of the price. I guess if it bothers them enough later they will come back and get it fixed.

show them pictures of this and of others that opted NOT to goto roof and I bet you will see more answers changing....

 

[krooser]

You have a fuel to air ratio problem... with all due respect to my fellow pellet heads, there's nothing wrong with venting a stove directly out the wall. Most pellet installs I see are done this way and all the dealers i talked to before I bought my stove told me it's the norm around here.

Here's a pic of my vent after 1 1/2 years of service (just before cleaning my stove).... no soot anywhere (except on the concrete pads... I shake out my vent cap there).

 

[missrobo]

I have a Accentra free standing with a Direct air vent and piping out the side of my house similiar to yours but with what is called a swivel Horiz. rain cap at the end. Never had any soot any where on the house. I'd get a second opinion.

 

[MCPO]

You have a fuel to air ratio problem... with all due respect to my fellow pellet heads, there's nothing wrong with venting a stove directly out the wall. Most pellet installs I see are done this way and all the dealers i talked to before I bought my stove told me it's the norm around here.

Here's a pic of my vent after 1 1/2 years of service (just before cleaning my stove).... no soot anywhere (except on the concrete pads... I shake out my vent cap there).

Looking at the picture above I`d be worrying about sparks exiting the exhaust and contacting the leaves on the ground .

 

[Lousyweather]

We usually tell customers they can go up above the roof to avoid getting soot on the side of the house. Not a single one has opted for it, because of the price. I guess if it bothers them enough later they will come back and get it fixed.

Yea, the above is pretty true. Noone wants to pay more than they have to for pipe. Also MANY folks want to minimize the aesthetic affect that a nice long run of pipe seems to effect. Please note as well, with most pellet pipe, there is a maximum distance that one can run pipe at 3", then the diameter must be increased. Some of these "long runs to the roof" could run into this issue as well. Lots of good advice above by Gio, Jtake, Irwin, etc.....I agree to the burning rich/lack of oxygen camp!

 

[stoveguy13]

the only reason we tend to have the pipe go up is for clearence reasons most people dont want that up the side of there house or the added cost that comes with it if the stove is set up right and keept clean there should be no problem with the hor. vent and the side of the house staying clean.

 

[Lousyweather]

I concur stoveguy. The EXTREME majority of the folks have minimal installs here, very few problems....and the OP had a pretty extreme issue...ive seen none THAT bad....

 

[slls]

You have a stove or pellet problem, it should not black smoke.

 

[exoilburner]

I have been running my pellet burner for about 10 months and there is no sign of residue on my house. Looks like you have a long 90 degree elbow on the end of your PV. Might want to try a short 45. It may help the vent air flow and direct the vent air away from the house. How long is the outside length of your vent pipe?

Combustion. Do you have long runs of horizontal vent pipe or many elbows?
Do you have outside air installed? If not is there anything else in your house that is competing with the pellet stove for combustion air; like fireplaces, dryers, range hoods. In the picture, notice there is no smoke coming out of the vent. My pellet burner was burning with an average flame. Do get smoke at start-up and a few puffs now and then but usually no smoke is noticeable. Some of the suggestions in this thread about combustion problems may the issue. How often do you clean the stove and vent pipe?

I have read that one drawback to running the vent pipe up to the roof on the outside of the house is the hot vent pipe that is exposed to the outside temperature will have condensation and is tough to keep clean.

 

[investor7952]

The stove is a Harman XXV.

The dealer actually just came by and recommended that we put up the vertical vent over the roofline. I'll definitely do that in the spring. One question though--with the chimney, will that just mean that the black soot will now be all over my roof???

I also mentioned what you folks suggested, that the air mix was bad. I mentioned the outside air kit, but he said that there's problems with those as well. That creosote can build up on the slide plate and something else, and be more of a pain in the butt. So, he suggested that I stay away from that. So, he turned down the feed rate 2, it had been on 3.5. He said that would help. I'm sort of at a loss for what else to do.

Hi
I have a Harmon Accentra insert FEED ALWAYS ON 4-5 ,Outside pipe like yours except 24 inches away from house and an end capp pointing straight down. The side of my house is very clean.Also that side of the house is always windy. The feedrate setting has nothing to do with it.Your dealer doesnt know what he is talking about.The stove will feed at whatever rate it needs to when in room temp. Just for your own knowledge. Take a stop watch and time the feedrate on 2 ,then turn up to 5 .Make sure temp is on around 75. You will find when your stove needs the demand it will feed for 40 seconds on #2 just as it will feed at 40 sec set at #5.
In other words your dealer is a moron for even saying lowering the feedrate will help !!These stove Manf get any idiot to sell and install these stoves then call them Authorized dealers !

 

[investor7952]

I never understood why anyone would put the vent on the side of the house that gets the wind..the installers should have known better and told you this B4 the work began...the pipe to the roof is a great idea as the wind should blow it up and over..

I like the ease of cleaning the vent. I can clean mine every 2 weeks and it take 5 min or less with the leaf blower trick. If that guy cleaned his vent more often he wouldnt have the side of his house lookingl ike that

 

[exoilburner]

Hi
I have a Harmon Accentra insert FEED ALWAYS ON 4-5 ,Outside pipe like yours except 24 inches away from house and an end capp pointing straight down. The side of my house is very clean.Also that side of the house is always windy. The feedrate setting has nothing to do with it.Your dealer doesn't know what he is talking about.The stove will feed at whatever rate it needs to when in room temp. Just for your own knowledge. Take a stop watch and time the feedrate on 2 ,then turn up to 5 .Make sure temp is on around 75. You will find when your stove needs the demand it will feed for 40 seconds on #2 just as it will feed at 40 sec set at #5.
In other words your dealer is a moron for even saying lowering the feedrate will help !!These stove Manf get any idiot to sell and install these stoves then call them Authorized dealers !

If the FEED ADJUSTER doesn't adjust the feed rate, what does it do?

If you can't adjust the amount fuel feed, what do you adjust for good fuel/air combustion. Variations of installations and pellet quality seem to demand a way of adjusting the fuel/air mix. How can the stove automatically sense a fuel rich smokey combustion?