Blaze king KE40 smoke smell

[Dustin]

I’ve had this thing about 3 years and I love it. I’ve always noticed this issue, but lately it’s a little more noticeable and getting annoying.

When burning on low, I get a smoke smell in the house. My chimney is 30 feet tall, straight, and drafts really well. It’s fed by an OAK on the outside wall.

I know others have had this issue before, what did you do to address it? Door gasket passes the dollar bill test. All double wall pipe seems tight. Kinda baffled at this point

 

[Dustin]

I’ve had this thing about 3 years and I love it. I’ve always noticed this issue, but lately it’s a little more noticeable and getting annoying.

When burning on low, I get a smoke smell in the house. My chimney is 30 feet tall, straight, and drafts really well. It’s fed by an OAK on the outside wall.

I know others have had this issue before, what did you do to address it? Door gasket passes the dollar bill test. All double wall pipe seems tight. Kinda baffled at this point

I should also add, I have two co detectors, one high on the wall behind the stove, one low behind the stove. Neither has ever gone off.

 

[joop]

maybe gasket leaking

 

[ratsrepus]

you've had it 3 years, original cat?

 

[Dustin]

you've had it 3 years, original cat?

Yup original. No issues with it, lights off and nice and clean. Like I mentioned it’s done this since the day it was installed. I thought maybe the cat was having an issue, but it’s behavior on activation hasn’t changed

 

[Highbeam]

How low is your low? Are you monitoring flue temperatures?

 

[begreen]

Examine the gasket. Is it getting saturated with creosote in some spots? If so, that may be what is causing the smell.

 

[Dustin]

How low is your low? Are you monitoring flue temperatures?

Not super low. I watch my flue temps like a hawk. Sometimes though, it does slip a little cold

 

[Dustin]

Examine the gasket. Is it getting saturated with creosote in some spots? If so, that may be what is causing the smell.

It is on the fire box side if the gasket on the left (hinge) side of the door)

 

[5U4]

Being in the market for a new wood stove decided to explore the forums to get an understanding of potential issues with the different stove brands and noticed this smoke smell issue with the Blaze King stoves is a recurring theme. I have read enough to believe there is an inherent flaw in the technology used to create gas then burn it in the CAT. The concept is great, long burn times are great, but it appears there is a serious side effect that at some point should be acknowledged and corrected. I don't know the overall feeling here about these stoves but I would be extremely irritated if the stove did not work in the specified range listed in the manual Low - High without stinking up the house!

 

[tabner]

Being in the market for a new wood stove decided to explore the forums to get an understanding of potential issues with the different stove brands and noticed this smoke smell issue with the Blaze King stoves is a recurring theme. I have read enough to believe there is an inherent flaw in the technology used to create gas then burn it in the CAT. The concept is great, long burn times are great, but it appears there is a serious side effect that at some point should be acknowledged and corrected. I don't know the overall feeling here about these stoves but I would be extremely irritated if the stove did not work in the specified range listed in the manual Low - High without stinking up the house!

Mine runs low and high, in a variety of outdoor weather conditions, with no smoke smell in the house. I can do reloads in 45 degree weather and have no issues. I certainly don't think the smoke smell is an inherent issue that effects all Blaze Kings, or even a majority of them. Rather, a large percentage of the people who have had this issue, end up posting online seeking help - so you're seeing an artificially inflated sample group.

 

[stoveliker]

I agree; while there *are* cases with smell, they are a very low percentage of stoves out there. AND they gravitate here because of a few threads (google blaze king smoke smell, and the first hit is from this website).

That does not mean that the design of BK has inherent dangers: you coat the inside of the firebox with creosote, so the tightness has to be flawless for the smell to not get out.

Door issues can be resolved. The gasket saturated can be replaced.

And BK is *very* responsive to customers with this issue. I think I read somewhere that all but two were resolved.

 

[MNtreewood]

I've had 2 Blazeking stoves; a Princess Insert and our current Ashford in 2 different homes with 2 dissimilar chimney setups and neither one has had the smoke or smell issue you see occasionally posted.

Not saying it doesn't or can't happen. Like has been mentioned already stove setup and maintenance can also be a factor. If the design was that flawed I would think they'd be out of business by now. On the contrary they seem to have strong sales at least in my states dealers I've visited in person.

I think of it like how I see car/truck complaints/issues online, sure they happen but you probably don't see as many posts from the 10 happy owners as you do to the 1 negative post.

 

[Dieselhead]

If you don’t burn in your fresh load long enough before turning it to smolder aka low burn sweet Bbq smell (smoke smell) is more likely. ESP on days when the weather is foggy, poor draft days.

 

[Highbeam]

The BK stoves are less tolerant of a substandard installation than a low efficiency noncat. The BKs also have pretty stringent requirements. If you meet the installation requirements then your chances of smoke smell during a burn are insignificant. You may have also noticed that some BK models are better than others.

 

[5U4]

There are quite a few reasons for the smoke smell issue mentioned on this forum and it is said that BK has resolved and will resolve it however the definitive fix for the issue is not clear to me from reading the posts. If this problem is actually related to sub standard installations then the facts of the installation should be posted for reference to help potential buyers make an informed decision.

For sure the chimney system is easy to blame however it is difficult to prove. What I would like to see in the manual is the draft requirements for the KE40, which I can't seem to find. With that information a qualified installer would be able to make measurements of my chimney system and determine if it met the minimum requirements. Why isn't that information in the user manual, or am I just missing it? For that reason I am leaning to the Jotul F500, which says "Chimney draft should be in the .05 - 1.0 w.c. range".

 

[stoveliker]

I agree that the required draft data should be in the (any) manual. Especially if in the trouble shooting section it says in places "measure draft with a manometer" ...

On the other hand, it's hard to measure draft if this is a new install, as draft should be measured with a full fire going.

 

[5U4]

I would think a good majority of installations would be upgrades and the draft could easily be verified with the existing installation. As far a new installations, that is where the draft specifications are a must for the proper design of the venting system. BK goes out of there way to stress the importance of proper draft however never actually quantifies it. If they did supply this information it would take all the guess work out of the equation, pipe size, shape, insulation, angles, and anything else really doesn't make any difference, all that matters is does the chimney system provide the required draft throughout the working temperature of the stove.

Not having the specifications is a deal breaker for me, I am not saying there is a flaw with the design but if so there is no method to prove it putting me in an awkward position, so I'm going with the Jotul. What I like about the dealer is they actually do an inspection of the existing system and take draft measurements prior to selling and installing any new stoves. This is an important step due to the fact I have a clay tile lined masonry chimney that may or may not be adequate for the Jotul or any of the newer stoves.

 

[Highbeam]

I would think a good majority of installations would be upgrades and the draft could easily be verified with the existing installation. As far a new installations, that is where the draft specifications are a must for the proper design of the venting system. BK goes out of there way to stress the importance of proper draft however never actually quantifies it. If they did supply this information it would take all the guess work out of the equation, pipe size, shape, insulation, angles, and anything else really doesn't make any difference, all that matters is does the chimney system provide the required draft throughout the working temperature of the stove.

Not having the specifications is a deal breaker for me, I am not saying there is a flaw with the design but if so there is no method to prove it putting me in an awkward position, so I'm going with the Jotul. What I like about the dealer is they actually do an inspection of the existing system and take draft measurements prior to selling and installing any new stoves. This is an important step due to the fact I have a clay tile lined masonry chimney that may or may not be adequate for the Jotul or any of the newer stoves.

I agree, it should be in the manual. It's a specification and a requirement. It used to be in the manual but was taken out. Hmmmm, why would they do that? Probably because even when draft is correct, some of them still leak stink. See, they don't usually stink at high settings where draft is strong. They seem to stink, when they stink, at low settings where the heat dumped into the stack is low. Heat dumping into the stack is what powers draft strength.

I would expect that you could call BK to get the draft range requirement for your chosen model. Do you know what your chimney draft is above the current low efficiency stove? I'm not so sure that the draft provided by a noncat with wide open throttle will be the same as that provided by the BK at max stat setting because the automatic thermostat will be closing by the time the stove is hot enough to dump enough heat into the stack for maximum draft.

If you're already this worried about it then you probably are not a good fit for a BK. There have been some great Jotul stoves.