I had my avalon astoria just installed. I smell a wood smell in the house. I have it on auto thermostat so it obviously goes on and off. The wood smell is horrible it stinks up the whole house. Is that normal?
Bought avalon astoria wood smell
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There must be some sort of leak somewhere. The next time your stove starts (when it's good and smokey) turn any and all lights off (close the blinds/shades if it's daylight) take a bright flashlight and shine the light parallel with all the sides/top/bottom of your stove, then all around every joint in the vent pipe along it's entire length - especially where it exits the stove. More than likely your going to see some sort of smoke escaping somewhere.
Steve
Steve
My husband keeps saying it's normal smell because it turns on and off when it comes up to temperature. It restarts and you smell a wood smell.
What is a normal smell when it lights?
What is a normal smell when it lights?
slickplant35 said:
I have an Astoria too. Was yours professionally installed? If so, did the installer do a test burn while he was there ? If not, they are supposed to....then you could have talked about the "smoke" smell.
Also, these stoves do have to "burn off", meaning any oils, paints, etc that get hot will give off fumes for a couple of hours when they get hot. You need to have good ventilation (doors, windows open) during this time.
Other than that, if your sure it's a "wood" smell, and not oil/paint burning off, then you definately have a leak in the pipe itself, or possibly the door isn't sealing tight.
I have the Astoria Bay as well. The first couple of burns I could smell a slight wood smell when the stove first starts but it hasn't done it since. It was not a strong wood smell. It actually smelled good to me.
Okay I found the smell. My husband found that they didn't have the clamp on the back of the stove tight and that is where the smell was coming from. If one of my dogs would have gotten back there and knocked it off we could have been dead. I am going to call the store on Monday.
slickplant35 said:
If the stove was installed correctly it would have an "appliance adapter" connected to the stove outlet. That piece is supposed to be sealed and held in place with three screws so it can't come loose. I learned that here myself in a past thread . A clamp is not sufficient.
bostonbaked said:
I agree w/ Baked....I have the appliance adapter on order and should be here this week so I can finish my install....hopefully no smoke problems.
She might be talking about the insert. They have clamps. And I never used appliance adapters. I put the T at a 45 angle and screwed it down with a thin bead of silicone.
Shane said:
If she was, they must have very thin dogs to squeeze past the filler panels on the sides....LOL. I think she has a FS.
BTW Shane, I was going to go your route w/ the "T" right off the pipe w/ silicone, but it isn't a tight enough fit....would end up using a ton of silicone, plus rope gasket to try to make it work.....that's just not my style ( I help build race cars, and am anal about things fitting correctly...LOL), so will use the appliance adapter.....I'll just feel better about it, it will be a tighter fit, plus if i have to remove the "T", I won't have to deal w/ the silicone....just twist and remove. Besides, it was only $18.
Definitely a botched job then. And not to code. The code (based on NFPA requirements) doesn't have any place for clamps to be used. All pipe connections are to be sealed with high temp silicone and screwed together using at least 3 screws. If the pipe is like DuraVent Pro that has a twist lock connector you don't have to screw together the twist lock sections. You do need to screw & silicone the initial pipe to appliance connection (which is why you use an appliance adapter which has a bare 3" ID end to connect to the stove & a twist lock connection on the other). Your "professional" installation wasn't.slickplant35 said:
It is a small silver pipe that goes out of the stove and has a clams like you use on a radiator hose. Can I post pictures on here I would show you
It's called a "worm gear drive clamp" and it is not legal for a chimney install. Your building inspector (if you need an inspection where you are) will require it be installed per the stove's manual & manufacturer's installation instructions. You won't find any reference to using a clamp on the stovepipe in any of that.slickplant35 said:
However, if the pipe you're talking about is the OAK (outside air kit) inlet then you'd have a lightweight silver venting pipe (like dryer venting) attached to the smaller pipe coming from the stove and that one can use a clamp because it's not part of the smokestack. You can tell the difference between the two pipes by size. The exhaust is the larger 3 or 4" diameter pipe. The OAK inlet is 1 1/2 or 2" (depending on stove model).
The OAK brings outside air into the stove to be used for combustion so you're not using warm house air to provide the oxygen to the fire. If the loose clamp is the OAK piping, then just tighten it up yourself using a screwdriver.
But (you knew there was a but didn't you?), you should not be getting smoke or smells out of the OAK vent even if it were loose. Lots of stoves don't use an OAK and just get the combustion air from the room they're in. If you're getting smoke from the OAK vent then there's something else wrong :-(
Yes if it's a burning wood smell that "stinks up the house". That means it's exhaust air which includes a nice dose of CO. If it were just the burning oils/paint smell then that will go away and that's not dangerous once it's burned off.slickplant35 said:
You really shouldn't be able to smell anything in the house when these are burning right.
The only way to describe it is it smelled like when you open a woodstove door like a wood sutty smell. It wasn't the big black pipe in the back it was the smaller one
My husband tightened it and the smell went away. I think I heard them saying it's the outside air something.
Yep, the OAK. Now you've cured the symptom but the problem is still there. What kind of venting pipe installation do you have - straight out the back of the stove & out through the wall or up & out through a chimney? How much vertical rise do you have if any? You're getting exhaust air mixing with the combustion air which is a no-no because that intake air venting isn't nearly as robust as your exhaust venting and is much more likely to develop leaks over time and then allow exhaust smoke & carbon monoxide into the house.slickplant35 said:
Right, but you shouldn't be getting smoke coming out of that even if it was loose. There's something else wrong with the install - it may be a draft problem with the main exhaust venting or a leak around your door gasket seal. What's your main exhaust (chimney) pipe setup like - straight thru the wall or up a chimney?slickplant35 said:
slickplant35 said:
Yes, you can post pics on here. See the "Announcements" section at the top of this forums' main page for info how.
Nope. Should only get odors in the exhaust stream coming out of the big (chimney) vent. The OAK should be incoming fresh air from outside. If the OAK smells of smoke then it's backing up into the intake from the exhaust which is a problem.slickplant35 said:
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