Chemical condensation on our windows... Kind of worried

[HoorayFire]

Hi there!

This is my first post on the forum, glad to have discoverd it!

So we moved into a rental house, our living room has an insert wood stove. It's an old Deville. After having some work with gasket tape it's still a bit leaky from the door, but it gives of good heath now. A blessing to have in these times.

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But now the real problem: On each side of the expansion where the stove is, the system has a vent. I felt that it really wasn't pushing out a lot of heath, so I put a small bathroom fan in front of it. The difference in warmth output was very noticable.

Day after, I come down and notice the windows next to the stove have a different hue. I touch it, and yes, there's a kind of blue condensation. Definitely not water. I wiped some on a piece of tissue, barely touched my tongue with it, and it was an awful chemical taste, felt like licking the inside of a battery. This can't be safe of course.

I believe there might be a leak between where the stove ends and the chimney starts? I can't check this, for the construction is made of bricks...Possibly it's only leaking when I have put it under underpressure with the fan. But there is no way of telling if these vent holes also leak nasty chemicals when the fan is not there.

What could this condensated chemical be? The Polyaromatic cyclic hydrocarbons? Will these slowly kill us?
What steps should we take here? Burning without the fan? Tape off the vent holes?

What worries me most is that I haven't found people having this problem. We do have a CO detector that I've tested. For now we are heating without the fan, and we open up a window a bit from time to time.

Thank you for reading this post, I hope someone can give us some insights.

Have a good weekend!

 

[EbS-P]

the system needs a professional inspection if you suspect a leak. Has anything else new or seasonally different be brought in? Do you have an air purifier?
Using the fan makes it worse I would say you have good evidence of the source.

How dangerous?? That one can’t tell untill we know what it is. If it just the windows close to the stove that’s a localized which seems odd for air borne chemicals. Maybe it’s on other windows too?

 

[Simonkenton]

That is freaky. Never heard of this. Get a pro to inspect that pipe!
This is why I like a corner of the room install, with the pipe going straight up, you can see the pipe!

 

[Eman85]

You need to get someone qualified to get a look at the insert and the chimney. I wouldn't burn it until you do. I hope you have a carbon monoxide and a smoke detector.

 

[Simonkenton]

That blue substance is entering the room air as a gas, and y'all are breathing it when the stove is running.

 

[kennyp2339]

when was the last time the windows were cleaned?

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Could it be leftover residue from window cleaner and the heat made it show up?

 

[Hilljack with chainsaw]

Hi there!

This is my first post on the forum, glad to have discoverd it!

So we moved into a rental house, our living room has an insert wood stove. It's an old Deville. After having some work with gasket tape it's still a bit leaky from the door, but it gives of good heath now. A blessing to have in these times.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

But now the real problem: On each side of the expansion where the stove is, the system has a vent. I felt that it really wasn't pushing out a lot of heath, so I put a small bathroom fan in front of it. The difference in warmth output was very noticable.

Day after, I come down and notice the windows next to the stove have a different hue. I touch it, and yes, there's a kind of blue condensation. Definitely not water. I wiped some on a piece of tissue, barely touched my tongue with it, and it was an awful chemical taste, felt like licking the inside of a battery. This can't be safe of course.

I believe there might be a leak between where the stove ends and the chimney starts? I can't check this, for the construction is made of bricks...Possibly it's only leaking when I have put it under underpressure with the fan. But there is no way of telling if these vent holes also leak nasty chemicals when the fan is not there.

What could this condensated chemical be? The Polyaromatic cyclic hydrocarbons? Will these slowly kill us?
What steps should we take here? Burning without the fan? Tape off the vent holes?

What worries me most is that I haven't found people having this problem. We do have a CO detector that I've tested. For now we are heating without the fan, and we open up a window a bit from time to time.

Thank you for reading this post, I hope someone can give us some insights.

Have a good weekend!

I doubt what you see is airborne and I doubt your fan caused it. If it was airborne and condensing on your cold windows, then
1) there would have to be massive amounts in the air.
2) You would smell nasty tasting blue stuff that was present in concentrations that high in the air.
3) All windows with condensation forming on them in the room would show it and no amount of cleaning / wiping would prevent it from recurring.
4) You walls would be turning blue.

I vote for window/household cleaner residue which went back into solution when room moisture condensed on the cold windows. if you were in the USA I would say its from Windex. Does your blue stuff taste like an ammonium compound? Its a very common ingredient in cleaners /antibacterials. FYI: I dont recommend tasting/smelling random residues and/or household cleaners.

Clean your windows good with something colorless and then if it repeatedly forms call someone.

Happy burning.

 

[Simonkenton]

Hilljack's post makes more sense than mine does.

 

[SpaceBus]

A stove doesn't "leak" into the house unless it cannot maintain negative pressure. The flue pulls air up and out, which is then replaced by room air entering the stove. In a leaky stove the air leaks into the stove, not out of. You may have just blown a bunch of old nasty dust out of those ducts when you used the fan. Remember, those ducts aren't connected to the firebox on the stove/insert, they are just warmed by proximity to the stove. Cool air enters the duct, is warmed, and a convection loop is established which works very similar to the flue on the stove, but not under any sort of pressure, unless there is a blower/fan connected to the system. I bet the inside of those vents had a nice coating of dust, mold, pollen, etc. and when you used the fan you blew a lot out into the room. Could also be wood ash that makes it out into the room when you load/light the stove. Does smoke spill into the room when you open the doors to reload or when lighting?

 

[SpaceBus]

@begreen this post is probably not in the right sub-forum either.