new to the forum here, so please correct/instruct me were needed. bought a pretty rough shape 2462 three years ago and had it sand blasted, repainted, replaced the cat gaskets and it was amazing for two years. had issues with the the cat not reaching temp at the end of last winter, so i suspected i needed a new cat (first cat was cheap, probably from china). So the cat was pretty blown out and i replaced it with a midwest heart cat, and did some recaulking where i saw cement was gone and tryed to tighten up the stove. The cat worked but now i have an issue when it reaches 1200-1300 degrees it back puffs smoke. i have tried to watch it and it seems to be coming along the side door front panel seem. The door seems to be good and tight with new gaskets. I love this stove but the smoke is giving us headaches thru the night and i have been just burning the stove without the cat engaged.
dutchwest 2462 issues resulting in puffing smoke
- Thread starter muchobucho
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Did you previously reach these temperatures with the older catalyst?
As begreen said you should check the chimney cap as that could affect draft.
If you closed off other ways for the stove to pull in air it might be starving on a very hot fire. It has to get air from somewhere.
As begreen said you should check the chimney cap as that could affect draft.
If you closed off other ways for the stove to pull in air it might be starving on a very hot fire. It has to get air from somewhere.
Back puffing happens when the amount of combustible gases in the firebox increases because there is not enough oxygen to burn them. At some point it'll explode, causing a pressure wave that pushes the smoke out, aka back puffing.
That can, generally, have two causes.
1. Insufficient gas (air) flow in the stove, so gases are not combusted and exhausted. This can be due to blockages, either in the exhaust (chimney, cap), or in the air inlet pathway.
2. More gases being produced than the properly functional gas flow of the stove can combust and exhaust. This can happen because the wood needs more air than the stove was designed for (i.e. wet wood).
So, how do you know the chimney and cap are clean at this moment?
What does the storage of your wood look like?
That can, generally, have two causes.
1. Insufficient gas (air) flow in the stove, so gases are not combusted and exhausted. This can be due to blockages, either in the exhaust (chimney, cap), or in the air inlet pathway.
2. More gases being produced than the properly functional gas flow of the stove can combust and exhaust. This can happen because the wood needs more air than the stove was designed for (i.e. wet wood).
So, how do you know the chimney and cap are clean at this moment?
What does the storage of your wood look like?
Checked the stainless pipe and was completely clean. Wood is almost too dry, reading only 10% on my moisture reader. Been under cover for 3 years or more.
It seems fine, cleaned out with shop vac when replacing the cat
This the 4th winter burning with it. From all that I have read I think I need to tear the stove down and replace the cement in between the panels. A lot of what is there is very brittle and coming loose. I have the secondary air feed to the cat set at 2 turns out, which is were I always have run it
Usually, backpuffing is a sign of the fire starving for air. Air leaks usually would cause an opposite issue.
If there is a screen on the chimney cap, it wouldn't hurt to inspect it to cross if off the list.
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