Failed combustor causing smoke smell in house?

[begreen]

This is from the manual on page 26:

If the combustor is in good condition and clean, re-install it. Be sure first to carefully wrap a new Interam gasket (an extra was provided with your stove) around its perimeter before replacement. Insert the gasketed combustor gently back into position, and replace the refractory package.

I don't know the length needed, but these folks can help.

Interam Gasket for Catalytic Combustors (2

Interam gasket for catalytic combustors. 2" wide × 1/16" thick. Expanding seal fits snugly around catalyst. Available in precut lengths or custom cut per foot.

midwesthearth.com

 

[BillBurns]

I would say wet wood, but what do I know? Hope you get her running clean again.

 

[barnyardengineering]

I would say wet wood, but what do I know? Hope you get her running clean again.

Nope, the wood is dust dry. It's been cut and split and stacked on a trailer and parked in a building for over a year.

 

[barnyardengineering]

This is from the manual on page 26:

If the combustor is in good condition and clean, re-install it. Be sure first to carefully wrap a new Interam gasket (an extra was provided with your stove) around its perimeter before replacement. Insert the gasketed combustor gently back into position, and replace the refractory package.

I don't know the length needed, but these folks can help.

Interam Gasket for Catalytic Combustors (2

Interam gasket for catalytic combustors. 2" wide × 1/16" thick. Expanding seal fits snugly around catalyst. Available in precut lengths or custom cut per foot.

midwesthearth.com

Well it's NOT in good condition, but I did not have one to replace it with, and if there was an extra gasket provided with the stove it is long gone. The gasket does not appear to be on the parts diagram so I had no way to know what it was to order it.

There has not been a gasket on the cat for years. This incessant smoke smell is new. It would puff occasionally, and Mom would immediately smell it and express concern. She would be positively freaking right now if she were still around.

Unfortunately the gasket is 3-5 days out and by the time it gets here it will be too cold to let the stove go out, so I'm stuck.

 

[mellow]

Backpuffing is usually an air/draft issue, smoke is building up and combusting at a high rate like a bomb pushing it through the air intake and any other cracks in the stove. I would solve this in my older cat stoves by always trying to keep a small flame going.

 

[begreen]

Yes, good suggestion, especially with a failed cat. If the air is turned down too low so that the flame goes out and the wood begins to smolder and the cat activity is marginal or dead, then the wood gases will build up in the firebox. At that point, a new little flame or spark can ignite the wood gases and create a small to fairly large explosion called a back puff. A back puffcan push smoke out of the intake, stovepipe seams, etc.

Wet wood can exacerbate this situation, especially when the air is suddenly opened to revive the fire while the firebox is full of smoke.

 

[barnyardengineering]

Backpuffing is usually an air/draft issue, smoke is building up and combusting at a high rate like a bomb pushing it through the air intake and any other cracks in the stove. I would solve this in my older cat stoves by always trying to keep a small flame going.

I've been mitigating it by trying to keep the stove burning hot. It's just that I can't seem to find a method that works consistently.

For several days I was able to just keep feeding it wood on a regular schedule. I had the air intake completely closed and the house was toasty warm for a change. Then that stopped working for absolutely no reason. I did nothing different. The wood is off the same load out of the same tree. It simply stopped burning, and I've been fighting to get a good fire going again for the past 3 days.