Harmon Oakwood Odor ?

[grateful]

I have a 2 year old Harmon Oakwood. It worked well last winter (no smoke odor) and 2 months into this heating season it began emitting a smoke smell when the bypass damper is closed. I've replaced the fiberglass gaskets on the: top door, front door, front door glass and ash clean out door and the odor is still present. All of the doors have a tight seal. Today I put a 30 pound block on the top door, no luck! The odor seems to come from the top of the stove but its hot and difficult to pin point.
Could this stove be warped?

Oakwood no more! The oakwood went back to the shop today, exchanged for a regency f2400m. I completely disassembled the oakwood and found gaskets that were burned and leaking. The combustion package was deteriorating, very fragile and needed to be replaced. Perhaps this stove just had problems as most oakwood owners are satisfied. This stove was never over fired! Only burned seasoned dry wood. Cleaned firebox 2+ times per heating season. Chimney and stove pipe cleaned once a month. Just seems like a stove should not have problems after six months of use...
In hindsight, the TL300 would have been a better choice, it has a welded firebox without gaskets (except the door gaskets and possibly the combustion package access panel). The regency is still in the van- if I wake up tomorrow thinking TL300 I will drive back to the shop.

I'm very satisfied with the owner of Best Buy Stoves in Spokane WA. He has integrity.

 

[iceman]

check your pipes and all connections very closely/carefully

 

[Jfk4th]

What about it being gasket cement from your new gaskets? It will cure to whatever temp your stove runs at and just like a stove when it reaches a higher temp it will cure/smell to that temperature....this might not be the case I am just taking a shot in the dark here ;-)

 

[grateful]

Thanks for the gasket smell suggestion, never thought of that! This is a smoke odor that occurs when the bypass damper is closed only. I will disassemble this stove to see if there is a crack or an internal gasket problem. The dealer will exchange this stove for a new one if I need to do that. The major issue is this stove is in the basement, easy to get down the stairs, not so easy to move the 500 lbs up the stairs.

Grateful

 

[branchburner]

You may have some ash clogging the afterburner. That shouldn't happen so soon, but happened to Dill after three years (see his thread: Harman Oakwood smoke issues).
If you're feeling handy, you can remove it from the back of the stove for cleaning, or ask the dealer.

 

[grateful]

The Oakwood Saga continues!

Thank you for the suggestion. I'm so happy that I found this website, I check in nearly everyday to see what folks are experiencing.
I have always vacuumed the afterburner with the upholstery brush on the vacuum. Today I removed the top and front of the stove and found the the source of smoke smell- The top of the stove rests against the rear housing and a fiberglass gasket is suppose to prevent gasses/smoke from escaping. Apparently the gasket failed as I noticed creosote beyond the gasket and discoloration from smoke on the bottom of the stove top outside the gasket. Actually most of the gaskets are suspect, some of them have turned to powder on the mounting surface. Way too many gaskets!

 

[Jfk4th]

I would say have the dealer come and put in new gaskets just so he can see in person what is actually happening. Glad you found the problem but damn a new stove shouldn't be giving you soo many sooooo soon. Harmon makes a good stove so I am glad to hear the dealer has got your back ;-)

 

[grateful]

Another great suggestion! I will sleep on it... Seems like a wise solution and will require less labor on my part. The thought of hauling this stove up the basement stairs is not very appealing. I'm thinking that gasket failure must be a general problem with this stove. The other option is to trade it in for a Regency F2400M, the fire bricks needed replacing after a few years, otherwise it worked well and I think it only has 2 gaskets on the door.

 

[Jfk4th]

I would think the Harmon you would be able to get much more wood in it being a top loader and the Regency just being a front loading stove. I have always wanted a top loading stove but you will have more gaskets, that's just the way it is with that model. However, like I said call the dealer, ask him to come over, get him a beer, and have him check that stove and hang out there while you have a nice fire going. Then he can see what's going on and he should have a trained eye on that model.

I think that Harmon is a damn nice looking stove so I would do everything to keep it in your house. Regency is a nice brand too and the step top model looks like it has a huge ash pan but still I would stick with the Harmon. Hell it says "The Oakwood can hold over 40 pounds of cordwood on a three-inch charcoal bed which makes burn times of 12 to 16 hours a reality" Man o Man, I would love to get a 12-16 hour burn.....I would probably burn 24/7 every year

 

[grateful]

I do burn 24/7 and have had 6 to 8 hour burn times maximum. One day I loaded it with oak from the east coast and that lasted 6 hours. In Washington we don't have hardwoods like oak and maple so burn times may be shorter compared to east coast burn times. Not much coal to be found here either. The top load is great, less opportunity to get burned- I have burn scars remaining from the Regency that preceded the Oakwood. Another Oakwood owner(Dill) had problems with the combustion package.
Will check with the dealer in the morning, my sense is that he would rather replace it with a new Oakwood or Regency.