I was awoken this morning with a throat and eye burning chemical smell this. The minute I awoke the smoke the detector went off. The hopper of my England 25 PSF (oldie) was full of brown smoke. Once the smoke cleared from the hopper I found a stick almost sap residue all over the remaining pellets and the sides of the hopper.
HELP Chemical smell
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Johnny_Fiv3
Feeling the Heat
Hopper fire.
Unplug the unit.
Your going to need to clean out all the pellets from the hopper and do a complete inspection.
Unplug the unit.
Your going to need to clean out all the pellets from the hopper and do a complete inspection.
Deezl Smoke
Feeling the Heat
Wow, how often does this happen? Is the chemical smell then the hopper coating, maybe galvanized, burning?
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
My guess ? Back burn and that causes creosote. Creosote burning smells wicked, fortunate it was just smoldering too. But yeah, I'd say you have a cleaning chore ahead of you and then assess the mechanical operation and your operation modes.
This is what I am guessing as well. The house just cleared up enough to be able to get back in the room. The smell was awful. I bought this stove used and have no knowledge of pellet stoves. Tried calling Englander to get some trouble shooting ideas and was on hold for thirty minutes. Finally gave up. Does anyone have any suggestions. Unfortunately I am a woman who is not mechanically incline but do have a 20 year old son who is better than me
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
Plenty of people here running those stoves, someone should be along. I am not one though, I've just been around long enough to know the signs LOL !This is what I am guessing as well. The house just cleared up enough to be able to get back in the room. The smell was awful. I bought this stove used and have no knowledge of pellet stoves. Tried calling Englander to get some trouble shooting ideas and was on hold for thirty minutes. Finally gave up. Does anyone have any suggestions. Unfortunately I am a woman who is not mechanically incline but do have a 20 year old son who is better than me
Johnny_Fiv3
Feeling the Heat
First off, don't be super freaked out by this happening. It can be scary, but it happens.
Clean out the stove, a full cleaning. Clean out the hopper, get everything out of it and shop vac it to remove anything. Get all the ash out of the stove, like I said, a full cleaning. This will allow you to give it a good inspection inside the firebox. Pull the service panels off the device with it unplugged. Get a good light and inspect all the wiring. Make sure none of it is melted or damaged. Clean whatever you can while you have the panels off, like the room air blower, around/under the auger drive (typically an area where sawdust can accumulate) and such.
Once you are confident it is clean, perform a device test. Each stove is different. Refer to the manual/here for how to do this properly. These tests do not require firing the stove in any way, so no worries there.
Clean out the stove, a full cleaning. Clean out the hopper, get everything out of it and shop vac it to remove anything. Get all the ash out of the stove, like I said, a full cleaning. This will allow you to give it a good inspection inside the firebox. Pull the service panels off the device with it unplugged. Get a good light and inspect all the wiring. Make sure none of it is melted or damaged. Clean whatever you can while you have the panels off, like the room air blower, around/under the auger drive (typically an area where sawdust can accumulate) and such.
Once you are confident it is clean, perform a device test. Each stove is different. Refer to the manual/here for how to do this properly. These tests do not require firing the stove in any way, so no worries there.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Yep that is an oldie,and I do not like positive pressure stoves.That being said,first go to local tobacco shop and buy some smoke out candles,they really work,don't just cover smell.This time of year better to leave your number at englands and have them call back.All creosote needs to be cleaned,esp.where pellets run,plus will keep stinking.All gaskets need to be checked/replaced.Complete teardown and cleaning is reccomended.Complete flue cleaning.Any temp switches,and combustion blower should be replaced if you are not sure they are 100%.Hope this helps.Old ones are,a lot of times,more expensive to maintain than newer ones.But there is also lots of used stoves on craigslist,in your area.
A Englander technician says it sounds like the fan. When I asked how do I clean everything with this sappy substance in the hopper and my guess would be on the auger as well was instructed to burn it off. Please tell me there is another way to clean it. I would assume the smell will return if I am burning it off. Our eyes and throats are still irritated and I will not subject anyone to that again. Not real safe burning once people and pets are removed if we are troubleshooting.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
A little propane torch works well.Believe it or not warm water and dish soap will work somewhat.Acetone works,do not spill on paint,wear gloves.You should remove augers also and clean everything from hopper to burn pot,AND will still smell a little after you get it running because of air that has drawn through the stove from convection fans.Smoke out candles work well.
Lake Girl
Moderator
If you have a dolly available, you can always haul it outside to work on it/burn off residue. Once you've figured out what is wrong and fix it, then haul it inside. Manual and troubleshooting help ...
(broken link removed to http://www.heatredefined.com/assets/images/general/25-PFS.pdf)
(broken link removed to http://www.heatredefined.com/support/troubleshooting-guide/pellet-stoves-manufactured-before-2004)
(broken link removed to http://www.heatredefined.com/assets/images/general/25-PFS.pdf)
(broken link removed to http://www.heatredefined.com/support/troubleshooting-guide/pellet-stoves-manufactured-before-2004)
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Also,a wet rag dipped in pellet ashes makes excellent cleaner,is how lots of us clean the glass on our stoves.
Who installed it? Do they know what they were doing? Do you have a manual? You need to get this stove clean to start over. More work now, less problems later.This is what I am guessing as well. The house just cleared up enough to be able to get back in the room. The smell was awful. I bought this stove used and have no knowledge of pellet stoves. Tried calling Englander to get some trouble shooting ideas and was on hold for thirty minutes. Finally gave up. Does anyone have any suggestions. Unfortunately I am a woman who is not mechanically incline but do have a 20 year old son who is better than me
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
If that happened to me I think I'd rent a steam cleaner or high pressure hot water spray machine at least. Wheel it outside and blast it. That's if I kept it at all, the point was brought up that it is old and it is a positive pressure stove. I too don't care for the concept of positive pressure in a pellet stove so on low budget I might be looking for a more modern used replacement..
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