help- vermont casting merrimack

[micaaronfl]

hey guys,

i have had my insert for about 4 years now, tonight i lit a fire and about 15 minutes later smoke came pouring out from under the doors as far as i can tell. (i have a 2 year old and my wifes out of town so i just freaked and opened windows and dumped water on the fire)

anyway i get my chimney swept every year including this year.

the only thing i can think of is the liner i think its called gasket liner - the rope thing that goes around the edge of the doors need to be replaced. but its odd the manual says nothing about replacing it in the maintenance section.

do you guys have any thoughts?

 

[micaaronfl]

wait i see it int he manual now ugh,

 

[jatoxico]

A bad door gasket might be leaky but shouldn't cause smoke into the house if drafting OK. I had to establish draft tonight with some newspaper. Can tell as soon as I open the door and feel the box is cool or even getting a breeze down the chimney. Could that be the case?

 

[husky345 vermont resolute]

Cold flue. Light some newspaper first to get the flue warmed up

 

[Chuck the Canuck]

tonight i lit a fire and about 15 minutes later smoke came pouring out from under the doors as far as i can tell.

The OP was running the stove for 15 minutes already before the smoke started coming out of the stove... sounds like a different problem than a cold flue, and probably not a leaky door gasket either.....

 

[micaaronfl]

i usually have problems getting an upward draft, the wood i used though was completed dry including the kiln dried kindling and i also used super cedar to light. even if it was smokey it should never pour through the doors with them shut.

 

[Chuck the Canuck]

Yeah I don't know what would cause the smoke to start coming out through a closed door other than some kind of blockage in the flue; like maybe the chimney cap has a screen on it that has been getting all clogged up with creo over the last month or so, and tonight it became completely blocked during a slow start up, thereby leaving the smoke to build up until it found the easiest place to exit the system...... under the door, perhaps through the primary air intake or some such.......

 

[jatoxico]

i usually have problems getting an upward draft, the wood i used though was completed dry including the kiln dried kindling and i also used super cedar to light. even if it was smokey it should never pour through the doors with them shut.

Even brand new gaskets will allow the smoke out if the draft reverses. I learned this the hard way. If you have experienced slow draft at start up before then I would be willing to bet that was the problem. I sometimes have to move a baffle and get some newspaper right up into the chimney to get the air moving in the right direction. I then burn a good amount (like 10 sheets) of paper in the box to get some heat into the pipe before I'm comfortable loading and starting the fire.

 

[Grisu]

i usually have problems getting an upward draft, the wood i used though was completed dry including the kiln dried kindling and i also used super cedar to light. even if it was smokey it should never pour through the doors with them shut.

It sounds like you closed the door way too early. Especially with draft problems you should close the door only once a really good fire has been established and the insert is drafting well. After that, it should not matter how good/bad the gaskets are as all smoke should be pulled up in the flue. If you close the door and the fire can not sustain itself and you get a "smokechamber" inside, the gasket was not the problem. A propane torch or hairdryer to warm up the flue first may be an option. Is your house relatively airtight? Maybe opening a window slightly close to the stove could help then.

 

[micaaronfl]

thanks for all the feedback guys, i will have the chimney place come out again and take a look to make sure there is no blockage anywhere.

the reason why i was thinking the gasket rope was that i never changed it in about 4 years of 4 cords a winter burning.

 

[jatoxico]

thanks for all the feedback guys, i will have the chimney place come out again and take a look to make sure there is no blockage anywhere.

the reason why i was thinking the gasket rope was that i never changed it in about 4 years of 4 cords a winter burning.

What's your sweeping schedule? Once a year?

 

[Chuck the Canuck]

Good luck!

 

[micaaronfl]

yeah once a year in the summer, the thing is though i swear i had that thing smokier than that and it never came out when the doors were closed. i remember burning some rather wet wood over the years.

 

[Chuck the Canuck]

Does your chimney cap have a screen mesh around it?

 

[micaaronfl]

its dark now i cant check but i dont think so, i will check tomorrow.

 

[Chuck the Canuck]

Good enough. I'll be interested to hear what you eventually find out about what happened.

Cheers

 

[jatoxico]

yeah once a year in the summer, the thing is though i swear i had that thing smokier than that and it never came out when the doors were closed. i remember burning some rather wet wood over the years.

Seems unlikely you'd be blocked up after 4 years experience under your belt and a yearly sweep. Maybe you just been lucky up till now draft wise. My draft is often slow at startup but my first down real draft didn't happen for a couple years. Sometimes conditions just are right.

 

[micaaronfl]

no mesh from what i can tell

 

[etiger2007]

I tend to wait about a week or two before I start the burning season to clean the chimney, that way any spider webs or whatever is cleaned out right before i start burning. Good question why this happened with all the info you shared , I know in my situation the only time i ever get smoke spillage is when i have a reverse draft going on, now before every cold start i hold a lighter to the top of the baffles and make sure its sucking the flame towards the chimney, if its not i open a window in the room and it corrects the draft. Good luck !

 

[Fod01]

Any new appliances (dryer, br fan etc)? Gaskets are too new

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Smoke should only come out if it is not drafting properly, upon light up this has happened to a few times, for certain reasons....that being the way I tried lighting up, less kindling etc... Also on a warmer day, also when not burning for a few days.... I like experimenting so this is why I got my smoke back puffing...... So I say it is operator error.....this is how we learn......