Hole in fresh air intake causing smoke smell?

[SK0136]

Hello all, have a Hudson River Valley Davenport pellet stove. Had some work done on the house and the pellet stove was moved away from the wall. First turn on was last night and I noticed a smoke smell in the air. I did a flashlight check and did not see any coming out from the back of the stove. My Shark air purifier that's 8 feet from the stove still showed perfect air quality at 100%, but I've never smelled this smoke odor before. I shut her down regardless til I could further investigate this morning. I found that the fresh air intake is a 2inch size, but the hose used is a 3 inch with a hose clamp tightened around it. The hose, right where it's tightened down has a hole in it about the 2 inches long by an inch wide- could this be the culprit of the odor? I noticed the exhaust pipe coming from outside connects to the back of the stove appears to have no sealent or tape on it as well.

 

[stoveliker]

I'm not pellet stove person, but if there is a fan sucking in outside air, then smoke should not get out there.

Could there be dust in/on the stove that got hit and smelled? (That's what I smell after having worked near a cold stove when I fire it up first time )

 

[johneh]

I found that the fresh air intake is a 2inch size, but the hose used is a 3 inch with a hose clamp tightened around it.

Fresh air intake is just that air is sucked into the firebox to feed the fire air.
There is no way (unless the combustion fan is not working) that smoke can exit into that intake
You have a start-up leak in the chimney or pos. the combustion fan gasket. I would seal all
chimney connections with either silicon tape (easy to remove) or high-temperature silicon
I would really look at the connection (chimney) where it was disconnected when the stove was moved

 

[SK0136]

Fresh air intake is just that air is sucked into the firebox to feed the fire air.
There is no way (unless the combustion fan is not working) that smoke can exit into that intake
You have a start-up leak in the chimney or pos. the combustion fan gasket. I would seal all
chimney connections with either silicon tape (easy to remove) or high-temperature silicon
I would really look at the connection (chimney) where it was disconnected when the stove was moved

I took the hose off the fresh air intake and put it back on avoiding any holes. Been running it now about an hour and the smell has been a lot less. Gonna go to the store and get the high temp silicon tape to double down my efforts, thank you!

 

[Washed-Up]

Yeah I would say OAK, not the suspect but the pipe that attached to the stove would be and most likely bad seal…smoke being drawn into the distribution fan

 

[bogieb]

Since the majority of pellet stoves don't require an outside air kit to run or be in compliance with safety factors, and many people don't run an OAK at all, it is highly doubtful that a hole in that pipe would be the culprit.

 

[mellow]

I agree on the chimney pipe being the culprit, seal up those inside joints with silicone tape and call it a day.

 

[Don2222]

I had seen a case where the stove was moved to put a new floor in and then moved back. It was handled roughly in the process and then a very bad smoke smell came out the front. It turns out the the round flange where the venting connects was leaking on the inside where it is square and connected by 4 bolts. Then the smoke was pulled into the 2” intake pipe and pushed out the front. In this case I replaced the stove flange with larger screws, but you could also just remove and reseal it with more silicone than the minimal amount the factory uses and I also use larger and stronger self tapping screws so the flange does not loosen up and leak so easily. See pic below.

Note: Harmans will never have this issue because their heavy duty flange and gasket has a lip that will not leak smoke!

 

[SK0136]

Hey Don- great reccomendation. I checked her out and it's still sealed solid luckily. I was the one who pulled the stove back from the wall so I treated it gingerly but you never know.

I just applied a bead of Rutland high heat silicone to the outside of the exhaust tube coming off the stove and around the inside of the 3" flue. That spot had zero sealeant it looked so hoping this fixes the issue. Silicone says it's dry in 20 minutes and cured within 24 hours so guess I'll find out tomorrow morning when I start her up.

 

[Don2222]

Hey Don- great reccomendation. I checked her out and it's still sealed solid luckily. I was the one who pulled the stove back from the wall so I treated it gingerly but you never know.

I just applied a bead of Rutland high heat silicone to the outside of the exhaust tube coming off the stove and around the inside of the 3" flue. That spot had zero sealeant it looked so hoping this fixes the issue. Silicone says it's dry in 20 minutes and cured within 24 hours so guess I'll find out tomorrow morning when I start her up.

View attachment 330653

Yes you may be getting a slight smell from where you sealed. That is good however, I use high temp foil tape used in HVAC on that joint so it is easy to remove to pull the stove out for service. Either way it should be sealed and that could very well be your issue.
Good find.

 

[SK0136]

Yes you may be getting a slight smell from where you sealed. That is good however, I use high temp foil tape used in HVAC on that joint so it is easy to remove to pull the stove out for service. Either way it should be sealed and that could very well be your issue.
Good find.

Got in my own head after reading about that sealent and disconnected the flue from the stove. It was very difficult and took lots of twisting back and forth to get the pipe loosened up. Glad I pulled it off though cause I think that sealent might have been a forever bond. Tomorrow morning I'll clean the pipes with acetone and use the high heat tape instead.

 

[SK0136]

Well I taped up the joints and started her up- no more odor. Thanks a bunch for the help guys. Saved me quite a bit in pellets! Local place is $185/hr for service calls during normal hours and days.