I smell smoke...

[JBiBBs5]

I fired up my stove last night for my longest burn so far and planned on running it through the night but I couldn't do it because I think I can smell smoke. There's a chance I'm being paranoid but it smells like wood burning and makes me uncomfortable with a baby in the house.

I assumed that there really should be no smell coming from the stove so this has to be coming from the exhaust right? My plan is to pick up some sealant and cover all of the seams on the exhaust. Are there any other steps I should take?

 

[wporter4]

I had a similar situation - and am still fighting it. Great advice in this post: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/78784/

Turn off all the lights - start up the stove and point a flashlight at the pipe from different angles - you should be able to see the smoke escaping from somewhere.

There should be no smoke out of a pellet stove exhaust

 

[JBWheel]

Not to be a wise guy, but I would call a local dealer tech to come in to go over everything. Also be sure to have new smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the house. Maybe you need a new liner or a joint came undone. Better to be safe.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Don't forget to check that there is sealant around the vent where it exits the house and that all windows around that vent are tightly closed.

Hopefully when it was installed they didn't put a joint inside the wall thimble.

 

[Mackdog]

This happened to us and we sealed all the joints or connections of the vent pipe with the high temp tape and it hasnt happened since.

 

[Trickyrick]

I had a brain fart this weekend. still had the AC unit in the window when I started it up and "I smelled smoke" and it was gomming back in at that window.

OK so I wasn't all that awake.....

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I had a brain fart this weekend. still had the AC unit in the window when I started it up and "I smelled smoke" and it was gomming back in at that window.

OK so I wasn't all that awake.....

When you get along in years that is also known as a senior moment.

 

[JBiBBs5]

I could actually smell it coming from one of the seams so I'll try the sealant on that spot. If I continue to smell it the dealer will be getting a phone call.

Aluminum tape is out of the question because the pipe is in plain view.

 

[save$]

I could actually smell it coming from one of the seams so I'll try the sealant on that spot. If I continue to smell it the dealer will be getting a phone call.

Aluminum tape is out of the question because the pipe is in plain view.

IMO, Aluminum tape put on neatly and then painted black with heat tolerant paint is not necessarily distracting.
I also paid for a professional installation, but getting them to do it right was more headache than I could tolerate. I don't blame you one bit for wanting it right (and safe).

 

[Snowy Rivers]

I like the aluminum tape/paint program as well.

In the event that you need to get it apart you can simply use a heat gun (hair dryer on high) and warm the tape, peel it off and the pipe will easily come apart.

My pipe is behind the stove, so I left it in the galvanized color and taped the seams.

I have the pipe with the O rings and one or two seams still leaked a little bit.

It take very little smoke leakage for the Old nose to find it.

A slick trick is, with the lights off as mentioned, use a little LED flashlight with the focused bright white light.

I used one with the lazer pointer in it and that lazer works sweet. When the smoke crosses that red beam it is really easy to see.


Good luck and a X2 on the new Smoke and CO detectors.

I plugged in a new CO and smoke tester right close to the stove.

Snowy

 

[JBiBBs5]

I plan on stopping at HD on my way home from work to pick up a set of CO detectors. Some of them run off of a signal so that if one goes off they will all go off. I'll put one in the room with the stove and in each bedroom.

The little one is my number one concern here so I'll just have to wait on running the stove at night until I feel confident that the exhaust is completely sealed.

 

[rideboard147]

Where can you find this high temp tape or what is a good brand to use?

 

[JBiBBs5]

Where can you find this high temp tape or what is a good brand to use?

You can get it at home depot. It's just aluminum tape used for duct work.

 

[richkorn]

Where can you find this high temp tape or what is a good brand to use?

3m tape 600 deg from hardware store works great.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Where can you find this high temp tape or what is a good brand to use?

3m tape 600 deg from hardware store works great.

+1

 

[PJPellet]

Where can you find this high temp tape or what is a good brand to use?

3m tape 600 deg from hardware store works great.

+1

+ 2 I just bought some and I am happy with it.

 

[jtakeman]

I have tried the black silicon and it just stands out. Doesn't match well. Tape seems to be the quickest and cleanest to install.

Tip: Measure the tape needed to cover the pipe. Cut to size. Before you remove the paper take the tape strips outside. Paint them with matcing hi temp paint and let dry. Once dry install over the leak. Leak fixed, No stink in house and a better match ta boot!

 

[JBiBBs5]

Alright so last night I put a piece of aluminum tape over the seam that I thought was giving off a scent. Then I fired it up and ran out to home depot to get a portable CO detector. When I got home I could smell the scent again so I place the CO detector on the ledge right behind the stove and left it there for a while. It displayed a zero all night and I figured if there was smoke in the room it would display something. Anyway, I let it burn all night and it was great but the scent was there when I woke up.

Is it possible that this scent is simply the stove curing or breaking in? If so, how long should I expect this to go on for?

 

[jtakeman]

Alright so last night I put a piece of aluminum tape over the seam that I thought was giving off a scent. Then I fired it up and ran out to home depot to get a portable CO detector. When I got home I could smell the scent again so I place the CO detector on the ledge right behind the stove and left it there for a while. It displayed a zero all night and I figured if there was smoke in the room it would display something. Anyway, I let it burn all night and it was great but the scent was there when I woke up.

Is it possible that this scent is simply the stove curing or breaking in? If so, how long should I expect this to go on for?

The cast iron stoves seem to be the worst for "new stove smell" due to cast iron being more porous. Mine was still there after 3 days. And when I hit the high heat setting it came back again for a short time. Stove stink is different from the wood smell. Stove stink is more of a chemical and burned my eyes and nose.

The wood smell would be more pronounced on initial start ups than during the run. I find them best with dim lights and crawling behind the stove with a bright flash light. I usually see the wisps of smoke during the startup.

 

[vinny11950]

i have gotten smoke smells from my stove but the Carbon detectors never tripped.

if you have sealed all the seams, then you should consider the hardest place to see, which is the stove adapter. i have a small leak there even though i have slathered it with silicone i still see some tiny bubble like holes in the silicone where i figure the smoke it coming from. also the convection blower pulls air from that area so i never get to see the smoke rising up because it is sucked in by the convection motor. i just smell it.

unfortunately, the stove adapter is the hardest to seal because of the position it is in. i plan to take mine out this weekend.

 

[jtakeman]

Another reason to check at start up is the convection blower isn't on yet.

 

[JBiBBs5]

I have tried the flashlight and even a wet paper towel but haven't seen any smoke at all. I'm going to keep burning over the next few days and hopefully it'll clear up by next week. If not I'll just call the installer back in.

 

[jmcp]

I will get a little smoke on igniteing as the igniter will start the pellets smoldering a lot of smoke builds up in the stove but once the flame starts all smoke dissappears.It does not concern me as it is just on startup

 

[jmcp]

I will get a little smoke on igniteing as the igniter will start the pellets smoldering a lot of smoke builds up in the stove but once the flame starts all smoke dissappears.It does not concern me as it is just on startup