Lennox Montage Pellet stove burns paint off fan exhaust port and fills house with smoke.

[dcarpenter]

I have a Lennox Montage I bought fall 2008, I have had several times in the past had the fan exhaust on the right hand side (facing the stove) overheat and begin to burn the paint off, it fills the house with smoke and sets off the fire alarms. I clean the stove 1-2x a week, vacuum the ash, etc. Originally I vented outside the house with a 3 foot rise (Turned the side of the house black) and it did it then as well. Now I have the venting going up over the roof. I am using the Pennington pellets right now from walmart and have been told that could be what is causing it, but I have friends who use the same stuff and they do not have the same problem.

Any thoughts??

 

[krooser]

My guess is your stove is plugged up with soot and ash...

 

[ww&hk]

Krooser's sig says it all. Something is dirty in your stove or it is really starving for air to complete the combustion. I would check both. Good luck!

 

[imacman]

.....08, I have had several times in the past had the fan exhaust on the right hand side (facing the stove) overheat and begin to burn the paint off......

Are you referring to the combustion blower, or the blower that sends heated air into the house (aka room air, or convection blower)?

 

[dcarpenter]

It is the fan that blows the exhaust out of the house. It did it a month ago as well, I took the fan out and scraped and cleaned the housing and the fan itself. In about 4 weeks it did it again. I am thinking that I am going to go to home Depot and get some clear, flexible hose, tape it to the nozzle of my shop vac and try to get into those hard to reach spots in there. With the clear hose I hope to see if it is pulling junk out. I have the flue opened more a bit more than ususal and the flame is burns nice and fast (not lazy). But even with that I clean the glass and within 24 hours it is all but obscured with ash/junk. The ash output seems REALLY high, yet my friends who burn the same fuel with other stoves seem not to have the problems. My one friend sayshe cleans his glass once a month (He has a Harman).

 

[rona]

More then one thing wrong here. You can't compare two different brand stoves as far as how long the stove stays clean. Some stoves are prone to burn dirtier then others. Some pellets also burn worse then others.
Usually these problems crop up when the stove is idling or not running hard. Once winter sets in and you are making the stove work it will stay cleaner.
It is expected to be cleaning the window once a week on several brands of stoves.Usually the higher priced units will stay cleaner longer as they have built in air washes that keep the window cleaner.

 

[imacman]

It is the fan that blows the exhaust out of the house.................But even with that I clean the glass and within 24 hours it is all but obscured with ash/junk.......

OK, I'm a little confused...are you concerned with the burning paint on the combustion blower exhaust, or the glass getting dirty, or both?

As for the burning paint, I saw that you bought the stove over a year ago....you never had this problem back then?

BTW, you aren't continuing to re-paint the blower each time, are you? Just let the paint burn off, and leave it alone.

As for glass getting dirty, as Rona, your comparing apples to oranges.....different stove and different pallets, different exhaust set-up will result in different things.

 

[dcarpenter]

My concern is with the burning paint and my house filling up with smoke. The glass getting dirty fast I thought may offer a clue as to why this happens. (As well as it being annoying).

I have had the problem of the burning paint last year as well, total occurences about 6 times (you'd think the paint would be gone by now) and I do not repaint it. The burning paint seems to be indicating that there is a problem with how it's burning and acting as a warning sign but so far other than pulling it fully apart every few weeks and scraping it clean I do not have a solution.

I have called Lennox, had my local dealer as well as a tech from Oregon take a look at it when they replaced the control panel due to recall. They point to the Pennington pellets so I am wondering if this is the case and anyone else having the same issues or if there is another cause that needs to be addressed.

 

[rona]

The simplest answer is the one you suggested. Try another brand of pellets.
Here again different stoves will burn pellets differently also. Last year I was burning pellets made from crop residue. They worked good for me but a friend had lousy luck with them. Two different stoves with two different results.
I'm not sure what you mean by having to pull it apart ever few weeks to clean it. Most stoves require a decent cleaning once a month.
You have used it one season and that should be long enough for any new stove smell to be gone and any paint smell to be gone as well.
You have had a "black" wall last year and since moved the exhaust to eliminate that problem.
I am thinking the stove is burning rich with either to much fuel or to little air for the right flame. There could be a obstruction in the exhaust system or maybe it can't get enough air to run right.
It doesn't make sense to have the house filling up with smoke and not being able to find the cause.
I would have a flash light handy and turn the stove on at night when it is dark. Shine the light along the whole exhaust system as you will be able to see the smoke easy with the flashlight in a dark room. Look at where the exhaust pipe is fastened onto the stove. Also look at where the hot air is supposed exit the stove and see if you can spot smoke coming out of the stove in that area.
Keep in touch with your results and try a different brand of pellets as sometime that will solve the problem.

 

[dcarpenter]

Thanks for the tips! I will give it a try and see what happens. Thanks

Unfortunately we seems pretty limited on brands to choose from. I tried the ones Lowes sells and they seem to burn pretty cold (not much heat output) for the cost. Freedom Fuel from Home Depot was terrible, no heat and LOTS of ash. Heat wise so far the ones from Walmart seems to do the best funny enough.

I actually have a pellet production plant being built 5 miles down the road from me (North Pole, Alaska) that should be in production within the month. I am hoping that the quality of pellets will be such that may help eliminate some of the problems.

 

[krooser]

You need to THROUGHLY clean your stove... needs to be done after every ton IMHO. It's plugged with ash... if you can try the "leaf blower trick" (do a search...) that will eliminate a dirty stove from your list of possible defects... and it will probably fix it, too.

 

[dcarpenter]

OK, thank you! I will check out the leaf blower trick, have not heard of that one. Thanks again...