Looking for guidance

[hhaz]

Hello All,

I am new to the woodstove world. I purchased a home that previously had a small jotul. I replaced the jotul with a Lopi Liberty as the jotul had mortar falling out and I wanted something that could hold larger splits and had a longer burn time. The unit was installed by a professional. Since the install I have been having issues with smoke rolling back into the house, whether it be on start up or refueling. Also, a couple times, smoke escaping through flue joints in the house. I since have had an extension put on the flue (double wall) and an air kit put in. I am still having a little bit of smoke come in the house when refueling, though not as much and not as often as it had been previously, and nothing leaking through the joints,

My concern now is that at the end of a burn, I still notice a slight smell of smoke and often my eyes feel a little irritated. I am the only one in the house that seems to notice it though. I only smell it at the end of a burn when there are no longer flames. While the fire is going, I do not have this issue. I do need to extend the flue once again as the unit needs a minimum of 15 feet of flue and I only have about 13 feet. Also, I do have negative air pressure in the home as I have radon reduction system in the basement that has 6 suction points ( I know, that's a lot! I have the worst soil to move air through).

My question I guess is, will extending the flue pipe be enough to combat the negative air pressure? Or is the slight smell something I just have to deal with? Also, I do know that the wood plays a factor in this. I use a mixture of store bought kiln dried wood and unfortunately semi-seasoned wood as that seems to be what is plentiful out here. I've also attached pictures of the connection points of the flue in the home as I was concerned about those as well. The company I went through for the install says that they are fine as they interlock. I've since wrapped them with flue tape as I was not sold, at first it seemed to help, but still have the same issue. Sorry this was rambling. I am trying to provide as much as I can that may be relevant. Thank you for any and all responses.

Link RemovedLink RemovedLink RemovedLink Removed

 

[begreen]

In this scenario it may take multiple steps to alleviate the situation. Connecting outside air is a first step. Is the outside air pipe and intake below the stove's firebox floor level?

The stove wants 16' of vertical flue if straight up, but the two 90º turns in the flue path are in effect chopping off about 4' of chimney height. This is exacerbated by the horizontal run. Some of this can be eliminated by connecting the stove to the thimble with two 45s in an offset. Is there a 6" insulated liner in the chimney?


Is there a CO detector in the stove room? There should be.

 

[Prometeo]

When was the chimney cleaned? Because look for long combustion, wood that is not perfectly seasoned, It's the right recipe for rapid creosote formation. You need to monitor the flue gas temperature.

 

[hhaz]

In this scenario it may take multiple steps to alleviate the situation. Connecting outside air is a first step. Is the outside air pipe and intake below the stove's firebox floor level?

The stove wants 16' of vertical flue if straight up, but the two 90º turns in the flue path are in effect chopping off about 4' of chimney height. This is exacerbated by the horizontal run. Some of this can be eliminated by connecting the stove to the thimble with two 45s in an offset. Is there a 6" insulated liner in the chimney?
View attachment 324940

Is there a CO detector in the stove room? There should be.

@begreen, thank you for your response. The outside air pipe and intake on the stove's firebox floor are not level. I do have 2 Kidde CO detectors, one in the stove room (living room) and the other by the bedrooms (ranch style home). The detector in the living room is on the opposite wall facing the stove (living room about 19.5 feet across). They are 5 feet off the ground. Both have only ever displayed zero since I lived in the home (I have checked them, they are working). What I have is Class A flue pipe, so I am assuming it is insulated -as that's what I've read (again total newbie).

Thank you for the diagram for the flue pipe. I will look into replacing the 90 degree bend with 2 45's. This may be a dumb question, however there's about 16 inches from the flue pipe to the wall. Is that enough space to put in 45's?

Also, I actually may not be having the issue I think I am. I have checked around the stove and the pipe, smelling all around it and can't pick up a trace of the smell. Usually my nose is pretty sensitive. I've done the gasket dollar bill test as well and it seems good. However, after just walking past my air purifier, I think the smell is actually coming from it from collecting what rolls out of the stove when reloading-still not good.

So now, as I am feeling completely foolish, I am going to run the stove without the filter on and see if I am still picking up the scent. Thank you for your help, at least I'll know where to start if it turns out it wasn't the purifier.

 

[hhaz]

When was the chimney cleaned? Because look for long combustion, wood that is not perfectly seasoned, It's the right recipe for rapid creosote formation. You need to monitor the flue gas temperature.

Last cleaning was in November. I am going to go out and check what it looks like today. Thank you

 

[begreen]

So now, as I am feeling completely foolish, I am going to run the stove without the filter on and see if I am still picking up the scent. Thank you for your help, at least I'll know where to start if it turns out it wasn't the purifier.

Another factor could be the outside temperature. The draft will be weaker when outdoor temperatures are mild. This will be especially noticeable when the temp is above 40 or 45º. Adding more chimney pipe may be the best solution in that case.

Can you post a picture of the outside chimney setup?

 

[hhaz]

Another factor could be the outside temperature. The draft will be weaker when outdoor temperatures are mild. This will be especially noticeable when the temp is above 40 or 45º. Adding more chimney pipe may be the best solution in that case.

Can you post a picture of the outside chimney setup?

I can take a closer picture if needed.

 

[hhaz]

Last cleaning was in November. I am going to go out and check what it looks like today. Thank you

I just checked the bottom cleanout and it looks pretty good.

 

[Prometeo]

I had the same problem, slight general smell, and smoke on reload, but I remembered that when the stove was new, and the flue too, everything was perfect. After cleaning the chimney everything was resolved. Note, chimney does not get dirty, homogeneously, in my case, the ends were clean, and the center clogged. However, try turning off the radon extractor to see if that is the cause. but I think it's the flue, dirty.