She's alright with burning wood (and eating meat) as long as she doesn't have to witness the necessary murder.You'd better put some foil over your stove glass - wouldn't want her to see what's happening in there and have a breakdown
Need Help With Smoke Leaking Into Home
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I feel for you. This is where a first rate dealer is worth his or her weight in gold. In lieu of that it's great to have BK checking it out.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Good question. I do not. We've got a lot of trees here but it's also generally pretty wet in the burn season.
Chris is going to work with the dealer. Hopefully the dealer will give it the necessary time and energy and be truly open to whatever the problem is. I really hope it's not a lack of draft given that he's already raised the stack four feet. Ideally it would be the stove and then Blaze King could just give me a new one and the problem would be fixed.
I'm paying attention now to some of the issues raised here. This morning, there was no smoke coming off the stove. The weather was overcast but there was no rain. There was no wind outside either. The stove had pretty well wound down. Going home now and will check it again.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
OK, just checking. I had a stove in the past that would puff back and smoke out the door when the screen was plugged. Of course even with the screen removed it would do the same thing when the chimney just needed to be cleaned. I had real wet wood at the time...
Isaiah53
Member
Parallax,
Your observation that the fire gets much more air when you crack open a door would suggest to me that the restriction is in the inlet air system rather than the flue. I would think if your flue was restricted, you would get a lot of smoke spillage anytime you opened the door. I was trying to suggest that you remove the cover over the damper again and confirm that the damper can still be fully opened with the t-stat. If the set screws have become loose, it may not be open much at all. Although there may be other potential restrictions in the air path, I would start by having a look at the damper again.
On the other hand the interior smoke smell would suggest a lack of draft (higher pressure in the firebox) and a restriction in the flue system. I would think you could easily test if the catalyst is plugged by opening and closing the by-pass and seeing if you get a lot more air flow.
I would not worry about your trees nearby. They can certainly tend to trap the smoke in your yard and make situation seem worse, but I cannot imagine any way they could offer enough flow restriction to the stack flow to reduce the draft and the air flow to the stove to any extent.
Your observation that the fire gets much more air when you crack open a door would suggest to me that the restriction is in the inlet air system rather than the flue. I would think if your flue was restricted, you would get a lot of smoke spillage anytime you opened the door. I was trying to suggest that you remove the cover over the damper again and confirm that the damper can still be fully opened with the t-stat. If the set screws have become loose, it may not be open much at all. Although there may be other potential restrictions in the air path, I would start by having a look at the damper again.
On the other hand the interior smoke smell would suggest a lack of draft (higher pressure in the firebox) and a restriction in the flue system. I would think you could easily test if the catalyst is plugged by opening and closing the by-pass and seeing if you get a lot more air flow.
I would not worry about your trees nearby. They can certainly tend to trap the smoke in your yard and make situation seem worse, but I cannot imagine any way they could offer enough flow restriction to the stack flow to reduce the draft and the air flow to the stove to any extent.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
Ahhh, I see now that is a window behind your stove back on page three.
Your outside grille is intact it looked like, so probably not the problem, but fairly easy to isolate a variable. You need a special bit to get the thermostat cover off. Its about the size of a Torx-10 or T15, only it needs to have a hole in the center of the bit, a star drive bit I think...he other special bit is a square drive, I forget the size,.
Your outside grille is intact it looked like, so probably not the problem, but fairly easy to isolate a variable. You need a special bit to get the thermostat cover off. Its about the size of a Torx-10 or T15, only it needs to have a hole in the center of the bit, a star drive bit I think...he other special bit is a square drive, I forget the size,.
Today, I got a message this morning from one of the Blaze King guys in Canada. Couldn't reach him but his message was, essentially, "Don't worry. We'll take care of you."
Gotta love a company that stands behind its products and its customers. Later in the day, I got a message from Chris (BKVP). He's out of the country but we were e-mailing. He spoke of possibly having the stove shipped to Walla Walla so they could test it. Then the dealer called. We agreed we need to test everything regarding the install and any mistakes I may be making before shipping the stove back because it seems to both of us very unlikely that the stove itself is at fault. On Friday morning, he's coming out to put my fan kit back on (the blades on the old one had partly melted -- an actual defect in the stove, or at least an accessory). While he's out here, he's going to disconnect the OAK. I'll run it with a window cracked, both before and after he detaches the OAK. We're looking for ways in which air pressure may be influencing things.
I spoke to him about measuring draft. He said it would require putting a hole in the stove pipe. I wouldn't mind if that could be the same hole for a flue probe. But he was lukewarm about adding an extra hole when our issue is gas leaking out somewhere. We'll cross that bridge if the OAK investigation doesn't lead to an answer.
Gotta love a company that stands behind its products and its customers. Later in the day, I got a message from Chris (BKVP). He's out of the country but we were e-mailing. He spoke of possibly having the stove shipped to Walla Walla so they could test it. Then the dealer called. We agreed we need to test everything regarding the install and any mistakes I may be making before shipping the stove back because it seems to both of us very unlikely that the stove itself is at fault. On Friday morning, he's coming out to put my fan kit back on (the blades on the old one had partly melted -- an actual defect in the stove, or at least an accessory). While he's out here, he's going to disconnect the OAK. I'll run it with a window cracked, both before and after he detaches the OAK. We're looking for ways in which air pressure may be influencing things.
I spoke to him about measuring draft. He said it would require putting a hole in the stove pipe. I wouldn't mind if that could be the same hole for a flue probe. But he was lukewarm about adding an extra hole when our issue is gas leaking out somewhere. We'll cross that bridge if the OAK investigation doesn't lead to an answer.
Honestly i think you need to get a pro out there we can keep giving you ideas but nothing will be figured out till a set of experienced eyes gets to see it. Good you posted that as i was writing mine
That would also help explain the backpuffing, too... when I was burning some small and very dry wood (pallets, etc.) the excess outgassing would result in backpuffs when I shut the air too far/too fast.
Good to hear there is progress. Ask too about the quantity of pressed logs being burned. These logs outgas rapidly when hot. I'm wondering if too many are overwhelming the cat. As far as the hole in the pipe for draft testing, a probe thermometer can fill it or worst case scenario a black screw.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
I would let the dealer make the decision about the thermostat cover.
With no OAK on mine this am I was able, with the stove pretty cold, to shine a flashlight up the air intake and then use a hand mirror I borrowed from my wife to see up in there. I have been hypothesizing I might have a wad of cat hair up in my intake this week, but the stove settled back down yesterday and I see no evidence of any cat hair at all in the intake this morning.
With the OAK off and a painless inspection of your air intake all that is left to trouble shoot is the stove box and the flue.
With no OAK on mine this am I was able, with the stove pretty cold, to shine a flashlight up the air intake and then use a hand mirror I borrowed from my wife to see up in there. I have been hypothesizing I might have a wad of cat hair up in my intake this week, but the stove settled back down yesterday and I see no evidence of any cat hair at all in the intake this morning.
With the OAK off and a painless inspection of your air intake all that is left to trouble shoot is the stove box and the flue.
What could be wrong with the stove box itself?
Interestingly, last night we were getting far less smoke. I don't understand why it can be better at times and worse at others.
Interestingly, last night we were getting far less smoke. I don't understand why it can be better at times and worse at others.
Unfortunately my stove guy wouldn't know. He's a good fella, really stands behind his work. But it's a heating and cooling company; they deal with much more than wood stoves and he doesn't personally burn. I'm still glad I went with him. But it is a challenge figuring out problems like this.
This could be due to the size, rate and stage of the burn as it relates both to your operation (adjusting air supply) and to your flue system (poor draft and/or partly obstructed), not to mention weather conditions. Lots of variables interacting means variable outcomes with each burn.
Makes it hard to find the problem. We'll see how things go on Friday after the OAK is disconnected. Does the stove need to be cold for this to happen? I'd love to watch the effect on the fire when it comes off (if possible).
I haven't been keeping up with this entire thread, I have a few thoughts:
My glass is never that dirty, ever.
I also was having some issues with the cat stalling. It would almost go out if I went under 2 with the air control. I moved the Ashford to my 8" flue in my front room, since the move it has acted like a different stove. It runs like its intended to now that it has better draft. Both flues are the same height and straight up, no elbows. The only difference is the 8" flue.
You are suffering from poor draft.
My glass is never that dirty, ever.
I also was having some issues with the cat stalling. It would almost go out if I went under 2 with the air control. I moved the Ashford to my 8" flue in my front room, since the move it has acted like a different stove. It runs like its intended to now that it has better draft. Both flues are the same height and straight up, no elbows. The only difference is the 8" flue.
You are suffering from poor draft.
Webby, since going to an 8" flue isn't an option (unless I'm going to spend a heck of a lot to replace what was just installed last spring), what are some ways of dealing with inadequate draft? Does the vacu-stack work? Looks like they're only around $100 bucks. My preference would be to avoid anything electric.
A vacu-stack will work if down drafts are your problem, it won't help with negative pressure issues so much. I have also found that they clog very easily with a BK, it would be a last resort in my opinion. I'm Not recommending an 8" flue either, it's just odd that it worked for me. Maybe it has something to do with your location and climate? I can see my stoves struggle when a low pressure system rolls in, it's uncommon here, but not for your area I'm guessing?
alforit
Feeling the Heat
I am in the same climate area as you ........So maybe I can help .......Can you post a pick of your door ? inside so we can see the gasket.
Also , have you done any sealing on your stove pipe at all at the joints ?
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