Need some advice

[Northwoodser]

Hi,
We purchased an Arrow 1800A woodstove a couple months ago to replace our old Earth Stove, which had developed cracks in the woodbox. The stove has been great, and heats our house nicely, but every once in a while, maybe two or three times in a 24 hour period, it will emit a single, loud cracking noise (definitely from the stove, not the chimney or pipe) when it gets up around 450. We put it down to the expansion/contraction of the steel woodbox, and didn't worry much about it. In the last week or so, though, it has started to emit smoke even when there is a brisk fire going (350-450). It seems to get worse when we damp the stove down. There are no visible cracks in the box, and the firebrick looks fine.

We did notice a couple of vertical cracks in our cinder block chimney facing, but we're not sure these are new. The chimney is about 25 years old with a clay liner. We have never had any problems with it, and it was professionally cleaned about 2 months ago. We have stopped building fires until we figure out what is going on. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[gyrfalcon]

Hi,
We purchased an Arrow 1800A woodstove a couple months ago to replace our old Earth Stove, which had developed cracks in the woodbox. The stove has been great, and heats our house nicely, but every once in a while, maybe two or three times in a 24 hour period, it will emit a single, loud cracking noise (definitely from the stove, not the chimney or pipe) when it gets up around 450. We put it down to the expansion/contraction of the steel woodbox, and didn't worry much about it. In the last week or so, though, it has started to emit smoke even when there is a brisk fire going (350-450). It seems to get worse when we damp the stove down. There are no visible cracks in the box, and the firebrick looks fine.

We did notice a couple of vertical cracks in our cinder block chimney facing, but we're not sure these are new. The chimney is about 25 years old with a clay liner. We have never had any problems with it, and it was professionally cleaned about 2 months ago. We have stopped building fires until we figure out what is going on. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Emit smoke from where?

 

[Northwoodser]

Well, that's the thing. We can't find the source of the smoke. Everything looks tight, but it gets too smokey in our house to be comfortable. It's not so bad that we have to open windows or leave, but it smells like a smokehouse and is very irritating to lungs and eyes. Sorry I can't be more specific about the source.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Well, that's the thing. We can't find the source of the smoke. Everything looks tight, but it gets too smokey in our house to be comfortable. It's not so bad that we have to open windows or leave, but it smells like a smokehouse and is very irritating to lungs and eyes. Sorry I can't be more specific about the source.

You mean there's smoke in the house?! Something's very wrong here, and I bet on the chimney. That clay liner may have been fine two months ago, but it could have chosen to crack between then and now. There should be no smoke coming from your stove, and if there were, you should be able to see that at least that's where it's coming from. You were right to stop burning until you figure it out. Get somebody in who knows what he's doing to inspect the chimney carefully.

I hope somebody who knows more than I do will come along and give an opinion soon. If not, I'd suggest reposting your question with a more specific subject header, something attention-getting like "Smoke in the house. Help!"

 

[Northwoodser]

Thanks. I was afraid it might be the chimney. Does it make sense, though, that it seems smokier when the stove is damped down than when the draft is open all the way? It seems if it was the liner the smoke would be worse with it open. I may be overthinking that, though...

 

[gyrfalcon]

Thanks. I was afraid it might be the chimney. Does it make sense, though, that it seems smokier when the stove is damped down than when the draft is open all the way? It seems if it was the liner the smoke would be worse with it open. I may be overthinking that, though...

Ugh. Physics is far from my strong suit. But that smoke, however it's leaking into the house, originates from inside the firebox. Damping down (by which I take you to mean closing down the primary air on the stove) generally makes the fire more smoky for a while, particularly if the wood is less than perfectly seasoned. I have no idea whether you're right about the physics, but I would bet the volume of air coming into the stove wouldn't be enough to completely reverse the infiltration of the smoke, and with more smoke being produced, you're going to get more leaking into the house. Seems to me, anyway.
Do repost this with a new, more alarming subject line. I honestly only replied to you because your post had been open for a while with nobody having looked at it and I thought somebody should.

 

[begreen]

The loud cracking noise is what concerns me. Have you closely inspected where the stove flue collar joins the firebox? This could be minor or it could be very serious. We don't know sitting behind a keyboard.

The stove and chimney system both sound like they may be marginal.This has the potential to be a very risky situation. You need to get trained eyes inspecting both. Start with the chimney. It could just be clogging. Have it professionally cleaned and inspected for any dangerous flaws. If you can drop a stainless liner down the, that would go a long way toward making it safer and providing peace of mind. Once the chimney is know to be fine, then If the problem persists at the stove level, you may need to retire it unless there is a fairly simple and reliable method to repair the problem.

 

[Northwoodser]

The join between the flue collar and firebox looks sound to me, but my eye is untrained. We had the chimney professionally cleaned and inspected about two months ago and everything checked out, but I suppose something could have changed in that time period. We will get a professional in to check out both the stove and chimney before using the stove again. I hope it's a simple fix! Thank you for your input!