Smell coming from chimney

[Enviro]

I have an enviro Venice 1200 wood insert, once it is burning good and hot and the secondaries are roaring, there is an odd smell coming from the chimney. I am very new at wood stove burning. there is no smoke coming out, just a good heat wave!

 

[Firewood Daddy]

Sounds like it's still burning off. Paint and sealants need time to cure and burn off on new heating appliances

 

[Enviro]

Sounds like it's still burning off. Paint and sealants need time to cure and burn off on new heating appliances

Sounds like it's still burning off. Paint and sealants need time to cure and burn off on new heating appliances[/QUOTE

 

[Enviro]

Sorry I'm new at this forum thing, we have had the wood stove for a little over a year, many fires.

 

[Swedishchef]

Have you swept it lately? What are your burning habits? I have seen bad setups and can confirm that creosote buildup smells bad.

So you say the smell is coming from the chimney, are you outdoors when you smell this?

Andrew

 

[begreen]

Is there a thermometer on the stove pipe? Is the air control getting turned down once the fire gets burning well?

 

[Enviro]

It was cleaned before season. I haven't been burning consistently all winter the weather has been crazy this year. Think the longest I have had it burning is approx 3 weeks straight and when I say 3 weeks straight, I mean that I load it up almost full, open the air the entire way until it is roaring then I slowly close the air off watching to make sure it keeps burning well until the air is closed completely and it maintains a good fire with secondaries burning. I let it burn like this until there are just embers left then I start the process over again. It is a fireplace insert therefore I have a thermometer on the top of the door.

 

[baseroom]

I find if the air is right and I'm burning efficiently there is a different smell. Not smoke or creosote but almost sweet!

 

[begreen]

Describe the odd smell. Is it like dust burning or wood smoke or more of a chemical smell? At what stage of the burn do you get the smell? What temp is the stove thermometer reading?

 

[Enviro]

The smell kind of reminds me of when an oven is put on the self clean cycle and it gets extremely hot.

It's once the secondaries are burning very well

 

[Enviro]

I forgot the thermometer reading is usually between 275-350 degrees

 

[begreen]

It sounds like the insert is getting quite hot. This is a tough stove to measure temperature on. There's no great place to locate a thermometer. The stove body could be getting much hotter than the thermometer indicates. Keep the blower going during these temperature peaks.

 

[Enviro]

Here are a few pictures of the insert after it's been burning for 1 hour and the air is closed completely. How does it look?

 

[begreen]

Lively.

 

[Enviro]

I went out and purchased an IR thermometer, shot the door next to my magnetic thermometer and it came up close to 100 degrees higher than what the magnetic one was reading, does this sound normal

 

[begreen]

Good that you checked. Some magnetic thermometers are notoriously inaccurate, while others are quite good. Condar makes a decent thermometer.

 

[DougA]

That smell sounds like the fire is too hot. IMHO the photo looks like the fire is too hot also.

 

[begreen]

Could be that the stove is just getting up to that temp and dust is being burned off. The IR thermometer will help determine actual temps.

 

[Enviro]

In that picture the air has been closed completely for almost an hour, I don't know how to control the fire other than the air I am up though for any suggestions

 

[firefighterjake]

Depending on how new . . . could be paint . . . or if you are still new to burning it could simply be the stove doing it's job. With my stove I can often tell that the secondaries are going strong even without looking up at the chimney (which typically has little to no smoke) as there is a distinct chemical-like smell . . .

 

[begreen]

In that picture the air has been closed completely for almost an hour, I don't know how to control the fire other than the air I am up though for any suggestions

The fire looks fully engaged, much like that in my avatar pic. To reduce large wood gas blooms burn down the coals before reloading. To burn them down I put on a couple small 1-2" branches on top of the coals and open up the air at least 50%.

 

[valuman]

With my stove I can often tell that the secondaries are going strong even without looking up at the chimney (which typically has little to no smoke) as there is a distinct chemical-like smell . . .

I get this too. The smell is reminiscent of creosote but different, more chemical as you describe it. If I went outside now I'm pretty sure I'd be able to smell it because with the stove top temp reading 635 degrees, the secondaries are really rolling.

 

[Wood Collector]

The smell kind of reminds me of when an oven is put on the self clean cycle and it gets extremely hot.

It's once the secondaries are burning very well

ENVIRO,
I have the same stove as you do. I had a smell like you describe and I looked in the front vent where the air comes out and saw a slight glow near the chimney collar. It was over firing. That same vent is where I take the stove top temp with my IR, it is the "stove top". When the over fire happened I wanted to gain more control of my heavy draft that I have with my 28 foot chimney. There is a bolt that is a "stop" for the air control that the factory has to put in for their various reasons. I removed it and can now truly close off the air to the point where I can suffocate the fire. I don't ever do that but I can certainly control the fire better than the factory EPA settings. The bolt is underneath the front of the insert. It looks like with a mirror you could see it. Look underneath the hinge side you'll see a slot that the air control opens and closes. The bolt head that you see mid-span of the slot but right along side of it is the "stop bolt" head. remove it and give that a try.

 

[Enviro]

Does that bolt unscrew easily ?

 

[Wood Collector]

Does that bolt unscrew easily ?

Yes it does. I think it was 9 or 10 mm. I used a ratchet. Did you find it?