My lopi Answer woodburner is not two years old and is leaking acrid smell. I cannot detect actual smoke. The company I bought it from has not been here to see it yet but give me no confidence they will find the problem since their opinion is this cannot be happening. It worked great all last season and the first six weeks of this season. I have tried everything. It is leaking, causing headaches. I do have a co detector and had local power co. check. Anybody have any ideas?
smelly,leaky,woodburner
- Thread starter haybalebill
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Have you checked the flue and chimney? Is your wood seasoned properly? Creasote is an offensive smell and will linger.
This is just about the right amount of time from purchase to be having creosote troubles if you have not cleaned your chimney properly. Thats with good wood if you have been burning with not so dry wood then it could happen in days. Go outside and look at your chimney cap i bet its looking partially plugged. Either way you need to check by looking up or down the chimney.
Thanks for the reply. I have cleaned my chimney in the summer, in December, and again two weeks ago. I used the proper size wire brush ball. Also cleaned firebox. Is there some other method? I have been leaning on the glass in the door or the glass seal being faulty. The co. I bought it from says no. I did change the door gasket.
I am wondering what chimney setup you have? If its a liner in an established chimney maybe you did not clean the chimney enough before installing liner and this is old creosote from original chimney? If your glass gasket is leaking you should have shorter hot fires also there would be some indication such as discoloration of glass where its leaking. That being said I do not think extra air would cause this smell.
To really figure this out we need to know more about your stove setup. Also does this smell happen all the time or just at startup. Does it happen at high heat or low heat such as when you have the air turned down. Do you have a strong draft or do you sometimes have back puffing. Is it hard to start.
To really figure this out we need to know more about your stove setup. Also does this smell happen all the time or just at startup. Does it happen at high heat or low heat such as when you have the air turned down. Do you have a strong draft or do you sometimes have back puffing. Is it hard to start.
I have no liner. It is a stand alone chimney. All stainless steel. The only discoloration on glass is sometimes around the edge close to the glass seal. I have less problem with my glass getting all creosoted up I believe because all I can have is small hot fires. On wide open burn. When I close the air down I get severe smell. When I pack it full For a overnight burn it lets out a lot of smell. The only way I can burn all day is to get it going then burn one log at a time. It seems to be getting worse. Start up does not seem to have any more maybe a little less until things warm up. Basically this has become an all the time in various degrees. Sometimes it helps a bit to have the door open a crack. Have you ever heard of a door going bad in any way. Thank you.
This is a tough one. Your not getting smell when wide open because the draft is pulling air up chimney. There are possible problems with your burning but the smell is the big issue. Some have reported troubles with specific pipe paint. Seems the manufacturer used the wrong stuff. So one of the possible fixes would be to replace the pipe from stove to ceiling. You could just use cheap single wall to test this.
Is it possible you have never had this stove really hot. I mean hot 700 or so for an extended time. Its possible that there is a spot of creosote that needs a higher temp to remove it. Do you have double wall from stove to ceiling?
I do not know your stove but do you have an ash drawer? If so does it have a gasket and have you changed it? Is it secure some drawers let in air to firebox if not sealed properly. Check your ash drawer contents.
Is it possible you have never had this stove really hot. I mean hot 700 or so for an extended time. Its possible that there is a spot of creosote that needs a higher temp to remove it. Do you have double wall from stove to ceiling?
I do not know your stove but do you have an ash drawer? If so does it have a gasket and have you changed it? Is it secure some drawers let in air to firebox if not sealed properly. Check your ash drawer contents.
No ashdrawer. I have double walled pipe. I actually had that pipe apart today to clean and check it. Upon doing so I found a seam on the inner pipe is split open. This is about 5" above the top of the stove where it looks to me something (smoke os odor or both) could escape. So I took it to the person I bought it from. He said he did not think this would be the problem. So I don't know. This is pretty much the same reaction he has had the whole time. We did have a good talk. My appointment is for service is Monday. We are going to proceed with that and go from there. Thank you for your thoughts. and if you have any thoughts on this split seam they would be appreciated
haybalebill the pungent odor you describe does sound like unseasoned wood. Any chance you can get some known seasoned wood to burn with for a few days to nail the problem down?
Then there may may the possibility that your wood in almost ready but your burning too slow as in for duration not heat.
Keep you stove burning WOT and do the following. To check for almost seasoned wood make smaller splits and see if they will burn hot in the 600° until you have an established coal bed. As the opportunity presents itself load up one of you larger splits. If it slowly sucks the fire down your wood is unseasoned...if the fire continues but is somewhat diminished then you've been burning to slow and need to let more air in the box. Smaller splits will help to.
It's probably not a bad idea to make sure the chimney isn't plugged up either. Go to the clean out and with a small mirror in you hand angle it so you can look up toward the top of the chimney.
Then there may may the possibility that your wood in almost ready but your burning too slow as in for duration not heat.
Keep you stove burning WOT and do the following. To check for almost seasoned wood make smaller splits and see if they will burn hot in the 600° until you have an established coal bed. As the opportunity presents itself load up one of you larger splits. If it slowly sucks the fire down your wood is unseasoned...if the fire continues but is somewhat diminished then you've been burning to slow and need to let more air in the box. Smaller splits will help to.
It's probably not a bad idea to make sure the chimney isn't plugged up either. Go to the clean out and with a small mirror in you hand angle it so you can look up toward the top of the chimney.
I have cleaned my chimney 3 times this winter. Not that it needed it,I cleaned it out in August.I cleaned it yesterday,and as I said above found a seam in the inner wall of my double wall pipe had split open. It seems to me that smoke or smell could easily escape into the house. But the place I bought it says pobably not. Should know more about that Monday during expensive service call. As far as wood not being perfect for burning I had about six cords of wood to start the year.Several different types from different places. About two cords were left over from the year before. I have tried burning it every way you suggested and some. I know that last year 2008 I burned wood I probably should not have. I had no problem. It is a sealed box . I have a leak. Thank you.
That was just a joke aimed at a poster on here by the name of Jags. Lots of folks poke fun at him.
Bill, I too lean on the wood, especially with you saying how often you are cleaning your chimney However, you also must look at the stove and flue for sure. I hope you find the problem.
Bill, I too lean on the wood, especially with you saying how often you are cleaning your chimney However, you also must look at the stove and flue for sure. I hope you find the problem.
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