Smoke smell when opening bypass!

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JTK2000

New Member
Dec 2, 2022
4
ND
Lopi Evergreen wood stove a few days old with a few burns. Starting to smell smoke when bypass gets pulled open with door still shut! What is going on there?

I’ve had the box loaded up a few times and because of a slight negative pressure, it has to get burning pretty good before I can close the bypass and start closing the vent if I don’t want the flame to go out right away. Installers are coming next week to add a OAK.

My concern is that I accidentally over fired and damaged the bypass but the fire didn’t seem over the top to me. I grew up with a fire place and we had that thing with bigger fires in it so nothing out of the ordinary for me. I’m gonna be pissed if my wood stove can’t handle a hot fire!

Has anyone else experienced this? Can’t find any info on google about this problem. Please help!
 
Sounds like Travis wants the installers to extend the chimney before trying an OAK. My only issue with that is there is already a ton of chimney sticking out! It would be a huge eye sore!

Travis also thinks the smoke smell when opening the bypass is from a negative back draft. Does that sound right to any of you?
 
It could be, depending on how the house was built, competition from other fans, how tight the house was built, and where the stove is located in the house.