Smoking XXV

[mtnbiker727]

So we bought a used XXV for our back room, and thought it really compliments the P68. We got it set up and were using it over the weekend, and thought we smelled the smell of cigarette smoke coming from the stove. We figured the previous owner was a smoker and hopefully the smell would work itself out.

The exhaust of the stove goes straight out below and between two windows, which I thought could be a problem, but I had extra pipe, so I figured I could change it if needed. I have not been able to caulk the thimble, because of freezing temperatures since we installed the stove.

This morning I turned the stove on and got real smoke in the room, which I figured was because of the lack of caulk, so we shut the stove down right away. This evening I added 6 feet of vertical pipe to get it up past the roofline and pointed away from the house, since it's still too cold to use caulk, and in case the power goes out we would have natural draft. I turned the stove on and got a little bit of real smoke in the room, but it cleared up and even though I was looking behind the stove with a flashlight, I couldn't find the source.

Then we smelled what we thought was the cigarette smoke coming back. My throat and nose started to burn from it, so I shut the stove down.

I started looking around at the stove, because it's built way different from the P68. There's only one door, and when you open the door, there's a little hinged compartment that you can pull down to access the ash pan. When we bought the stove I questioned how this would seal across the crack. When I looked under the stove I noticed there's a spring and a little cable to hold the ash pan door up on the right side, but the one on the left side is missing. I will order one if I can find it.

Does anyone else have any tips for diagnosing smoke in this stove? The way the door closes, I don't know if I can easily do the dollar bill test, but I'll try it when it gets cold.

I'm trying to attach photos. I don't know what it's supposed to look like, but something doesn't seem right about the seals down by the ash pan.

 

[mtnbiker727]

I finally got my phone to upload the photos. Some of the sealing material in the ash tray area is hard as a rock, but the top portion is fuzzy and soft, and on the left side it turns and goes into the ash tray area a couple inches, like it's hanging there, which I'm sure isn't right. Again, I don't know what this is supposed to look like, so any insight would be helpful.

 

[Whitenuckler]

I finally got my phone to upload the photos. Some of the sealing material in the ash tray area is hard as a rock, but the top portion is fuzzy and soft, and on the left side it turns and goes into the ash tray area a couple inches, like it's hanging there, which I'm sure isn't right. Again, I don't know what this is supposed to look like, so any insight would be helpful.

I don't know much about your stove, it looks like the single main door must have to seal everything. It the entire surface flat once the ash door is closed where the door rope gasket will sit? Do you think the door gasket needs to be replaced? The exhaust/combustion blower should be sucking air through any leaks there, so normally the smelly air would come out downstream of the blower fan ie your venting.

 

[NS P-68]

God chance your venting is leaking. In a dark room shine a light on all your joints while your stove is starting up ...this is when your stove produces most smoke..

 

[mtnbiker727]

God chance your venting is leaking. In a dark room shine a light on all your joints while your stove is starting up ...this is when your stove produces most smoke..

I did that and didn't see any smoke.

 

[NS P-68]

Dollar bill test on your door gaskets...?

 

[mtnbiker727]

Dollar bill test on your door gaskets...?

Last night I cleaned the stove, did the dollar bill test all the way around the door, and studied the ash door gasket.

I couldn't find anything that jumped out, except I don't see how that ash door gasket accomplishes anything, and I'm not sure the one in my stove is working the way it's supposed to.

I decided to slop more RTV on the pipe joints.

This evening I fired the stove up and crawled behind it again and still didn't see any smoke. I couldn't smell it right away either. After a few minutes there was a faint smell. I think possibly the smoke is coming in through the leaky windows. Since the vertical pipe is now higher than my roof, I'm planning to buy a vertical vent cap, which should stop the smoke from blowing by the windows. Hopefully that takes care of it.

 

[mtnbiker727]

I ordered the cap and it arrived yesterday. I put another 18 inch length of pipe on top and that cap, then lit the stove. I ran it for 2 1/2 hours and I didn't smell anything inside (although my nose is really stuffy, so...).

I also started looking for the ash door gasket. I made the mistake of calling my local Harman dealer, who did a terrible job of the "professional" install of my P68 7 years ago (no OAK, no appliance adapter, multiple screws punctured the inner liner). I asked them about the gasket, and at first they had no idea what I was talking about. Then I sent them some pictures and they assured me this was just the normal rope gasket, and I should ignore everything I've seen online, because it's all wrong and they are right.

So I dug out the manual and found the part number, and cross-referenced it with the part I found here: https://pellet-stove-parts-4less.com/collections/harman-pellet-stove-parts-xxv and surprise, they're the same!

Once again the dealer is wrong, and I will not be calling them again for any reason.

But if this new termination location works, I'm not going to spend the $39.99 plus shipping to buy the gasket either.

I did notice flames on the left side of the back of the burn pot, so I need to see if the flame guide is settled, or if there's another issue. I've read there's a gasket behind the burn pot???