Start up smoke

[whiskeyrichard]

I would have guessed that this question has been asked a thousand times, but I did not find much about it from searching.

I have a Harmon xxv. Once it gets running, it runs very well, and does not smoke but it always blows a puff of smoke at startup. The person who installed my stove said this was normal, but I have a hard time believing that.

There is not enough smoke at startup that I have been able to track it's source down.

Are any of you experiencing this as well?


Thanks,
wr

 

[Xena]

It's normal. My st croix does it, and every other
pellet stove owner I've talked to said theirs does it.
Enjoy that bad boy and stay warm!

 

[whiskeyrichard]

ok, so assuming it is normal, where the heck doe it usually come from?

out the distribution blower?
out some other spot?

is there is a place where smoke can get out, what stops other crud from getting out during the rest of the burn cycle?

Thanks again.....I have a lot of questions about these pellet stoves


WR

 

[Xena]

Oh ok. You mean a puff of smoke actually comes out into the room?
I thought you just meant that inside the stove had smoke until
the pellets lit then it was clear - that is normal.
My stove did do the puff thing a couple of times the first season of use.
When it did do it, it was one big puff right out the heat exchange tubes
just before the pellets lit up.
I don't know what caused it but it only did it a couple of times
in that first year. I did notice that when it did happen, the burn pot had
an excess of pellets in it so that may have been the reason but that's
just a guess on my part.
Maybe someone else will have more answers for you on the whys and hows.

 

[whiskeyrichard]

yeah, I have not been able to see the smoke, but you certainly can smell it. It only happens when the stove starts up.

I have the stove burning for it's 3rd time right now, and again when it lit itself up, it let out a little smoke burp and then went on with life.

wr

 

[tinkabranc]

My stove blows a puff of smoke out the pipe on startup but never in the house.
It usually clears right up right away. During this time, sometimes I do get a little
wiff of a "sweet" smell near the stove for a minute or two but not very often.
Are you getting smoke in the house?

 

[whiskeyrichard]

yes, there is definately a smell of burning pellets when the stove starts up. It is very apparent. I also get a "sweet" smell during the entire burn cycle...I originally had thought is was the "new stove smell", but i t has not yet gone away yet and the stove has been run hard for quite a few hours.

I take it this is not "normal"?

WR

 

[hearthtools]

Almost all pellet stove puff a LITTLE smoke on start up.

The firebox is not air tight
with Airwash and Heat exchange scrapper rod hole in the front or top.

When the stove first starts you are going to get that smoke and a sudden Flash of combustion like an explosion
the air and smoke is going to go to the Closest LESS resistant opening
air wash and hole for the heat exchange scrapper.
This is due to the pipe being COLD (more Resistance) and the ROOM warmer

Not that big of a deal unless you are getting a large Flash and it is blowing ash in the room
then you might want to look at your venting and make sure you have a rise in the pipe.

 

[moralleper]

I too had the smell of smoke in the room during startup when I first got my stove. I resolved this by sealing all of the joints in the vent pipe, especially the 45 bends.

 

[Tom D]

i have the harman xxv and on startup i get a puff of smoke out of exhaust been around 20 deg. during the day 12 deg at night
feed rate at 1.5 1 bag of pellets per day love the stove. 72 deg during day 68 deg. at night heating 2 story house upstairs 65 deg.

 

[GVA]

You have a leak in your pipe?
No scraper rod on the Harman..
Seal all the joints with High temp RTV and you sould be allright..
I've heard but never tried...... to turn off all the lights and start the stove and inspect all the joints with a flashlight..... If you have a leak this is the easiest way to find it...

 

[Scottydawg22]

I think you're like me. New stove owner and a bit aprehensive at having a burning appliance. I can relate. I just installed a castille and siliconed all of the joints, made sure that they were locked and taped with foil tape. I'm STILL a bit nervous. With mine though I never really saw any smoke, it was more of a smell. I did see smoke in the firebox. It stopped once it got burning. The thing is my ex and I had a wood stove and smelled way more and had actually some smoke in the room at times. My point is, the wood stove was way smokier and smellier than the pellet stove. Everything is good. I think one just needs to get used to it.

PS If in doubt, check your manual and make sure you did everything that was recommended for venting.

 

[Kenny1]

Some good advice from GVA and others.

If the pipe is well sealed, and there is still a smell of smoke on start up, prehaps there is an air leak in the house? Allowing outside air in? Maybe an air leak close to the pellet exhause?

Just a thought.

Cheers

Kenny

 

[kserr]

I have a St Croix EXP and I could smell smoke on start up. We closed all the lights and looked with a flashlight and found out it was comeing from the cap on the clean out tee , I have simpson duravent I guess the gasket does not seal that well. You could check that out. I don't mind kind of like the smell. :lol:

 

[escobarmj]

yes, there is definately a smell of burning pellets when the stove starts up. It is very apparent. I also get a "sweet" smell during the entire burn cycle...I originally had thought is was the "new stove smell", but i t has not yet gone away yet and the stove has been run hard for quite a few hours.

I take it this is not "normal"?

WR

My XXV doesn't produce any smoke at start up. The only smell that I could detect was from the new paint. After a few days of burning, that went away.

 

[Jabbers]

I get smoke on start up. Its coming from the air gap in the appliance adapter. When I get some time I will take it off and reseal it. This RTV will make it very difficult to get all my pipe apart.