Stove smell on light up...does yours smell?

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Hey Jimbob, are you wondering what happened to Swedishchef's smelly stove?
I had a Harmon Oakwood that smelled so bad I couldn't use it, the dealer offered me any stove I wanted so I traded my Oakwood in for a Regency. When I disassembled the Oakwood I found that most of the fiberglass gaskets were burned and that is where the smell was coming from, burned leaking gaskets. The stove was never over fired, it was either a defective unit or just a bad design all together. The after burner concept is a problem too, Harmon should offer a temp gauge so one will know when to close the after burner damper. I heated 4000 SF in BC with a Regency F2400 M, I bought the same stove to heat my 1700 SF house in Eastern Washington State and it gets rather cool when the outside temp is -20 to -30 C. This Regency burns 24/7 excluding chimney cleaning day, I love it! Wish I had the larger stove though.
Grateful
 
Thanks for the update. Kinda strange that Swedishchef's Osburn has the smell, being that it is a welded steel box stove. The only gaskets on it are the door and window gaskets, AFAIK.
I was curious to see if Osburn/SBI helped Swedishchef out, being that almost a year has passed.
The 2400 looks like a nice stove. I have the PE Summit, which is about the same size as the Regency 3100. It pounds out the heat pretty good.
 
I think Swedishchef resolved that problem, sold it to someone that needed a garage heater? I didn't see that post, maybe he will respond. I wish more people knew about this site so they can avoid buying stoves that are problematic. No complaints with the Regency, my house is a 1959 rancher and could use a few more inches of wall insulation though.

Grateful
 
There are times I get a smell from my stove. It only happens when I heat it up really hot from a cold start. I have come to the conclusion that it is the dust on my stove pipe getting hot, not burning just getting hot enough to smell.
 
ditto on the dust smell - hardly noticeable and very temporary (from a cold start to a hot stove).

Hope the Chef comes back to this thread - I would have liked to hear how this turned out since I'm also an Osburn owner. My stove so far has been great. Only problem to date is my carelessness. I removed the baffle bricks to clean the chimney, including the 2 fiberboard pieces that sit on the top of the bricks - and sat everything on the floor - duh - one of the dogs stepped on one of the boards (that stuff is no match for 110 lb pup). Good thing one of the local woodstove guys stocked some spare parts.
 
Hey guys

Nice to see the thread got going again...

yes, I did resolve the problem. I was finally able to convince the company to come and pickup the stove. I had explained that I wanted some sort of resolution or I would have to resort to other methods to get some kind of service from them (better business bureau complaint, etc). The deal I struck with Osburn was as follows: they will send someone to pick it up, if it is NOT defective I gotta pay for the shipping both ways and if IT IS defective, they pay both ways. I figured, meh, what do I have to lose?

So they sent the installer to come get the stove (he was extremely unhappy to be doing that since I live over 1 hr away from him and he had to come here just for me..he said "this trip certainly isn't paying for itself" to which I replied " sorry to hear that but it's not my problem".

5 weeks later I get a call from the customer service rep I had been dealing with. He was very polite and kind. He says " We examined your stove in our labs, we set it up in a room of similar dimensions. You're right, there is a weird smell emitting from the stove. We scoped it, grinded all the paint off and we can't determine what it is. You'll be getting a free one in 3 weeks time, brand new".

So I now have a proper Osburn 2300 that does not smell. It heat my home quite well. One the cruising starts, I need to blow a fan across the top of it otherwise it overheats! Stove top can easily reach 800-900 degree F

Hammers: what model do you have?

Andrew
 
I forgot to mention, according to the customer service rep, the technicians who work there had never seen such a defect in their 30 years working at their plant. Like I said, "There's a first time for everything"

A.
 
Hi SwedishChef - glad it worked out for you and thanks for the update. Must have been a lot of frustration but it does sound like a one-of-a-kind thing that probably had them scratching their heads. In any case I'm glad SBI got you a new unit.

My stove is the Osburn 2200. In @ 1500 sq ft home, mostly open concept, it does a pretty nice job. It was -34 deg C a couple weeks ago - the unit kept us toasty. Guess that was a pretty good test... :)

I got a feeling the 2300 would cook us right out of there - looks like it could thrown some heat. Anyway good luck with the new(er) stove.
 
Glad to hear SBI is a good company, willing to stand behind their product, being that I sometimes recommend their stoves to people.
:)
 
Hey guys

Yes I am also happy that I got a new unit. I just fed my kid a bottle and am currently watching my stove take off again for the morning.

Hammers: the 2300 is a great stove. I love the bypass damper that I leave open for 4-5 mins ona reload to get the flames flowing. It heats up the chimney fast then I close it and let the stove operate "normally". The heat this thing puts out is incredible. It does what I want it to do: heat my basement and warm my floors upstairs. Obviously a fan is needed to help push the hot air around in a 1300 sqft basement.

Jimbob: they are a great stove for the quality/price ratio. I am certain that a PE Summit or an Olso 500 would have done the job great. However, no bypass damper (which is handy when lighting with a negative pressure) and a much more expensive product is what turned me off of the other companies since I was a first time wood heater.

Overall I am very pleased with SBI and my little heater :)

ANdrew
 
Feeling the heat off that 2300 must be twice as nice after all the stress and worry about getting the situation resolved - enjoy!

FWIW - (I might have posted this elsewhere - my apologies if it's a bit redundant) - my top picks were Kent and Osburn (for the 3-way bay windows, the Kent Rosebay model being the nicest looking IMHO) and Pacific Energy (Vista or Super). The Kent purchase raised some flags with my insurance company (dealer in US, no CSA sticker, or something like that) - not sure how legit their concerns were but I didn't need the hassle or the stress. The Osburn was on a clearance (last unit in stock, end of season) and I got it for a great price. The PE stove was a beautiful unit to look at, and the specs and reviews were all great. It came down to a serious difference in cost, and me being hooked on the bay glass, and so far I don't regret buying the Osburn unit.
 
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