I have a basement free standing accentra pellet stove. No outside air hookup. I think I have a lousy draft. Is this why smoke is sometimes being pulled back in through the vent pipe?. Also when running I smell burnt pellet smell.? Any thoughts on how to fix this. Thankyou
Suggestions...help
- Thread starter Mjd800
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
Need more information . Length of vent , configuration and how well your house is sealed
If vent pipes are sealed and combustion fan working smoke should not come back down vent
smoke should be pushed out of vent by fan .
You could get smoke smell if vent joints not sealed . Some people use metal tape some silicon
tape some RTV to augment any factory seal
If vent pipes are sealed and combustion fan working smoke should not come back down vent
smoke should be pushed out of vent by fan .
You could get smoke smell if vent joints not sealed . Some people use metal tape some silicon
tape some RTV to augment any factory seal
The vent goes up about 6 feet then though to the outside and up 4 feet. House is pretty air tight. On startup it seems like when there's not enough air it smokes for a while til it finally lights. During that time is where at the bottom tee you see smoke coming back in. It is a basement, people said that the pressure may be causing this.
Snowmobileaddict
Burning Hunk
I have my stove in a finished basement as well. You do have to consider other causes of negative pressure inside the house. Gas fired water heater without outside combustion air? Gas fired clothes dryer? Exhaust fans on in other parts of the house? All these items add to the Natural "stack effect" that a multi-level home introduces to your circumstances.
Do you have 4" ID pellet vent pipe? If not, you are most likely undersized at 3" ID vent pipe.
It sounds like your pipe hooks onto your stove, turns 90 degrees, goes vertical, enters another 90 degree fitting, goes horizontal for a distance to get outside, then enters another 90 degree fitting, goes vertical for a distance and then exits at a termination cap.
If the above is accurate, you have 15' feet of equivalent vent length (EVL) just in 90 degree fittings. Add your vertical lengths (inside and outside) and divide that number by 2 and add it back to the 15' EVL mentioned above, then add your horizontal vent length for final EVL.
Once you hit the 15' EVL threshold, most industry guidance indicates that you should step up to 4" ID pellet pipe.
Adding an outside air kit would probably be beneficial with both diameter vent pipes, but it might not make up for the extra EVL from (3) 90 degree fittings done up in 3" ID pipe.
Do you have 4" ID pellet vent pipe? If not, you are most likely undersized at 3" ID vent pipe.
It sounds like your pipe hooks onto your stove, turns 90 degrees, goes vertical, enters another 90 degree fitting, goes horizontal for a distance to get outside, then enters another 90 degree fitting, goes vertical for a distance and then exits at a termination cap.
If the above is accurate, you have 15' feet of equivalent vent length (EVL) just in 90 degree fittings. Add your vertical lengths (inside and outside) and divide that number by 2 and add it back to the 15' EVL mentioned above, then add your horizontal vent length for final EVL.
Once you hit the 15' EVL threshold, most industry guidance indicates that you should step up to 4" ID pellet pipe.
Adding an outside air kit would probably be beneficial with both diameter vent pipes, but it might not make up for the extra EVL from (3) 90 degree fittings done up in 3" ID pipe.
Last edited:
I wonder why the Mason wouldn't have told me that. Do you think the outside kit would fix this or do you think the 4 inch pipe is the fix.
Snowmobileaddict
Burning Hunk
I'd offer that most any pellet stove, regardless of vent pipe diameter, can benefit from an outside air kit. It makes it much easier for the combustion blower to induce a proper draft, and if you are handy, its not that difficult to install.
Would this eliminate your smoke-back problem? Hard to say, but it might be worth a shot.
You'll most likely want to change to 4" ID pipe if at all possible. Do you have any recourse to take against your installer? You may convince them to correct your install if it was recent and you have an honest outfit you're working with.
Would this eliminate your smoke-back problem? Hard to say, but it might be worth a shot.
You'll most likely want to change to 4" ID pipe if at all possible. Do you have any recourse to take against your installer? You may convince them to correct your install if it was recent and you have an honest outfit you're working with.
If the smoke is coming out bottom of Tee Seal the joint
Smoke in fire box before ignition is normal
An outside air kit (OAC) may help But may not stop smoke at start up
just gives you outside air for combustion
Smoke in fire box before ignition is normal
An outside air kit (OAC) may help But may not stop smoke at start up
just gives you outside air for combustion
I actually did the work last week. Salesman never said that diameter of the pipe would make a difference. Very good people to.
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
Smoke in the firebox on start up is normal and if you have a leak in your vent you will surely smell smoke then. Because if you go outside you will see that smoke exiting your vent on start up. Pellet vent is under pressure, so start with sealing up that T. FWIW, I had to silicone tape my T which is in my fireplace, in certain conditions I could smell smoke. But I had to use a flashlight in the dark to see where the smoke was coming from.
Second, indeed basements are or can be more prone to negative pressure than some other parts of the house. Some stove manufacturers automatically call for an OAK in a basement install.
Third, if you went up 6 ft, you have a 90 off the stove, a 90 to get through the wall, a 90 to get to the pipe that goes up another 4 ft, you are probably over your EVL as suggested in your manual. You can get a 3" into 4" adapter and at any point along the way ( I'd probably choose outdoors) change from 3" to 4" and free up your restricted exhaust. I can't say how much it's restricted, it may run fine while clean but be very picky about early cleaning requirement so as not to further restrict it.
So to recap, I'd start with taping up that leaky T. I'd add an OAK. But until you add that OAK you could crack a window in the basement and see if the stove runs any more freely. But a leaky vent will always smell of smoke, good draft or not because the pellet vent system is under pressure.
The pellet smell could be just dust on the stove. I assume you mean a wood smell, pellets do get warm in the hopper and also some pellets have a strong smell of pine or spruce too. You're burning wood, ya know what I mean ? So some pellets surprisingly smell like wood ! Amazing isn't it.
Second, indeed basements are or can be more prone to negative pressure than some other parts of the house. Some stove manufacturers automatically call for an OAK in a basement install.
Third, if you went up 6 ft, you have a 90 off the stove, a 90 to get through the wall, a 90 to get to the pipe that goes up another 4 ft, you are probably over your EVL as suggested in your manual. You can get a 3" into 4" adapter and at any point along the way ( I'd probably choose outdoors) change from 3" to 4" and free up your restricted exhaust. I can't say how much it's restricted, it may run fine while clean but be very picky about early cleaning requirement so as not to further restrict it.
So to recap, I'd start with taping up that leaky T. I'd add an OAK. But until you add that OAK you could crack a window in the basement and see if the stove runs any more freely. But a leaky vent will always smell of smoke, good draft or not because the pellet vent system is under pressure.
The pellet smell could be just dust on the stove. I assume you mean a wood smell, pellets do get warm in the hopper and also some pellets have a strong smell of pine or spruce too. You're burning wood, ya know what I mean ? So some pellets surprisingly smell like wood ! Amazing isn't it.
Yea I appreciate the information. Course the guy who sold me the piping says I'm on the cusp for the evl. The piping I'm using is Olympia ventis. Suppose to be pretty good. I'm gonna do the oak tonight. I will follow up hopefully with news that it corrects the problem. I did notice that the piping is double walled, where I see the smoke usually is at the bottom tee coming from in between the two walls. Not sure what that means but the piping is very tight and does have a gasket system in use.
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
It simply means you need to seal it up ( I didn't mention that I also sealed all the fixed joints in my T with RTV as well as tape up the seam on the cap). If your EVL is on the cusp you probably just want to keep it clean with some regularity.
Nice. Thanks for the info....I will post asap with my results
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
So I did a pvc cold air kit setup. Stove came on very fast, however did see some smoke puffing back into the room from the tee near the vent. Any thoughts? I'm gonna double check my pipe tonight or tomorrow for anything that looks wrong. Was thinking of using foil tape around the tee?
When sliding the piping together the pipes were so snug and they have gaskets at each break. Should I silicone inside where the pipes connect
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
If you silicone inside those joints it will be difficult to get apart later on. I only siliconed ( RTV) the joints I know will be together long term and taped the ones I might take apart, like the clean out cap on the T for instance.
My T even leaked on the joints that were factory riveted together , that happened on the second year of use. Those I used RTV on but the clean out I taped.
So I have a small gasket leak....also I bought a few bags of pellets from lowes that had a strong wood smell.....just opened the hopper and realized the pellets in there had the smell I had been smelling in the room. Is that possible....also is that normal it gets that warm in the hopper. It's a Harman accentra
Also the draft meter was at double zero, was way off and was actually trying to pull the smoke back into the house
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
How is it that you have now come up with this new information ? Where is the small gasket leak ?
Had a tech come out, fixed the draft settings, then turned the stove on. The fire got going and he dropped a handful of pellets on the fire, went behind the stove and seen a little bit of smoke coming out near the gasket
alternativeheat
Minister of Fire
Probably the exhaust flange gasket. You can dismantle that and red rtv it and put it back together . Or you can get a new gasket, either will work. I'm surprised the tech didn't do it while he was there.
So what about your leaky T ?
So what about your leaky T ?
Stove was warm...he believes the draft was so wrong that it was drawing the smoke back in and back out of the T
Similar threads
