Sweet smell from chimney after big burn in new stove

[AnnaBee]

I recently had a new wood stove insert installed. The chimney smell never fully went away after the cleaning they did before install. After I had a big burn (to help get rid of the new stove burning smell) I started noticing a strong sweet smell coming from the fireplace. The smell comes out from under the stove. I've always been told that a sweet smell is creosote. The installer said there is no way any creosote was left because they cut out part of the heat tubes out and sealed them off and packed it with insulation. My theory is the high heat burn melted any leftover creosote and that's what I'm smelling. Is that possible or is it maybe a smell from the stove or lining? It smells nothing like the the smell during the time of the big burn.

I also have an ash trap in the bottom of the fireplace that the installer said he would clean out from the outside clean out door. We took pictures inside the the ash pit from the outside door. It looks like the opening was either sealed or has just been sealed shut from built up ash. Either way it doesn't look like they cleaned it out given the spider egg sacks and lizard poop we found on the floor of the floor of it. If there is a bunch of ash in the ash trap could that be the smell I'm getting?

 

[begreen]

Hard to say what it is. Can we assume the chimney was well cleaned before installation? Was a full stainless steel liner installed? Did they use any sealant around the flue collar connection?

 

[AnnaBee]

They did a full cleaning and sprayed a sealant paint on the fire pit walls dince I was already having smell issues. I think the smell is from the heat exchanger tubes but they said there is no way creosote could have gotten inside them. When they cut out part of the tubes they removed a lot of creosote that was stuck on top of them. They used a stailess steel tube but I'm not dure how they sealed things.

 

[iron]

sweet smell? what kind of wood are you burning?

 

[AnnaBee]

We burned oak and madrone. Both were dry. But I don't understand why the smell is coming from the fireplace unless there is still a draft issue and I can't figure out where that would come from.

It's getting worse since earlier today. It has a sweet smell mixed with a weird smell that I can't quite pinpoint. It almost smells like vinegar at times.

 

[AnnaBee]

The smell has gotten worse after it started raining. It smells kind of like a fire after you dump water on it. After looking through the stove installation paperwork I realized that the manufacturers cap is much smaller than the one they left on the roof. They said our original cap was better but I think maybe it's too big and allowing too much air and moisture into the liner.

 

[begreen]

I doubt it's the cap. Can you remove or have the surround removed. If yes, check to see if there is moisture on top of the stove. If so it might be from the storm collar leaking. If it is wet around the chimney area it might be that the mortar is leaking and not the new installation. This will need some eyes on it to isolate the problem.