Hello
Has anyone else seen this problem??
This issue I have seen on many stoves. In this example it is happening on a Travis Lopi Pioneer Bay wood pellet stove. I have found the answer the hard way, that the problem with smoke or smoke smell coming out of the heat exchanger tubes is that the square part of the exhaust flange which is bolted to the exhaust blower housing and sealed with silicone. The first issue is that many times there is not enough silicone put on it at the factory during assembly but also the 4 self tapping bolts used in many cases are too small to hold it on securely. Therefore if you can grab the round part where the venting attaches and wiggle it back and forth the seal is most likely broken and leaking the smoke! Therefore it should be removed and cleaned with a wire wheel on my drill driver and larger self tapping screws should be used to re-install it. Typically I use # 10 1/2” long self tapping Stainless Steel screws to replace the OEM screws and plenty of clear high temperature silicone on both the flange and the housing before bolting them back together.
Below is a pic where I just put a new flange on since someone drilled a bolt hole to attach the venting in the old one. I use a T-Bolt clamp or a radiator clamp for easier servicing. That is just my 2 cent fix that works in many cases.
![[Hearth.com] Travis Lopi Pioneer Bay smoke or smoke smell coming out the front heat exchanger tubes.](https://www.hearth.com/talk/styles/default/xenforo/smileys/grin.gif "[Hearth.com] Travis Lopi Pioneer Bay smoke or smoke smell coming out the front heat exchanger tubes.")
![[Hearth.com] Travis Lopi Pioneer Bay smoke or smoke smell coming out the front heat exchanger tubes.](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_4404-webp.329647/ "[Hearth.com] Travis Lopi Pioneer Bay smoke or smoke smell coming out the front heat exchanger tubes.")
Has anyone else seen this problem??
This issue I have seen on many stoves. In this example it is happening on a Travis Lopi Pioneer Bay wood pellet stove. I have found the answer the hard way, that the problem with smoke or smoke smell coming out of the heat exchanger tubes is that the square part of the exhaust flange which is bolted to the exhaust blower housing and sealed with silicone. The first issue is that many times there is not enough silicone put on it at the factory during assembly but also the 4 self tapping bolts used in many cases are too small to hold it on securely. Therefore if you can grab the round part where the venting attaches and wiggle it back and forth the seal is most likely broken and leaking the smoke! Therefore it should be removed and cleaned with a wire wheel on my drill driver and larger self tapping screws should be used to re-install it. Typically I use # 10 1/2” long self tapping Stainless Steel screws to replace the OEM screws and plenty of clear high temperature silicone on both the flange and the housing before bolting them back together.
Below is a pic where I just put a new flange on since someone drilled a bolt hole to attach the venting in the old one. I use a T-Bolt clamp or a radiator clamp for easier servicing. That is just my 2 cent fix that works in many cases.
