Vermont casting smoking.

[Bbasehore]

Hi everyone long time reader first time poster! I have a1970’s vigilant, has been burning great for decades! However… since the end of last season I have been getting smoke coming out of the front of the stove whenever I burn it with both front doors open. (We love to open the doors and watch the fire (have done this for many years, with no problems) for a couple hours in the evening). I have tried EVERYTHING to fix this, chimney clean, burn box/ back burn box are spotless, cement to seals. But nothing has solved this problem. The ONLY thing that makes this slightly better, is closing the left front door… there is no smoke with only the right front door open! I know this sounds bizarre, but has this happened to anyone else? Can anyone help me from getting more frustrated than I already am?!?! Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Bbasehore]

Forgot… I have tried to burn with the front door of my house open and same result. Also if I load wood through the top of the stove, I have the same issue. Before I could watch the smoke get pulled back into the stove and straight up the chimney… now I watch a small steam of smoke come out through the front door. Very frustrating, I would love some ideas!

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

You have a draft issue, you say the chimney is clean, have you recently done anything to the house? Windows, doors, insulation? Are you certain the stove pipe, elbow thimble are clean? Did you clean out the chimney after sweeping? My FiL went several years without cleaning out the clean out door on his chimney, first fire of the year filled the house with smoke, the creosote had built up 12’ deep and blocked the thimble. Took 2 tractor bucket loads to empty it. The irony is that he once held a patent on oversized clean out doors.

 

[Bbasehore]

You have a draft issue, you say the chimney is clean, have you recently done anything to the house? Windows, doors, insulation? Are you certain the stove pipe, elbow thimble are clean? Did you clean out the chimney after sweeping? My FiL went several years without cleaning out the clean out door on his chimney, first fire of the year filled the house with smoke, the creosote had built up 12’ deep and blocked the thimble. Took 2 tractor bucket loads to empty it. The irony is that he once held a patent on oversized clean out doors.

Thanks, I really appreciate your reply, and agree that for some reason I have a draft issue, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why! No changes to the house, and I have had a chimney sweep come, and I have cleaned the chimney/pipes a couple times now, with no changes. Have also opened the chimney clean out and cleaned that out as well. I’m pretty much out of ideas, and it’s extremely frustrating.

 

[Burnin Since 1989]

Thanks, I really appreciate your reply, and agree that for some reason I have a draft issue, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why! No changes to the house, and I have had a chimney sweep come, and I have cleaned the chimney/pipes a couple times now, with no changes. Have also opened the chimney clean out and cleaned that out as well. I’m pretty much out of ideas, and it’s extremely frustrating.

Sounds to me like negative pressure issues? It seems like stoves don't breathe the same. Some are more temperamental than others. If we leave the bathroom fan on, on the second floor, I get smoke when I open the stove door. I have to open the damper, open the air intake, crack the door and give it a minute. If I get smoke, then I open the window some and give it a minute. If I still get smoke, either the dryer or bathroom fan are running. Or my wife opened a window in the upstairs bedroom and that wants to become our chimney. I've been dealing with it for years. I lowered my chimney height, raised my chimney height, but the only thing that works in my situation is opening the window a crack and letting the draft settle.