Whitfield Quest Pellet Stove - Fly Ash Or Smoke Problem

[Qcan]

Maybe one of you can point me in the proper direction before I call an expert.

I have a Whitfield Quest. It’s about 10 years old. Up until this year, I used it religiously. I probably went through a good 6000 pounds of pellets and year. I always give it a good cleaning twice a season. I noticed late last season that there a small whiff on ash smell coming from somewhere. It has progressively gotten worse to the point where I stopped using the stove a few weeks ago. I clean the pipes twice a year and put generous amounts of hi-temp silicone all around the joints of the pipes where need be. I replaced the door gasket at the end of last season thinking that maybe there was a leak there that I couldn’t detect. That wasn’t the issue. I have come to the conclusion that perhaps there is a pinhole somewhere in the blower tube/tubes or a small hole has developed somewhere else. I don’t believe that it is in the exhaust pipes as I can always spot a “leak” in the dark using a flashlight.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks.

 

[hearthtools]

If you are getting smoke in the house and the flue is not blocked
then it most likely coming from the combustion blower back.
Every thing before the combustion blower is NEGATIVE are and is sucking smoke and not blowing smoke.

Some times it is normal for a little puff of smoke smell when the stove first starts.

 

[traveler]

If you are getting smoke in the house and the flue is not blocked
then it most likely coming from the combustion blower back.
Every thing before the combustion blower is NEGATIVE are and is sucking smoke and not blowing smoke.

Some times it is normal for a little puff of smoke smell when the stove first starts.

My timing must be perfect. I also have a Whitfield pellet stove, 12 years old, that developed a very bad smoke problem. No longer get any damper action, the flame goes out on low setting (when the thermostat kicks in), smolders for a while with pellets dropping on top of the hot ash, with smoke pouring out of the top of the ash pan door. I replaced the door and window gaskets with the same spec fiberglass material (no one stocks 3/8” x 1/8” here), but I can’t get the correct ash pan gasket. Lennox won’t sell it to me, and none of the dealers within 100 miles will stock it or order it for me (that is the ones who will answer the phone). Tried to fit an adhesive-backed fiberglass gasket with the same width (to clear the ash pan itself), but the thickness is too short, so it’s still in trouble. Web searches are showing me generic replacements, and this particular gasket is formed in a loop (rope gasket pressed and formed to fit the back of the ash pan door), so I can’t take a chance that a generic will finally seal that space. Is there anyone who sells the correct Whitfield gasket who can ship here?

This stove had a bad service history from the local Whitfield dealer who originally installed it. The first time I had a smoke problem, and a small explosion in the burn chamber (when the flame went out and a bad controller continued to allow the auger motor to run with all the fans off) along with a little fly-ash snowstorm outside in minus 20 degree weather, the service guy who installed it (for the previous owner) insisted it was the damper running the stove too hot (it wasn’t, I reverse engineered the controller and found the problem, but had to buy a new one anyway). When I took out the glass to replace the gaskets I found they had also folded the flat gasket around the edge of the glass, rather than attach it to the glass with an adhesive back). Exhaust pipe was being held in place by one sheet metal screw, and the high-temp silicone had fallen out long ago. I stopped buying pellets from this dealer when he tried to charge me twice what a new controller was worth (I had the list price before I called). Most of the Lennox/Whitfield dealers in the state of NJ are extremely independent and very difficult to deal with, especially now during the heating season, and there’s only one within 100 miles I can count on, though he stocks parts only for the newer models.

 

[hearthtools]

If you are getting smoke in the house and the flue is not blocked
then it most likely coming from the combustion blower back.
Every thing before the combustion blower is NEGATIVE are and is sucking smoke and not blowing smoke.

Some times it is normal for a little puff of smoke smell when the stove first starts.

My timing must be perfect. I also have a Whitfield pellet stove, 12 years old, that developed a very bad smoke problem. No longer get any damper action, the flame goes out on low setting (when the thermostat kicks in), smolders for a while with pellets dropping on top of the hot ash, with smoke pouring out of the top of the ash pan door. I replaced the door and window gaskets with the same spec fiberglass material (no one stocks 3/8” x 1/8” here), but I can’t get the correct ash pan gasket. Lennox won’t sell it to me, and none of the dealers within 100 miles will stock it or order it for me (that is the ones who will answer the phone). Tried to fit an adhesive-backed fiberglass gasket with the same width (to clear the ash pan itself), but the thickness is too short, so it’s still in trouble. Web searches are showing me generic replacements, and this particular gasket is formed in a loop (rope gasket pressed and formed to fit the back of the ash pan door), so I can’t take a chance that a generic will finally seal that space. Is there anyone who sells the correct Whitfield gasket who can ship here?

This stove had a bad service history from the local Whitfield dealer who originally installed it. The first time I had a smoke problem, and a small explosion in the burn chamber (when the flame went out and a bad controller continued to allow the auger motor to run with all the fans off) along with a little fly-ash snowstorm outside in minus 20 degree weather, the service guy who installed it (for the previous owner) insisted it was the damper running the stove too hot (it wasn’t, I reverse engineered the controller and found the problem, but had to buy a new one anyway). When I took out the glass to replace the gaskets I found they had also folded the flat gasket around the edge of the glass, rather than attach it to the glass with an adhesive back). Exhaust pipe was being held in place by one sheet metal screw, and the high-temp silicone had fallen out long ago. I stopped buying pellets from this dealer when he tried to charge me twice what a new controller was worth (I had the list price before I called). Most of the Lennox/Whitfield dealers in the state of NJ are extremely independent and very difficult to deal with, especially now during the heating season, and there’s only one within 100 miles I can count on, though he stocks parts only for the newer models.

sounds like you need to follow the steps in the sticky topic at the top of the pellet room
Sticky: Tips on if Your pellet stove is burning lazy and or getting smoke in the house
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/13419/

 

[TMLfan]

Hi there,

I was cruising the web hoping to find an answer to our smoke problem. We just installed a Whitfield Quest stove and had problems of smoke coming out. We did many things to try and fix it, cleaning, new gasket...only to find that the door needed an adjustment. We tightened the door hinges and now it works great.

This maybe too late, but thought I would send info anyway.