Whitfield Quest WP4 burn gasses in house

[Smaug1]

I have recently installed a used Whitfield WP4 in my home and seem to be having problems with smoke gasses inside. I have sealed up the exhaust pipes (new installation) and replaced gasket on the ash pan. The gaskets around the windows seem to be fine. Any suggestions what else to check? Also, should there be an open rectangular hole about 1 1/2 by 2" inside the back of the stove in the metal wall, located just under the burn grate? There is no screen or anything on it. I assume it may be some sort of fresh air inlet to the ashpan just under the burn grate. The hole seems to belong there, not a rust through. Clean edges, etc. Oh, and I do have a fresh air hookup to the stove as well, especially since the house is new construction and very tight.
Thanks in advance,
Jim

 

[Ricks]

I am assuming you also checked the door gasket as well as the gaskets between the windows. You also have a gasket on the exhaust blower. You can try shinning a light in the exhaust pipe to determine if the pipe has any leaks.

The square opening just below the burn grate is supposed to be there. On my Quest this "port" is open with no screen or damper.

While you noted the stove does have a fresh air intake, on my Quest, the fresh air intake is not sealed and can still draw room air in. The early Quests, while great stoves, do lack many of the improvements on later models.

Rick..........

 

[Smaug1]

I am assuming you also checked the door gasket as well as the gaskets between the windows. You also have a gasket on the exhaust blower. You can try shinning a light in the exhaust pipe to determine if the pipe has any leaks.

The square opening just below the burn grate is supposed to be there. On my Quest this "port" is open with no screen or damper.

While you noted the stove does have a fresh air intake, on my Quest, the fresh air intake is not sealed and can still draw room air in. The early Quests, while great stoves, do lack many of the improvements on later models.

Rick..........

Hi Rick,
Yes, I did check the door gasket, but I did not do anything with the window gasket. Perhaps that is where the problem is. I thought I might try lighting some piece of wood and blowing out the flame and putting it in the firebox to smoke, then turning on the blowers without feeding pellets and see if I get smoke anywhere. What do you think?
It really does put out a lot of heat, but I don't want to run it long like it is.
Thanks,
Jim

 

[Ricks]

The window gaskets could leak and allow smoke into the room. I think creating some smoke in the stove may work, but the smoke will need to be very dark to allow you to see the leak. I would try a flashlight in the stove at night to see if the door and window gaskets are leaking.

Rick........

 

[Smaug1]

Hi again,
Well, I took all the outside cover metal off, turned all the lights out and created smoke in the firebox. I used a flashlight to look all around and inside the stove and found no smoke with the exhaust fan on. While this seems to be good news, It doesn't explain the smoke odor that I am still getting. With the fan off I get smoke from the airwash slit above the window and from the square air inlet under the fire grate, but when the fan is turned on the smoke is drawn into the stove and through the exhaust system. I can see no other leaks. I am out of ideas. Is their anything else I can do?
thanks,
Jim

 

[Ricks]

Jim,

How clean is the stove. The exhaust path is very hard to clean. On the left and right side of the stove (as you face it) just to the outside of the air tubes are two rectangular ports. These ports travel down to the bottom of the fire box. The left side then travels across the bottom of the fire box, joins the right side just before the blower and is sent out the pipe to the outside.

The port that travels across the bottom of the firebox can become plugged with soot and ash. The easiest way to clean this is to attach a leaf blower to the exhaust pipe and suck out the soot. Lennox suggests cutting a hole in the back of the firebox to access the plugged port. I don't like that idea since if you make a mistake you have ruined your stove. The leaf blower should be able to clear this without any trouble.

Can you supply pictures to show us what the stove looks like. Maybe we can spot something that would help.

Rick.........

 

[Mt Bob]

I'm with rick,that unit has "bad" passageways and has to be kept very clean.Also if you are getting a little exhaust into house when lighting smell will hang in for many hours,esp. in a sealed up house.Slight possibility crack in heat exchanger that opens up when hot.Also think that is one of those stoves that is reccomended to keep hopper at least 1/2 full.Just throwing out ideas.Bob

 

[Smaug1]

Hey,
Thanks for the suggestions and ideas guys. I think I am getting closer to a solution. Would it work if I used my air compressor and blew air down into the exhaust ports on both sides, then used my shop vac hose to get into the exhaust pipe to suck out all that I can? I will experiment and see what happens. I will also try to get you some pics.
Truly, this forum is a Godsend. Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Jim

 

[Mt Bob]

Hey,
Thanks for the suggestions and ideas guys. I think I am getting closer to a solution. Would it work if I used my air compressor and blew air down into the exhaust ports on both sides, then used my shop vac hose to get into the exhaust pipe to suck out all that I can? I will experiment and see what happens. I will also try to get you some pics.
Truly, this forum is a Godsend. Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Jim

Forgot to mention,use search box above and search whitfield cleaning,you will find a lot of good info.

 

[Ricks]

Jim, that might work. You should probably remove the exhaust fan to give you better access to the exhaust ports. Use the search feature for Quest Lazy flame, that post outlines a lot of steps for cleaning a Quest stove. If it helps that was actually my stove so you could search using my name.

Rick.....