XXV may have to go

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canuck_22

Feeling the Heat
Feb 4, 2014
259
Ontario, Canada
Me again, the guy with the messy XXV full of black gunk a few weeks back. 2 weeks prior to that event we had a CO alarm go off in the hallway leading to the masterbedroom, strangely the one next to the stove did not alarm, none of the 4 downstairs either, we made the assumption we had a faulty detector. I invested into a Reed CO180 hand detector, this way I can walk around and look to see if we have a source somewhere. Today I decide to take samplings, I go in the living room where the XXV is and I felt somewhat weird, I observed a reading of 27ppm up at about 7 feet, naturally panic sets in and we open doors and windows to clear the room and all is fine. The wife ordered the XXV shutdown and wants it gone!! She does however trust the P61A. On all 3 events we had high winds and that stove is on the east wall, the 61A is on the west wall. Can the wind overcome the stove? could I have some kind of leak in the structure of the stove? I'm sure questions will come regarding the venting, I have a 24" through the wall, into a Tee, 60" up then a spout. The oak intake is next to the Tee and its Duravent PVP. In hindsight, should have got a P43, the P series is much simpler in design as it is a all welded construction versus the XXV a bolted and screwed construction meaning more gaskets. Calling the dealer in the morning, dont know where to look now, pending a good outcome the sale of more pellets for next year will hinge in balance.
 
I was watching smoke from a stove go up to the eves of the house in some bad winds couple days ago and could not help to think that some of that may want to enter. Shut that stove down till things changed. Nice to have more than one stove and not all on one wall.
 
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27ppm sounds like its in the permissible level range according to OSHA. CO has the same density as air, so it will rise like air also. That's why it's not detected where the stove is located. Needless to say, if you can't reduce the level, get rid of the stove because it's not worth a life or two, or three.

Have you put the detector around the stove and vent to see where CO is emitting?
 
27ppm sounds like its in the permissible level range according to OSHA. CO has the same density as air, so it will rise like air also. That's why it's not detected where the stove is located. Needless to say, if you can't reduce the level, get rid of the stove because it's not worth a life or two, or three.

Have you put the detector around the stove and vent to see where CO is emitting?

^^^ Many times and not detected anything, I'm thinking the wind is overcoming the fans, swells and leaks, I welcome people with experience to correct me. So what do we do when we go for the day? come home to dead pets? It's not like it's a botch install, the inspector wrote that I met and exceeded on the WETT certificate. I'm furious and this thing gotta go.
 
Well again, CO is like air. So whatever air does, CO will do. Does your exhaust go up a chimney that's in the interior of your home? Are you using a liner or anything?
90% of the vent is outside, inside is the collar to the stove and about 10 inches of the 24" that goes through the timble.
 
Well again, CO is like air. So whatever air does, CO will do. Does your exhaust go up a chimney that's in the interior of your home? Are you using a liner or anything?
His first post is very descriptive of the venting.
 
If you are venting into the wind without a proper end cap or wind break you can have things go down hill in the burn department. That can cause problems.all the way up to snuffing the stove out due to lack of vacuum in the firebox. Which should lead to a Harman 6 blink error and the stove shutting down.

Is there anything else in the house that burns? Something that vents outside and the vent could be blocked or partially blocked.
 
If you are venting into the wind without a proper end cap or wind break you can have things go down hill in the burn department. That can cause problems.all the way up to snuffing the stove out due to lack of vacuum in the firebox. Which should lead to a Harman 6 blink error and the stove shutting down.

Is there anything else in the house that burns? Something that vents outside and the vent could be blocked or partially blocked.

I have a P61A that burns beautifully on the opposing wall, west side. The vent is clean as a whistle, as it was 2 weeks ago when I got the bad burn and gummed up the stove. No 6 blinks. All that is different from 2 weeks ago is the draft adjustment from -.75 to -.45, according to the Harman instructions the draft was way off.
 
You should be considering everything in and around your house that burns as a possible source of that CO. Gas fired hot water heaters, oil fired boilers, gas cooking stoves, gas dryers, vehicles running in the yard near the house.

I was just telling you what can happen if you vent into the wind without taking it into consideration.

In the non Harman world you get #2 shutdowns or if not severe enough a reduction in pellet delivery to the burn pot.
 
You should be considering everything in and around your house that burns as a possible source of that CO. Gas fired hot water heaters, oil fired boilers, gas cooking stoves, gas dryers, vehicles running in the yard near the house.

I was just telling you what can happen if you vent into the wind without taking it into consideration.

In the non Harman world you get #2 shutdowns or if not severe enough a reduction in pellet delivery to the burn pot.

The only other possible source of CO is the P61A, all checked, 0PPM. Checked, double checked, triple checked.
 
The only other possible source of CO is the P61A, all checked, 0PPM. Checked, double checked, triple checked.

You also said there was nada around the XXV. Have you verified that you got things sealed on the outside of the vent where it passes through the thimble?
 
Maybe you should start to do some troubleshooting. Turn on the XXV, turn off the P61 and go to the same place last time you got a 27ppm reading before. If you don't notice anything, then turn off the XXV, turn on another appliance and repeat. Continue to do this until one of the appliances gives you the 27ppm again.
 
Can you provide pictures of the outside where the vents for each stove are?

What is the low temperature to which that brand of silicone is good to.
 
Seeing that you are in the cold country do you have a heat recovery vent?
 
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Seeing that you are in the cold country do you have a heat recovery vent?
I assume you mean HRV?(Heat Recovery Ventilation) yes I have one as described in my sig. Here they are known under various names such as Venmar, Vanee, Lifebreath etc. they circulate the air in the home for like 40 min, bring in fresh air for 20, and recuperate the warm house air through a plastic or aluminium exchanger. For my house, this system intakes and ejects to the south. 1 Pellet stove to the east and 1 pellet stove to the west, doubt the HRV can suck in the CO.
 
Do you have an OAK? Is the wind blowing the vent exhaust into the OAK?
 
Can you provide pictures of the outside where the vents for each stove are?

What is the low temperature to which that brand of silicone is good to.

-85F

Here are the pics
 

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I'm no expert on this, but your setup looks odd.

LOL...then we'll let an expert comment on it I guess, unless you can explain odd;)
 
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