# Smell from pellet stove



## JohnD

Should you be able to smell the wood burning from a pellet stove? I recently changed the door gasket on my pellet stove. I notice a smell of the wood burning that is a bit stronger than it ever was before. I did the paper test and couldn't pull it out of the closed door but the smell is making me nervous that the gasket isn't sealed properly.... Any thoughts?


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## Bioburner

Most stoves run with a vacuum in the fire chamber. Check the venting seams as that is under pressure. Self fusing silicone tape or high temp metal foil ducting tape on seams to keep any exhaust products from entering the home.


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## MikeNH

The only time I've ever been able to smell that smokey wood smell is when I had a small leak in the vent pipe, and that was only on startup.  Are you smelling this the whole time the stove is running, or on startup (when it produces the most smoke)?   I would think that a leaky gaskey would have the opposite effect - sucking IN air from the room.


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## JohnD

MikeNH said:


> The only time I've ever been able to smell that smokey wood smell is when I had a small leak in the vent pipe, and that was only on startup.  Are you smelling this the whole time the stove is running, or on startup (when it produces the most smoke)?   I would think that a leaky gaskey would have the opposite effect - sucking IN air from the room.


I can smell it all the time.... I will try the silicone tape on the venting joints and see if that helps... Thanks


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## MikeNH

JohnD said:


> I can smell it all the time.... I will try the silicone tape on the venting joints and see if that helps... Thanks


One thing I did to check for smoke leaks in the venting... At night, dark room, take a flashlight and shine it around the pipe, especially during startup.  It was the easiest way for me to locate the leak


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## JohnD

Is it dangerous if the door gasket is a bit loose or just inefficient? It seems to be tight but I did the paper test again and I could slide the paper out.


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## Bioburner

If the door is a bit loose air can get In and not properly through the fire loosing some efficiency. If to loose on most stoves the vacuum switch won't close the feed circuit shutting the stove down. Would help us if we knew what stove we are trying to help you with. Some stoves have some strange maladies.


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## Jason845845

When my stove burns, there is a smell, not smokey but a pleasant smell.


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## Pellet-King

First off why are you burning now?, you sir are a Pellet Pig!


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## Jason845845

Pellet-King said:


> First off why are you burning now?, you sir are a Pellet Pig!



Because i took the air conditioners out.


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## Boomer Sailor

Pellet-King said:


> First off why are you burning now?, you sir are a Pellet Pig!


I've already had my stove on 2x so far... Monday and Tuesday for about 2 hours in the morning to take the chill off!    Ok maybe not a huge chill... but enough for the first burn of the season


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## JohnD

I'm only burning because I changed the door gasket and wanted to test it.... Good thing I did. Now I'm just trying to see if I have an issue or not. My stove is a Quadrafire CB1200 free standing. Never had an issue with it. Have had it for 2+ years.


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## BrotherBart

In a negative pressure firebox like a pellet stove the smokey smell ain't gonna come from the door gasket. The pressure is in the combustion blower and the pipe.


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## jayman81

Glad I found this post.... I have the same problem on my new P68. There was the initial burn in of course but then I noticed I would smell a whiff of smoke on a cold start. The initial burn in smell was then replaced by a faint wood burning smell which I thought was normal until I seen this post and others like it. I followed MikeNH's advice and did a cold start with the lights off and found the smoke right away. It's coming from two locations (picture attached), where the 3 meets the 4 inch pipe and at the clean out tee. 

Question... should the installer have used high temp silicon on that joint? Should the clean out tee be taped? This is my first stove but this seems to be a reasonable assumption right?

Thx


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## rona

jayman81 said:


> Glad I found this post.... I have the same problem on my new P68. There was the initial burn in of course but then I noticed I would smell a whiff of smoke on a cold start. The initial burn in smell was then replaced by a faint wood burning smell which I thought was normal until I seen this post and others like it. I followed MikeNH's advice and did a cold start with the lights off and found the smoke right away. It's coming from two locations (picture attached), where the 3 meets the 4 inch pipe and at the clean out tee.
> 
> Question... should the installer have used high temp silicon on that joint? Should the clean out tee be taped? This is my first stove but this seems to be a reasonable assumption right?
> 
> Thx


Tape the seams using the high temp  metal foil tape. It will be easier to remove later on if you have to dismantle things. Truth be known you shouldn't smell anything when it starts or when burning but some stoves are made so they suck a small amount of air from near the glass in the door to create a soot barrier to aid in keeping the glass clean.  If you have a lot of smoke swirling in side the stove before ignition it can puff a small amount through that small leak.


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## jayman81

rona said:


> Tape the seams using the high temp  metal foil tape. It will be easier to remove later on if you have to dismantle things. Truth be known you shouldn't smell anything when it starts or when burning but some stoves are made so they suck a small amount of air from near the glass in the door to create a soot barrier to aid in keeping the glass clean.  If you have a lot of smoke swirling in side the stove before ignition it can puff a small amount through that small leak.



So tape at both spots? I was thinking silicon at the adapter and tape at the clean out.


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## JohnD

rona said:


> Tape the seams using the high temp  metal foil tape. It will be easier to remove later on if you have to dismantle things. Truth be known you shouldn't smell anything when it starts or when burning but some stoves are made so they suck a small amount of air from near the glass in the door to create a soot barrier to aid in keeping the glass clean.  If you have a lot of smoke swirling in side the stove before ignition it can puff a small amount through that small leak.


I'm not smelling smoke but burning wood..... And not all the time anymore...
I can see a small portion of the rope gasket from the top of the door....can't remember if the other gasket was visible or not....


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## moey

Where are your windows in relation to the exhaust. I would occasionally get some smoke smell that would come back in my windows which did not seal perfectly. I was within all the clearances and the wind had to be just right.


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## JohnD

moey said:


> Where are your windows in relation to the exhaust. I would occasionally get some smoke smell that would come back in my windows which did not seal perfectly. I was within all the clearances and the wind had to be just right.


I don't think it's coming in the windows...I find it funny that this just started after I replaced the door rope gasket...


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## JohnD

Tried the flashlight trick but there was no smoke....like I said, I smell burning wood and no smoke...also, how hot does the vent from the rear of the stove to the outside get. If I use metal foil, is 200* tape enough or is the vent hotter than 200?


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## MikeNH

JohnD said:


> Tried the flashlight trick but there was no smoke....like I said, I smell burning wood and no smoke...also, how hot does the vent from the rear of the stove to the outside get. If I use metal foil, is 200* tape enough or is the vent hotter than 200?



I was always told to use 600 degree F high temp tape.  I can't answer about the temp of the outside of the pipe.


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## Deromax

I also have some slight burning smell with my new install. I wonder if some errant pellet might have lodged itself somewhere in the heat exchanger or another hot area and is very slowly burning up.


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## MikeNH

Deromax said:


> I also have some slight burning smell with my new install.



Yours could possibly be paint curing.  What does the smell smell like?


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## MikeNH

JohnD said:


> like I said, I smell burning wood and no smoke



"Burning wood" smell to me is that whiff that you get when you know someone in the neighborhood lit a fire in their woodstove or is having a campfire.  That smell is the smell I could perceive when I had a very small smoke leak out the vent pipe.  I would think it unlikely that your door gasket was causing you to smell this beyond a cold startup, as once a draft is started, ether by the combustion fan or by say, a chimney stack, leaky gaskets cause air to be sucked into the stove, not pushed out.  The weird part is that it sounds like the only change that occurred since the issue started WAS the door gasket.  Is that correct or can you think of anything else that changed?


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## JohnD

MikeNH said:


> "Burning wood" smell to me is that whiff that you get when you know someone in the neighborhood lit a fire in their woodstove or is having a campfire.  That smell is the smell I could perceive when I had a very small smoke leak out the vent pipe.  I would think it unlikely that your door gasket was causing you to smell this beyond a cold startup, as once a draft is started, ether by the combustion fan or by say, a chimney stack, leaky gaskets cause air to be sucked into the stove, not pushed out.  The weird part is that it sounds like the only change that occurred since the issue started WAS the door gasket.  Is that correct or can you think of anything else that changed?


Just the door gasket.... The stove did get a bit rusty inside...first time it's rusted since I've had it. Must not have plugged the vent pipes well enough this summer. Also very little bit of paint rub....could that be the problem. Smell doesn't smell bad, like burning wood....Safety is my issue!


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## Deromax

MikeNH said:


> Yours could possibly be paint curing.  What does the smell smell like?



It had the classic "new" smell the first and second burns, but the burning wood smell stayed.  It's more pronounced at startup but continues all the time it's operating.  Will have to try the flashlight trick!


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## alternativeheat

JohnD said:


> Just the door gasket.... The stove did get a bit rusty inside...first time it's rusted since I've had it. Must not have plugged the vent pipes well enough this summer. Also very little bit of paint rub....could that be the problem. Smell doesn't smell bad, like burning wood....Safety is my issue!


I had some burnt wood smell that came on last winter in my P61, it was pellet dust under a pot we keep on top of it. But this spring I started getting a stronger smell of smoke on start up , that is /was teh vent joints leaking. Two different smells, the other was kind of nice actually but the vent leaking was too strong a smell. Didn't always do it but I did find it with a flash light as suggested above. I have siliconed all those joints in question but have not lit the stove off yet this season. I too got some rust inside my stove ( very humid summer back in I don't know some month, it's all a blur !), rather sad but it's there and I need to wire it off or something before I build more ash up in there.


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## JohnD

alternativeheat said:


> I had some burnt wood smell that came on last winter in my P61, it was pellet dust under a pot we keep on top of it. But this spring I started getting a stronger smell of smoke on start up , that is /was teh vent joints leaking. Two different smells, the other was kind of nice actually but the vent leaking was too strong a smell. Didn't always do it but I did find it with a flash light as suggested above. I have siliconed all those joints in question but have not lit the stove off yet this season. I too got some rust inside my stove ( very humid summer back in I don't know some month, it's all a blur !), rather sad but it's there and I need to wire it off or something before I build more ash up in there.


Once the rust is in the stove, how do u get it off? It's in the entire inside of the stove, ash pan, fire pot... Do I just use a wire brush, Brillo pad?


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## alternativeheat

JohnD said:


> Once the rust is in the stove, how do u get it off? It's in the entire inside of the stove, ash pan, fire pot... Do I just use a wire brush, Brillo pad?


 Depends how heavy it is. Mine is not too bad and I intend to use a brush in my drill. I have some on each side inside. The burn pot has some too. Some people paint the inside of their stove with high heat paint, I have not. Maybe should.


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## Wilbur Feral

I have an older stove in the basement, and smelled smoke last year.  After checking all vent seams and finding no smoke, I switched out the door gasket.  Cured it.  The "negative pressure in the fire box" theory sounds logical and is certainly what I initially thought, I admit - but my experience didn't support it.  Check your door gasket again.

Re: rust in the firebox, that old stove had that as well.  A steel brush fixed it.  And the manual of my newer stove (Quad) says to paint all exposed surfaces - even the cast - inside the firebox.  They supply paint for it, and say that other high temperature paint is also acceptable.


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## Harvey Schneider

Wilbur Feral said:


> Re: rust in the firebox, that old stove had that as well. A steel brush fixed it. And the manual of my newer stove (Quad) says to paint all exposed surfaces - even the cast - inside the firebox. They supply paint for it, and say that other high temperature paint is also acceptable.


Painting over rust will not stop the rust. The painted over rust will continue to eat away at the cast iron.
It is necessary to either remove all of the rust mechanically or convert the rust chemically to some more inert form. 
I don't think I would paint the heat exchanger plate, for two reasons. First, I don't think the paint would survive direct exposure to the fire and second because the paint may interfere with the performance of the heat exchanger. I certainly wouldn't expect paint to survive the fire pot.
Let us know what your experience is with painting interior surfaces.


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## Jaymaine34

Speaking directly to my experience with the cb1200 .
Every smoke leak / smell I've ever had was solved by reseating the cap on the clean out T . They make a small orange gasket your dealer should have them ( my dealer just gave them to me no charge ) 
At test run this year after cleaning my stove was leaking smoke at all 3 connections at the clean out T . Was thinking I needed to seal all 3 points . Called my dealer he said to just put a new gasket in the clean out cap and all will go away . Didn't make sense to me but seemed easy enough and to my surprise it worked and I have fired the stove several times sense .
As for door gaskets I have had a puff of smoke at startup before ( after a missed ignition with to much fuel in pot )
But never after stove has come to temp .
So in my mind the question is do we have smoke at startup only or all the time and has the stove passed the dollar bills test and what does the flashlight test tell you .
On the paint / rust subject  I've gone both ways with this . First no paint will survive the fire chamber temp . What the paint will do is protect it in the off season and make it look pretty . Also if you are just talking light surface rust a lot will burn off during the first long run of the stove . In my option the paint is a end off season thing not a start . I would wire brush it now and at the end of year clean off all if any that is left then paint and use damp rid . 
Sorry so long guys !


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## rona

Have you looked at your outside exh pipes to see if a bird could have built a nest inside? That has happened and caused a restriction.  Sometimes if the stove doesn't ignite right away  smoke will build up and you will get a Poof  when it ignites. When that happens you can get a small amount of smoke pushed out from around the door.


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## Harvey Schneider

rona said:


> Have you looked at your outside exh pipes to see if a bird could have built a nest inside? That has happened and caused a restriction.


Yellow jacket and wasp nests can also be a problem.


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## TimfromMA

Harvey Schneider said:


> Yellow jacket and wasp nests can also be a problem.



I plug my vent over warm weather months to prevent just such a thing.


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## Wilbur Feral

Gave stove a test fire, and no ill effects from the paint. As noted above, paint is primarily for off season protection. And Harvey, note part about steel brush for rust removal PRIOR to paint.


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## briansol

on startup, a little 'smell' is normal i think, simply because the combustion chamber hasn't fully reached vacuum state yet.  This is especially true if you don't have a sealed OAK.  Since going OAK, i don't have nay smell on start up any more.

post-start up (full run), you shouldn't smell anything.

First, get a CO monitor or 3 in the house.
Seal the joints on the exhaust as others have stated, as you probably do have a leak some where.

If you didn't smell it last year, and now only after replacing the gasket smell it, start there.  Maybe it's not the gasket but the door latch that isn't all the way sealing in on all corners.


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## Wilbur Feral

briansol said:


> on startup, a little 'smell' is normal i think, simply because the combustion chamber hasn't fully reached vacuum state yet.



Must respectfully disagree.  If you smell smoke, you have a leak - the blower just overcomes it once it's running.  Best to correct it now, before cold weather is here.  Otherwise you smell it for the whole season, often several times per day.  Not healthy, either.


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## Harvey Schneider

Wilbur Feral said:


> Must respectfully disagree.  If you smell smoke, you have a leak - the blower just overcomes it once it's running.  Best to correct it now, before cold weather is here.  Otherwise you smell it for the whole season, often several times per day.  Not healthy, either.


I have to agree with briansol.
When either of my stoves first ignites there is smoke in the chamber followed by a rapid expansion of the flammable gasses (whoosh). That rapid expansion momentarily presurizes the chamber and overcomes the seals. As a result there is a faint whiff of smoke on ignition.
I really don't see this as a problem and I don't feel that it needs correction.


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## Wilbur Feral

Harvey Schneider said:


> I have to agree with briansol.
> When either of my stoves first ignites there is smoke in the chamber followed by a rapid expansion of the flammable gasses (whoosh). That rapid expansion momentarily presurizes the chamber and overcomes the seals. As a result there is a faint whiff of smoke on ignition.
> I really don't see this as a problem and I don't feel that it needs correction.


Well. We are at "agree to disagree".  I would attempt a fix while the weather is nice.  To each their own.


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## stellep

Every fall after a deep stove clean, I get a slight smoke smell just at startup.  I've tried all the solutions to find it -- dark flashlight etc.-- to no avail.  After burning 6-8 bags the leak goes away until the next year.  I figure that the tiny pinhole that  I can't find gets plugged with ash.  I still look to find the leak every year.


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## Jaymaine34

Having a smoke smell for me is not normal ! In my experience a smoke smell means a leak !


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## ldman

have ash smell coming from blower - checked every seam in flu checked and no leaks.  it happened last year at end of season after burning all winter.  had a good cleaning early in season and then again just now since the smell was back.  Smell not going away.  is the air mix wrong?  have a warmland PS45.


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## Bioburner

All your joints taped with either high temp silicone or high temp silver ducting tape? I gave up on trying to use tube silicone and silver duct tape.  The silicone tape stretches tight avoiding the pesky pin hole leaks. I have no idea of that stoves engineering to be of much help


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## ldman

Bioburner said:


> All your joints taped with either high temp silicone or high temp silver ducting tape? I gave up on trying to use tube silicone and silver duct tape.  The silicone tape stretches tight avoiding the pesky pin hole leaks. I have no idea of that stoves engineering to be of much help



hmm - all done with tube high temp silicone and silver duct tape....


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## Jack Morrissey

JohnD said:


> Should you be able to smell the wood burning from a pellet stove? I recently changed the door gasket on my pellet stove. I notice a smell of the wood burning that is a bit stronger than it ever was before. I did the paper test and couldn't pull it out of the closed door but the smell is making me nervous that the gasket isn't sealed properly.... Any thoughts?


If I overfill the hopper on my Quad Castille, I can get pellets laying atop a little shelf over where the heat tubes come out and they just heat up and kind of smolder...


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