Ashford 30 Smoke Smell, again

[Ignerence]

Great info, @Ignerence. Can we hope all of these cases are so simple? I’ll be pulling the side panels off one of my Ashfords tonight.

I agree, in the end it was a relatively simple fix for mine. For all I know this is a one off situation BTW.

 

[Highbeam]

A little smear of furnace cement might be easier as a test.

 

[shoot-straight]

Yes and looking at a bunch of new stoves in the factory won’t tell him much. The evidence of creo leakage does not appear until it’s been used for awhile.

I would say looking at ones coming off the line AND those already in the field would be worth a look. If the weld is poor or not complete im sure they can look for leakage other ways than just looking for creosote.

 

[Gotrek]

My weld is good. There is a very purposeful extra weld applied to the corner. It's almost like yours was missed.

Not sure pictures will show it but... you can see the weld plus an added spot right on the corner.

 

[Calentarse]

Will look at this tomorrow in the daylight. Have not logged on in a while.

One new, interesting observation I have is that there are times when the odor is minimal. Pretty near liveable. That’s saying something from me, someone pretty sensitive to it after all these years. Other times, the stove is on high charring the fresh load and it’s stinking to high heaven. I just don’t get it. I’m thinking @aaronk25 is right, more and more all the time with his high/low draft theory. Hoping BK is looking into this theory.

Someone asked about wood moisture. I have tried everything, to the point I’m burning some super dry stuff now that’s like paper and really struggles to get through the night with it. Certainly cuts down on the typical BK burn times the wood is so dry. I’m talking around 10-12% on some smaller splits. I still get the dreaded smell.

 

[MissMac]

Well, I have been reluctant to post my fix as I'm sure it won't impress a few people... mine was pretty cut and dry once I found the issue.

So, my first sirocco 30.1 had a blatant missed weld that immediately caused leaking creosote and was replaced by BK. Problem solved right? nope. While the odor was less apparent on the second stove it was still present to some degree. I assumed this must be wood burning and I felt bad already so "live with it" or don't burn is what I thought.

I replaced my door gasket with the high density white one in a attempt to fix it. It helped, but on high, hot burns (like when cleaning the window) or when throttling up the stove there was a very clear smoke odor. And I mean clear, not "is it the paint curing" or "maybe there was some smoke spillage the last re-load" type smell. Enough my neighbor would try and find my issue every time he came over...

I hadn't burned the stove since the cold spell in the end of Dec start of Jan as the odor was getting to me a little. We went to whitefish Montana and stayed in a log cabin two weeks ago with a wood stove, I cringed when others wanted to light it.... As I lighted it I noticed the split doors, top door, side door etc.... "ughhhhh this thing is going to smoke up in here terribly" I figured.... Not a hint of smoke. Not once, ever. I realized I wasn't being too picky and I do indeed have a issue at home with my stove.

So when I got home the investigation started, these things aren't Rocket appliances' (Ricky'ism ). Here's what I ened up finding after combing it over with a flashlight and fine tooth comb.

View attachment 222045

View attachment 222046


The corners rely on 100% weld penetration to seal the stove. the front and rear plates extend past the side plates about 1" on each side. BK welds the entire side plate perimeter, and the front and rear plates top (external) and bottom (internal). This leave the back side of the front and rear plates un-welded for about 1".

View attachment 222047

Not a big deal right? its external right? You have left the thickness of the front and rear plate material non-welded. Sure its only the fit up gap but clearly from the creosote in all 4 top corners of my stove shows this. The green line is where I welded to fix my smoke smell issue in all 4 top corners and bottom corners.

View attachment 222050 View attachment 222049

The red arrows represent the 4 corners that had visible creosote leaking. The green arrows are corners that have the same weld issue but showed no leakage.

I ended up dragging in my welder and buzzed a 1" bead in the 8 corners after covering all the floors, other surfaces, removing paint ect.

after painting it back up and no other changes I ran her with ZERO smell , then, the next morning, I ran a full load on high for 3-4 hrs..... zero smell. I then climbed up on the roof, and removed the 4' of extra class A I put on (looks so stupid sticking out of my roof 8') and ran the stove on high and low.... Zero smell.

I'm back to only ~15.5' total chimney, I put the screens back on my chimney cap, I've ran it a week high and low..... with absolutely zero odor. And I mean zero. None, zip zero.

Sure I welded on it, sure I probably fawked any warranty but I could care less. It leaked before and now it doesn't.

End of story.... check these corners for any creosote.

This story blows my mind.

 

[Marshy]

Maybe these stoves were made on a monday...

 

[Ignerence]

I think its just me, I have been known to have crap luck... so I'm not surprised. It's been great and burning 24/7 since I welded it up though. No smell

My second door arrived as well, No need to mess with it so I will always have a clean window/door on hand for when/if hot babes come over for wine/fire/netflix..... haha

 

[Highbeam]

I think its just me, I have been known to have crap luck... so I'm not surprised. It's been great and burning 24/7 since I welded it up though. No smell

My second door arrived as well, No need to mess with it so I will always have a clean window/door on hand for when/if hot babes come over for wine/fire/netflix..... haha

All the blemish stoves go to ignerence’s dealer! I lost two truck tires in the desert while towing heavy and had to buy new tires at some small shop. Pretty good price I thought. Weeks later I noticed the “blemish” stamp on the sidewalls.

I did check my princess and those external joints are all 100% welded.

 

[MissMac]

Thoughts?

 

[Gotrek]

Thoughts?

Looks like a cold weld (which are porous... bad) i'd get a welder to take a look. But we call that chicken sh%t welds. Guy who welded that might of had Parkinson's.

And PM BK. He will help you out through getting it fixed so don't mess with it till you talk to.him.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[sigruts192]

I had smoke smell in princess and it was replaced under warranty after 2 years of "fixes" from dealer and blaze king.

They had me convinced it was something wrong with my flue and set-up.

It was replaced under the pretense that if it happens with new stove i was SOL.

I debated installing it but would have went insane if the smoke smell returned.

I sold it - put a Woodstock IS in its place with exact same set up and havent smelled a thing since.

 

[ratsrepus]

I sold it - put a Woodstock IS in its place with exact same set up and havent smelled a thing since.

Traitor, your banned from this thread. Never mind
, wrong thread

 

[Mark8]

Thoughts?

Yea that's about as bad as it can get when it comes to welding. I'm curious if they are using humans or robots for their welding, let's hope BK can shed some light on this thread.

 

[Gotrek]

Mine looks machine welded then a human came and did the corners.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[drz1050]

Interesting development, will check my welds in the morning..

 

[jetsam]

Packing those four chinks full of furnace cement would only take a minute, and would be a way to see if welding would be helpful.

 

[shoot-straight]

Glad this got bumped up. Burning hard now- will check mine when i have a chance to let it cool off.

 

[Ashful]

Glad this got bumped up. Burning hard now- will check mine when i have a chance to let it cool off.

Ditto. Forgot to check mine.

 

[Highbeam]

Note that these corner welds don’t need to be strong, they’re not structural, but just air tight. I would be less concerned about aesthetics and more concerned if I saw creosote staining or leakage.

 

[moresnow]

Soooo. If the small weld areas are producing the smell. What about the bypass rod pass through? I have not looked closely at that but its a thought.

My corners appear to be fully welded. As well as I can see without pulling the shields...

Should be interesting to hear from others who find that they can fix the issue with additional weld/seal.

 

[ratsrepus]

Like to hear from BKVP on this. I think it would be appropriate.

 

[tarzan]

Note that these corner welds don’t need to be strong, they’re not structural, but just air tight. I would be less concerned about aesthetics and more concerned if I saw creosote staining or leakage.

Good point but normally an airtight weld will also be a decent looking weld.

 

[lsucet]

I am A happy owner of two BK princess, but there is no excuse for something like this. This stoves are not cheap. Where is quality control here?

 

[Marshy]

I am A happy owner of two BK princess, but there is no excuse for something like this. This stoves are not cheap. Where is quality control here?

Hold your horses now, don't get your panties all in a bunch. First, the stoves mentioned are neither a Princess model nor your property. For all we know the weld (lack there of) is specific to this model of firebox. It may not even be the cause. Unless your stove is having the issue I'd suggest taking a seat and watching out this plays out. BKVP has handled all past issues swiftly and professionally in the past. There really is no reason at this point to jump up and down about the issue considering your not even affected by it. Just my two cents.