Carbon Monoxide from Lopi Insert

[Steve173]

Hey yall!

I have a Lopi as well and I'm getting CO in my house as well, no smoke, draft is great, wood is really good too, dry and seasoned. I'm scratching my head to what it could be. Its always at the end of a burn when the coals still giving off some heat, but not a mature fire. I do not have gas heat or gas appliances. Had the fire department here 3-4 times to confirm the CO levels in the house while the alarms were going off. The alarms have gone off many more times than the fire department has been here. It's a real head scratcher. The shop that sold it to us has been out to see what could be done and they did some fine tuning but it still did it. The weird thing is the 1st year no problems at all the last year was a train wreck. Had it professionally installed. Also installed a different cap.

My theory is around the bypass if you look deep into the stove you can see flames which is pretty normal, but after the fire reduces to coals, and the fan is still on, I'm wondering if the ports where the hot air is blown out of is sucking the CO out. The 2 spots flank the bypass rod and maybe, just maybe the chimney isn't hot enough to pull the CO up and out maybe the fans that are flanking the bypass rod are creating a "vortex" and pulling it in the house? I feel like I'm guessing now because I don't know what else to do

The shop that sold us the unit doesn't know what else to try either. They gave us about 4 options of other brands but my wife will like one but I'm focused on performance and she's concerned about the aesthics not sure what else to try. The ones he's recommending is units that don't have a bypass.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[begreen]

It could be draft reversal. Describe the flue setup and stove location. Is this a basement install? Is the flue connected to an exterior chimney?

Have there been any other changes in the house last year? Kitchen remodel? New exhaust fan?

 

[Steve173]

It could be draft reversal. Describe the flue setup and stove location. Is this a basement install? Is the flue connected to an exterior chimney?

Have there been any other changes in the house last year? Kitchen remodel? New exhaust fan?

6" liner up a single story chimney, no remodels, we don't have a basement, the flue does go up an exterior chimney all was professionally installed, and no new exhaust fans. It usually only does it towards the end of a burn. I'm stumped. Any help would be awesome! 🤠

 

[begreen]

There may be negative pressure in the house or inadequate draft. How much vertical height in the flue system? Are there any long horizontal runs?

The details of the flue are important. Was it connected to a clay chimney liner or was a new, 6" stainless liner installed? If a liner was installed, was it insulated? Include pictures if possible of the stove and flue connection inside and the chimney outside.

 

[Steve173]

the liner was a new stainless steel liner, it was not insulated. at the connection point where the liner meets the stove it was sealed with some high heat sealant/caulk designed and recommened by Lopi in the owners manual. the chimney is a masonary brick fireplace that is on an outside wall I uploaded a picture the chimney from the street. its pixelated a bit and a tad wonky but I think it'll give you a bit of an idea. I thought I had a picture the insert on my phone but unfortunately I do not. by you asking these questions, I am starting to wonder if insulating around the liner would keep it warmer longer towards the end of the burn so that the CO would still go up the chimney vs inside the house since the liner would stay warmer longer? I'll snap some pictures when I get home the cap I have on now is a better one this is an older google picture.