Osburn 2200 or 2400?

[hilly]

Hi Bozlee,
I don't know if it will help, but I will share my experience with you. About two years ago we moved into a new house with a ventless fan above the stove. As I was going about my cleaning frenzy I noticed the white cupboards had this gross greasy film on them. Water didn't do anything, I had to us Vim (a strong cream cleanser). I could imagine that if the area had a ceiling fan, this grease would have been spread throughout the house. I also just remembered cleaning my condo before I moved into this house. It had the same set-up as far as the stove fan went, and the tops of the cupboards, in the kitchen, had a few mm of thick grease/fat on them. I couldn't believe how much cleaner it took to get that layer of grease off.
My only other thought is that I have never noticed any grease from a fire. Whether I'm handling fire wood, cleaning the glass, taking out the ashes or even removing half burned logs, grease is not something that I come across. If it were me, I would be looking for another source that may have been made worse by running the wood stove.
I hope you solve your problem because that room in the pic would sure be cozy with a fire going!

 

[Todd]

I really don't think it's the stove, i would fire her up before you freeze. I got to agree with Dave. It sounds like the ventless exhaust. I rented a house once that had a ventless exhaust, and when we first moved in we noticed a greasy film all over the kitchen. We thought we had dark colored cabinets until we started wiping them off and found it was grease that darkened them. Later found the people before us did a lot of cooking in a wok. Do you use that kitchen exhaust fan often? Is the filter clean?

 

[Dave_1]

Hi Hilly & Todd,

Appreciate your confirming the hazard of vent-less exhausts.

Hilly, your comment:

“… If it were me, I would be looking for another source that may have been made worse by running the wood stove….”

is confusing in that you agreed that the vent-less exhaust & ceiling fan are the culprits.

Would you please explain what you meant by “other source”?

Thanks much,

Tfenn1,

I apologize for hijacking your thread. When Bozlee replies will communicate via pm & not this thread.

Have a good one,

Dave

 

[hilly]

Hi Dave,
I didn't agree that the vent-less and ceiling fans were the culprits, just that I have had experiences with vent-less range hoods that have left grease on the cupboards in the kitchen. If he has ruled out the range hood as the problem, then I think he would need to look elsewhere for his problem and that maybe the running of the woodstove simply made an existing problem worse (more movement of air, etc.). As for other sources, without knowing anything about his home or habits I would just be making wild guesses. I think he needs to make a list of all the things that may put grease/fat/oil into the inside of his house and rule them out one by one.

 

[Dave_1]

Hey Hilly,

Hi Dave,
I didn't agree that the vent-less and ceiling fans were the culprits, just that I have had experiences with vent-less range hoods that have left grease on the cupboards in the kitchen.

Sorry, but your first post it sure reads that way because:

Hi Bozlee,
I don't know if it will help, but I will share my experience with you. About two years ago we moved into a new house with a ventless fan above the stove. As I was going about my cleaning frenzy I noticed the white cupboards had this gross greasy film on them. Water didn't do anything, I had to us Vim (a strong cream cleanser). I could imagine that if the area had a ceiling fan, this grease would have been spread throughout the house. I also just remembered cleaning my condo before I moved into this house. It had the same set-up as far as the stove fan went, and the tops of the cupboards, in the kitchen, had a few mm of thick grease/fat on them. I couldn't believe how much cleaner it took to get that layer of grease off.

And let the record show that Bozlee is a she not a he. Don’t want any more providences succeeding from the country since it increases the taxes Americans must pay for ambassadors in order to support them in a manner that they have grown accustomed to. :lol: ;-)

Dave

 

[Bozlee]

Totally wierd. No reason to use the caps locks. SHOUTING is not necessary. Since the stove use stopped has there been any sign of the substance? Have you had the substance analyzed at a lab?

Sorry...no idea why the caps.....was not shouting

Since we stopped burning the stove there has been no return of the grease film.

 

[Bozlee]

Was the home built during winter? a lot of contractors use keroseen heaters called torpedo heaters Not all burn clean Is it possible they coated the walls.
at first one might not notice the film untill it attracted dust which might have taken some time it is possible a little amount of smoke that escaped from the door
got attached to the existing film. Is the film showing up highlighting your structual framing members under the plaster? Does youe HVAC system control humidity?

Yes the house was built during the fall/winter season. prior to the furnace installation the our builder used electric heaters. This stove was installed March 2003. We did not burn it until fall of 2003-2004. We burnt it everyday and night during that time period. This first year there was no grease build up anywhere. The grease thing happend the second year we started burning and it only took about a month to create the huge mess.

 

[Bozlee]

this sounds scary... it almost sound like your house hase been taken over by mold..... but iside your frig and even more on colder walls?? without knowing the layout of your house it seems very odd that this substance could spread everywhere in the house ... you should have the your health dept come and take a look and find out what it is they will take a sample and bring back results.. if indeed it is soot... then it will be obvious that the draft in your house or in that area is at odds in my fireplace after it has been running i get smoke back into the room if i don't have the flood lights on over the fire place i would never see i thought it was from me putting wood in... i can't for the life of me figure out why it happens when the fireplace is burning hot

My house is 33 feet wide and 66 feet long single story bungalow with a 4 foot crawl space under the entire house. The crawl space has wood foundation walls and a cement floor. Nothing has changed in the house since the first year that we burnt the stove without problems. I am berginning to think that these wood stoves are so high tech and so effecient that any number of variables could cause a problem. To try and figure out which variable is the culprit could take forever, if al all.
I'm not so sure that even if we ever solve this problem that I will use the stove again.

 

[Roospike]

Around 700 people have looked at this thread and many being "in-the-know" of wood stoves and many other pro of the field. Stove owner (Bozlee) has been through many pro to find the issue.

Sense nobody seems to know right what the issue is or has even heard of this type issue then its safe to say this is not at all a common problem if 700+ people has never seen or heard of it.

One would think it to be more likely to happen with a fireplace over a wood stove if it was in fact wood burning related.

I think there is a issue elsewhere in the home or something uncommon the home and or home owner is doing to have such issues that nobody has heard of with the information shown.

 

[BrotherBart]

Around 700 people have looked at this thread and many being "in-the-know" of wood stoves and many other pro of the field. Stove owner (Bozlee) has been through many pro to find the issue.

Sense nobody seems to know right what the issue is or has even heard of this type issue then its safe to say this is not at all a common problem if 700+ people has never seen or heard of it.

One would think it to be more likely to happen with a fireplace over a wood stove if it was in fact wood burning related.

I think there is a issue elsewhere in the home or something uncommon the home and or home owner is doing to have such issues that nobody has heard of with the information shown.

Yup. But I think that stove is totally worthless and has caused him enough grief and expense. I am ready to send a freight company to save him from having to deal with its defective self anymore. I will see that the stove is suitably disposed of so that it can sin no more. Honest I will.

 

[Bozlee]

Hi Bozlee,
I don't know if it will help, but I will share my experience with you. About two years ago we moved into a new house with a ventless fan above the stove. As I was going about my cleaning frenzy I noticed the white cupboards had this gross greasy film on them. Water didn't do anything, I had to us Vim (a strong cream cleanser). I could imagine that if the area had a ceiling fan, this grease would have been spread throughout the house. I also just remembered cleaning my condo before I moved into this house. It had the same set-up as far as the stove fan went, and the tops of the cupboards, in the kitchen, had a few mm of thick grease/fat on them. I couldn't believe how much cleaner it took to get that layer of grease off.
My only other thought is that I have never noticed any grease from a fire. Whether I'm handling fire wood, cleaning the glass, taking out the ashes or even removing half burned logs, grease is not something that I come across. If it were me, I would be looking for another source that may have been made worse by running the wood stove.
I hope you solve your problem because that room in the pic would sure be cozy with a fire going!

I total know what you mean about grease on top of the cabinets....I hate that and clean that area every month. The stuff that was covering my house was different than that. It's so very hart to describe. It did not feel greasy when it was dry and not even that greasy when it was wet. But the only thing that would wash it away was water laced with industrial strength de-greaser. When wate rtouched this browny film it immediatly turned black. When I first saw this mess I stripped the bedding off our bed and threw it into the washer. The instant the sheet touched the water it turned jet black.

 

[Bozlee]

Hey Hilly,

Hi Dave,
I didn't agree that the vent-less and ceiling fans were the culprits, just that I have had experiences with vent-less range hoods that have left grease on the cupboards in the kitchen.

Sorry, but your first post it sure reads that way because:

Hi Bozlee,
I don't know if it will help, but I will share my experience with you. About two years ago we moved into a new house with a ventless fan above the stove. As I was going about my cleaning frenzy I noticed the white cupboards had this gross greasy film on them. Water didn't do anything, I had to us Vim (a strong cream cleanser). I could imagine that if the area had a ceiling fan, this grease would have been spread throughout the house. I also just remembered cleaning my condo before I moved into this house. It had the same set-up as far as the stove fan went, and the tops of the cupboards, in the kitchen, had a few mm of thick grease/fat on them. I couldn't believe how much cleaner it took to get that layer of grease off.

And let the record show that Bozlee is a she not a he. Don’t want any more providences succeeding from the country since it increases the taxes Americans must pay for ambassadors in order to support them in a manner that they have grown accustomed to. :lol: ;-)

Dave

Oh dave...your are sounding very much like an ex-pat to me....I heard on the news today that Quebec is looking at joining you down there is aligator country . No woories about us Manitobans suceeding...we could never afford it

 

[Bozlee]

Around 700 people have looked at this thread and many being "in-the-know" of wood stoves and many other pro of the field. Stove owner (Bozlee) has been through many pro to find the issue.

Sense nobody seems to know right what the issue is or has even heard of this type issue then its safe to say this is not at all a common problem if 700+ people has never seen or heard of it.

One would think it to be more likely to happen with a fireplace over a wood stove if it was in fact wood burning related.

I think there is a issue elsewhere in the home or something uncommon the home and or home owner is doing to have such issues that nobody has heard of with the information shown.

Yup. But I think that stove is totally worthless and has caused him enough grief and expense. I am ready to send a freight company to save him from having to deal with its defective self anymore. I will see that the stove is suitably disposed of so that it can sin no more. Honest I will.

I'll go you one better....Something tells me that 10 thousand people with stoves can read this and report back that they have never heard of such a thing. Personally I think Mr. Murphy's Law has taken up residency on top of my house and when you come to pick up my stove could you please take him with you as well ....and Bozlee is a She not a He and She says you can have my 25 cords of wood along with my lovely little Osburn Candle holder/plant stand. When can I expect the frieght company to come by

 

[BrotherBart]

....and Bozlee is a She not a He...

Whoops!

It has to be a maddening situation, as well as expensive. But even Murphy doesn't know how to grease up the inside and/or the outside of a house with a wood stove. That Osburn is getting way more credit than it deserves.

Of course the only way to find the cause is the process of elimination at this point. And hopefully you find the source soon so you can burn the stove once again with confidence as well as get this nightmare over with.

 

[GVA]

Wow this thread is starting to need it's own server..
I got a question where is the outside air hooked up for the stove?
Can you take pictures of the outside. Like the roof area or
your expensive cap on the pipe, nearby vents soffits ridge vents etc.

It would be funny if this thread went on for so long and the installer put the wrong termination cap on or there is a vent or some type of air intake near the pipe sucking the exhaust back in to the house.
O.K. not funny but maybe we had too much eggnog this week and are not real focused %-P

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Wow, i just read this thread. Intresting problem. One that i definaltly havent heard of unless there is a poor draft situation, or if wax logs are being burned with the door open. Its definaltly very strange, and very very rare, i would think that any stove you put in there would do the same thing. My point is, a stove is pretty inert. There all designed the same way (basicly). A stove just doesnt throw excess soot on every square inch of a house. Did you ever burn wax logs in it?

 

[begreen]

Totally wierd. No reason to use the caps locks. SHOUTING is not necessary. Since the stove use stopped has there been any sign of the substance? Have you had the substance analyzed at a lab?

Sorry...no idea why the caps.....was not shouting

Since we stopped burning the stove there has been no return of the grease film.

Was the "grease" ever analyzed? That might point to the source of the problem. It would be great to know if it's animal fat or paraffin based.

 

[GVA]

Bozlee I have noticed that your new to the forum so welcome.
Now where are we...... Oh yeah the knowledge base here on the forum is quite extensive and I'm sure that the wood burners could get your problems solved.
It is possible that the home builders or installers did something wrong with the setup of the pipe/cap. Or your house venting setup could be adding to this grease problem. The cap that is supposed to keep downdrafts could actually cause back pressure so that leaky door gasket would come into play here but under normal conditions with the pipe set up like you have, you should have quite a bit of draft pulling at the stove. So if you could post some pics of the outside of the home for us and I'm sure that these guy's will solve your problem.
But maybe tommorow cause it's FOOTBALL SEASON and it get's pretty quite around here on sundays. ;-P
Well hopefully we'll here from you soon.

 

[begreen]

I'd want to know what the substance is before placing the blame. Could be as obscure as a blocked or stuck backdraft damper in range hood duct.

 

[wg_bent]

Hmm...I just read through this whole thread, and I'm probably responsible for at least a few Osburn sales, as I'm quite pleased with my 1800i.

I'm really wondering if it's grease or something else. Since there's no grease that comes from a wood stove, ie no grease in wood, and creosote doesn't come out of a stove and cover things inside a home, I'm wondering if it's something else. Have you ever cooked on the stove? Were you burning the other stove at the same time? Why not blame the other stove? Since you had a successful first season with the stove, that would seem to rule out the stove.

I'd say definitely get the black stuff analyzed.

 

[Bozlee]

Bozlee I have noticed that your new to the forum so welcome.
Now where are we...... Oh yeah the knowledge base here on the forum is quite extensive and I'm sure that the wood burners could get your problems solved.
It is possible that the home builders or installers did something wrong with the setup of the pipe/cap. Or your house venting setup could be adding to this grease problem. The cap that is supposed to keep downdrafts could actually cause back pressure so that leaky door gasket would come into play here but under normal conditions with the pipe set up like you have, you should have quite a bit of draft pulling at the stove. So if you could post some pics of the outside of the home for us and I'm sure that these guy's will solve your problem.
But maybe tommorow cause it's FOOTBALL SEASON and it get's pretty quite around here on sundays. ;-P
Well hopefully we'll here from you soon.

Thanks for the welcome...here's the best pic I have at the moment of the outside of our house.

I think it's time for me to throw in the towel on this. I made one more last ditch effort by having two fellows come to the house today, one a Certified Home Inspector the other a WET Certified Tech. The Home Inspector went through every posiible thing with a fine tooth comb and reports that there is nothing wacky with my house that could have caused this problem. Everyhing is working and venting as it should and nothing is creating a negative pressure in the house. He did however correct me on the grease thing. He says what covered my house is not "grease" per say but something grease or oily based.

The Wet Certified Tech checked and double checked the stove and stove pipe. He said all was installed correctly. He could not however determine wether the stove door or the stove itself is warped causing the door not to shut tightly.

As a final check we did an experiment. I have two large windows on either side of the stove. We made very sure the glass, casings and sills where perfectly clean. Then we lit the stove. Except for when the kindling started to ignite, there was no smoke and what there was went up the chimney not into the house. We had it burning for about and hour with both the furnace and HRV running and then let it die out. I then took a piece of paper towel wet down with a water/de-greaser mix and wiped it across the window glass and the frame and sills....the paper towel turned black. We repeated the experiment, this time without the furnace or HRV running...same result! One hour of burning and this brown film started to accumulate already.

When I wiped the window with a dry paper towel nothing came off on the paper. When I wiped it with a water soaked piece the window got smeary but nothing came off on the paper. When I wiped it with water/de-greaser mix the brown film turned black and and what ever this stuff is came off the window, casing and sill.

Neither Tech could come up with a reason why this is happening but both are certain the wood stove is the cause of it. Both indicated that this stove is malfuntioning for some reason and feel it is both a fire and carbon monoxide hazard.

Including these two guys, we have now spent over $1500 bringing people here to try and figure out this mess. You guys have been great in your brainstorming and to date..virtually no assistance from Osburn and certainly none from the retailer who sold me this stove.

I'm at my witts end with this and have no more ideas what else to do except send this stove off to the local landfill.

 

[Bozlee]

Bozlee I have noticed that your new to the forum so welcome.
Now where are we...... Oh yeah the knowledge base here on the forum is quite extensive and I'm sure that the wood burners could get your problems solved.
It is possible that the home builders or installers did something wrong with the setup of the pipe/cap. Or your house venting setup could be adding to this grease problem. The cap that is supposed to keep downdrafts could actually cause back pressure so that leaky door gasket would come into play here but under normal conditions with the pipe set up like you have, you should have quite a bit of draft pulling at the stove. So if you could post some pics of the outside of the home for us and I'm sure that these guy's will solve your problem.
But maybe tommorow cause it's FOOTBALL SEASON and it get's pretty quite around here on sundays. ;-P
Well hopefully we'll here from you soon.

 

[wg_bent]

Well, that's a bummer.

In the "for what it's worth dept" I get nothing like that from my 1800i stove. I've been quite happy with it, and there is nothing like what your describing. My only issues with it are keeping my hearth clean which I know would be better with an ash pan type stove, and that I wish I had a bigger firebox, but neither are the stove's fault.

If you do decide to replace the stove, I think we'll all be interested in what you get, and the follow on results with a different stove.

Please let us know.

 

[Bozlee]

Well, that's a bummer.

In the "for what it's worth dept" I get nothing like that from my 1800i stove. I've been quite happy with it, and there is nothing like what your describing. My only issues with it are keeping my hearth clean which I know would be better with an ash pan type stove, and that I wish I had a bigger firebox, but neither are the stove's fault.

If you do decide to replace the stove, I think we'll all be interested in what you get, and the follow on results with a different stove.

Please let us know.

Thanks Warren, not sure what we are going to do at this point. I have filed a complaint with the Canadian Consumer's Bureau because I have had no response back from our retailer and SBI in Montreal ( the new owner's of Osburn) want me to bare the cost of shipping the stove 3000 kilometers and back. NOT Once the Consumer's people do what they do and we still get nowhere I will have a stove for sale VERY CHEAP and it has an ash pan and a bigger fire box Just kidding ;-P

Will probably just grin and bear the high cost of using my electric furnace for heat. Thanks bunches for your efforts in helping me.

Happy FOOTBALLING

 

[GVA]

Hi It's me again, I found the problem........................................It's the dogs you need to get rid of them.............................I'm kidding Jeeze come on now :cheese:

Just some observations from beyond the tree line of birch. I'll let the experts chime in on this one... Cause me ha...ha...ha...... Read the signature people
1) The cap opening seems kind of small for the size of the pipe.
2) Pretty close to the ridge vent (not sure if this has anything to do with anything at all)
3) can't see where the fresh air intake is on the wall
4) is that a protrusion in the wall (outward) between the 2 windows? and if so what is the purpose of it?

Well If it was me and I wasn't getting anywhere I know you have spend a bit of money here on this thing but I would look at extending that pipe up a couple of feet more from the ridge and maybe at a minimum remove that cap and test it again.

Then If that doesn't lead you down the right path Then craig will pay the shipping to western mass and we will perform an online autopsy With hammers and grinders in hand.... Roospike Will handle the virtual Oxy acetylene torch and Me with the Plasma cutter Then we will have either a solution or a puddle of metal :lol:

Allright maybe not...... ;-)