Paint curing smell still after 20+ burns?

[chrisburns]

Hi everyone, newb here! Having fun w my new Quadra Fire Expedition II. Too much fun if you ask my wife

I been burning almost every day. I was told the paint curing smell would be done after the first burn, mayyybe 2,

So I sent the wife & kids to grandmas house the first night & just RAGED it from 6pm almost til morning, like real hot. It was glorious. Smelled like a donkeys ass covered w/ burnt paint, but glorious. And I thought I was done. Surely the raging inferno cured the paint, right?

Wrong. Next day, same smell. Not as bad. Whatever, that's the last time, I thought. And it was for a while.

But since then I've noticed that smell come back a few times. It always happens when the stove is HOT. But it's random, doesn't happen every time I get it hot. So it's hard to predict. But it makes the air quality monitor go crazy & my wife cusses me every time it happens.

Is it not fully cured after 20+ hot ass burns? Or what's the deal here?

Thanks in advance for any advice 🙏

-ChrisBurns

 

[NickW]

How are you measuring temperatures? Typically the manufacturer recommends several break in fires of higher temps each time to properly cure the paint. For example first fire to stt (stove top temperature) of 400, let it go out & cool, then stt to 500, cool, then stt to 600... Each new high temperature will give the burning paint smell. Not sure of potential ramifications of trying to do it all at once? Maybe trapping the smell in the layers of paint taking longer to get rid of it completely...?

 

[xman23]

What happens when your burns are lower temps? As said the new high temp will give you some smell. Give it sometime it should clear up.

 

[gmant]

I know this is an older thread, but I'm having the same problems with my Regency i3000. Under normal temps (cat probe sitting 7-900) and not using the blower, there's no smell. Upon using the blower and/or doing a reload (which gives me hotter temperatures, upward of 1000 cat temp), the same curing smell that I got upon the first 4 or 5 fires comes back with a vengeance. I've had the stove maybe 4 months and use it mostly for ambience, probably 20-30 fires at this point. But we had a power outage so I ran it undamped, used the blower, and reloaded. My wife is ready to kill me due to the smell. I'd say I've gotten the cat temp to this level maybe 4 or 5 times, so it's not like this is the first time. When I turn the blower on even with more muted cat temps, there's a smell as well, but with the extra heat it's really magnified. I suggested to my wife that I try to let it run hot with the blower on for a longer burn to see if it just hasn't fully cured at these temps, but that doesn't really explain the blower causing a smell regardless. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

 

[NickW]

Any time any component hits a new high temperature it'll smell until it's cured. I had a smell during a hot fire back during the cold snap and this was installed and used fall of '21. Wasn't the hottest the unit had ever been; but it was getting close and for a longer time, so I hypothesis that the longer high temperature heated up a component that hadn't gotten that hot yet.

I would think that not running the blower would allow it to heat up more curing the paint, then later using the blower would keep the temperature down more and reduce the odor. I wonder if the stink is "contained" does it reabsorb into the paint again to be released again at the next fire? Maybe there's oily surfaces somewhere inside that are still releasing odor when heated...? Maybe there's dust inside that's scorching when it gets hot?

 

[gmant]

Any time any component hits a new high temperature it'll smell until it's cured. I had a smell during a hot fire back during the cold snap and this was installed and used fall of '21. Wasn't the hottest the unit had ever been; but it was getting close and for a longer time, so I hypothesis that the longer high temperature heated up a component that hadn't gotten that hot yet.

I would think that not running the blower would allow it to heat up more curing the paint, then later using the blower would keep the temperature down more and reduce the odor. I wonder if the stink is "contained" does it reabsorb into the paint again to be released again at the next fire? Maybe there's oily surfaces somewhere inside that are still releasing odor when heated...? Maybe there's dust inside that's scorching when it gets hot?

Thanks for the reply, that makes sense, and hopefully it's just that it hasn't run this hot and for this long very often. And it's possible that the same odor exists at that temp, and is just pushed around the house a lot more by the blower. But I hear your logic as well. I think I'm going to try a few dedicated hot/long runs with windows open to see if that takes care of it once and for all. If not, I suppose I need to contact the installers.