I am a brand new user to this website. Every time I Google something it brings me to the hundreds of threads on this website asking the same questions over and over again. I have read the hundreds of posts, threads, comments, ideas, and inquires on this website. I have also read the FAQs, and "Try this" before asking a questions on here.
My problem with all of these threads is that they do not pertain to me and my specific issues. There are a vast number of answers and suggestions that just do not meet my questions and needs.
I want to preface my question with some background information for everybody to digest and interpret so that the feedback given to me can be beneficial to myself and other people who may have the same issues or concerns.
I have a US Stove Works 5660(I) Bayview pellet stove. Brand new out of the box a month ago. Have had it installed for 2-3 weeks now. My fiancee and I noticed that when the stove runs we smell smoke from beginning to end. Being new to owning a fuel burning appliance we thought nothing of it as it should be normal to have smoke from a solid fuel. After doing some research last night I found that this is not normal, it is not healthy, and it needs to be fixed.
I had my stove installed by a general contractor. The main problem with my stove is that it comes from a box store. Ultimately this means there are no professionals, no technicians, it's me installing it or I find someone who knows how to install them. He installed it, it came out great, he had done them in the past with no issues, so I thought I was rocking and rolling when he completed the install.
The install is an up and out installation. The cleanout/T is in my house. Very first piece leaving the stove. It goes up about 2.5-3 feet and exits straight through the wall thimble outside. The exit point is about 5 feet above the ground and and about 16-18 inches beyond the wall with the horizontal cap.
Last night after reading that smoke in the home is usually from the vent of the stove I started digging. I did the lights off with a flashlight trick (as suggested on here) and saw smoke coming from the cleanout on the T and that was it. I spent a little bit of time plugging the holes on the T with some high temp silicone sealant and put it back in. Voila! No smoke from the T anymore! But then I realized that I could smell the smoke and could not see it.
I did some more research and then started putting some leftover silver tape over all of the joints. I sealed some of the joints that I could with some with silicone and to no evail I can still smell the smoke and cannot locate where it is coming from.
So this morning I took the entire vent apart. I am not a handy man so this was a venture for me. I cleaned off everything I had done the night before. I purchased a new T /cleanout and some more high temp silicone and started reassembling the unit. I put some silicone at the top of the T where the first 12" pipe connects to it. The next 12" length has silicone in it. The next 12' connection has silicone in it. Now we get to the 90 degree angle which at both ends has 12" connections. Neither of which have silicone in them. The next 12" length goes through the wall thimble and connects to the outer 12" length and cap which has no silicone in it because it was easier to install the pieces without having to worry about the silicone application.
I did not put any silicone around the 90 degree because I feared having to take this thing apart for maintenance in the future.
With the install from the contractor I had smoke at the cleanout/T and I could not see it coming from anywhere else.
With my reinstallation I have a lot of smoke, during startup, leaving through both ends of the 90 and all the joints on the 90. THe smoke is also coming out the cleanout/T, because I had purchased a new one thinking I had damaged the old one. I believe that there is smoke coming out of the joints that I had even put silicone in!
Overall my entire house wreaks of smoke. I have a CO sensor in the same room as the pellet stove and I have smoke detectors. None of which have gone off.
My question is - How do I fix this? Having taken this apart already - and not being comfortable with doing that - I now have a problem of smoke in the house that is worse from when I started.
Alternatives to high temp silicone?
Can I seal these joints while the vent is installed as is? (on the outside of the vent)
Should I make the contractor take this apart and fix it?
First time home owner, first time pellet stove user, not a handy man. Bear with me. And thank you ahead of time.
::edit:: I used Dura-Vent (Simpson) PelletVent/CornVent kit purchased at a box store.
My problem with all of these threads is that they do not pertain to me and my specific issues. There are a vast number of answers and suggestions that just do not meet my questions and needs.
I want to preface my question with some background information for everybody to digest and interpret so that the feedback given to me can be beneficial to myself and other people who may have the same issues or concerns.
I have a US Stove Works 5660(I) Bayview pellet stove. Brand new out of the box a month ago. Have had it installed for 2-3 weeks now. My fiancee and I noticed that when the stove runs we smell smoke from beginning to end. Being new to owning a fuel burning appliance we thought nothing of it as it should be normal to have smoke from a solid fuel. After doing some research last night I found that this is not normal, it is not healthy, and it needs to be fixed.
I had my stove installed by a general contractor. The main problem with my stove is that it comes from a box store. Ultimately this means there are no professionals, no technicians, it's me installing it or I find someone who knows how to install them. He installed it, it came out great, he had done them in the past with no issues, so I thought I was rocking and rolling when he completed the install.
The install is an up and out installation. The cleanout/T is in my house. Very first piece leaving the stove. It goes up about 2.5-3 feet and exits straight through the wall thimble outside. The exit point is about 5 feet above the ground and and about 16-18 inches beyond the wall with the horizontal cap.
Last night after reading that smoke in the home is usually from the vent of the stove I started digging. I did the lights off with a flashlight trick (as suggested on here) and saw smoke coming from the cleanout on the T and that was it. I spent a little bit of time plugging the holes on the T with some high temp silicone sealant and put it back in. Voila! No smoke from the T anymore! But then I realized that I could smell the smoke and could not see it.
I did some more research and then started putting some leftover silver tape over all of the joints. I sealed some of the joints that I could with some with silicone and to no evail I can still smell the smoke and cannot locate where it is coming from.
So this morning I took the entire vent apart. I am not a handy man so this was a venture for me. I cleaned off everything I had done the night before. I purchased a new T /cleanout and some more high temp silicone and started reassembling the unit. I put some silicone at the top of the T where the first 12" pipe connects to it. The next 12" length has silicone in it. The next 12' connection has silicone in it. Now we get to the 90 degree angle which at both ends has 12" connections. Neither of which have silicone in them. The next 12" length goes through the wall thimble and connects to the outer 12" length and cap which has no silicone in it because it was easier to install the pieces without having to worry about the silicone application.
I did not put any silicone around the 90 degree because I feared having to take this thing apart for maintenance in the future.
With the install from the contractor I had smoke at the cleanout/T and I could not see it coming from anywhere else.
With my reinstallation I have a lot of smoke, during startup, leaving through both ends of the 90 and all the joints on the 90. THe smoke is also coming out the cleanout/T, because I had purchased a new one thinking I had damaged the old one. I believe that there is smoke coming out of the joints that I had even put silicone in!
Overall my entire house wreaks of smoke. I have a CO sensor in the same room as the pellet stove and I have smoke detectors. None of which have gone off.
My question is - How do I fix this? Having taken this apart already - and not being comfortable with doing that - I now have a problem of smoke in the house that is worse from when I started.
Alternatives to high temp silicone?
Can I seal these joints while the vent is installed as is? (on the outside of the vent)
Should I make the contractor take this apart and fix it?
First time home owner, first time pellet stove user, not a handy man. Bear with me. And thank you ahead of time.
::edit:: I used Dura-Vent (Simpson) PelletVent/CornVent kit purchased at a box store.