Lately my Englander 17-VL has been spilling smoke into the room when I open the door. There are no exhaust fans running in the house and the outdoor temperature doesn't seem to make any difference. What are the possible causes for this problem?
smoke spillage
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Check your flue and chimney cap for partial obstructions.
Does it do so too if you crack a nearby window?
Does it do so too if you crack a nearby window?
Thanks for the replies. I went up on the roof today and found so much soot on the bird screen that I couldn't see light through it. What would cause this? I clean it yearly and never had this problem before. I check my wood with a moisture meter.
Either wet wood or not enough air or both.
How do you check with the moisture meter?
Do you bring in a big split, let it come to room temperature in 24 hrs, the resplit it and measure on the freshly exposed surface - so you measure the moisture content of the interior?
How long has the wood been (split and) stacked off the ground and top covered?
How tall is your flue?
How do you check with the moisture meter?
Do you bring in a big split, let it come to room temperature in 24 hrs, the resplit it and measure on the freshly exposed surface - so you measure the moisture content of the interior?
How long has the wood been (split and) stacked off the ground and top covered?
How tall is your flue?
I check the interior immediately after splitting at outdoor temperature. All of my wood is 19% MC or less, probably averages 15%. It's a 2 story house, so the flue is maybe 20 feet tall.
I do push the pins in deep, but checking at room temperature seems a bit much. If I add 3 to my average reading of 15%, I'm still considered dry enough to burn. Some of what I've burned even reads EMC.
Are you choking the stove down too much?
Somehow you're producing too much smoke particles.
If your wood is dry, you're not burning properly.
But: Check for a leak in the stove pipe connections; adding cold air there kills draft and can result in sufficient decrease in temperature to lead to condensation.
Somehow you're producing too much smoke particles.
If your wood is dry, you're not burning properly.
But: Check for a leak in the stove pipe connections; adding cold air there kills draft and can result in sufficient decrease in temperature to lead to condensation.
At night I choke the stove all the way down so it burns as slow as possible. But I've always done that.
I can't imagine how a leak could have developed anywhere in the stove pipe or chimney pipe. The stove pipe looks like it always has, and the chimney sections were assembled with silicone and locking bands. Most of the chimney pipe is hidden in a chase.
Is your secondary tube air flow still clear? If that's not working well, choking the primary air down all the way may result in what you see.
I think that'll be my last suggestion, as I'm out of ideas...
I think that'll be my last suggestion, as I'm out of ideas...
I think the outdoor temps may add a percent or three assuming it's single digits in ND now. So probably okay, but close to 20 imo.
ok since your chimney cap is clogged and you are choking the stove all the way down your draft is super weak and getting weaker by the day. Thus producing more and more unburnt particles. It's snowballing into a creosote factory.
When you clean the cap you should be much better but i'd still be concerned with fully choking the stove at night. Maybe try giving it a bit more air.
When you clean the cap you should be much better but i'd still be concerned with fully choking the stove at night. Maybe try giving it a bit more air.
For stoves Without a Cat -
Hot = Clean
Cool = Dirty
Got to find the right air mix for cooler but still clean burn for choked overnight fires.
It's just like tuning a carb. And the variables are often changing. Outdoor Temps, Moisture content. Clean/dirty chimney and cap, Intake air adjustments, secondaries firing or not, chimney temp, split sizes, splits packed tight or loose, etc.
Hot = Clean
Cool = Dirty
Got to find the right air mix for cooler but still clean burn for choked overnight fires.
It's just like tuning a carb. And the variables are often changing. Outdoor Temps, Moisture content. Clean/dirty chimney and cap, Intake air adjustments, secondaries firing or not, chimney temp, split sizes, splits packed tight or loose, etc.
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Yeah but he says he's always dialed down this far, and only now is it problematic.
Unless he got a wet few loads that started a spiral I don't know...
Is your wood tarped or in a shed?
Unless he got a wet few loads that started a spiral I don't know...
Is your wood tarped or in a shed?
Yeah probably got some wetter than normal wood, also the last 2 years were very warm so mostly everyone burned less than normal and definitely less than this year so far.
There are 2 perforated tubes in the upper part of the stove, and their holes look clear.
The problem with more air is risk of overfiring. It gets over 500 degrees fully choked.
Shed.
Definitely not! Could a strange species cause a problem? I've been burning a pale, light mystery species that looks and feels almost like balsa.
I don't know enough about the air paths in your stove, but you may have to ensure the tubes running towards those tubes are clear. (spider nests?)
500 degrees is not a problem. Folks cruise at 650.
Fully choking the primary air will (should) give, counterintuitively, a hotter stove top because a lot of heat will be generated by the secondary air from those tubes. Flames rolling in the top of the firebox.
Do you see those flames? Secondary flames? If not, it suggests those air paths are obstructed (even if the exit holes in those tubes you see are clear). That would surely result in chimney issues if you choke the primary air.
Wood species should not be a problem if it's dry.
Your measurements seem good.
How many years was your wood stacked in the shed?
I am running out of ideas.
My owner's manual says 600 is the maximum permissible continuous operating temperature. I don't want to flirt with a limit while I'm asleep.
Yes, I regard those flames as burning the smoke rather than the wood.
2 years.
There is a badly warped piece of steel at the top front of the stove. Could that be causing a problem?
I understand, and am a bit surprised.
That is correct.
That is good for most, and may not be enough for oak.
Maybe. But now we're going to have someone with knowledge of this particular model...
Do add a pic of this.wsroed thing.
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