Yet another hair raising moment with my new stove. Plastic smell and tinging inside the pipe.

[begreen]

IDK, it sounds to me like the splits being loaded on the coals were off gassing richly and then the fire took off and since the by-pass was open the fire went up the chimney pipe causing new temps on the stove pipe which was the paint smell, the crackling might have been the metal expanding by the crimps in the stove collar.

Possible, but it takes a lot of heat to get the outer jacket of double-wall stovepipe that hot. Without ears on the scene, we have to go by what was described.

 

[Hoytman]

The wood is between 16 and 18 mc. Super dry stored inside over the weekend. Oak, cherry and a piece of pine. Fully loaded if I close the damper and the air control it won't catch well so I leave the damper open and the air control to let it catch a bit then close everything down

If it was a chimney fire with less than a face cord through it, this is officially the worst stove on the planet.

Absolutely not the worst stove on the planet.

You should see what I just did to my stove with just 3 fires. A nice top down fire using 5 splits, some kindling and shavings on top and that burned clean, 5 eco bricks over night, and a third fire on coals with 5 splits…3 ash and two red oak.

All fire wood cut, split, stacked off ground, and top covered for 4 years. MC 12%-15%.

Those 3 fires in a wood/coal stove turned a clean stove and chimney from clean to glazed black all the way to the top of my 15 ft chimney.

I won’t go into detail here why this happened as I was experimenting with this stove and wood. It was user error, but the error was based on an assumption I had not having a stove manual for this stove. A call to the manufacturer figured out what happened. As did comparing my door spinner intakes with those of a Fisher stove, thanks to forum member, Coaly. Between the two I have it figured out and know what needs to be done now. My first attempt at burning wood in this wood/coal stove and I made some wrong assumptions about the stove design. I know what and how it happened now.


The point is…it doesn’t take much wood burning the wrong way to make a mess of things. Far less than you’re currently thinking anyway. That’s why I decided to post up and expose my mistake so you could learn from it.

I’ll throw myself under the bus if need be. I can show pictures if you want. Just trying to make sure you remain safe is all.

Edit:
My splits were measured with MM right off the stack. Had I left them in the house for a week and measured several they would have likely showed even dryer than I mentioned. I did split them to take the measurement.

 

[GrumpyDad]

When the fire is at the coals only stage, no creosote is produced. The wood at that point has fully outgassed.

There is a stage between coals only and slow burning wood though that creates creosote. The issue is if a flue collects that much creosote in such a small amount of work there is problem. And it's not the wood or the draft or the stove pipe

 

[Hoytman]

There is a stage between coals only and slow burning wood though they creates creosote. The issue is if a flue collects that much creosote in such a small amount of work there is problem. And it's not the wood or the draft or the stove pipe

Right, but it’s not the stove, it’s user error just as I discovered in my own example and likely still is in this case too.

Again, I can show pictures of my wood pile, the inside of the stove and chimney both before and after my mistake.

You absolutely would not believe dry wood cam produce that much creosote, but it does. I knew this before hand. The issue for me was assuming my spinner intakes were the same size as my other pre-epa stoves. Three fires proved a big mistake and mess.

Let me know if you want to see pictures. It’s not a problem by any means.

So yes, a facecord is more than enough to glaze up your stove if operation of the stove isn’t correct and that is up to you…and me.

 

[begreen]

Yes, as first stated, it sounds like the stove has been run too cool. The creosote build up on the glass is an indication. With instrumentation, this would be more apparent.

 

[Supersurvey]

Can we see pictures of your wood pile? Does it look well aged?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

The OP is running the stove without the cat in which is a bad idea to begin with. When the cat's not installed and he's running it low the stove itself starts to stall, creating a lot of creosote. The draft becomes very weak without the cat in and running.. the stovepipe becomes cooler and drafting less. on top of that. The OP doesn't understand that it doesn't make a difference if the wood is at 18% MC.. his statement above indicates that if it's at the MC he should be fine and no creosote should be formed. In fact, that is not true. The firewood he is burning is not 0% MC but 18%.. so for quick math round it to 20%Mc.. 100 lbs of wood burned makes 20lbs of water going up the stack or roughly 2.75 gallons of water per 100 lbs burned.. His glass that is always creosote covered tells the story 100%. His stovepipe probably had its first fire in it.

 

[stoveliker]

@Supersurvey the wood is good, as measured. Wood splitter is right.

@GrumpyDad
Don't give up now. The advice here is right. You can make it work.

I suggest that you clean the window (you have one right?).and order the flue probe suggested above. The clean window will allow you to get some data; see the fire and see if you are running too low.

Start hot (after cleaning the pipe), and slowly turn down in steps. Preferably after 15-30 minutes. Possibly small amounts earlier if the pipe gets too hot (tho no probe yet... Hence clean it well).

Then turn it down in steps. If the windows get blacker, dial up again a bit.

And I suggest to get the cat.

Please try. Report in detail. And take the advice. Not necessarily me, because I only ran one older stove in my life -and it had a cat. (A '82 Dutch West FA.) Others will know better.

 

[GrumpyDad]

I'm not sure what to do all. The advice here simply isn't feasible. Don't let the stove get too low in temp? How? So watch it every 30minutes? This is a stove that gets used on weekends only. It cannot be run daily. At some point it has to burn out and cool down. There is no way to go from 400 to zero.
My glass was semi clear or as clear as it can be last night. This is what I woke up to. Picture. Also picture of flue up to ell.

 

[stoveliker]

Then you doaled it down too soon. Or too far.

At the end (from 400 to room temperature) is not a problem. But when you still have wood in there, you need to run higher.

 

[begreen]

Take the stove up to 550-600º and let it cruise at that temp. There should be no need to adjust it after 30 minutes or so. At the end of the weekend, let the fire die down to ashes.

 

[stoveliker]

Is that the lowest temp to run the stove without mucking it up?

I had the impression the OP wanted longer burns. Can you estimate what the max.time would be for a burn at those stove top temps?

 

[begreen]

It's a 1.8 cu ft firebox so I would estimate 6-8 hrs. with a fully loaded firebox.
There are a few threads for this stove where owners are having greater success. They would be better ones to ask.

 

[DonTee]

I don’t know about you guys, but when I connect a new stove, or change my chimney setup, I always inspect it after a few fires, and every so often after that. I’ve had a new stove for about a month, and I’ve looked at the chimney and stove pipe 3 times now just to make sure everything is looking good.
Maybe I’m just paranoid?

To get clarification, does the OP have one of the cat optional stoves? Just asking because of a comment above.

Also +1 for getting a flue thermometer. I’m running an Auber this year and it’s great. I can really see what’s going on with the stove versus just having a stove top thermometer

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I don’t know about you guys, but when I connect a new stove, or change my chimney setup, I always inspect it after a few fires, and every so often after that. I’ve had a new stove for about a month, and I’ve looked at the chimney and stove pipe 3 times now just to make sure everything is looking good.
Maybe I’m just paranoid?

To get clarification, does the OP have one of the cat optional stoves? Just asking because of a comment above.

yes cat option.. and not running with cat it in.

 

[Hoytman]

I don’t know about you guys, but when I connect a new stove, or change my chimney setup, I always inspect it after a few fires, and every so often after that. I’ve had a new stove for about a month, and I’ve looked at the chimney and stove pipe 3 times now just to make sure everything is looking good.
Maybe I’m just paranoid?

To get clarification, does the OP have one of the cat optional stoves? Just asking because of a comment above.

Also +1 for getting a flue thermometer. I’m running an Auber this year and it’s great. I can really see what’s going on with the stove versus just having a stove top thermometer

Never a bad idea to check chimney often.

How much was your Auber and where did you buy it?

 

[Hoytman]

yes cat option.. and not running with cat it in.

Sounds almost like a case of not running the stove hot enough because the temps haven’t yet been that cold and running too hot could run you out of the space.

I seen you said you had it to 400 cruise, but did it ever get higher than that? If so, what temp and for how long? Maybe you already stated this and I missed it.

 

[DonTee]

Never a bad idea to check chimney often.

How much was your Auber and where did you buy it?

I got it directly from Auber. It was just under 100$ including shipping. I got the AT200 with the optional external piezo speaker.

The probe I got was the 4” probe for double wall stove pipe. I’m using it on single wall pipe without any issue. I checked with Auber about that first.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Sounds almost like a case of not running the stove hot enough because the temps haven’t yet been that cold and running too hot could run you out of the space.

I seen you said you had it to 400 cruise, but did it ever get higher than that? If so, what temp and for how long? Maybe you already stated this and I missed it.

So heres the thing with this kind of stove.. once the cat is engaged you can pretty much burn at whatever temperature you want.. This is the advantage of a cat stove. once the cats engaged and operating you can turn it down all the way and have the stove at 350/400 the cats running keeping the stovepipe warm and drafting as well as im not overheating my house. running that stove without the cat in and dialing the air back is like having a non epa stove at all.. hence the issues he is having.. Dont get me wrong.. you can run the stove with out the cat in.. I do it sometimes, that being said.. you cant close the bypass and turn the air down alot .. thats just asking for a creosote issue .. as stated above..

This is a picture of my stove right now.. AIR all the way back.. been this way for quite some time.. stove is at 375.. glass is clean and cats at 700 and getting to the end of the burn..

If I was running my stove without the cat.. to avoid creosote.. Id have to run it a lot hotter.. My wood is extremely dry.. 3 years seasoned in a woodshed.. Its liw MC wood.. but not 0%MC..

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Never a bad idea to check chimney often.

How much was your Auber and where did you buy it?

When I purchased mine it was like a 100 bucks I think.. you need the high temp thermo coupler 6 inch.. your looking for the aubor at 100.. you purchase directly fron auber instruments.. and the probe you get from thermo works.
I believe

 

[begreen]

I got ours on sale from Auber for around $63 IIRC a few years ago.

 

[Hoytman]

Sounded to me like the user described the stove as being able to run the stove in either mode. He happened to be running it secondary, likely a little too cool. But if the stove can be run without the CAT (I think it can) it should be able to run only in secondary mode only. At least that’s what dealers explained to me. EDIT: Just seen you confirmed it can run in either mode.


Still, it has to be operated at the proper temp for the mode of burn (seems we agree), regardless of which mode, and that much creosote points to being too cool for the mode chosen = operator error…for whatever reason…perhaps because it’s early fall and higher temp was needed for that size home. Still…user error as others have pointed out.

I loved the features of these stoves and would have loved to have bought a Flexburn but decided against it. What stopped me from buying was too many parts.

 

[Diabel]

Appears to me the op does not want to run the stove with cat in. Therefore he needs to run it aka “everburn” mode. In this case he needs to maintain the secondary chamber @ 1000F in order to achieve a clean burn. It is possible at expense of shorter burn.

 

[xman23]

You didn't say, is this your first season, first stove and fresh cut wood? Full disclosure, my first month, I totally blackened the glass every fire. Plugged the cap screen solid with gooey ceresote. Cleaned 2 times and removed the screen that season. Had 2 -3 large coffee cans of 1/4 shiney chips. but they were dry and the chimney cleaned up well. For the next few years it was about the same, blackened glass and once a year clean down with lots of chips. I was convinced this was as good as it was going to get. And this is a great setup, straight up chimney that drafts fine.

Almost unnoticeable improvements ever year The issue was all the unseasoned oak I was burning. The wood was from clearing the lot. I burn all oak. Its great but needs to be seasoned. It took to burning 3-4 year old wood. Now, many years later the chimney clean down is 4 cups of powder black crumbs. The glass can go the whole season and not get blackened. If operator error causes a blacken corner. The next fire can clean it up. Yes a bit of white haze that cleans up with water and paper towel.

 

[stoveliker]

The wood is good, here. He tested it properly.
It's the burning mode that's the issue.