Something Stinks from my absolute steel

Does anybody else notice a metallic smell when burning over 350deg?unbearable @500deg
This has been a ongoing problem for me.
1st year= Thought it might be due to the stove break-in,( followed the process in the book) thought maybe its just because its a steel stove? (I have been around and used cast iron for 20 years)
2nd year metallic smell becomes unbearable for my family, contact woodstock and send pictures and try a new cover plate, and flue exit/gasket at no cost and were very helpful, but still did not cure my problem.
3rd year no wood burning for me, it seems that the metallic smell comes from the top of the stove when hot, main gasket appears to be perfect.
Could the paint be defective?( sometimes the paint comes off if I wipe down a cold stove with a wet paper towel?)



Could it just be the nature of a chunk of hot steel?

Could it be the smell of a burning catalyst?

Could it be the smell of the stainless steel plate directly under the top of the stove?

I emailed Woodstock 5 weeks ago, still have yet to hear back about if there was any help, or if they wanted me to package up the stove and ship it to them to inspect what is wrong?

If I had to do it again I would buy a stove from a local dealer that could come over and smell my stinky stove.

 

I have no experience with wood stoves, but my guess is that this is a paint issue. Hopefully you can get it resolved soon. It’s certainly worth trying new paint to see if that’s the issue IMO.

 

May help to give everyone a description of your setup. What is your vent system comprised of? Double or single wall connector pipe? Class A double wall chimney pipe in 6" or other? Any 90 deg. bends etc? What is the proximity of your stove pipe cap to any other flue outlets? By chance do you notice a similar stink when sweeping your pipe? What is your start up to cruise setting routing? Is this a main floor install or a basement install? Do you have a moisture meter? If you do, how exactly are you testing your fuel supply? Lots to cipher! Glad to see you post a new thread on this issue. Hopefully it can be alleviated.

FWIW I can induce a burning creo/Cat/wood smell from my cat stove almost at will by trying to shut it down to cruise level to soon and or to low of a setting. Nature of the beast for many Cat stove users.

 

Either that, or something is dead in either the chimney or flue pipe. I've heard stories of dead animals trapping themselves in flues. I mean paint is a specific smell, and typically after a few burns it's all cured and no more paint smell. I've never had a CAT smell, nor any other aspect of a stove, except creosote in a flue pipe or chimney. For the smell to be as bad as you are smelling. And this has been like this for multiple years now?

That's a shame.. and a head scratcher for sure.

 

Interesting, not much help but seems your not alone. There have been a few posts lately on the forum with this same or similar issue.

 

Where would the smell come from? permeates through gaskets? flue has good draw shouldn't fumes be drawn out and up? are you talking about stalling the cat or if you just slow the stove down?

 

May help to give everyone a description of your setup. What is your vent system comprised of? Double or single wall connector pipe?
Class A double wall chimney pipe in 6" or other? Any 90 deg. bends etc? Double wall class A, 6in, Straight up through roof, stack and pipe cap approx 4-5ft above peak of roof,stove is attached at rear vent location, into a 90deg T pipe
What is the proximity of your stove pipe cap to any other flue outlets? No other flue or objects nearby.
By chance do you notice a similar stink when sweeping your pipe?No does not smell like creosote more metallic than the burnt creosote smell
What is your start up to cruise setting routing? Top down fire to start, engage catalyst once over 350deg with air open once stove climbs to 450-500 adjust air slowly down to keep temp in that range
Is this a main floor install or a basement install?Main floor corner install
Do you have a moisture meter?No moisture meter for me a mix of 3 year old ash and maple split and dried in sunny location with cover on top of stack, plenty of ventilation, too big of a chunk of maple and stove temp can almost runaway , I tested with kiln dried lumber and sawdust blocks, did not make any difference
If you do, how exactly are you testing your fuel supply? Lots to cipher! Glad to see you post a new thread on this issue. Hopefully it can be alleviated.

FWIW I can induce a burning creo/Cat/wood smell from my cat stove almost at will by trying to shut it down to cruise level to soon and or to low of a setting. Nature of the beast for many Cat stove users.

 

Yes its been going on since new......

 

On my stove it would certainly appear that I can get the stink permeating the loading door gasket near the hinges if I shut down to far to early (different stove). My Cat is not stalling. If anything the Cat temp is gaining. Guessing there is just entirely to much off gassing still occurring at that point in the burn with the drastically lowered primary air setting? No idea if this is at all related to your situation.

I also get far better results by putting a decent length of time burning a fresh load at a high setting to char the load before reducing my air setting. If I don't it will cause the stink.

Are you rear venting to attain stove clearance to combustibles?

Is your interior connector pipe Class A as indicated above or interior double wall connector pipe? Guessing I have mis understood?

Any chance your home has a existing masonry chimney elsewhere?

It has been mentioned here that the AS loading door gasket can get smashed more than normal. Supposedly it can be reformed when the stove is cold by gently squeezing it back into shape. Likely this has been discussed?

Spit balling! You never know. Something may jump out to some one following this.

 

Why would email not work?I prefer email so that there is less communication errors. I have emailed and sent messsages on facebook messenger, they have recieved them and said they will get back with me, but have not heard back, no dust on the stove or flue. I had phone calls with them last year, and they did send multiple parts to try but it never fixed the problem.

 

I appreciate the help!
Sorry for the confusion it is double wall interior pipe.
My door gasket is tight no odors from around it, I have a sniffed all around the stove it seems to come from the area directly above the cat
No chimney on the house just this pipe for the woodstove
Rear venting due to distance to combustibles
I dont think at ANY point in the burn you should smell a burning metal smell no matter how you burn.

 

You are checking off all the correct boxes sir
I wonder if there is a possibility of a atmospheric condition indoors that is encouraging this smell to escape the stove? Is there a radon air exchange sys in your home? Any other vented appliances that may be operating when this smell occurs? Clothes dryer, oven vent, bathroom vent etc.? Standard LP, Nat gas, fuel oil forced air furnace pulling return air while the stove is firing up? Is there a upstairs with leaky windows or un sealed can lights/attic access door. These things may sound odd as culprits. They have all been found to cause oddities.

I don't know where the secondary air inlet is on this stove but it would be interesting to know if is possibly emitting the smell while the cat is engaged. A few more straws to grasp at! They are becoming few...….

 

No radon exchange system, no other vented appliances running during, I have pretty much sniffed the entire stove when it happens and every time its from the actual stovetop, it has to be from the catalyst, catalyst heat shield, stovetop or stovetop heatshield,

 

Interesting issue. Not completely unheard of but not common. Sure seems that any smell escaping the stove indicates a draft issue at heart (are you meeting or exceeding the required AS vent requirements for length?). Have you considered adding a section of pipe to see if that takes care of it? The stove should have a negative pressure inside taking all smells up and away in theory. I did a reload late last night. engaged the Cat appropriately and ended up turning down the air before getting a good 20 to 30 minute char on the load. And I turned it down lower than usual. It smelled on the main floor this AM. My bad. Self induced issue. Makes me wonder if there is a fine balance point in the air supply setting/burn intensity that can bring the inside and outside stove pressure near neutral. This may let a smell escape?
Perhaps your issue is completely unrelated to my experience's. Anywho. Good to see you back. Figured you may have been spooked off! Sure wish we could get a few more opinions here?

 

Have you tried a new catalyst in the stove? Maybe there's something off with the catalyst... Just a guess.

 

Can you remove the cat and burn in bypass mode for testing purposes?

 

Sounds like a good idea I will give that a shot.

 

Some good troubleshooting right there