Help.... I did all my Break in fires outside before I ever installed the stove. I have had about 7-8 decent fires now with the stove installed. It keeps stinking. each fire is progressively bigger/hotter than the previous one but the wife is freaking at the smell. I had Header wrap around a short length of pipe but I have taken that off ( I thought that was it, but I guess not) how many fires does it take to bake off the smell ?? I have had cat temps of 1500*+ and its at 1500* now and smells like hell.. any ideas???
Each time the fire gets hotter than the previois you will get that smell. I took mine to an all time high by accident last year (lost track of time and forgot to make the air adjustment after a reload) and had a faint new paint curing smell. It had been burned for 2 years prior to that with no smell. Its normal until you quit hitting a new high temp.
Is it still the same smell your break in fires created ? new stove pipe ? Getting it hotter every time sometimes does that too until it just seems to go away. Paint keeps baking lower down the stove sides with every fire hotter than the last.
When we put in new stove pipe several years ago, that section kept stinking for a long time. Hardware said they would replace it but it did finally stop. I had not heard this before but they told me they'd had it happen before. Not saying this is your problem but a possible solution.
I added a 12" length of pipe. Couldn't find any ceramic insulation (without buying a 25' length) so I used Header Wrap, I was thinking maybe that was it so I cut it off, well that wasn't it $100 wasted I'm leaning towards the paint still Baking in.. Ive had a few more fires and the only time it smells is when I get way up in temp where I haven't been before...
Sorry for the joke, So you say each time you get the stove hotter the smells returns that makes sense. So hopefully it is almost done smelling. Buck must use a paint that takes longer.
This was kind of the case when breaking in my IS, every time I reached a new high temp the smell would come back. After three or four mild burns I cut the stove loose once. Passed the super sniffer test (wife) the last day I had it going, all smells seem to be gone.
We painted our previous stove 3 times (stove brite). He did a couple break in fires, then a long hot one and we opened the windows. This wifey liked to get it over with sooner than later..... That said is was an old pre-epa stove that we could get as hot as needed...
Alls cool,I can take a Joke But yes, Buck must use some sort of paint that is harder to cure. I did my initial fires outside during he summer. Never got it to 500*+ though. I think I'm getting it. Finally
I'm starting my 3rd year with my Buck 91....don't remember having much issue like this other than maybe the first couple fires. Of course they could have changed their paint.....sounds like it's getting better, good to hear.
I have a Buck 74. I fired it up last Saturday for the first time and it was terrible. I fired it up again Sunday and it was quiet a bit better. However I also made a hotter fire. And occasionally I would notice the smell come and go as if the paint was still being "baked" in. I'm pretty confident in the fact that the smell will subside eventually once you have several good hot fires. Also, your 91 is a larger stove than my 74. So in all actuality it should take longer to burn the paint in on it.
You say never got the stove top to 500, thats most likely why its taking longer. I just painted the top of my stove this summer. I did one small fire then the next time it was up to like 500- 600 for a extended time. Then not much smell after that. I think your ok its just taking longer due to the lower temps.
I would load it full of wood and really push the cat. Get those temperatures up there. I remember after hitting and holding 650 degrees for a while mine quit smoking. Sometimes it takes a full box of wood to really overwhelm the cat.
