Carbon Monoxide Part 2

There is definitely something wrong. But I think it something to do with maybe a partial blockage in the vent. It’s definitely worth having inspected. Co is nothing to play with. It’s a silent killer. I’m a mining inspector by occupation. I carry a gas spotter daily . 400 ppm is a very high reading. There is something that ‘s causing this issue. You will figure it out.

 

Ok I know I’m typing again. You got me thinking on the problem. Check the chimney and then go back to the door gasket. You have burned for years and never had an issue. It’s something between the vent or the recent door gasket replacement.

 

Thanks for the reply much appreciated. Luckily the kids all sept out at my sister in laws LN with their cousins for an Xmas sleepover. As the alarms were going off like crazy we had to air the house for a good hour or so...........UGH!!!!!

Laying in bed all night just racking my brain over this, I've really come to the conclusion that is has to be something with the gasket on the door. Like I said I think I ordered the wrong size 3/4", that son of a gun is tight as hell and very hard to shut the door and latch but it does go but very hard to do. Doing more digging this AM, looks like my Drolet 1800i requires a 5/8" gasket , that's on me.........

I am no expert in this area, but is it possible with the prior sized gasket (5/8") while it sealed tightly it still pulled in air somehow through the door? If so is that normal?

Observing all of this the past few days, it's really boiling down to the stove not getting enough air and back drafting, if I run it wide open it seems very happy, like I am now but if you choke it down half way or three quarter like I normally do for bedtime it struggles to pull air as the fire dies down.

Could that crazy super tight door seal be causing this????? So far all indicators are pointing to this change as this is the only thing that's changed recently and I've never had this problem in the 7 years of running it. Except for very mild days, rain, fog and very high humidity which is understandable and tolerable, but this is not.

Last thing to rule out is a chimney block, but I highly doubt it as I cleaned this sucker few months back and I have mesh cap preventing critters or birds from getting in, buy ANYTHING is possible.......

Thanks all for the help and replies...........I was devastated LN I love burning wood and thought of not doing it because of this, got me.

 

I had an uncle one time that worked for a stone mason for a while. They built a really nice fireplace for these home owners and later that season the homeowners called and said that the fire place wouldn’t draw that a back draft of smoke was filling the home. They went back to investigate and he said the old mason looked at everything but eventually he went upstairs opened a window a quarter of way and the fireplace began to draw properly. The home was to tight. Your stove is using oxygen from inside the home to support combustion like all stoves unless they have an outside air kit. I would have the liner inspected for blockage. Then look at the door gasket. Have you tried burning a fire and going to adjacent room opening a window see how the fire responds.

 

An oversized gasket, which needs to be corrected, wouldn't cause this issue...or I can't imagine how anyways. It would more likely cause the fire to burn out of control IMO (uncontrolled air leak)
This is an 1800i, yes?
Those don't have air holes drilled into the front of the stove that get sealed into the combustion chamber when the door closes, does it? Some models do...that's about the only way I can think of that an oversized gasket would cause this issue...at least without it causing an air leak, which would also make it overfire too.
The only other thing that comes to mind to check would be baffle placement, including the blanket on top (if it has one) and the steel weight on top that keeps the blanket from being sucked into the flue.
Other than that I'm blanking...

 

I’m in agreement with Brent, a loose fitting door gasket would increase air flow and not cause the issue. Like Brent said inspect the blanket. Take the pipes apart at the stove something has to be block.

 

If all that checks out, see if an OAK is available for that stove. We have one on our Drolet Blackcomb. It always drafts great. We don't have the CO monitors though.

 

Sounds like Santa needs to bring some practical gifts this year...

 

So I have imagine there has been some Christmas decorating going on there...any of it come from the attic? Attic door not in place/sealed properly? That would/could pull air out of the stove...

 

I wonder if opening a window, like already mentioned, might help. Then we'd have a better idea if it's the house or chimney that's the culprit.

Best I can figure is either the house is too tight or chimney isn't drawing enough for several reasons. I would guess something with the chimney being he's had years of trouble free operation before now.

I'll be curious to hear what was found after he runs a brush down the chimney. Maybe do a cell phone video inspection of the liner while it's clean?

 

Don't chimney folks have manometers that measure water-column draft?

Might not be a bad idea to have someone out that can actually measure the draft and put a number to it.

 

What if you run it without the spark arrestor and cap? Obviously it's been fine in the past but.... I'm just grasping at straws here.

 

You'd have to leave it on for some time...draft changes drastically with the state of the fire (or lack thereof) sometimes even a manometer that reads down to hundredths of an inch water column barely move when trying to start a fire in a cold stove/chimney, even on a setup that has no issues.
I have had a Dwyer Mark ll model 25 manometer hooked up to my 27' chimney that our Kuuma furnace vents to for over 10 years...kinda interesting to monitor over time...I keep my barometric draft regulator set at about -0.04" WC...the Vaporfire runs nicely for us at that draft level.