Carbon Monoxide Part 2

How difficult is it to pull that insert to do a full cleaning and inspection?

 

I'd say a massive PITA but might be worth it if this continues.

Have not burned yesterday its freaking almost 60 out this morning but dropping down this afternoon after this monsoon rain we are having.

 

There's really nothing you can see by pulling it out that can't be seen in place using a good light, mechanics mirror(s) and maybe a cheap borescope. The insert stoves have that air jacket around the stove body (kinda like a furnace) and its not removeable (not without cutting things apart anyways)
Once you pull the blower off the front, that's about all you get...some have side heat shields too, but again, not much to see there IME.

 

I’m glad you haven’t had any more issue's. This is the time of year you need your stove the most going into the coldest months of winter.

 

I installed the new gasket this weekend and also replaced the screw attaching the stove to the liner collar with a longer one which is much more secured now. I checked all the connections and ensured everything was tight and ran the stove this weekend just fine. We shall see and will keep eye on it.

Thanks again all!

 

After puzzling with this thread, I will put in my "2 cents". I have had CO detectors alarm.

Do not fall into the trap of thinking everything has only one possible cause, several alternate causes are possible, which makes things messy.

For example, the first time my original CO detector alarmed was because it was failing and needed to be replaced, i.e. no CO. But... I could have CO and no alarm (first detector), then replace the detector and have CO.

Next, many wood burning appliances do not allow going to zero inlet draft, like mine, so looking for "leaks" at some point can be unproductive. If my wood burner was 100% tight, no leaks, then my chimney would reverse, back draft, every night as the wood burner cools and so the volume of gas shrinks, sucking air down. If a house was very airtight, then a cooling house would shrink the air and suck air down a chimney (my house has lots of leaks).

I think you said half the masonry chimney is above the roof which would be a large heat/chill sink, i.e. stay cold longer and so reduce draft (masonry weighs a lot).

I manage my CO by using more draft which then wipes out my coals and so I do a lot of relights.

A draft gauge could be an option as an analytical tool.

 

Good stuff, thank you much and a lot to think about, appreciated.

 

So it's been weeks now with constant 24/7 burning and figured I'd just give an update. Mostly for my own sanity to make sense of it all.

House is littered with more and newer CO detectors and absolutely nothing has triggered. I'll occasionally get a 1 or 2 PPM reading when my wife is cooking with the oven and stove only on the detector located just near the kitchen.

Three things of note that I did and or changed:

1. Replace gasket with correct sized gasket (going from 3/4" to correct size of 5/8")
2. Replaced a loose screw from the stove to collar connection with a longer one making it more snug and secure.
3. Cleaned the air intake on the blower and make it a bi-weekly routine to do so.

Just in case anyone is interested I ended up buying two of the below. I really like them so far. I hate to marry everything to wifi and apps, BUT its nice to know if the CO alarm is going off while not home as we do have a pet and sometimes my older kids are left alone for short periods of time.

Combined Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detector | X-sense