There is a strange burning smell in the house when using the fireplace

It is not a smoke smell from the firebox and there is no leakage either, this has been checked many times.
The chemical smell is coming from the cartridge or the build-up. And this is not in dispute.

My fireplace, on the other hand, currently looks like this:

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The insert has been dismantled and sent back to the manufacturer for shotblasting. It has to be said that Kratki (the manufacturer) were very helpful in organising this whole process. The shotblasting and transport is £800. I am waiting for now.

After sending it back, I intend to build up the fireplace with Varmsen/Skamol panels, maintaining the required active areas of the built-in ventilation grilles. A similar building, once overheated, will always smell.
I will let you know.

mateo-salvadore wrote:

This is not a smoke smell from the firebox and there is no leakage either, this has been checked many times.
The smell of the chemical comes from the cartridge or the build-up. And this is not in dispute.

My fireplace, on the other hand, currently looks like this:

.

The insert has been dismantled and sent back to the manufacturer for shotblasting. It has to be said that Kratki (the manufacturer) were very helpful in organising this whole process. The shotblasting and transport is £800. I am waiting for now.

After sending it back, I intend to build up the fireplace with Varmsen/Skamol panels, maintaining the required active areas of the built-in ventilation grilles. Once overheated, a similar building will stink forever.
I will let you know.

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I added a grille at the bottom and it didn't change anything, I'm going to rip all the sealant off the pipes. I've got a lot of sealant rolled up between the outside intake and the firebox itself, but the bottom of the firebox doesn't seem to heat up much....

The bottom of the fireplace is practically cold, and from my observations the smell is not coming from the sealant, although I make no guarantees.

mateo-salvadore wrote:

Similar once overheated the build will stink forever.

What do you mean? So now after blasting and a new build you can overheat it and there will still be the stench?

I don't know. What I do know is that certainly mine, like a whole lot of other fireplaces I've seen, have too small an active grille area. These fireplaces require quite a large area - mine, for example, 700 cm2 for the inlet grilles (at the bottom of the build-up) and 900 cm2 for the outlet grilles.
Meanwhile, the built-ins often have one decorative grille each and this leads to a significant increase in internal temperature.

Do you already have a fireplace after blasting?

I have, but not yet installed. I'll be sure to let you know the results.

Ok, will wait for info as I have pretty much the same thing and am wondering what to do. Read the whole topic, there is some information, I was thinking of changing just the exhaust pipe/bend

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A small step towards success for now.
I started today to build up the insert after blasting with the Varmsen/Skamol system, but before closing it I lit the fireplace for a test fire:

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Currently the fireplace is spicing up and.... without the biting stench.... Somewhere in the background, there seems to be that sweetish smell wafting through gently, although I'm not sure myself if I smell it or if I have it in my head after 5 years of fighting the problem. But it is finally possible to smoke comfortably .
I used a sealant up to 1200 deg C to seal the flue pipe.
I'll hold off on declaring success just yet, as I'll declare this one when I've closed the fireplace surround completely, with the intention of doing so with significantly more grilles than I had before.
The highest recorded temperature in this build-up is on the flue pipe and this is 250st C.

I'd also like to add that the previous build-up caused a stinging sensation on the skin when stripping - like working with wool. The Varmsen/Skamol boards don't have this effect, so it seems to be a different type of material than I had previously.

I would also like to add that Kratki, in addition to the shotblasting done, replaced all the seals in the fireplace in the price, I got a new door with new glass, the company also took care of all the logistics of the shipment and overall I feel that I received a virtually new product. I must admit that I am impressed with the level of service.

I will probably let you know what happens next soon.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Pre-built fireplace. New grilles inserted, and more of them - although they still do not meet the requirements for the insert in terms of the required active area (700/900 cm2) - but the values are close to the requirements (the grilles are also on the side - not visible in the photo):

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For the first time in years I can enjoy the fireplace. I'll admit that I personally have the impression that somewhere in the background I gently like to smell the same, although I'm not sure myself, but my wife says she doesn't smell anything, so maybe it's me after 5 years of sniffing that it must smell. Certainly on the second day after smoking there is nothing to smell in the house and no need to ventilate - so goal achieved.
I am unable to say conclusively whether the source of the smell was the cartridge itself, the pipe or the build-up. At first I was sure it was the cladding, as my "research" in the previous house confirmed, but now I'm closer to believing it was the paint.... Although I don't really know. Someone wrote earlier that the cause in his case was the pipe connecting the insert to the chimney. It's possible - in my case it was hardwired.
To sum up, I ended up having the insert repaired and blasted by the manufacturer (Kratki) and changing the whole construction to a self-made one using Skamol/Varmsen panels.

I am not closing the topic yet. I'll keep a check on the fireplace and let you know after the fireplace is finished if anything has changed.

Hello.
I have read the whole thing and am impressed by the determination of many of you.
I'm linking to the topic because you have a lot of experience.
Briefly and to the point:
Freestanding unbuilt goat, from the market, 8 kW or something. Not cast iron, probably plain sheet metal and chamotte inside.
On Allegro or Castorama just positives.
A standard chimney made of chimney blocks plastered, plastered and painted like the rest of the walls. Inside some kind of round pipe, maybe clay or other, but certainly dedicated to the chimney role. Diameter at around 200mm.
Problem as with you, it stinks upstairs indoors with prolonged smoking, the wife gets a bite in her throat, can't sleep, ventilates the bedroom. I downstairs by the fireplace smell nothing.
This goat is only used as a heating and recreational aid, but through politics etc this may change.
This is the 5th winter of burning out the goat and guessing where the problem is.
I would ask for some advice.
Regards

Firstly, I admire your determination to slowly kill yourself and your wife by inhaling a concentrated mix of particulate matter and unidentified aromatic hydrocarbons. This is supposed to be an extended suicide, for cancer, since you write about recreational use?

It's hard to judge the smell from a distance, but my guess is that what your wife smells (what she doesn't smell, and what she also inhales, we're not talking about) is the heated deposits and toxic condensates from the vapours produced by combustion. These quickly form especially in chimneys that cannot be heated, i.e. chamotte chimneys, etc., as the bare sheet metal can be heated up properly and it is mainly soot that is deposited there (which has to be cleaned, as in turn it can catch fire). Of course, it could also be contact of the heated chimney sheet with some building material that touches there by accident or was used on purpose because it looked like it was suitable.
If the chimney is masonry with chamotte pipes, this 'honey' and chips the colour of a burnt pan will push through the joints to the outside and stink more and more each time the chimney riser is heated up. Over time there may also be indelible like stains on the wall where this ew drips. I.e. they are removable - along with the wall. .
Just please don't write once again what wonderful dried wood you are burning. Because one of the main products of combustion is water vapour. That is, there is water in the flue gas, even if the wood is dry to a crisp. It only needs to have the conditions to condense in the chimney. If the wood is wet, there is simply a lot more of it and, worse, the combustion temperature is lower, which increases the proportion of underburned gases in the flue gas.

Hello.

Shakur wrote:

I would like to ask for some advice.

Goat-type cookers are connected to short chimneys, or the flue pipe is led through the nearest wall to the outside - for the reason, as my colleague described above - that the chimney cannot be heated properly.

Regards

Friends have had such a goat in the ground floor living room for years, but the chimney is routed to the roof with heat-resistant steel pipe. In the attic and above the slope, the chimney is made of lined pipe so there is no problem with condensation as it heats up quickly. In the upstairs bedroom, the chimney is enclosed with a plate with grilles and is used to heat the room. Nothing stinks.

Chamotte and other ceramic chimney liners as a flue outlet are evil incarnate in a domestic setting. It makes sense, but if you have a smelting cooker and not a wood-burning fireplace.
To avoid the worst, the pipe should be steel, not too large in cross-section so that the flue gas has momentum and so that the whole sheet heats up strongly when burning slowly. This pipe must, of course, be sufficiently well insulated so that nothing catches fire. That is, mineral wool fest all the way above the flue. And if there are bends in the chimney, you can't make the sections lie flat, but there must always be a decent slope, otherwise leaky condensate may appear on the muffles and there will be a toxic smell.
Of course, all this does not solve the problem of carcinogenic particulate matter in the whole building, which is then in the air in quantities far exceeding the standards and this has been confirmed more than once.
That's why, at my house, the fireplace has only served as a decoration for years, with artificial embers inside. What kind of business is it to TRY for a little savings? And the neighbours, by the way, because the stench from burning in a fireplace is not our only problem!

Col. @elukam probably never smoked briquettes (both bought and self-made) and never got the chance to have a neighbour who smokes as it should in a boiler/furnace with the right burning technique.
Well, but what one likes.

Regards

With briquettes made yourself? You're right - whatever you like .

I used to shovel and nosh on coal as a child, enough is enough. When I have to, I'll even pick brushwood or dig peat, but as long as I don't have to I won't dawdle, grandfather or poison.

elukam wrote:

I smoked and dabbled in coal as a child, enough is enough.

Then don't write mate that everyone is poisoning themselves, because not everyone, just those who can't smoke and their neighbours.
You chose convenience, ok, but don't criticise everything and everyone who didn't choose convenience like you did because, for example, they couldn't.

And yes, briquettes for burning can be made yourself, all it takes is a bit of willingness.

Greetings

Compared to gas heating, everyone poisons themselves and others. More or less. Also those who "can".
I would like to point out that people have fireplaces in their homes very often as a fad rather than an existential need. The standard dream of people who move from living in a block of flats to their own home is:
1. A piece of garden in which to plant without concept or logic.
2. A place for a barbecue and the barbecue itself.
3. A fireplace in the living room so that there is an atmosphere.
This is the realisation of dreams and not of needs. A fireplace always smells, but more or less, depending on what and how you burn it and, above all, on the weather. Particulate matter concentrations in dwellings are high, regardless of what is smoked and the weather.
In towns where fossil fuels predominate, the stench is also terrible in winter, irrespective of skill (probably considerable, as this has been going on for years).

Hi @mateo-salvadore how does the subject look in January, has the machining definitely taken care of the subject. I bought a kit in 2021, Hitze + pipe from a Polish manufacturer - not sure which one.

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The build itself is a hybrid of two techniques, KW boards from Leroy and Roca wool with tapes.

Chemical stench when smoked strongly. I've read a bit of discussion and a lot would point to paint from the pipe, due to the fact that you have to add to the cooker to get it going though. Small burn - cartridge heated up, no stink particularly. I have tapes, but they don't burn. Different types of builds, different fireplace manufacturers, and people have a common problem, which is somewhere to do with market pipes of poor quality, without paint they can't sell it, because it would rust lying around, nobody would touch it. So they paint with some ******.

I would like to send the pipe, and preferably buy a new one with the elbow already treated, or if anyone has confirmation of what manufacturer gives advice please let me know.

I am impressed with the determination. I have been waiting 3 years for such a breakthrough in the case. .

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Gentlemen, have you considered fitting a blower in the firebox from below? Then the temperature will reduce and it shouldn't stink so much at higher temperatures.

Hello,

kamil229911 wrote:

Have you considered installing a blower in the firebox from below then the temperature will decrease and it should not stink so much at higher temperatures

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If you don't know how to burn solid fuel stoves/boilers, then please don't give any advice, as this could also be read by people who have never seen a fire in their lives and who dream of having a fireplace in their living room. And disaster awaits.

Best regards

I was interested in this topic because I have had a similar problem for a long time. Only with a goat, not a typical market one, but a Dovre cast iron one. The first two stoves at the beginning of the heating season, after a long spring-summer break, always end with a strong stench, either of burnt dust, heated cast iron or some kind of chemical. The stench fills the entire hut, but is quickest in the upper parts of the rooms. After such smoking, the whole hut is ventilated intensively. Interestingly, subsequent smokings no longer have such an effect, and in fact nothing stinks as long as I smoke fairly regularly, no less than every few days, at least once a week

At first, I suspected that this was the smell of burnt dust, because an identical smell is perceptible when, for example, after a long period of time, I fire up a heater or other device with a concealed heating coil. And since my goat has some nooks and crannies due to the fact that there are chamotte inserts on the side, back and top, the clue seemed good. So this year just before the heating season I took out these inserts and dusted them off, the goat inside too. Only that there was mostly just a thin layer of soot and not dust on these cartridges, especially the top one. Of course, I also vacuumed the goat itself and the pipe on the outside before burning. Unfortunately, this did not help; the stench from the first fire remained the same.
So I began to suspect paint on the goat and the flue pipe coming out of it. I don't know, maybe the paint absorbs moisture during the summer and then, as a result of the strong heat, it reacts with the paint in some way and causes the stench.
The second clue is these chamotte inserts. Dovre uses a synthetic material, very lightweight and pretending to be chamotte, rather than the typical chamotte. It's supposed to be much better than chamotte, but it seems to me that it is very porous and also absorbs dust and moisture in the summer. Then it burns out of those pores and stinks. That's my theory, I don't know if it's right and if anyone has a similar problem with this type of goat and the same conclusions.
I am, however, a bit apprehensive about test firing this goat with the inserts removed.

I have a system chimney, with ceramic inserts, but its unlikely I would suspect this stench in the house. It is airtight, and when I look into it from time to time from above and below, there is hardly any soot or any tar collecting in it.

I burn practically only beech wood, well-dried for a minimum of two years.

kris8888 wrote:

the enormous stench from the first fire is still there.

The reason for the unpleasant stench when lighting the fireplace or wood-burning stove for the first time is the deposition of various substances from the dwelling on the heating elements during the period of disuse. Normally, the concentration of these substances is undetectable, but their systematic deposition forms a thin layer (which cannot be vacuumed off) which must burn off. People with a sensitive sense of smell can smell it. Such is the charm of high-temperature heating.

Shakur wrote:

Freestanding unbuilt goat, from the market, 8 kW or something. Not cast iron, probably plain sheet metal and chamotte inside.
Problem like yours, stinks upstairs indoors with prolonged burning, wife bites throat, can't sleep, vents bedroom.
This is the 5th winter of burning through the goat and guessing where the problem is.

The problem is in the goat itself: the primitive, leaky design allows some of the products of combustion to escape outside the goat and not just into the house via the chimney. For the happiness, health and all the well-being of your family, get rid of this cattle as soon as possible and buy a noble goat - if there must already be a goat in the house - i.e. a free-standing fireplace from a proven manufacturer. It costs money, but it is better to go into debt or make some extra money on the side than to make yourself miserable on the cheap.

brofran wrote:

a stove or fireplace is the deposition of various substances from the dwelling on the heating elements during the period of disuse. Normally their concentration is undetectable, but their systematic deposition forms a thin layer (which cannot be vacuumed off)

Maybe this theory is also correct but if so, there should be some reasonably safe detergents to remove this thin layer from the surface of the goat and this steel chimney pipe.
It's worse when this mess settles somewhere inside, in which case I can't imagine washing it all before the first kindling every season.
Well, maybe you just have to live with it, ventilate strongly after the first kindling, although I must admit that the stench is extremely unpleasant and intense. At one point I even wondered to what extent it was harmful to health.

I used to think that the fresh paint on the stove and the pipe had to be hardened by the heat, which it was in the beginning, and that this was the cause of the stench, but I've been using the stove for over four years now and the paint should have hardened by now.