Newmac wood furnace-worry about smell

[ca.stone]

Hello All,

We have a new Newmac wood burning furnace. The first time we ran it it filled the house with smoke and chemicals from the coating that was on the unit. The temperature outside was COLD, but the smoke alarm went off so all the windows had to be opened to get the smell of chemicals and smoke out of our home.
We have had a lot of problems with this furnace so far, but it is now at least running well and is quiet after replacing the blower assembly. However....after the furnace gets hot, there is a faint smell (sometimes not so faint) in our home, both upstairs and down that seems to have permeated the house. It's hard to describe, but the best I can say is it has a HOT smell. Like some sort of chemical residue that is still emitting a smell from the furnace. The worse time for this is after the furnace has ran all day, but it's pretty much there all the time. We have health concerns. Last furnace we had was a Benjamin which didn't do this. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[olyman]

on a day it aint blowing,,get the furnace hot as you can,,and open the windows to clear out the smell...should have burnt it out side prior to bringing it in...

 

[NSMaple1]

Any chance the new one is getting the ductwork hotter than the old one? Could be burning dust you smell? But it would likely take a few burns for the new oily smell to go away completely.

 

[ca.stone]

Any chance the new one is getting the ductwork hotter than the old one? Could be burning dust you smell? But it would likely take a few burns for the new oily smell to go away completely.

It's been running now, on and off depending on how cold it is, for a month and a half. We've had some hot fires in it so I'd think whatever this smell is would burn off. It's not like the first time we ran it of course, but still annoying and the fact we don't know what it is, and if it's safe bothers us.

 

[sunfish]

It will get better with use.

 

[ca.stone]

It will get better with use.

Thanks to you all who relied with suggestions.

 

[brenndatomu]

Do you have a CO detector?

 

[Ryan'smilling]

My vapor fire smelled pretty noxious the first fire especially, and for the first couple weeks for sure. Hopefully yours gets better soon!

 

[ca.stone]

Do you have a CO detector?

No I don’t.

 

[ca.stone]

My vapor fire smelled pretty noxious the first fire especially, and for the first couple weeks for sure. Hopefully yours gets better soon!

Thanks, I hope so too. It’s been 6 weeks now.

 

[laynes69]

Everytime you hit a new high temperature, you'll get an odor. Eventually it will go away when all of the oils burn off and paint cures. Anyone burning wood should have a CO detector, better safe than sorry.

 

[ca.stone]

Everytime you hit a new high temperature, you'll get an odor. Eventually it will go away when all of the oils burn off and paint cures. Anyone burning wood should have a CO detector, better safe than sorry.

Good advise, thank you.

 

[JeffHK454]

Good advise, thank you.

Are you sure you have all your ducting sized right and any dampers completely opened?

I had a damper fail (flap bent into a 90° angle) and it cut the air flow down enough that it made the whole system run a little hot and smell like hot metal..or dust cooking off.

 

[LondonNeil]

I have read before of a stove where the paint smell lingered and lingered. think it was h e a r t h.com iirc the owner got the stove shop round a couple of times and they then swapped the stove out as there seemed to be a problem with the paint.

 

[ca.stone]

Are you sure you have all your ducting sized right and any dampers completely opened?

I had a damper fail (flap bent into a 90° angle) and it cut the air flow down enough that it made the whole system run a little hot and smell like hot metal..or dust cooking off.

Thanks for your response. We have had all the dampers open. It does smell like hot metal though. That’s a good description.

 

[ca.stone]

I have read before of a stove where the paint smell lingered and lingered. think it was h e a r t h.com iirc the owner got the stove shop round a couple of times and they then swapped the stove out as there seemed to be a problem with the paint.

We were wondering the same thing, if it was the paint or something they coated the unit with.

 

[alleyyooper]

I put our New england 28 3500 in fall of 2014. I thought I would post pictures of me burning it on the trailer before the install for 24 hours then about 12 hours to cool .
Every one who posted said every one was smart enough to burn a new sove out side first.
Guess they were wrong.


No these days I go down in the morning and fill it with wood and open it up to burn hot. during rhe night I have it shut down so it isn't the cleanest type burning. If I don't go back down right away the metal chimney will get hot and start to smell.
go shut it down to the normal day time burn rate and it soon cools and the smell goes away.

Al

 

[svk]

Every one who posted said every one was smart enough to burn a new sove out side first.
Guess they were wrong.

Way to be helpful to a new member Al

 

[svk]

Hello All,

We have a new Newmac wood burning furnace. The first time we ran it it filled the house with smoke and chemicals from the coating that was on the unit. The temperature outside was COLD, but the smoke alarm went off so all the windows had to be opened to get the smell of chemicals and smoke out of our home.
We have had a lot of problems with this furnace so far, but it is now at least running well and is quiet after replacing the blower assembly. However....after the furnace gets hot, there is a faint smell (sometimes not so faint) in our home, both upstairs and down that seems to have permeated the house. It's hard to describe, but the best I can say is it has a HOT smell. Like some sort of chemical residue that is still emitting a smell from the furnace. The worse time for this is after the furnace has ran all day, but it's pretty much there all the time. We have health concerns. Last furnace we had was a Benjamin which didn't do this. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Welcome to the site! Your issues should get better with time. Sorry the manufacturer didn't warn you to do a pre-burn outside.

What state are you in? There is a Bear River near me in Minnesota.

 

[alleyyooper]

Well just maybe we should make a preburn wood b urner out side the home sticky.

As I said 2014 I posted the same picture to warn people to do a burn out side first.
I was told then every one knew that. I sure am glad I did the out side burn wouldn't want that smell in the house.
I would probably have to have built a new house for the wife. She can smell Hopps # 9 two days after I have iused it and doesn't like it at all.

Al