Expert: James Ball - 1/24/2011

Question
Hello,

I have a had Jotul 3CB for almost two seasons. It was installed in May of 2009. Things went well last winter until late February or early March. Towards the end of the 09-10 heating season, the pipe (or stove) began to give off a nasty burnt paint smell. The pipe was cleaned (twice) and the smell is still there.
The stove has been taken apart and thoroughly cleaned with no affect. It did seem slightly better for the first two burns but got worse again.
The Selkirk pipe has been replaced (there may have been a bad lot of pipe according to a tech bulletin) and the smell is still there. I don't expect there to be no smell with a new pipe but it shouldn't smell like it does. It is also not improving.
I have been around wood stoves all my life and I have not smelled anything like this on a stove that has burned over a cord of wood.
We have had only a few fires this winter because the smell gives me such a nasty headache.
There is no smoke in the house and the draft is strong. There is no CO problem as I had a detector (I tried 2) only 10 feet from the stove.
We are burning well seasoned maple.
I am tempted to temporarily replace the pipe with stainless just so I can see if the problem is the pipe or the stove.
Thoughts?
Kind Regards.

Answer
Hello Ian, only thing that comes to mind is the pipe has not cured yet? are you burning the stove hot enough? is it a very long run? SS might be the best way to test (wipe it down with alcohol (and let it dry) to remove any oils
hope this helps
James