If you are getting smoke in the house or you stove just don’t seem to be burning like should.

Check the door seal and latch for a tight fit.

Check the ash pan for shut tight and latched

If all doors seals are good and latched.

MOST pellet stove are Negative air. (Inside of the Firebox is vacuumzed)
If you don’t have the ash pan or door sealed less air will flow through the burn pot and you will have a tall lazy flame. You will see no visual change in the fire when you change the air control.

Without a Magnahilic this is the best way to dial In air adjustment.

With the stove on High and running for 15 minutes after start up.
Push the air rod in. you will see a tall ugly lazy flame
then [b}slowly pull the rod out
as the flame comes down, more intense and be more yellow
when the flame looks like it is not changing anymore stop pulling out.
If you have sparks popping this is normal
but you don’t want to see PELLETS popping out.
If you get Brown or Grey soot on the glass and firebrick this is normal
if you have BLACK soot on the firebrick and glass pull the air out a little more.

Cant get much adjustment out of the air?

The first thing to do is a good cleaning.

Follow the cleaning steps in your manual.

Clean out all the ashes in the burn pot and ash chambers.
Some stoves this will require you to remove the refractory brick and the REMOVE baffle behind it.

Scrap the heat exchange tubes or fins or clean with a Bottle or potato brush

Check the placement of your burn pot and or burn pot liner. Make sure it sitting in the correct notches; Latches and push back were it belongs.

Clean out the ALL Venting (flue pipe) and just because you think your pellet vent is clean? Have you looked where the vent connects to the stove?

Check the cap some times if you are adapting to wood stove pipe there will be a screen in the cap.

Check the door seal and latch for a tight fit.

Check the ash pan for shut tight and latched

Try the steps above if your stove still is not burning correctly then go on to some trouble shooting in your owners manual and or here http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/13413/

Feel free to add you tip here on your brand of stove or a solution to a problem you had.

Please only add tips and help not questions.
My idea for this type of page is for quick answers so searchers dont have to weed through a bunch of crap to find help.

You may also want to check if your venting (flue pipe) is properly installed according to your manufactures specs and recommended installation.

Most pellet stove manufactures show you can Direct Vent (DV) a Pellet Stove right out the wall and put a 45 deg elbow or an approved horizontal cap.
But if you read the manual almost all of them highly recommend 3 feet of vertical rise.

this is a very good way to vent if you can go all this way up.
the only thing I would have done is add 6 to 12 “ between the 90 and the cap.
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/13695/

I personally will NEVER DIRECT VENT install a pellet stove even it if cost me the sale.
Reasons I will not:

1) When the power goes out smoke will back into the house for there is not blower to push the gases out of the stove with no power.

2) The side of you home and or decking or sidewalk may build up with soot and or ash.

3) The stove will draft much better with vertical run of pipe especially on lower setting.

But if you are direct venting a pellet stove:
1) Be sure you have ¼ inch per foot of rise in the horizontal pipe.

2) Be sure you are at your allowable clearances to Windows, Eves (vented and Non vented soffits), Porches, Walls, Public walkways and any Mechanical vents or Gas regulators.

3) YOU MUST HAVE OUT SIDE AIR. And the outside air must be below or far enough way the outlet of the venting.

Size of venting.
Your manual will state the required size of pellet vent for your installation. Every manual I have ever seen has a chart with Horizontal and Vertical runs with the size of pipe to use.
Rule of thumb is any pellet vent over 15 feet use 4” venting. Especially if you are above 4000 feet elevation I would use 4” on any height of run.

Any horizontal pipe keep it as short as possible and less than 3 feet.
Be sure to have ¼ inch per foot of rise in the horizontal run.

A T clean out is best to use as often as possible in place of a 90 deg elbow.
A T clean out will give you a ash trap for fly ash 90 deg elbows build up with ash quickly for there is no Reservoir for ash.

For offsetting stove pipe to always use 45 deg elbows. NEVER USE 90 deg elbows.

Venting an pellet insert
ALWAYS vent a pellet insert with Stainless steel pipe from the stove all the way to the top and use a metal chase cap to seal off the top of the chimney so no air and more importantly to keep WATER from following your pipe down and Shorting out your stove.

Also block of and insulate the Damper section.
This will keep cold air out but even more important keep any Ash that you cant get out of the smoke shelf from being pulled into your house with the Room air blower of the stove. This convection blower is located behind your surround panels in side the fireplace and it will suck up an dust and or ash that is in the fireplace.
See this page for photos of a stove that was not installed with pipe all the way up.
http://www.hearthtools.com/install/dirty_insert/index.htm

Some subjects above have been updated

I have been working on pellet stove for 19 seasons now.

I learn something new every day. The best lessons are the completely stupid ones.

I have been trying to figure out a problem on a 7-year-old Breckwell p24 free standing.

My service guy did the yearly service on the stove.
A few weeks later the owner called and said the burn pot is over flowing and not burring very well door is black.

My service guy goes over and sees the DUMB ass flip type ash pan latch is not shut.
He cleans the inside of the stove and relights it. Re adjust the air
Sticks around and the stove is burning great.

4 hours latter the owner calls. Still not burning right. I tell her to shut off the stove and but don’t change any settings I will be over after it cools.

I get there every thing looks good as far as air control and doors shut.

So I turn it on and the combustion blower sounds bad.. I pull the blower
(1999 P24 FS pain in the butt) Clean out the pipe from the Bottom up past the (2) 45 elbows and to 4 - 6 adapt at the support box. With a flexible rod and brush. (My service guy was just did a full service 3 weeks earlier) I did not go up on the roof or even look at the cap because it just had a full service.
This is a 4” pellet pipe adapt to 6” wood stovepipe at the support box.

Put a new combustion blower in fire it up stove worked great. They said it has not had a fire in it like that all year.

Ok
10 days latter she calls it is doing it again.
I go out and look at the cap.
I don’t know whom but someone put what looked like DIRECT VENT HIGH wind cap on top of the wood stovepipe?????? NO BODY KNOWS WHO?
The last time I was at that house MY SELF for a full service about 3 years ago it had a wood stove cap on it.

We took it off and put on a wood stove cap and ran the stove. Worked good.
4 hours latter she calls doing it again.

I tell her to leave the stove on.
I go out there put a Magnahilic gage on it.
Poor pressure and little change with air adjustment.
Pull open the side panel test voltage to the combustion blower 123 volts

I screw around with the stove still burning Scrapped out the burn pot
Used pliers. Opened up the ash clean out sliders on the sides and back of firebox. Good and clean
I pulled the heat exchange scrapper and woof air started flowing.
The magnahilic gage pegs out to .20

I thinking between the tubes got plugged up from the Bad blower and wrong cap.
It was light fluffy BLACK soot that came down. Just enough blockages to restrict the exhaust flow past the heat exchange.
‘
So lesson learned
GO THROUGH ALL THE STEPS
DON’T TAKE SHORT CUTS
CHECK EVERYTHING EVEN IT IF HAS JUST BEEN DONE BEFORE.

I found this site yesterday,,helped me out “immensely” to say the least! So, came back to register, & express my thanks and appreciation to all!! My problem had to do with fire-box/pellet-pot overflowing “EXACTLY” like the other person mentioned on this site. It sounded like I had written the description myself, in fact! Same symptoms! Sooo’,, I went back to the drawing-board, with tools, vacuum, etc,etc, in hand & tore-into said pellet stove ("antique Trailblazer 1600?-I believe?). Same story, thought I had ‘cleaned everything’--NOT!! The base of the stove has a grill-work wrap/around about 1 in. high. Silly me, I figured it was a “closed heat/dissapating chamber”, that did nothing but ‘collect dust’!! Was I ever wrong. After removing said grillwork, using a “long” aquarium-bottle-type-brush, and a vacuum to suck out a multitude of “dust/bunnies”,,(packed thick--the stove is a 93’ vintage, that part had never been touched since it was ‘originally assembled’, & me with no instruct. book, etc, etc, to go by!), the stove “draws air” also from that underneath duct now, along with the rear single fan, to pressurize pellet-pot, air/tubes, etc.!! After reading the input yesterday from this ‘forum’, I believe we’re on the “road-to-recovery” finally. I want to thank all involved, and will surely become a “regular” of this site! I hope I posted this update in the ‘proper’ area, so as not to upset, or deter anyone else from curing their problem/’s, like you’ve all helped me! Thanks again, Otter