Heatilator CAB50 excessive ash buildup in pot

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Jarhead1229

Member
Nov 12, 2011
28
SLC Utah
Hi everyone I have a cab50 heatilator stove that when I run on high it seems to be either feeding too many pellets even though I have the feed control in the hopper choked as far down as it will go. Or I am not getting enough draft even though the plate under the ash pan is open all the way. What is happening is that I'm over firing on high and I am getting a lot of ash built up in the pot which I thought might be clinkers from the pellets but as soon as I touch them they fall apart. I also don't believe it's the pellets fault because the pellets I buy I buy because they are the only brand that I've found near me that run in my Jamestown j1000 stoves without causing clinkers

PLEASE HELP
 
are the baffle plates seated and set properly in their slots?
i had one off kilter once and it affected the flame. made it lower and pulled it toward one side.

have you cleaned behind the baffle plates? the fly ash builds up and could affect the air path if excessively built up.

i'm running my ps50 with the gate closed down too.
as far as i can tell so far, there isn't too much room to open it up further without the flame getting too high.
my medium flame could be a little higher if it had to be. but not much.
 
I clean behind the baffle plates once a week and make sure to put them back in correctly although the last couple times there hasn't been much ash behind them and it does seem to be a little stronger flame after cleaning I even pulled the combustion blower out and cleaned it just to make sure that wasn't the issue I've only run about a ton of pellets through this stove so it really isn't that dirty yet
 
My biggest issue is that when the stove shuts down its not blowing all the ash out of the pot and when it tries to relight the igniter is covered with ash so it can't light the pellets
 
We have the PS50 and make sure you have removed the ceramic cover from the thermocouple and tapped the ash out of there,then reinstall the ceramic cover.making sure that the thermocouple wire is making contact with the end of the ceramic cover inside....With the stove off,of course.......:)
 
How does your flame look compared to when first lit and after running for an hour or two? If you have a good flame when it first fires and then after a while the flame is not as intense it could be starving for air. You might want to check the house for negative pressure after the stove has been running for a while. If negative you need an OAK.
 
Well my house is way to drafty for negative pressure and it seems if I leave the ash drawer open a little bit I get better air flow through the stove and it seems to be fine as long as it doesn't run too long but when it has to run for long periods of time the ash really builds up and that's when it won't light
 
How often are you pulling the rod for the burnpot?
 
Clean everything including the venting, baffle plates, burn pot, and anything else you find.

Eric
 
I clean firepot daily, vac firebox every 4 or 5 days. Complete clean out every 25 bags. Stove has been running great. Like Eric says do a complete clean out and let us know how it runs.
 
I just got mine installed recently and I noticed similar problems. I have to clean out my burn pot twice a day sometimes . My ash is more on the clumpy side, but not solid hard either.

Jarhead1229 said:
Well my house is way to drafty for negative pressure and it seems if I leave the ash drawer open a little bit I get better air flow through the stove and it seems to be fine as long as it doesn't run too long but when it has to run for long periods of time the ash really builds up and that's when it won't light
Click to expand...

Isn't leaving the ash drawer slightly open dangerous?
 
Do not leave the ash pan pulled out. Sounds like pellets might be part of the issue. Go by another brand and try 2/3 bags.
 
The Ds said:
How often are you pulling the rod for the burnpot?
Click to expand...


you can get troublesome build up if you don't pull your rod regularly. ;lol
 
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St_Earl said:
you can get troublesome build up if you don't pull your rod regularly. ;lol
Click to expand...


OH DEAR!!! Does the homeowner or a "friend" of the homeowner pull the rod?
 
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Just because the pellets burn well in the Jamestowns, doesn't mean that the CAB will like them.

What brand are you burning? How does it run on Med or Low? Does sound like an airflow problem. How is the door gasket?

What is your venting set-up? Please describe the size and every component, describing whether the pieces are horizon, or vertical, and the length.
 
I do a full clean out once a week including pulling the baffles and brushing them clean I pull my rod every time I see the stove is not running and I don't pull the ash pan out while its running I just noticed if I leave it cracked a little I get better air flow and I pull my rod every chance I get any time I see that it's not running I pull the rod as for venting I have about a 18" piece of pipe that runs straight through the wall horizontally
 
It seems to run perfect on med never run it on low it doesn't heat my house on low I can't imagine the door gasket is bad the stove was installed in October and has only had about one ton burned through it as for the brand of pellets they are in a clear bag and I was told the brand last year but can't remember the name ill have to ask again the next time I buy them
 
Jarhead1229 said:
I I pull my rod every chance I get any time I see that it's not running
Click to expand...

Even though your pulling the rod sometimes the ash crust that builds up will not fall out into the pan. You will have to use the firepot tool to clean out all the crust. A mirror and a flashlight helps to make sure all the crust is out. Give it a go.
 
Ok I did a complete cleaning Sunday and for a couple days after cleaning I seem to have about the right flame highth maybe still a little tall but if the stove has to run for than an hour I'm still getting a lot of ash built up in the bottom of the pot that doesn't blow out after shut down which is blocking the igniter hole so that when it tries to start up again it can't light the pellets unless I'm around to pull the rod could this be my pellets or maybe still an airflow problem or maybe it's just dumping too many pellets for my altitude I do live above 6000 feet
 
Jarhead1229 said:
Ok I did a complete cleaning Sunday and for a couple days after cleaning I seem to have about the right flame highth maybe still a little tall but if the stove has to run for than an hour I'm still getting a lot of ash built up in the bottom of the pot that doesn't blow out after shut down which is blocking the igniter hole so that when it tries to start up again it can't light the pellets unless I'm around to pull the rod could this be my pellets or maybe still an airflow problem or maybe it's just dumping too many pellets for my altitude I do live above 6000 feet
Click to expand...

Are you running with 4" vent and with an OAK?
 
I don't have an OAK and I think it's only 3" my pipe slides on the back of the stove and goes straight through the wall
 
I'm actually only running the heatilator right now it replaced one of my Jamestowns and the other needs to have both fans replaced when I get enough money to fix it image.jpg this is what the ash build up looks like image.jpg image.jpg and this what happens when I touch it and I seem to get one of these after about 2 or 3 hours of running
 
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