Bad situation, is it safe now?

I came home a few minutes ago and looked at the stove and thought something looked funny. On closer inspection the burn pot was full of burning pellets and the pellets were backed up the chute. I turned the stove off, opened the door and pulled the pellets out and away from the chute. After the fire died down some, I stirred the burn pot to even out the pellets and got any burning pellets that weren't in the burn pot away from the chute. The outside the burn pot pellets are just glowing now and the burn pot has a low level fire that is slowly dying. I was about to go run some errands. Do you think it is safe enough to leave it or should I continue to watch it.

The stove is a Sante Fe insert. I have been having some trouble with it this season. It was burning lazy and sooting up everything, so I cleaned it best I could and changed the door gasket and nothing seemed to change what it was doing and then it started having troubles igniting and then it wouldn't even do that. I called service and a guy came out after a couple of weeks and I had to use that dinosaur stuff in the mean time. They thought the burn pot wasn't clean enough and scraped it some more and finally got it to ignite. They also thought there might be a vacuum problem and left to order the part. Meanwhile, the fire still wasn't burning right and within a day or so wouldn't ignite either. I started reading all the posts on here that involved a Sante Fe and found one that talked about the four holes in the slanted part of the burn pot. I didn't remember seeing those holes, so I went to look and saw they were plugged up. I cleaned them out and the fire ignited and burned the way it is supposed to. It burned fine for a couple of days and then today the incident I described above happened. Once the part has come in the guys are supposed to come back and do a full servicing. I am going to go clean it again.

I've burned about half a ton so far. The vent system goes up the chimney.

I am burning lignetics. How does one find bad seals?

Bioburner said:

The burn pot probably the easy one. Clean the area around the base and sprinkle some powder around the base,I use baby powder, close the door and fire it up and look to see if the powder blows away in a bad spot. The main door gasket check with the unit trying to run by using something that smokes, incense stick, roped up paper towel when lit then blown out gives alot of nice wispy smoke, slowly run the smoke device around the door while running and will see it suck it in if bad. The door on the hinge side is a usual offender when it goes. If real bad will drop enough vacuum to stop auger feed. I would get a good look at your chimney too. I am sure others will tell of numerous critters in the chimney. I found a wood duck, numerous starlings and tree rats by the dozen.

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Thank you, I will work on this.

DexterDay said:

When was the last time your vent was cleaned?

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This is probably a problem. I have not done it and I don't think the service guy did it when he was last here three years ago. I asked him what I needed to do that I wasn't doing and he told me I was doing the cleaning very well. I no longer believe that. I just did my version of a clean job and at one point I bumped something and a lot of ash fell down from where I thought I had cleaned. I kept banging until the ash stopped coming down and I had a lot more than I expected. The fire is restarted and I am watching it.

What questions should I ask and what should I make the service guy tell and show me when he comes back? I've seen the posts where you describe how to clean your stoves and I don't know how to get to those places. Should I be pulling the stove out of the fireplace to do a full cleaning?

tjnamtiw said:

Besides the 4 little holes on the bottom of the slanted part, there are 4 more little holes in the front of the pot down low. Also, there is a slot in front of the igniter that needs to be kept clear. Get a .32 caliber gun cleaning brush for all 8 of them. Take out the ash pan and look at the bottom of the burn pot and the clean out plate. It should not be hanging down and have more gap than the thickness of a dime on the side opposite from the hinge bolt.

Good luck. Keep those holes clean.

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I knew about the other holes. I could feel them and I poked something in there to make sure they were clear. I like the gun cleaning brush method, it is more maneuverable than whatever it was I was using. The holes on the slanted part are easy to see and I find it hilarious that the service guy was shining his flashlight in the burn pot and didn't notice they were blocked. Is the clean out plate what I pull out to dump the contents of the burn pot into the ash pan?