Enviro Mini High/Low Problem

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

mdavis21

Member
Dec 14, 2013
19
Maryland
I have a 2013 Enviro Mini A and have a problem with High/Low mode. I can get it to start just fine but the flame appears to get smothered in low mode after a random period of time and shut the stove off. I have noticed this once when I heard my electric heat kick on in the middle of the night (a signal that the stove was not running). Another time I can home and the stove was off. Both times the burn pot liner was overflowing with pellets. I tried adjusting the feed trim in various settings and ultimately level 1 but the fire would still smother. The combustion blower is on level 4. Any ideas on what else I can try?
 
I am by no means an expert but hopefully I can help. My mini was having trouble on low when I first hooked up my stove. I have it running well now. I installed an oak and set the pressure with a manometer. I actually had to run it a bit higher on the water gauge. I'm running .13 but could change depending on the pellets.

Has your stove been set with a meter or are you eyeballing the flame. I eyeballed at first and had it close but fine tuning with a meter really helped.
 
I have not checked it officially, only eyeballed it. I had an oak put it when it was installed. I guess I will have to shell out a bit to buy one of these tools. Any idea on what is a good one to get and if any accessories are needed for it?
 
When the enviro runs on low it's LOW. You're probably going out in low then it kicks back up to high but the fire's already out. The feed trim might actually be too low, try turning it up to keep the fire from going out in low. I doubt it's killing the fire in high mode by putting in too many pellets. I think you have a problem with not enough in low. Definitely clean top to bottom then check airflow as suggested. You'll be surprised. Just remember to get the stove good and hot before checking air. An hour at the highest setting and wait ten minutes after adjustments to check again. Otherwise you'll be chasing your tail.

Hope you get it going. Nothing worse than a cold house.
 
I received the EM-151 manometer and did some tests last night. In order to set at the .12 - .13 range I had to slide the damper all the way into the stove. This makes the flame incredibly tall and lazy. I left it here all night and this morning the burn pot is filled with ash. I don't know if I am doing everything correctly but I think these settings make it worse. Any suggestions?
 
My mini is set to .13 as well and have about 3/4" of rod showing. Flame looks great and only minimal ash buildup in the pot offer long periods of usage. Was your stove clean (all passages vacuumed) before you checked it? I'm not sure how much that would affect things but I clean before I set the pressure.

Also I checked my pressure multiple times giving the stove time to settle in on each setting change. I would check again today and see if you are still at .12-.13.
 
I checked multiple tines last night and each time it measured in that range. How long do u leave the copper pipe in for testing? Also does it need to be held in the 1/8" home tight or just set there? If I pull out the damper about an inch then the manometer goes to about 0.2. I also had the feed trim on setting 1 so I was surprised when the burn pot was filled with ash. I have the combustion trim set to 3 also. I have never seen so much ash. The new pellets were burning in a full pot on top of the ash. I am a newbie but never thought I would have this much of a hard time with these settings. I should also say my tall lazy flame is hitting the top of the stove. My routine cleaning includes vacuuming out the burn pot/liner, ash tray and ash pan. I also pull the rod out and glass but nothing else. Should I be cleaning more?

Brian L said:
My mini is set to .13 as well and have about 3/4" of rod showing. Flame looks great and only minimal ash buildup in the pot offer long periods of usage. Was your stove clean (all passages vacuumed) before you checked it? I'm not sure how much that would affect things but I clean before I set the pressure.

Also I checked my pressure multiple times giving the stove time to settle in on each setting change. I would check again today and see if you are still at .12-.13.
Click to expand...
 
There is definitely more to clean. When the ash tray is removed there are 2 ports that should be opened on the left and right side. Just unscrew enough to swing the little covers open. Vacuum those out the best you can. I have a shop vac micro attachment kit from lowes that allows me to get in there fairly well. Then in the same are at the back is a cover that has 4 screws. Losses the screws an rotate the plate to remove. Vacuum this out as well. Then just tighten everything back up. That may help you as these exhaust passages may be fairly blocked.
 
Thanks. I will check these out. How often do you clean them?


Brian L said:
There is definitely more to clean. When the ash tray is removed there are 2 ports that should be opened on the left and right side. Just unscrew enough to swing the little covers open. Vacuum those out the best you can. I have a shop vac micro attachment kit from lowes that allows me to get in there fairly well. Then in the same are at the back is a cover that has 4 screws. Losses the screws an rotate the plate to remove. Vacuum this out as well. Then just tighten everything back up. That may help you as these exhaust passages may be fairly blocked.
Click to expand...
 
As far as the copper pipe goes I just put it in the hole about an inch or so. It's not something that will be a tight fit.

The feed trim seems low at 1 but I can see why you put it low so it doesn't overflow. When you get the other setting optimal I would imagine you will be back up to about 4 on the feed trim.
 
I clean my stove out completely about every 4 days but just a quick burn pot clean and use the heat exchange cleaner rod every 2 days.

I burn about 10 to 12 hours a day. This is my first year and I've been burning spruce pointe pellets. They seem a bit on the ashy side to me but I don't have much to compare to yet. I'm almost done my 1.2 tons of this and them I'm gonna get a different brand.
 
I know that on my enviro maxx I was having the vacuum switch trip on heat lvl 2. This was after I set it per the manual's recommendation using a magnahelic gauge. I had to open my damper a little more to get enough vacuum in the chamber to keep it running. Check to see if the auger is running when the fire dies out, if not i would check the vacuum switch.
 
Thanks for your additional replies. I assume the auger is running because I will come home to a burn pot full of unburned pellets. I did the full clean tonight and the exhaust passages were all blocked. Now everything is clean. I used the manometer again but I don't know if mine is working correctly. If I turn it on and measure it starts around .1 - .13. Then it will steadily increase (I left it until .2). I then removed the copper tube from the 1/8" whole and let it sit on the ground with the unit still on. The reading dropped again to about .11 but now is steadily climbing again (at .22). I do zero out the manometer before each use. If I turn it on and zero it out, the reading will stay at zero until I put it in the 1/8" hole. Why would the manometer creep on it's own whether reading from inside the pellet stove or outside? Does not make any sense to me. Should I trust the initial reading or should I be able to leave the copper tube in the stove for a minute and get a solid reading? Trying to figure out if I have a bad manometer or not. As of typing the manometer is still on but out of the stove but is at .25. Strange?
 
That is strange. I always turn mine meter on and zero it out a few feet away from the stove. It seems very sensitive so I like to keep it away from the airflow near the stove. Then I put it in the hole and the reading is immediate.

When I pull it out it drops to 0 or .1 and does not creep up like yours. Not sure if yours is defective or not. Are all the fittings on the meter tight?
 
The fittings are definitely tight. I get an immediate reading and it stabilizes but then if I leave it in for a minute or two the reading will slowly creep. I'm not sure if the copper is getting too hot and affecting the reading or the copper is hitting the ash tray and affecting it. Should I just trust the instant reading then pull it out and re-insert?
 
I've never left mine in for more than 15 seconds or so. I'm not sure if the excessive heat on the copper would cause the issues you are seeing.

I would just zero out and take the initial reading.

If you can post a video of you process I could see if you are doing anything different from me.
 
Thanks for all the help. I believe I have everything solved. The only thing I notice is much more ash in high/low mode. But now with the damper set correctly and the cleaning of the exhaust passages, I can go a week before needing to clean. I can't wait any longer because I just feel guilty!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

N
Enviro Mini tall lazy flame after cleaning
Replies
8
Views
655
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
NowhereMan
N
S
Enviro 28 stove starts up but then does not ramp to high heat, it keeps low
Replies
4
Views
283
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
sartorisan
S
T
CGI60 Agitator Issues
Replies
0
Views
171
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
Trico
T
T
P35i draft settings
Replies
1
Views
478
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
Misterfredsr
M
J
Help: New Sante Fe Quadrafire issues list
Replies
0
Views
309
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
jcouncil
J
Top Bottom
Back