Pellets piling up in firepot below 10ºF.. Tired of it!

I had one stove with a bunch of rust scale that plugged up the works. No vac or air could dislodge it as it was way up behind. That why I stated trying to use a coat hanger and getting up the back. Probably less than a month to real heating. Was a post for new Countryside for 1k on CL yesterday

I don't know about where you are but around here it's very rare to hit the 10 deg zone and have calm weather. I too would have vented west if to go straight out ( I have a Harman) and the prevailing cold weather wind is NW. After some debate I decided to go straight up my chimney with 4" vent so that no matter what the wind direction with a good lid on there I had suction not back pressure. Last year was the year to find out, we had 0 temps and 40 MPH NW winds, not a hitch in the burn situation. Harman also says, as has been mentioned, that if to vent into the wind ( which is on the least recommended list incidentally) to also have your OAK facing the same direction. In your shoes I'd think about that venting rig you have. Do as the others are saying as well but I really suggest you don't vent into a prevailing wind and out of range of length for 3" venting to begin with.. It can't be good !

Bobcat698 said:

Alright, I'll swap out the chimney to 4 inch. The oak is on the same wall as the chimney. I guess I'm not really out anything as AFAIK you can't HURT anything by going to 4 inch.

If it's still a POS with 4 inch I'll rip it out and put something better in, stove wise.

I'm in central wi by the way.

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Might checkout a Cumberland multifuel if the stove ends up being a anchor.

All pellet stoves have issues if they were not maintained and some have problems out of the box.

Your issue is an improper fuel/air mixture. This can be because of a large number of reasons including those things that have already been put forth. All we can do is run the list and to even do that we need information from you.

A used stove can be problematic. If the stove was installed and burned in properly it should work on the highest heat setting that the manual says can be used in the manner they tell you it can be used.

Pellet quality also enters the equation a high ash pellet needs more frequent cleaning or even a different burn pot. If your stove uses a different pot for pellets than corn and you have the wrong pot in the stove things will not work as you expect. If your burn pot is warped there is likely a combustion air bypass. As Bioburner mentioned even rust scale build up in the right spot can cause trouble and not get dislodged easily during normal cleaning.

My bag of parts is considered a "bad" one. At least one of the AES stoves had a reputation that wasn't all that great, nothing that a little work couldn't take care of.

BTW mine worked just fine even at -22 last winter and I am heating from my den on the lower level of the house, up until the auger motor crapped after 30+ tons of service and I fell and broke my arm and could no longer maintain the stove. Not bad for a bag of parts.

Still servicing one that eats over four tons corn going on 10 heating seasons. One convection motor, one exhaust fan and one bushing.

Found your problem.....

"I have an http://www.americanenergysystems.com/ Magnum Countryside pellet stove"

Sorry to be snarky...but I believe everyone here knows of my undying love for AES

There is also a control board setting that may need attention on your stove Bobcat698. I remember seeing a technical bulletin on it in a thread posted here

smwilliamson said:

Found your problem.....

"I have an http://www.americanenergysystems.com/ Magnum Countryside pellet stove"

Sorry to be snarky...but I believe everyone here knows of my undying love for AES

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What would be your suggestion that he can do to take care of his stove issue without the snark or spending an arm and leg on another pellet eater as they all (as this forum and others can attest to) have problems.

Bobcat698 said:

No worries about the snark. I'd take a sledgehammer to this stove in a heartbeat.. but I don't like the propane bill.

Like I said, if its a pile of crap and is going to continue to be, it'll be gone.

I'll try the 4 inch chimney, then try the outside air kit delete.. and go from there.

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Don't try a 4" yet, how big is your current OAK and is it totally clear they have been known to get plugged. While you are at it what are you using on the end of that OAK outside. People have been known to have that so restricted that it causes problems.


Read all of this https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/countryside-baby-magnum-feeding-too-fast.122308/ burn pot pictures please.

That's not right. The fan should ramp up when your turn the stove up. The stove is thermostatable and once the damper is set should be able to go from three down to one to idle without resetting the damper. Issue with the control board? Wouldn't be the first time.

Bobcat698 said:

Which fan should ramp up? The exhaust fan? I guarantee that never changes.. It's always the same.

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Well there's the problem. The CB adjusts the air to the fire pot on the settings from one to four.

The stove can have a combined EVL of up to 30.

I thought you were in easy range. I haven't practiced figuring EVLs for years. Need to get on that board. Last I heard they were $200 or so. Don't know if I have any spares and that shed has no lights where I stored spares.

Never seen a stove have a real issue with a ash bin seal.

Bobcat698 said:

The outside air kit has 3 inch piping. I attached a sweet picture. It isn't plugged, and I remember over the winter when I pulled the hose off the stove, plenty of COLD air was coming through it.

Regarding the fire pot picture, here's two I took and sent to AES in winter..
There are two pictures of the flame at -5 outside. One with the draft knob out only slightly, the other with it out all the way.

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I wanted a picture of your burn pot in its cradle in the stove and outside. I am looking for warpage and air hole status.

The exhaust air which you have now said doesn't change with heat output (which is a possible problem all on its own [some stoves run all out and need the damper to be adjusted at every heat setting]) likely should. Is the exhaust blower connected to the correct wires in the harness at both the blower end and at the controller end.