Pellets piling up on right side of grate

I have Whitfield Advantage IIT (circa 1993) pellet stove. It came with my house in 2010, so I don't know the full history, but certainly know the last 13 years. Its been a good stove and I've done all my own maintenance. Recent (last 2 years) maintenance includes: replacing both blowers, door and window gaskets, and low limit exhaust switch. My ongoing problem is that the pellets tend to pile up on the right side (while facing the stove) of the grate. I regularly do full (fire brick removal, disassembly of stacks, etc) cleanings, but I still have the piling up on right side of grate problem. The grate looks fine, and I've even sandblasted it. Soot build up on all the windows is even. In adjusting the damper, it is difficult to push the damper all the way in. I've lubed the rod with little improvement. It seems as if the damper door is binding up (perhaps on residual ash) when trying to push it all the way in. I can get it to the recommeded 2.25 collar inch spec, but can't push it in much further. The rod is fully screwed into the damper thread.

Here's my question(s).. What else should I be checking to address the piling up on the right side issue? Is there a way to clean out any ash that may be constricting the damper movements?

Thanks in adavance for any/all replies.

Mike

hossthehermit said:

Better than on the wrong side .............. oops, sorry, just noticed you're new, didn't mean to offend, got some Whitfield people here, they'll be along soon ............

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I may be new, but I completly understand and agree with your statement!!

Thanks for the replies so far. One other important thing to mention... twice over the last couple of weeks, when the grate fills up (on number 1 setting), the stove has shut down (I suspect due to low temperature) and then sometimes the fire re-ignites in the grate. At that point the pellets in the grate burn off without the fans running and fills the room with smoke. I have tested to make sure that the blowers do run for 20 minutes after a normal shutdown. THis is what is giving me the most concern as it is can take a couple of hours to completly clear the smoke out of the room. Thoughts on that would be appreciated.

As to the grate, I have the original one with 14 bars and the drilled holes.

I will check the ash door gasket tonight. As to the limit switch... if you are referring to the LOW LIMIT EXHAUST SENSOR SWITCH, I replaced that 2 years ago. I will pull it and check for ash build up. As to the temporary bypass test, I believe it's just a matter of connecting the 2 wires together so the stove won't shut down at all. Is that correct?

Thanks for the continued replies on this. I replaced the low limit switch 2 years ago because the stove was shutting down unexpectantly even when I had a good flame with no clinkers. I'll bypass the switch this weekend to see if there is any difference. I'd also like to fully inspect the damper. To get to the damper once I have the firebricks out, how difficult is it to get the service plate out? Maybe just some 5/16" small screw bolts?

Once that plate is out, is the whole damper fully exposed? Sounds too easy...

I removed the firebricks and the left and right vertical baffle plates (I guess that's what they are). I still can't see, much less get to the damper. The areas in back of the 2 baffles and the rear firebrick all appear to be part of the cast iron inside of the stove and therefore not removable. Am I missing something? I need to figure out why the damper is binding up when pushing it in.