25 EP and its magic numbers.

I have a 55 TRPEP or maybe better known as a 25 EP. I get a "sooty" window after a few hours burn. It is more prevelent on the left side facing the unit. After time much, not all changes to a greyish white. My fluepipe has a lining of black sooty material. I feel my flame may be a little lazy and large. Bouncing off the backplate and getting me a little nervous about the temp inside the hopper actually. OAK is installed. Removing screen has no noticeable effect. Lower settings are factory set at 141. I just raised it to 151. Haven't run it at those settings yet, mild day here today. I have read varying accounts that the middle combustion air setting only works at 1-2 setting. I usually run at 3-6 heat range. Sometimes at a 2 heat range. I do believe I have gasket problems on hopper and ash pan. I would think even if there was a problem there it wouldn't effect combustion air volume. I assume it might be pulling some from room also and not just from the outside. This is a new stove. I have run maybe 8 bags of "Freedom Fuel" pellets. I clean the stove daily. I seem to have a lot left in the burnpot but I have always thought that was from the shutdown process and not buildup from the day. I pulled the two lower plates and only had a very small buildup of greyish white ash there. Draft is 3" with 3 feet horizontal and 3 feet vertical with cap.

slvrblkk said:

Do the dollar bill test on the door. When you open your ash pan when the sto somve is running, what does the flame do? FYI, Freedom Fuel is usually garbage, can you get other pellets just to test with? Also, when the stove developes ash all around the burnpot, are there any areas that don't have ash around the pot like air is being bypassed? Basically it should look like a volcano of ash around the lip of the burnpot. Does the burnpot "teeter" in the cradle at all?

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All great info thanks.

Here's where I am so far. Been running steady on 2 for about 6 hrs. Put settings back to 141 after I realized I didn't clamp the OAK kit to the stove. I just had it hanging there. Yeah I know. It is running much better. Glass is still relatively clear, a big improvement. I still think it can be improved though. With just a little grey ash still more on the left side. The flame gets all lazy with the ash pan door removed. The hopper and ash pan do not come close to passing the dollar bill test. The door I checked really only on the latch side previously. I will check that more tomorrow. I actually got an extra burn pot, I haven't used it yet. I just thought it would make a quick cleaning easier for when it gets really cold. Will also check how they both seat tomorrow. As far as pellets go I had one bag that I can't recall from Lowes and this Freedom Fuel. The Freedom Fuel is lighter in color and most are broken into small pieces. It is all I have for now, 1 ton. I will check on getting something else if available. I am using the decorative logs which I wonder if they affect how the ash falls. I will check more closely for its pattern.

Is it true that the LFF and LBA only work on settings 1 and 2? I will followup with more info as it presents itself. Thanks again for your help.

stoveguy2esw said:

lower settings on any of the single auger stoves affects all the way up through the heat ranges, on the dual auger stoves it affects 1 and 2

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Great thanks for the info.

slvrblkk said:

That's good flame gets lazy when ash pan gets opened, it at least must be sealing some.

Pull the log set and see how the stove works. I think that sometimes restricts things.

It "think" the 1 and 2 settings are just on the pdv and pdvc but I'm not entirely sure on that.

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Pulling the log set today. The spare burn pot fits a little better. Door gasket isn't as tight on the left side. That is where the majority of the build up is.

Running horribly today except on setting #2 until I pushed in the ashpan and held with some metal tape. Gaskets on hopper lid and ashpan pretty useless. Not as tight around the door on the left side as it should be. Stopped looking after that. Ash buildup around the burnpot is relatively equal except none is collecting on the left side of the cradle (facing) Too tired and frustrated to call about it today, maybe tomorrow.

What this stove needs is thicker gaskets and the ashpan should have 3 latches on its 3 sided ashpan. Just a thought.

I will let it run awhile longer tonight then take pics tomorrow morn. Thanks again for the assistance.

This is after app 10 hrs. Mostly on 2-3 setting and 151 settings below. It ran much better after holding left side of ashpan in.

slvrblkk said:

OK...you have an air leak on the left side of the burnpot where it rests on the cradle, that's why there is no ash sitting/building up there. Once that is corrected, you should have a better burn and we could move on to the next issue. I never get buildup like that. Look on the bottom of the burnpot and see if there is any weld or welding slag that keeps the burnpot from sitting flush in the cradle.

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Put in a different burnpot and there are ashes on the left side of the cradle now. I will be filing down the other burnpot. I see what you mean now about teetering. Will be looking for a different pellet today to test. As far as the gaskets go, should I double up on the ash pan and hopper or have thicker gaskets? I will post pics after todays burn.

Jason845845 said:

That is what my glass looks like after a few hours, but it is the heat cranking out that matters.

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Yeah I think I'm satisfied with the heat output. I can live with the glass like that, I clean it everyday. Just want it to run as efficient and as clean as it should without worrying about the ash pan shifting and causing problems. Thanks for your input though it makes me feel better.

AddictiveStew said:

Also, is the ash naturally clearing on the left side of the burnpot or did you do that? That would indicate a poor seal to me.

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The burnpot had a weldspot making it teeter blowing the ash away. That has been corected.

AddictiveStew said:

I know I get crucified on here for saying bad things about Englander, but I had the same stove with numerous air leaks. Keep doing what you're doing... check around and locate them all. I actually doubled up the gasket on one side of the door and that seemed to fix one problem for me. I also tried gasket material between the burn pot and the plate. That seemed to help as well. You'll get there!

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Waiting to hear back from Englander but that's what I was thinking too. Thanks!

slvrblkk said:

Here's what I did in both corners of the ashpan. I noticed that when I closed the latch the bottom of the pan would tilt out on the bottom. This prevents it from doing that and keeps a good seal.

View attachment 146606 View attachment 146607

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Looks like that would help mine too actually. I guess it voids warranty lol. Picked up a couple different brands of pellets. Green Supreme and Greene Gold, both from Tractor Supply. All I could find.