summers heat 49-shcpm

michael updyke said:

My Pellets fill the pot and over flow before they burn up. my flame at the lowest setting bounces off the top of the inside of the stove and the glass gets black after about 2 days. what could be causing this?. ive only used the stove one year.

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Ash.

michael updyke said:

i clean it daily anymore

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You do really, ever have the combustion blower out of the stove?

Little salty today Smokey? lol

The pellets in my stove, when burned down to about half size, tend to fall through the hole around the stirrer and wind up on the side of the stove just above the ash pan. If it wasn't for this happening they would probably overflow the pot on setting 5 or above. I don't worry about them as they happily burn up where they fall and give off their heat just fine until they become ash.

Your stove is in need of a COMPLETE cleaning if you haven't done that before. Pulling combustion and convection blowers, using compressed air in all of the internal exhaust passages of the stove. The stove will need to be taken outside for that. At the very least doing the LBM...leaf blower method should improve things,

In ESW's defense the last I knew they do lay out a cleaning schedule in their manuals which needs to be read from cover to cover, fully understood before installing the stove, followed while installing the stove and running the stove.

I believe that they even produce a DVD or two on their stoves.

Burning wood is not like burning oil or gas, you get far more combustion byproducts that foul the burn system. Sometimes very, very fast resulting in a smoking, glowing mess in the burn pot.

The number one cause of pellet stove problems is ash in the works.

Don't forget the poor venting attached to the stove.

I just did a complete cleaning of my stove on Thursday.

I do one every ton it includes pulling the combustion blower cleaning it, the cavity it sits in, back to the venting, towards the firebox, all of the vent, the squirrel cage on the convection blower ( mine requires oiling every 6 months yours may or may not the makers plate on the motor rules), I also remove the two ash trap covers one on each side of the firebox and clean the mess in there out and the passageway that goes back towards the combustion blower, along with up towards my heat exchanger, the heat exchanger. To finish up with I use a leaf blower in suction mode outside attached to the vent to suck any loose stuff I didn't get the hard way out of the works. It takes less than an hour for me to do this, you want to take your time and after a few it will go along quite fast, finally getting to the point it will take longer for the stove to go through shutdown and cool enough to work on then to do the cleaning.

Do you have to do this? No

Is it the best way to do a full cleaning? IMO Yes

At the very least you need to pull the blowers, clean and re-install them and do the leaf blower trick to it. Also, completely brush and clean your vent.

michael updyke said:

that thing ways like a ton lol. took 3 of us to get it in the house i have no clue how im gonna get it out by myself.

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You don't have to take it outside you just won't be able to do the cleaning the way slvrblkk does it, the use of an air compressor can cause major ash spillage inside a house if you are not very very careful. I use a leaf blower from the outside of the house to suck the loose crap out. The idea is to do the brush work and get all of the stuff you didn't get using an ash vacuum out. I'm sure the manual talks about brushing and vacuuming, I brush and vacuum, the last vacuum however has a lot more umph than the first one. slvrblkk uses an air compressor to dislodge anything that his brushing and such doesn't remove and sends it outside of the stove. My stove has sat on its hearth since the day it was installed.

Hey I'm old I ain't into lifting any heavy objects and that stove doesn't weigh a ton.

michael updyke said:

I have to take it outside 3 or 4 times a year to clean it? I didnt see that in the owners manual. Nobody else I know that owns a pellet stove needs to do this. Is this just this model or brand?.

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Likely they are using another method or they are having the same issues you are and are scratching their heads or like the many who end up putting their stove on craigslist because it no longer burns right.

Like the man (I guess Bear) says, clean the internals. Just did mine the yesterday. I use a dryer lint brush and hose attached to my vacuum to brush internal smoke pathways...

What kind of stoves do your friend's have and how long have they had them?

michael updyke said:

i use a shop vac a wire brush a paint brush to get into the cracks and stuff. i take the bottom part of the chimney off to empty it after banging on the pipe to loosen the stuff. that stove weighs more than me ill say that much. i only weigh 100lbs soaking wet. not to mention it barely fit in the door. id like to try the leaf blower technique. how big of a leaf blower do you use?. the flames always stayed the same size no matter what setting i had it on when it was new. just now it aint burning the pellets. thought maybe there was a way to slow the pellets into the pot to let it burn the ones that was in it instead of pilling them up. if you start it up the pellets half fill the pot before the thing even kicks down to the setting you have it on.

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You have no control over the start up sequence on most stoves they have a programmed start up. Even though I weigh more than you I wouldn't be lifting my stove either, I might get it up on some rollers however since to do that you don't have to lift the stoves total weigh. I still have other obstacles to overcome. Like it would have to go up to the lower stairs landing and then down into the attached garage.

I have a cheap electric leaf blower with suction capability that works fine, you don't need an expensive one, you are looking for a decent air flow rate.

I see 3 for under $50.00 before taxes at Lowes but none in stock at any of the stores with 20 miles or so of me (out of season).

Too much of a mess on the Amazon listings for me to pick a couple on there but they are there and even in stock.

Same situation at Home Depot as Lowes only a store local to me has at least one 220 mph 350 CFM 12-Amp Electric Blower/Vacuum for $42.97 before tax.

ETA:

This link is to a post by long time pellet stove owner Snowy Rivers explaining what one should be prepared to do if you are planing on getting and using a pellet stove.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/67895/

Here are two videos of it. One thing you have to remember is you need to disconnect the vacuum hose from the vacuum switch to avoid blowing out the diaphragm in the switch. This will probably be your easiest method of giving your stove a deep cleaning without using compressed air.

What level are you burning at? What level is your blower at? What are the lower settings on?

Lake Girl said:

What level are you burning at? What level is your blower at? What are the lower settings on?

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Will you let the poor burner get the stove cleaned first?

It is bad enough that the PSC police have got their cuffs out and the wagon has been called.

No question it needs cleaning and pulling the blower ... BTW, Make sure you have a replacement gasket to do this! And unplug the stove...

However I re-read his posts and noticed this part...

michael updyke said:

... the flames always stayed the same size no matter what setting i had it on when it was new.

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So I am wondering why?