Whitfield stand-alone: unburned pellets blocking chute when on HIGH

dreamingofpalmtrees · Feb 21, 2015

So, we are in the frigid northeast - using an older Whitfield freestanding pellet stove. We've had pellet stoves for 20+ years. We've had this stove for a few seasons - it CRANKS, and when on high produces a lot of heat.

The problem? When you turn it up to 4 or 5, eventually (within an hour) the burn pot and chute become blocked with unburned pellets. Just now, I smelled smoke and saw that the pellets that were backed up in the chute were burning. Not good. So we turned the stove off til that stopped and it's running on "1" right now. No back up, it's fine. But honestly - it's not creating the heat we really need (it's ZERO outside).

The current pellets we are burning are "Agway" (they stink), and of course have half a pallet to go. The pellets from Lowes/Home Depot that we burned earlier in the season had their own issues, but this wasn't one of them.

Is there anything we can do to solve this? We certainly don't want a chute fire - is there some sort of mechanism to keep the hopper from catching on fire?

It's a bummer to feel like we are freezing, because we have to keep the stove on "1". It gets cold in the room just 5' away from it.

We're thinking it's the pellets - but sure would love to hear if there's a way to fix this. We have 4' of snow outside!
Did I mention it's zero outside? Yeah. Maybe I did.

Thank you!

LordmetalZ28 · Feb 21, 2015

Same thing happened to me yesterday. After pulling the stove and chimney apart it appeared to be the pellets I was using plugging up the air holes in the burn pot. It was fairly clean inside so I changed pellets and problem solved

Bioburner · Feb 21, 2015

Well the stove should be cleaned and the venting totally done. When burning on high the stoves damper will probably need to be pulled out a bit more to give the pot a bit more air flow. Now for the safety of the hopper one could pretty easily install a snap switch into or by the hopper and chute that could open up on getting to warm and shut down the auger till the heat subsided. A lot of problems with stoves right now as everyone is trying to run them hard and probably not with them being really cleaned well lately as who want s to shut down and clean and the season is getting towards the end we hope. When the forecast is for ugly I try and do a good cleaning before the weather gets really foul but the Harman routine can be done warm in less than 15 minutes, Bixby is about 30 but only needs attention once a month other than feeding and taking out the biscuits once a week.
Good luck, many Whit owners about.
4 degrees and falling with gusts up to 25 now with a forecast low tonight of -18 and winds may hit 35

dreamingofpalmtrees · Feb 21, 2015

Wish it was easy as switching pellets for us - but with a 1/2 ton of these crappy pellets left, and none available locally - we're stuck.

As for the cleaning - it gets a pretty thorough cleaning every other day, I'd say. And BOY it gets cold when that happens - but we think it's important. Husband has taken very good care of his pellet stoves - repaired them himself. We had an insert, but switched to this freestanding one which REALLY gets nice and toasty. Except we are afraid about this issue now. This is frustrating because he wishes he'd have burned a bag of two first. No easy answers, I guess.....

The damper I think was pulled out all the way - still had that build-up of pellets.

Here in New England we are supposed to get snow/rain which will be a disaster with so much snow on the ground. This is the view from my desk out into the back yard. That's a wall of snow. Ugh.

Ranger72 · Feb 21, 2015

Stove needs cleaning and then adjust your damper and feed trim. Every brand of pellet needs something slightly different

dreamingofpalmtrees · Feb 21, 2015

The stove is pretty clean - not sure how much more we can clean it. What is "feed trim"?

Ranger72 · Feb 21, 2015

which control board do you have? The one with knobs or buttons?

SidecarFlip · Feb 21, 2015

Bioburner said:
Well the stove should be cleaned and the venting totally done. When burning on high the stoves damper will probably need to be pulled out a bit more to give the pot a bit more air flow. Now for the safety of the hopper one could pretty easily install a snap switch into or by the hopper and chute that could open up on getting to warm and shut down the auger till the heat subsided. A lot of problems with stoves right now as everyone is trying to run them hard and probably not with them being really cleaned well lately as who want s to shut down and clean and the season is getting towards the end we hope. When the forecast is for ugly I try and do a good cleaning before the weather gets really foul but the Harman routine can be done warm in less than 15 minutes, Bixby is about 30 but only needs attention once a month other than feeding and taking out the biscuits once a week.
Good luck, many Whit owners about.
4 degrees and falling with gusts up to 25 now with a forecast low tonight of -18 and winds may hit 35

I guess that means we get it tomorrow night. It's balmy here, about 29 but we got 4" this morning. I took advantage of the respite in temperature and cleaned the old girl out and gave the venting a quickie clean too. I like a clean window and so do the mutts.

I'm ready for it now.......

SidecarFlip · Feb 21, 2015

dreamingofpalmtrees said:
This is the view from my desk out into the back yard. That's a wall of snow. Ugh.

Is that a snow filled hammock?

BUBIBEAR · Feb 21, 2015

Try mixing your pellets with some other brand. Just get about ten or twenty bags,and mix . and try and see if that will help out for now. This way those pellets your stove dose not like , won't be wasted . Good luck.

dreamingofpalmtrees · Feb 21, 2015

Why yes, yes that is a snow-filled hammock. 4' of snow here. It's like living in some sort of weird, snow-nightmare. Having the stove on #1 - well,, I guess it keeps us from freezing to death. But just barely!

Southeastern Coast of Mass. One blizzard after another. Trying to remember WHY we live here.

The panel has knobs. Here's a pic of it.

Ranger72 · Feb 21, 2015

Ok. you have the older style board, I didn't realize it didn't have the trim pots like the 'newer' board has. Clean the stove top to bottom, same for your flue pipe. Adjust damper. Lastly, try different pellets.

LordmetalZ28 · Feb 21, 2015

dreamingofpalmtrees said:
Wish it was easy as switching pellets for us - but with a 1/2 ton of these crappy pellets left, and none available locally - we're stuck.

As for the cleaning - it gets a pretty thorough cleaning every other day, I'd say. And BOY it gets cold when that happens - but we think it's important. Husband has taken very good care of his pellet stoves - repaired them himself. We had an insert, but switched to this freestanding one which REALLY gets nice and toasty. Except we are afraid about this issue now. This is frustrating because he wishes he'd have burned a bag of two first. No easy answers, I guess.....

The damper I think was pulled out all the way - still had that build-up of pellets.

Here in New England we are supposed to get snow/rain which will be a disaster with so much snow on the ground. This is the view from my desk out into the back yard. That's a wall of snow. Ugh.

Full cleaning as In all Exhaust passages and pulling the combustion motor? I did all these things before determining it was pellets they have to be checked. To many times ive seen new members on here say they clean it good but end up missing some step. So be sure its clean. These stoves need quite a bit of maintenance compared to other appliances

SmokeyTheBear · Feb 21, 2015

What is behind those silver colored items on the control panel? Maybe trim controls? But first a very good cleaning in that the ash trap covers come off and you use some elbow grease and a high air flow device, the heat exchanger, the combustion blower cavity and the vent system.

Please put your stove make and model in your signature so everyone will know what we are talking about.

Hopefully either Bo or Snowy will show up.

Pellet-King · Feb 21, 2015

Sound like a lack of air geting under those pellet's, I never used my Whit ever higher than a 3, it will be too hot , try lowering it to a 3, then 3.5 etc, has the firebrick been off lately and cleaned back there?

Dmz · Feb 21, 2015

^^^^ Like PK says, lack of air under the pellets. I keep my Whit's draft set so that the glowing pellets dance about or levitate just above the burn pot.

Stovensen · Feb 21, 2015

SmokeyTheBear said:
What is behind those silver colored items on the control panel? Maybe trim controls?

Yes, under the three silver colored items there is access to trimpots on the circuit board. The auger trim pot is the one at the top. I believe the silver colored 'button' would have to be prised off to get to the trimmer.
But before altering the setting of the trimmer, you'll have to check carefully the actual timing of your auger when it is operating... does it follow the timing chart shown on the illustration below?
in order to measure this, you'll need a clock with a clear indication of seconds, while you count the seconds of the auger on/off action.

Illustration of control panel front and auger timing chart etc.

Ranger72 · Feb 21, 2015

Ahh, ok. The pots were hidden. Set your damper in the factor position for starters. (If I remember correctly, the inner edge if the set collar should be 2 1/4" from the side of the stove, then tighten it up and push the damper back in until the collar touches the stove). Then let it run a bit. Monitor it to determine if a simple adjustment of the damper in or out solves the problem. Try really small increments at a time, maybe 1/8". If you can't get it to stop piling pellets, adjust the auger trim back very very slightly and monitor, etc. All this assuming the stove and vent are clean and combustion motor not failing.

SmokeyTheBear · Feb 21, 2015

You have the guy for the task pay attention to what he says.

dreamingofpalmtrees · Feb 22, 2015

Thank you, all. Sadly, my husband has the flu and is laid up in bed so I am managing the stove today. I will tell him (when his fever goes down) about the thorough pull-it-apart cleaning and show him his thread. Right now, it's on "1", and I've just turned the auger off because the pellets are once again backing up into the chute and are burning.

It IS 45 degree outside today. And raining and snowing. Lovely.

Hard to see, but I've posted a picture here of what it looks like. There is a stack of semi-burned pellets. The flame is big and yellow. After a bit, I opened the door carefully (after the fire had died way down), and unblocked the chute, and it's going fine again. Turned the auger back on, but this will have to be tended to, and not let run when we are not here at this point. Which will stink for coming back home to a cold house. Better than coming home to a fire!

Once he's better, we will do a very thorough cleaning and see if we can't figure this out.

Oh, and added info to my signature.

Ranger72 · Feb 22, 2015

I would bet with almost certainty the stove is a bit plugged up.

dreamingofpalmtrees · Feb 22, 2015

OK. I will go about unplugging it, then. And I'll report back. Thank, everyone - even after having a pellet stove going on 20 years, it's nice to have a community like this that can give expert advice. We love our stove!

DneprDave · Feb 22, 2015

For a quick cleaning, try the leafblower trick, that will get a lot of ash out of unreachable nooks and crannies in the stove.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/cleaning-your-stove-with-a-leafblower-no-kidding.26540/

Also, check the bottom lip of the pellet chute and check for crud forming a lip that the pellets could catch on. My stove had some buildup there when it was dirty and pellets backed up the pellet feed tube, just scrape it off with a screwdriver or scraper.

Dave

Pellet-King · Feb 22, 2015

You have either a very dirty stove, and /or your door/ash pan gasket's are leaking or possibly your combustion blower is running slow and needs to be oiled or replaced, hope your husband feel's better soon as having the Flu sucks.
When was the last time if ever you took the stove all apart and did a good cleaning?

dreamingofpalmtrees · Feb 22, 2015

Well. He's still sick (yes, it sucks), and so while he's in bed - I decided to clean the stove. At least as much as I could.

So remember when I said he cleans it pretty regularly? Well - I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know if he's removed the firebrick.

But I did.

Holy smokes. First, I was pretty proud that I could do it myself. I did let it cool down for at least an hour+. When I carefully removed the firebrick, it looked like there was a solid wall behind them on the right and left sides. Well. It was ASH. Everywhere. Up above, the ash up high was black.

I vacuumed the stove for a good hour - used an old toothbrush to knock ash out of corners and down from up above. I found a guide (later) that said I should have removed the plates on the side to get behind the chute, but I didn't do that. There was a shiny, black sort of gooey substance on the metal, behind the center firebrick - to the right of the chute. I wonder if that's creosote? It was hard to remove.

It's been running for an hour - earlier today, it would run for 20 mins, and back up into the chute. It's been running for an hour, at "2", with no issues. Just turned it up to 3 to see what happens. The flame is definitely brighter (not as yellow), and quicker.

I don't dare do the leaf blower thing as it's vented up the chimney, and I'm thinking that is a spring cleaning thing? And I'm sure there is more ash up above, but not sure how to access that area (above where the tubes are). And I will eventually need to go behind that metal plate that surrounds the chute.

So - thanks for all the advice, and help. I've never cleaned the stove before - it's always been my husband's thing - but now I've gone and done it!

Whitfield stand-alone: unburned pellets blocking chute when on HIGH

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