Tweaking stove to match pellets

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May 17, 2008
30
Bangor Maine
Question for some of the brains here...

I just had my Thelin Echo installed last Monday. I am using Corinth pellets that I had bought last May. The quality of them seems pretty good from visual inspection. Consistant color to them, not very much black specks in them...they are more broken up than maybe Id like though.
The stove seems to burn well, heat seems good, but the glass on the front of the stove gets film on it in about an hour when on Medium or low and gets completely covered and dark after one day of use. This model does not have a blower on the glass, but from my conversations with othersit seems I might not be getting an effiencient enough burn. The flame looks ok, burns high with some sparking.
If I want to tweak it a bit to see if I can get the glass to stay cleaner longer, which tweaks should I make first?

Air intake?
Trim?
Or should I adjust fans?

Any help would be appreciated...
 
commissarhanish said:
Question for some of the brains here...

I just had my Thelin Echo installed last Monday. I am using Corinth pellets that I had bought last May. The quality of them seems pretty good from visual inspection. Consistant color to them, not very much black specks in them...they are more broken up than maybe Id like though.
The stove seems to burn well, heat seems good, but the glass on the front of the stove gets film on it in about an hour when on Medium or low and gets completely covered and dark after one day of use. This model does not have a blower on the glass, but from my conversations with othersit seems I might not be getting an effiencient enough burn. The flame looks ok, burns high with some sparking.
If I want to tweak it a bit to see if I can get the glass to stay cleaner longer, which tweaks should I make first?

Air intake?
Trim?
Or should I adjust fans?

Any help would be appreciated...

First of all I NEVER have to adjust my stove for different pellets... I know it's common for a lot of folks over here to do that but I think you have a dirty stove if it won't burn any good quality pellet.

Now... you will always get a smokey glass if you run your stove on low... it's just too inefficient. Not sure how many heat settings are on your stove but keeping it on 2 or 3 will produce better results. Run your stove on high for at least one hour per week to help keep it clean.

The glass should have a whitish/tannish tint to the film that collects on it... black means you need a little more air or you have an air leak on the stove. A brown, sticky film means you have too much air. If you want that clean, shiney glass you'll have to clean it everyday (depending on how importatnt it is to you). I clean mine once per week when I empty my ashpan and give it a little vacuum job... that's it.
 
I would check the damper which should be on the back of your stove.
There should be a lever on the side to open or the close the flap in the damper,
if you look in there you will see the flap. Open it up a little and give it some time
to affect the burn, you should be able to see if it helps. You will probably have to make
several adjustments before you get it right. On my Thelin Parlour I did this at the start
and really haven't had to touch it again even though I have tried 4 or 5 different brands of pellets.
 
Thanks to Krooser for helping clear things up. (no pun intended..) For all the years I've had our stove, my wife was led the believe (from where, I don't know...) the glass would remain crystal clear. I also agree that adjustments have been little to none, as long as the pellets are good quality. I too can attest that some adjustments should be made for excessive soot deposits or lazy flames but this is typically done on the first burn of the season for me anyway.. I can back up the statement about burning at the different levels. The higher the setting, the cleaner the burn but I don't know that you can ever achieve a situation where nothing is deposited on the glass.
 
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