Well the last time I posted I was trying to solve my “roaring” sound that accompanied a random high fire. I thought I understood how the feed rate affected my fire, but I was wrong. I believed that if I read that the fire should be X” inches above the burn pot it would be exactly that or something must be amiss! So rather than post my everyday novice attempts and failiures I waited until I believed I had some success.
After readjusting the feed rate rod numerous times I finally found a setting that seems to be a sweet spot for my Castile stove. On low heat it still throws a good amount of heat for cool days and the medium setting is our choice for cold days. I could see using the high setting if we returned home and the house was cold and wanted to get the house up to temp quickly, but would not be sitting in the same room as the fan is too loud for our small living room.
On the medium setting the fire is a strong white hot swirling fire that is mostly contained in the burn pot the majority of the time. As the stove cycles to a high point there are at times vigorous flames that rise maybe 5” to 6” above the pot, but they calm down fairly quickly. I watched it enough to see that pellets do not always fall into the pot at the same amount each pulse of the auger. So it seems logical (here I go again surmising) that the flames will sometimes be higher.
We are back to being comfortable enough to running the stove overnight and I am getting used to hearing the light rumble that accompanies a good burn especially noticeable when the house is quiet and dark. On the few occasions that my stove went out unexpectedly I now know enough after saying to myself “what now” to first checking the call light and when seeing that lit opening the hopper lid only to find my pellets gone! Whoops!
We are burning 1 bag per day on medium using the Maine Choice pellets. I am not confident enough to comment on the ash content until I burn another brand. I might try a few bags of Okanagans from BJ’s just to see the difference.
I have a question about cleaning. Here is my routine so far.
I vacuum the ash and the sides of the fire box without opening the ash clean out plates. I keep all my ashes up top as it seems easier to clean and I can watch the ash builld up. I remove the top baffle then the rear right hand brick panel. Does anybody remove the left and middle panels (looks like they would come off with an Allen wrench)? Pull the clean-out rods a few times and vacuum and brush the heat tubes. I check that the ash clean out plates are free moving and vacuum them while opened. Next I pull the ash pan that only has the remnants of my dumping the fire pot. I clean the window with pre moistened Windex towels (3 seem to do the trick “works great”). By now the exhaust fan has stopped and I clean the surface of the fan with the vacuum brush. Lastly I reassemble everything.
I have yet to open my “T” connection on the rear of the stove as I haven’t even burned a ton. I believe it’s a Simpson Duravent pipe. Do I just twist this off in a counter clockwise motion? I wonder just how much ash gets beyond the exhaust fan and settles in the clean-out “T”, and should I be checking/opening that every few cleanings.
Lastly a "very very" minor metal sounding "ting a ling" has occasionally surfaced that goes away with a slight tap the side of the stove. Sounds like two pieces of metal just touching and vibrating.
After readjusting the feed rate rod numerous times I finally found a setting that seems to be a sweet spot for my Castile stove. On low heat it still throws a good amount of heat for cool days and the medium setting is our choice for cold days. I could see using the high setting if we returned home and the house was cold and wanted to get the house up to temp quickly, but would not be sitting in the same room as the fan is too loud for our small living room.
On the medium setting the fire is a strong white hot swirling fire that is mostly contained in the burn pot the majority of the time. As the stove cycles to a high point there are at times vigorous flames that rise maybe 5” to 6” above the pot, but they calm down fairly quickly. I watched it enough to see that pellets do not always fall into the pot at the same amount each pulse of the auger. So it seems logical (here I go again surmising) that the flames will sometimes be higher.
We are back to being comfortable enough to running the stove overnight and I am getting used to hearing the light rumble that accompanies a good burn especially noticeable when the house is quiet and dark. On the few occasions that my stove went out unexpectedly I now know enough after saying to myself “what now” to first checking the call light and when seeing that lit opening the hopper lid only to find my pellets gone! Whoops!
We are burning 1 bag per day on medium using the Maine Choice pellets. I am not confident enough to comment on the ash content until I burn another brand. I might try a few bags of Okanagans from BJ’s just to see the difference.
I have a question about cleaning. Here is my routine so far.
I vacuum the ash and the sides of the fire box without opening the ash clean out plates. I keep all my ashes up top as it seems easier to clean and I can watch the ash builld up. I remove the top baffle then the rear right hand brick panel. Does anybody remove the left and middle panels (looks like they would come off with an Allen wrench)? Pull the clean-out rods a few times and vacuum and brush the heat tubes. I check that the ash clean out plates are free moving and vacuum them while opened. Next I pull the ash pan that only has the remnants of my dumping the fire pot. I clean the window with pre moistened Windex towels (3 seem to do the trick “works great”). By now the exhaust fan has stopped and I clean the surface of the fan with the vacuum brush. Lastly I reassemble everything.
I have yet to open my “T” connection on the rear of the stove as I haven’t even burned a ton. I believe it’s a Simpson Duravent pipe. Do I just twist this off in a counter clockwise motion? I wonder just how much ash gets beyond the exhaust fan and settles in the clean-out “T”, and should I be checking/opening that every few cleanings.
Lastly a "very very" minor metal sounding "ting a ling" has occasionally surfaced that goes away with a slight tap the side of the stove. Sounds like two pieces of metal just touching and vibrating.
