Some Questions For The Experts

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My stove would be at the bottom of a lake somewhere if I had to clean it every day or 2.
I clean the stove when the ash pan is full, depending on pellets thats .5 to 1.5 tons and usaully every 2-4 weeks, the stove does not get shut down inbetween. I do scrape the pot daily and maybe scrape heat exchanger once a week.
I've burned about 10 tons over 2 seasons with no issues this way.

What a hassle it would be to clean everyday, not to mention you would loose 10% + of total usage to go thru shut down, cool down, clean, and startups. wow.
 
mascoma said:
My stove would be at the bottom of a lake somewhere if I had to clean it every day or 2.
I clean the stove when the ash pan is full, depending on pellets thats .5 to 1.5 tons and usaully every 2-4 weeks, the stove does not get shut down inbetween. I do scrape the pot daily and maybe scrape heat exchanger once a week.
I've burned about 10 tons over 2 seasons with no issues this way.

What a hassle it would be to clean everyday, not to mention you would loose 10% + of total usage to go thru shut down, cool down, clean, and startups. wow.
Click to expand...

I only shut mine down once a week and never even open the door until the stove has cooled. The big thing on my beast is all of the ash doesn't always go down into the ash pan and once it gets built up if I try to get it into the ash pan by opening the door and poking at it, it frequently would get into the burn pot. That's not good for a puffer. Even trying to scrap the burn pot is working against me as some of it will drop between the grates wind up in the air chamber below the pot and eventually make for a dirty burn.

So I'll live with doing a clean out every 7 days or so. I could have gone a few more days but shut it down today because the temperature outdoors isn't bone numbing and I also wanted to clean my convection fan. I try to keep the shutdown state to no more than 1 hour at a time. That is usually long enough to get the stove cool enough to clean and at least one fan taken care of if it is time for that to be done. If I wanted to I can do a hot pot dump and ash cleanup in under 5 minutes, with restart it takes 15 minutes total. But that can be painful if I make a mistooke and get my big paws on something that is still "warm".
 
mascoma said:
My stove would be at the bottom of a lake somewhere if I had to clean it every day or 2.
I clean the stove when the ash pan is full, depending on pellets thats .5 to 1.5 tons and usaully every 2-4 weeks, the stove does not get shut down inbetween. I do scrape the pot daily and maybe scrape heat exchanger once a week.
I've burned about 10 tons over 2 seasons with no issues this way.

What a hassle it would be to clean everyday, not to mention you would loose 10% + of total usage to go thru shut down, cool down, clean, and startups. wow.
Click to expand...

No big deal to clean every day, my stove is shut down quite often on thermostat anyways. I scrape my burn pot when ever I see the stove shut down, just pull a knob, don't have to open a door. I suppose I could go 3-6 days before cleaning, but I like doing it.
 
Just did a good cleaning. I also increased the rise of the horizontal pipe. That seem to make a huge difference. I now can change the flame with the restrictor. I also can get the pellets to dance with the restrictor out far enough. You guys think I am ok, or should I revent straight up and elminate both 90's. Obviously I don't want to cut another hole in the garage roof unless I have to. Thanks for all the advice so far.
 
You shouldn't have to cut another hole in the roof.

The only difficult thing to do to correct your venting set up would be to replace that 90 horizontal 90 setup with a 45 straight (custom cut) 45 reversed to the final vertical you already have.

You were so close that a simple increase in the rise of that horizontal section did the trick.
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
You shouldn't have to cut another hole in the roof.

The only difficult thing to do to correct your venting set up would be to replace that 90 horizontal 90 setup with a 45 straight (custom cut) 45 reversed to the final vertical you already have.

You were so close that a simple increase in the rise of that horizontal section did the trick.
Click to expand...

Is this a must. Not sure how to make a 45 straight cut.
 
drekick1 said:
SmokeyTheBear said:
You shouldn't have to cut another hole in the roof.

The only difficult thing to do to correct your venting set up would be to replace that 90 horizontal 90 setup with a 45 straight (custom cut) 45 reversed to the final vertical you already have.

You were so close that a simple increase in the rise of that horizontal section did the trick.
Click to expand...

Is this a must. Not sure how to make a 45 straight cut.
Click to expand...

You don't make any 45 degree cuts it is a standard 45 degree piece of vent pipe, followed by a straight piece (which may have to be custom cut) followed by another 45 degree, the object of this is to get an 3 foot offset to enable you to get rid of those 90 degree bends. Is it a must no it isn't it is but one way of correcting your vent set up which you have described as having a 90 3 foot horizontal 90 configuration without cutting another hole in your roof. This would put a set up like poconoman had on the outside of his place.

It would look like this:



- |
_____|_______ roof
|
|
|
/
/
/
/
/
| -
| -
| -




instead of



Code: 
-        |      
_________|________ roof
         |
         |
         |
_________|
|
|
|
|



These both provide an offset the first one using 45 degree bends and no horizontal run (the offset EVL is about 7.5 ) and the second with the 90 degree bends and a horizontal run (offset EVL is 13).

Did I ever tell you how much I hate most forum software.
 
I cleaned the glass at about 9p.m. Ran the stove last night on the second low(two greens) and the glass was very dirty this morning. If I re-vent would this help the situation. Since increasing the rise I can control the flame better. But if re-venting will make the stove run better I will do it. I can make another hole in the garage go straight up an eliminate two 90's and the three foot horizontal. What do you guys think?
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
drekick1 said:
SmokeyTheBear said:
You shouldn't have to cut another hole in the roof.

The only difficult thing to do to correct your venting set up would be to replace that 90 horizontal 90 setup with a 45 straight (custom cut) 45 reversed to the final vertical you already have.

You were so close that a simple increase in the rise of that horizontal section did the trick.
Click to expand...

Is this a must. Not sure how to make a 45 straight cut.
Click to expand...

You don't make any 45 degree cuts it is a standard 45 degree piece of vent pipe, followed by a straight piece (which may have to be custom cut) followed by another 45 degree, the object of this is to get an 3 foot offset to enable you to get rid of those 90 degree bends. Is it a must no it isn't it is but one way of correcting your vent set up which you have described as having a 90 3 foot horizontal 90 configuration without cutting another hole in your roof. This would put a set up like poconoman had on the outside of his place.

It would look like this:








































































































































































- |
_____|_______ roof
|
|
|
/
/
/
/
/
| -
| -
| -




instead of



Code: 
-        |      
_________|________ roof
         |
         |
         |
_________|
|
|
|
|



These both provide an offset the first one using 45 degree bends and no horizontal run (the offset EVL is about 7.5 ) and the second with the 90 degree bends and a horizontal run (offset EVL is 13).

"Did I ever tell you how much I hate most forum software".
Click to expand...


........hey Smokey.....you mean 2 - 45's like this?...... (thanks poconoman for the pic!) ........ cc :)
 

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  • 2 - 45s.jpg
    2 - 45s.jpg
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Yeppers, CC, exactly like that I even mentioned poconomans post as an example back further in the thread.

I still hate software the screws up acsii art, I had a nice graphic but oh no it gets zapped by the software.


Now back to the OP's last question, which is going to get a question for a response, what color is the deposit on the glass?

It is very hard to keep the glass clear since the fire will produce various byproducts and they will condense out on surfaces away from the actual flame. Depending on the amount of control you have over the fire will determine if you will be able to reduce the buildup. It all starts with having control of the air and getting good at understanding what the flames are telling you.

Then a light touch on the draft allows one to get the proper color flame, a bit of blue above the pellets, white tinged with yellow, and a dance to help with ejecting ash.

The deposits should then tend towards being gray or a very light tan.

If they are brown you have to much air, black too little.

Most stoves also have difficulty in this area when used on their low burn settings. Some stoves have separate burn air settings for low burns, some even have separate settings for each heat setting.
 
Thanks for the info, I will keep playing to find my "perfect" settings. Should I be able to see soot on the raincap?
 
What kind of cap do you have?

Caps can show some deposits, however it should not be heavy.

Once again with a good draft most of the soot also leaves the vent system.

You need to be careful that you use a cap designed for pellet stoves some caps designed for other stoves can add to the build up of soot and cause draft problems.
 
Thanks for all the good advice. I think I have her running pretty good now. I have complete control of the flame using the restrictor. I have been leaving my basement door open to give some cold air into the house and that seems to make a big difference. The stove seems to run hotter this way. (make sense?) I have ordered the OAK from the dealer. The glass is getting the gray tint, seems to be happening faster then I would like. Also its easier to wipe off on one door than the other. Does that make sense? Thanks for all the help, I would be lost without this forum.
 
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