Englander 10 CDV Stirrer question?

Depends on the stove. My 10-cpm multi fuel stove still uses the stirrer when burning pellets, but it moves a very small amount each time the auger drops pellets.

Your stove is mainly meant to burn corn, and yes, Englander recommends removing the stirrer. Don't forget to re-set the control board for pellets:

NOTE: Before doing these steps make sure the unit is out and completely cold!!
1. Remove the stirrer shaft (See owners manual)
2. Unplug the unit and plug back in, then press the Heat Range down and Blower Speed
down buttons at the same time and release. You should see a “P” in the Heat Range
window.
3. Follow lighting instructions.

Brokemofo said:

Yes it is a corn/pellet stove. Should I be using it with pellets? I know how to install it.

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OK, for a 2nd time....... to burn wood pellets in your stove, "Englander recommends removing the stirrer"

You can listen to the other member, or the company that designed & made the stove.

Brokemofo said:

Ok Ok the reason I am asking is because the pellets and ash build up to the auger hole and it doesn't seem to throw alot of heat. This is like when it has been burning all night. I thought maybe reinstalling it would help.

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Should have mentioned that in the first post. If you're getting a lot of ash buildup in the pot, and not much heat, sounds like a dirty stove.

How old is it? When was the last FULL, COMPLETE cleaning including ALL the pipe, removing & cleaning the blowers, cleaning the ash traps, etc, etc?

Brokemofo said:

..... I cleaned it before install and about a month ago....... I clean the burn pot and ash pan regularly.

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Ash build-up in the burnpot is usually due to lack of proper amount of airflow through the stove, which is usually caused by a dirty stove.

Cleaning the burnpot & ash pan are nice, and have to be done on a weekly basis, or maybe even more, but please explain what you did when "I cleaned it before install and about a month ago".

Also, describe your exhaust set-up...how many bends and what type, lengths of pipes, vertical or horizontal, etc, etc., starting at the back of the stove.

Brokemofo said:

When I got it home I blew it out with compressed air and when I cleaned it good I took the elbow off outside and cleaned all the way into the exhaust fan. My exhaust goes straight out the back through exterior wall then up maybe six feet to one of those ends that blow down. Finishing up my third ton of pellets. This stove has been my sole source of heat in my house other than an occasional bump from the oil furnace. This pellet stove has been running almost continuously For 3 months. I tap the back of the firebox to knock the ash out of the heat x and shop vac the whole thing out weekly.

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#1 - Pellet stoves need to be cleaned COMPLETELY every 1 or 1 1/2 tons (max).

#2 - Cleaning the pipe "into the exhaust fan" does not do a complete job like actually removing the motor/blower & scraping/wirebruashing the vanes. Make sure you're either VERY careful removing it so you don't tear the gasket, or get an extra couple to have on hand.

#3 - Remove the convection blower & clean (especially important if you have pets). Might have oil ports on the motor too.

#4 - Tapping the firebox to dislodge the crud is good. You might want to look-up "leafblower" in the search on this forum. Using one AFTER everything else is clean removes all the extra soot & fly ash that you can't see or get to in the stove.

BTW, you DO have the OAK hooked up to the stove, right?

Brokemofo said:

Yes outside air is hooked up. Kinda scared to take blower off without new gasket in hand.

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Call Englander tomorrow and order a couple. You should have them in a couple days since your so close to Va. And while you have them on the phone, talk to the techs and double check your control board settings. Maybe they'll have some other ideas about the heat output.

I would leave the stirrer in and in corn mode and set the trim settings to 5-9-1 on the bottom 3 buttons of the control panel. And burn pellets.

Thought I would jump in here.

I use nut shells in my pellet stoves and the material burns far different than either pellets or corn.

The corn liquifies and the liquid then gasses and burns off. Different than wood pellets.

The secret is to look at the fire, does it burn brightly and dance around well with some hint of BLueish tint to the areas of the fire near the air holes in the pot????

If the fire is lazy, Orange in color and lacks any real gusto then you likley have an airflow issue.

Many stoves have "ash traps" that require a plate, panel or other ?? to be removed so that the area can be vacuumed out.

Dont want to ruffle or diliberately disagree but I have never removed an exhaust fan to clean them.

I clean the stove real well so there is no ash in the fire box then start the draft/exhaust fan and direct compressed air into the exhaust ports inside the firebox.
This will stir up any remaining debris and allow it to blow out the stack.

A word of caution about cleaning fan blades.

If you do remove the motor and clean the blades, be very careful not to tweek the blades.

Having even one blade slightly tweeked will throw the thing out of ballance and result in BAD VIBES that will over time ruin the motor bearings.


The other method of cleaning the fan is, if you have a direct vent and can reach the fan with a long tube on your air nozzle, turn on the fan and then shine a flashlight up the pipe along with your nozzle and give it a blast.

Warning

Your gonna get all that ash right at you so wear eye protection and a hat.

Stove cleaning other than the quicky ash pan and pot stuff usually requires a shower afterwards.

OH YEAH BUDDY


My supicions are that you have a ash clog somewhere.

I just bought a Whitfield Advantage 2T and it had the ash traps clear full and packed tight with crap.

The previous owners had never taken the covers off me thinks.

Give it a whirl and let us know.

If you dont have a Manual on the stove, GET ONE.

Several online stove part houses offer them in PDF fromat (Downloadable) for $10

I know, most consumer manuals insult your intelligence but they do have some very useful info too.



Snowy

The fact of the matter is, I do have the Knowledge. And in the original post you questioned the stirrer and whether you burn pellets. I did answer that truthful, but, the cleaning and maintenance of the stove is a total different issue than what info you was asking for.

I do have experience with quite a few. Yes

Mike at Englander told me it is fine to use the stirrer on wood pellets. He said to leave it on corn mode (because my stirrer will not turn on pellet mode) and I never had built up pellets again. I got better heat output, and can burn any brand pellets with no problem. I have an ash pan on my Summers Heat 49-SHC22 and can burn for 2 weeks without shutting down and cleaning. Even my glass stays cleaner much longer. I vacuum it out every time I shut it down and clean the vent pipe with a pellet vent brush once a month. I clean out the combustion blower once a year when the season is over. No problems.

I also have a 10-CDV and use the stirrer. I tried it w/o when I first got the stove and had the same problem as you, ash builds up, then you get no heat. I would keep the stirrer in and not worry about it. My impression is the stove is set up primarily to burn corn using a stirrer, it could burn pellets w/o the stirrer but you would probably need to have super premium low ash pellets with a very clean stove on the perfect settings. Or you could just use the stirrer and have no issues with any type of pellets.

I have a dual fuel stove also. I run my stirer once every hour or so when burning straight pellets or I get the same build up of ash in the burn pot. Because it was meant to burn corn, straight pellets isnt the best IMO. You can just leave the stirer on also, but the only down side is it creates a lot of fly ash with just pellets.

Honestly I get the best "heat for the buck" by burning a combo of 50/50 corn pellets mix. I run my bottom buttons on 4 - 1 - 1.
Right now the feed is at 4 and the blower is at 5. My 1600 sq ft farm house is presently at 74 degrees and it is about 28 degrees outside.
All of the above is through trail and error. Sometimes not so scientific, but this is works for me. I do a big clean once a week and if it wasnt for parts breaking and having to be replaced I would be very happy. I do not remove either blower to do my cleaning. shop vac on suck for ash and then I turn it around and blow air through the exhaust blower to clean the junk off of that. The room blower I just suck the lint and dog hair off of the screen and its good to go.

Try the corn/pellet mix if you havent already. you will be pleasantly surprised

My settings are 4 1 1 . My default settings for corn are 3 1 1 Your stove is different than mine so I would check to see what the default is and then go from there.