St Croix versa grate

Have you been lubricating the grate mechanism and cleaning the dust and ash away from the inside of the stove and motor area?I think the motor is covered under your warranty.

My stove is 9 years old..I've owned it for three seasons... no problems so far.

I assume you do clean out under the versa-grate and in front of it every week? Mine has been fine but I know the motors can work harder if that area isn't kept clean... all in all I like that systems as it allows you to keep the stove running for a week or more without cleaning.

Good luck.

The fact that you had problems so soon after cleaning might be of concern.
How about moisture? If you have alot of moisture in the vicinity of the stove(summer humidity for instance) this will wreak havoc on the electrics of the stove. Also if you don't have a surge protector. There is also an arm mechanism on a cam to the versa grate that needs lubricating, if you haven't done that. Your parts section of your manual will show you an exploded view of the workings, even if the book doesn't show you how it operates.

1.5 years old then it is still under warranty right??. I have had no issues with mine other than the ignitor which i have yet to replace.

then it is covered/. call em in.

woodsman23 said:

1.5 years old then it is still under warranty right??. I have had no issues with mine other than the ignitor which i have yet to replace.

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I had suggested his warranty was an option in my original posting a couple of days ago.

Did your dealer Bench Test it (hook it up to line voltage to see if it worked). You might want to have him try that....it could be a different problem

In looking over the schematic of the versa grate I can see why there are or can be issues.

The burning process creates a lot of crap that can and will tend to clog up the mechanism.

All its going to take is a little bit of dirty pellets that form some clinker and the sliding grate will jam.

From an engineering standpoint here is what I would say. In theory its a great idea, in application, the way its designed it is going to cause troubles unless the fuel is of the highest quality.

Any dirt or materials that will not burn are going to cause clinkers and issues with the shaker grate.

Possibly if the setup is beefed up and tollerances loosened a bit it may be OK.

Stronger motor and stronger mechanism to run the shaker.


Snowy

I keep a spare shaker plate clean and ready to go for my St. Croix EXL. I swap it out once a week. Occassionally I find a bit of build up either on the plate itself or in the corners of the grate weldment. I use a flat file to scrape the plate and the grate weldment, a deck screw to clean the holes, and a wire wheel to polish the plate. Once clean, I spray it down with WD-40 and wipe it down and its ready to go for next week.

Removing the shaker plate can be tricky depending on the position of the rod. I've found that if you open the side door and watch the cam lobe rotate to the fully retracted position and then shut down the power, the shaker plate lifts right out. If the rod is fully extended, then you are fighting the hood over the igniter and the plate will not come out.

While that cam lobe is fully retracted, ensure you lubricate the rod and bushing where it enters the back side of the fire box. When you restart the stove, a fresh coat of that high temp copper anti seize is pulled into the bushing. Keeping things clean a well lubricated will go a long way in reducing the wear and tear on the versa grate motor.

I would agree with snowy concerning poor quality pellets or possibly a bad batch or bag of pellets containing too much silica being the cause of the clinkers. Personally, I have been pretty happy burning the Atlas and Manke Clean Burn pellets produced locally. I've experianced very little clinkage...then again I am fairly anal about keeping the stove clean so it does not have an opportunity to create a lot of build up.

One other thing to mention is to ensure that the rod is pushed all the way in after shaking down the ashes. If it is not fully closed, you are diverting combustion air down into the ash pan. This results in a poor quality burn. I would think that any loss of combustion air pressure in the burn pot is going to create less turbulence, which in turn allows any silica to remain in the burn pot longer and begin to form those clinkers. Last Sunday I cleaned the stove and fired it up...the flame just did not look right...a bit lazy. Burn pot was 3/4 full of pellets and did not seem very active.... scratched my head, poked around...then found the ash shake down rod was partially open. Pushed it all the way in...problem solved/lesson learned.

Paul V

Now here is a person who has it all scoped out and is working the system.

Spare part, keep it clean and change it regularly.

I like it.

Be they did not tell you that in the owners manual did they ;-)

Snowy

You are right Snowy, the manual does not touch little nuiances like this. Had to figure it out by trial and error. As for the extra shaker plate, I originally purchased the spare because it was inexpensive and I wanted to be able to minimize down time when cleaning. It does take a bit of effort to clean off the crud that accumulates. Left unchecked, this build up could interfere with the shaker plate sliding back and forth under the grate weldment, therefore creating more stress on the versa grate system components, especially the motor.

PV

My Whitfield Advantage 2T has a grate with little bars across with slots between each bar.

The air coming in through the grate jiggles the burning pellets and the heavy ashes fall through the grate into the ash pan and the lighter fly ash blows off and either ends up in the ash traps farther downstream or falls out around the fire pot.

NO moving parts.

Seems that the versa grate would have some advantages with certain fuels.

I had to cut a 1/8" thick stainless steel insert to lay in the fire pot. I drilled rows of holes in the insert to allow air to flow through.

Burning the nut shells required a burn grate that would not allow the small pieces to fall through into the ash pan.

Always got to tweek things in so they work to suit the need.

Myself, I tend to look at simplicity as a real design plus.

Seems that the major companies tend to add far too much complexity to their designs.

The more electronics the closer the point of failure becomes.

Snowy

In this case you need to add the more mechanical parts the closer the point of failure becomes.

In a few months I'm going to talk to friend about fabricating a revised burn pot receptacle for my stove.

My burn pot is like the one on your 2T from your description and it is fine but the receptacle is a bit over sized and not as deep as I'd like it to be.

Hey Salty! I bought a St.Croix a few months back and after a week and a half the stove started to make a clunking noise. After looking into it i found it was the versa grate making the noise, as it would clunk every 60 seconds when the cam would get to the 12:00 position as it is a 1 rpm gearbox. Called the dealer and told them what was up and they said they would take care of it ASAP! A while later i got a call from Even Temp in nebraska telling me they were going to over night a new motor and gearbox to the dealer. Told them to send it directly to me and i would install it myself and save the dealer a service call and a 35 mile drive. It arrived and i installed it and it ran perfect! I took the old one apart to see if i could find a problem and i found it. A spacer (washer) that was suppose to be under one of the gears was floating around loose in there! So i had read on the forums here about cleaning out the factory grease and repacking with good high temp grease, I did this and reinstalled it using plenty of high temp copper anti-seize on the cam and bushings and i have not heard a thing since! The forums are a great place to learn about your stove and many other things Hope this helps you out! Wi Thundercat :coolsmile:

Smokey

That too.
A Pellet stove started out life as a simple way to burn clean wood/biomass fuel.

Now along comes the engineers and they continue to add more goodies and more complexity until they get the thiing to the point of unreliability.


Myself I am quite content to take the responsibility of cleaning, caring for and nurturing my pellet stove.

Burning what I do requires far more tending than many folks are willing to give.

I ahve to clean the burn pot (On the fly) in the Prodigy 3 times a day. Early in the am, about 3 in the afternoon or maybe as late as 6 and then just before bed.

This is a simple manuever, simply shut the fuel feed off and let the fire reduce to coals ( couple minutes) then open the door, and using a long handled scraper remove the clinker and excess ash from the pot, arrange a few remaining coals and shut the door.

Turn the feed back on and in a few moments the fire is back up and going strong.

The Advantage has a slightly different Pot and higher air flow and does not require as much tending.

Once a day is fine on that stove.


Running these stoves on the traditional Pellet fuel takes far less messing but costs far more.]

My goal is good heat with little cost.

Pay for it one way or another.


I think that a burn system could be built that would work extremely well with the shells but would have to be a lot different from the pot used for the pellets.

I am quite willing to take the little extra time and mess with the stoves for the cost savings.


Snowy

You CAN run the stove without the versa-grate working... won't hurt a thing but you will have to clean the burn pot area everyday.

Are you saying that the motor is bad again? FWIW my dealer's service techs tell me they seldom get a complaint about the St. Croix stove.... I've been looking for a used one and they tell me they leave and they never see come back!

Wi Thundercat said:

Hey Salty! I bought a St.Croix a few months back and after a week and a half the stove started to make a clunking noise. After looking into it i found it was the versa grate making the noise, as it would clunk every 60 seconds when the cam would get to the 12:00 position as it is a 1 rpm gearbox. Called the dealer and told them what was up and they said they would take care of it ASAP! A while later i got a call from Even Temp in nebraska telling me they were going to over night a new motor and gearbox to the dealer. Told them to send it directly to me and i would install it myself and save the dealer a service call and a 35 mile drive. It arrived and i installed it and it ran perfect! I took the old one apart to see if i could find a problem and i found it. A spacer (washer) that was suppose to be under one of the gears was floating around loose in there! So i had read on the forums here about cleaning out the factory grease and repacking with good high temp grease, I did this and reinstalled it using plenty of high temp copper anti-seize on the cam and bushings and i have not heard a thing since! The forums are a great place to learn about your stove and many other things Hope this helps you out! Wi Thundercat :coolsmile:

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Have burnt about a ton since swapping out the motor and gearbox without a problem or a peep out of it! When i replaced the grease in it i used Lucas oil products Red "N" Tacky #2 multi-purpose EP grease. Says it is fortified with anti-seize and has a drop point of 540 °F. So far, So good! Still have the new one for a back up if needed. Also keep the cam and rod at both bushings slathered up with high temp copper never seize.