I don't get it. Enviro Empress ran great on Okenagon pellets last year. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. I did the leafblower trick to clean the stove out then lit it for the 1st time just last week. The flame, using the same pellets is terrible. Very orange/sooty and the firebox keeps filling up before the pellets burn sufficiently. I pulled the air damper lever full open and that does seem to help, but you can tell it's too much air. Not sure what's going on, as leaving the air damper where it was (nearly closed) worked great last year. I cleaned out the fans with a shop vac us usual, but just not getting that whitish/hot flame. Any ideas?
Poor flame post leafblower cleaning
- Thread starter jzinckgra
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
jzinckgra said:
Did you actually scrape the mess out of the heat exchanger, ash traps, combustion blower blades, and the cavity the combustion blower sits in?
The leaf blower can not remove any crud that has glued itself to the metal due to moisture over the summer. Loose fly ash it can get quite easily but caked on crud it can't do diddle with. Further if you removed a plugged vent cap used the leaf blower and didn't clean the vent cap you likely have crud there as well.
I cleaned all those places you mention as best I could. The stove was brand new last year and I only burned 3/4 of a ton, so didn't expect a lot of buildup.
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
jzinckgra said:
If you burned 3/4 of a ton then depending upon the pellets burned you could have quite a buildup inside the stove. 15 pounds or so of ash is a pretty big pile O crud.
I'd also check the seals on the door and on your ash pan door as well.
I don't know the fire pot setup on that stove but that is another place where there are frequently a gasket or seating play possibility. The cavity under the fire pot as well can get plugged.
You might want to verify that your air intake is actually clear, if there are kids or pets around things can wind up inside the air intake where they cause problems.
Another Empress owner here. When i have the problem with the lazy flame and the burn pot over flowing even with the damper cranked open i check that the ash pan drawer is latched securely. It's possible with out bending over to check that it feels like it's shut and latched but it's not. Another problem is the door is latched on the nut that holds the little metal collar instead of the little collar.
Tightly shutting these 2 and the problem clears up instantly. If that doesn't do the trick check your door gasket.
Tightly shutting these 2 and the problem clears up instantly. If that doesn't do the trick check your door gasket.
yep, I did notice the ash pan wasn't securely closed. Will see if that fixes the problem. thanks.
save$
Minister of Fire
OMG, that did happen to me. About drove me crazy trying to figure out why my stove all of a sudden was performing so poorly.jzinckgra said:
The latches to the ash pan are hidden from view by an folding door on my Napoleon.
Now, if I ever have an issue, I think 1. draft, 2 stove cleanliness, 3 draft again.
krooser
Minister of Fire
I had to have service come out when I couldn't get my stove to run right for two weeks... all the tech did was clean the stove, secure the loose ash pan and show me how to use the leaf blower to clean it... been fine ever since.
just cleaned her out again and cinched the ash drawer tight. Burning great now. Not sure if that was the problem, but I fixed something and all looks good. thanks!
krooser
Minister of Fire
mainegeek
Member
I once accidentally mislatched the ash pan on my Mount Vernon AE after cleaning it. I turned it on and went upstairs. About 10 min later the entire house had this vibration resonaiting throughout it. Just about freaked me out.... till I investigated and found the ash pan was not secured.
- Status
Similar threads
