Us Stove 6041 - Brand New

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Mattbph

Member
Dec 20, 2010
38
Dutchess County, NY
I have a brand new stove and it's been burning for a week. Today I shut it down and cleaned everything but couldn't remove the burn pot... is this possible? Do I need a special tool to remove it?

What kind of vacuum should I buy if I want to remove the ashes this way?

Also, there were two metal slides that I removed on each side of the burnpot, there were a ton of ashes there!! How do you remove the ashes from that area?

Can someone just tell me what a routine maintenance check would involve each week?? Thanks for your help!!

Matt
 
Sorry, no help, but was curious what you feel about your purchase. I have been looking at purchases, and am considering this...what can you tell me about it? Are you happy with it, how well does it heat your house, and how big is your house?
 
I think you need to remove the agitator (stirrer rod) first, or at least remove the pin on the left of the burnpot, before you can lift the burnpot and stirrer out....they probably come out as one unit, and can be taken apart further after removal.

Most of us on the forum use a regular shop vac to clean their stoves. Just make sure the stove has been shut off for at least 1 hour to allow all embers to finish burning & cool off. Also, try to get a shop vac that has replaceable filters......get a filter that is rated to remove very small particles (drywall dust, etc)....sometimes referred to as a "HEPA" type filter. Stove ash is VERY fine, and will go right through a regular vac filter and into the room.


To clean the "ash traps" that you mentioned, most of us have purchased a 2-3 ft. length of rubber hose. 3/4" car radiator hose, or an old rubber water hose from a washing machine will do. Duct tape one end into the shop vac hose, and snake the other end up and around the ash traps as much as possible to clean in them......very important that you get those areas clean, or stove operation will start to suffer down the road.

As for a "maintenance schedule", see P. 20 & 21 in your owners manual.
 
I just helped my neighbor install this same stove about two weeks ago. He loves it, puts out nice heat. As far as the burn pot, yes, i agree with Imacman, you will need to remove the agitator prior to removing the burn pot.
 
Thanks everyone for your help! I will try and get a shop vac and a small hose connector to get the ashes out of the ash dumps :)

And Yes I love my 6041 US STOVE!! It throws out great heat and heats my townhouse that's 1900 square feet. The stove is on the bottom floor and the temp gets to 74/75 degrees on that floor, middle floor 69/70 degrees and about 65-67 degrees on the top floor. Since I am a newbie I just needed to figure out the best settings for the stove. This is what I do:
from 5pm-9pm (Heat setting 3, Draft fan 5)
9pm-5am (Heat setting 2, draft fan 4),
5am-5pm (Heat setting 1, draft fan 3).
The reason I do this is to reduce the consumption of pelllets. I'm a newbie so I figured this out on my own :)

I am burning lingentics with the blue label right now and it seems that they produce alot of ashes. Wondering if I should switch to something else like Barefoot or Okies. Anyone have any recommendations as to what pellets burn the best and produce low ash??

BTW I live in Hopewell Junction, NY so any stores that sell decent pellets and are near my home would be great!

Thanks
Matt
 
Matty said:
I am burning lingentics with the blue label right now and it seems that they produce alot of ashes. Wondering if I should switch to something else like Barefoot or Okies. Anyone have any recommendations as to what pellets burn the best and produce low ash??

Thanks
Matt

Hey Matt,

Glad you like the new stove! To help some of the new burners get a feel for what pellets do, I put together a couple of test threads that show how they compare against each other. Each stove will burn a bit different so YMMV a bit. Also there are some batch variances that may pop up.

Take a look at these threads

Bigbox test thread

Ultimate pellet search test thread

This seasons testing

Hope this helps in your pellet search, But always try a few bags for yourself just in case!
 
Matt, for sure you need to take a look at Jay's testing results, but as he said also, it always pays to "test drive" a few bags of any new pellets before buying in bulk (tons).

That said, there has not been a lot of good things said about the Lignetics blue label bag. Mostly just as you observed, a lot of ash.

In our area, look for Barefoot, Winter Warmth, and Somersets. Allegheny, Stove Chow and American Wood Fiber (AWF) aren't too bad either. Okies are around and are a great pellet, but available in only a few places, and they are $$$.
 
Matty said:
And Yes I love my 6041 US STOVE!! It throws out great heat and heats my townhouse that's 1900 square feet. The stove is on the bottom floor and the temp gets to 74/75 degrees on that floor, middle floor 69/70 degrees and about 65-67 degrees on the top floor. Since I am a newbie I just needed to figure out the best settings for the stove. This is what I do:
from 5pm-9pm (Heat setting 3, Draft fan 5)
9pm-5am (Heat setting 2, draft fan 4),
5am-5pm (Heat setting 1, draft fan 3).
The reason I do this is to reduce the consumption of pelllets. I'm a newbie so I figured this out on my own :)

Thanks
Matt

Matt,

To save you from the hassles of changing the stove settings all the time. Get yourself a programmable t-stat and set it up in the area you are in the most. Or the middle floor. Set the temp you want and put your stove on the high/low burn setting. When your away from home have the temp set 4 to 5 degrees lower than your comfort setting. Just before you get home have it raise the temps for you so the house id taosty when you get home. You can also set the temps lower during your normal sleeping time and have it again raise the temps before you rise in the morning.

I love my programmable stat and couldn't live easily without it. Makes things much easier on me. Just need to remember to fill the hopper! :)
 
Matty

Lowes or Home Depot will have pellets. I got pellets from Lowes this year and have been very happy with them. Bought 8 tons of Somersets for about $170 a ton early in the season when they wanted $280 a ton. If you Google Lowes moving coupon you could get 10% off on the pellets. Buy a few bags find out what your stove likes then by a bunch with the 10% off coupon. This may help you know what pellets to pick when you are at the store. Read, shop around then buy what you want and be happy.

Oliveone
 
Matty,
I have the same stove and like it as well. To remove the burnpot you have to remove the pin lift up on the left side and pull the agitator to the left then you can lift the burnpot out. I also put mine on a t-stat as well keeps the room temps even when the outside temp goes up and down. I can walk you through the hookup if you like? Enjoy your stove.
 
I used a cheap honeywell programable t-stat the hook up isn't to bad only 2 wires on the back of the control panel and you have to remove a plastic jumper to get the stat to operate the stove. It only goes from high to low flame it won't shut off or start the stove. As for pellets i'm burning somersets right now and mixing in cherry pits when it gets real cold out but i'm only running on 3 right now and using between a bag and bag and a half a day keeping this old drafty house 74.
 
Thanks for the info on Thermostats!

Need your help on something else :) My stove has been working fine and then when I wasn't home my wife decided to change the settings (GRRRRR): Lowering the temp to level 2.

I guess this caused my fired to go out in the stove which caused some massive ammounts of smoke to leak from my piping!! I could see where the smoke was coming from, mostly my 45 degree pipe which already has specialized tape wrapped around the seam. The smoke was also coming from the bottom of the T pipe and also from where the pipe exits the wall. What's going on here? Did I get a crappy vent kit from Duravent? Any suggestions??

Since last night I cleaned the stove and it seems to be working fine. Smoke issues seem to occur when the fire on my stove goes out unexpectantly.

Input is greatly appreciated!!
 
The only time i had a smoke issue was when the pot filled up with ash and put the flame out i found i didn't have the damper out enough and wasn't getting a complete burn. I tried all the different tweak settings but found if i just leave it in auto mode with the factory settings it burns pretty good and i have fewer issues. The biggest complaint i have is the airwash glass on mine sucks. I can polish the glass when i do my weekly cleaning and in less then 8 hours you can barely see the flame. I usually run mine on 3 on the t-stat and it drops down to 1 or low flame when the stat kicks it off.
 
You can get the hi temp tape (looks like aluminum) from a hardware store or heating supply. I wrapped every seam on both of my stove pipes and no more smoke.
 
Hello Everyone,

Still I am having issues with smoke leaking from the pipes but it only seems to happen when the stove goes out or I am low on pellets in the hopper. Is it common for the stove to leak a ton of smoke into your house when it goes out? Yesterday when I got home from work my house was FILLED with smoke and what's scarier is that my smoke alarms didn't go off!! How long will it take for that smokie smell to leave the house? It felt like I was breathing in all of those fumes all night long!! I woke up and my throat was killing me and I had a headache!! Are the fumes from a pellet stove dangerous to be breathing in? Any suggestions on how to air out my home?

So, what I am thinking is that the stove went out due to crappy pellets (pennington) because not only did my stove go out but there was a TON of creosole on the glass of the stove! It was almost burnt, what's the best way to clean the window of the glass stove?? Not only was I using crappy pellets but my damper was not out far enough which probably caused the flame to go out :(

I'm thinking about calling my service guy out again to see why smoke leaks from my pipes and into my home. I have already put high temperature tape on all of the pipes that are sealed together but there may be a couple of spots that could use a little more tape. I've noticed that when my stove goes out it seems like alot of the smoke comes out of the 45 degree pipe and the pipe that exits the wall to the outside. I've been told to use some high temperature sealant on the pipe that exits the house to the outside.

I'm starting to get really bummed out... I'm considering getting rid of the stove completely if it doesn't get fixed!

Matt
 
Matt,
It is not common for the vent pipe to leak smoke ever. When i installed mine i used the same vent mfg you did but i did use high temp rtv on the inside of every joint where the two pipes connect. I did have a little smoke when i first fired the stove until the oils and stuff burnt off. You can buy a high temp foil tape you can wrap every joint on the vent with that works well also. I still think you have draft air issues because even if the stove runs out of pellets you should not get any smoke unless the draft fan or the wind outside over powers the draft fan and pushes the smoke back inside. Do you have a OAK installed? The black ash on your glass should tell you that its not burning right. Mine is gray to almost white in color but i'm burning somerset hard woods. Also are the holes in the firepot clean? If not that will cause a dirty burn as well. Good luck and let us know how it works out for you.
 
Matty,

I get smoke too, usually from the door, when I run out of pellets. I also get an err 2 code which means the low temp limit switch has shut down the stove. I hit the off button, then the on button to get the draft fan going.

The glass issue sounds like you don't have your damper (between the two ash slides) out enough . Start at 1.5" and adjust from there.

Now, please take this in the spirit with which it is said: There is a drawer in the base of the stove that collects ashes from the burn pot and from the ash slides. When you take out the burn pot for cleaning, there will be a bunch of ash piled around the outside of the burn pot. You'll see a hole that dumps the ash into the drawer. I sttrongly suggest you read the owners manual. If you don't have one, it's available onliine at USStove.com

As for pellets, I've burned over 60 bags of Somersets since late last season and into this season. My ash drawer is not even 10% full. I'm blessed because I'm not too far from Somerset and a lot of dealers carry them.

Menards had them for $3.49 a couple weeks ago.
 
You should not get any smoke smell when your stove runs out of pellets and your stove's door is closed.

If you are then your venting is the problem, fix it.
 
Just wanted to say thanks for everyone's help!

I've tried airing out my home this past weekend and it helped a little.

I've become paronoid about leaving my stove on when I am not home. Since the smoke incident I've been turning my stove off before I leave for work.

The stove has been operating fine with my lingentic blue label pellets but noticed that my house hasn't been getting as hot as it normally did. It used to be 74/75 degrees on the bottom floor, 68/69 in the middle and 64/65 on the top floor. Now, my stove barely makes my bottom floor go to 70 degrees. What could be the reason?

Will the house have any type of smell from burning the wood pellets?
 
The temperature change may just be that it's colder outside. I have that same stove and a Harmon XXV. My US Stove puts out serious heat, so much that you don't want to stand directly in front of it for too long. Did you figure out why the smoke alarms didn't go off? Is it possible that they are "heat" alarms or a combination of heat and smoke? Maybe you have to have both the smoke and high heat to set them off? I would get them checked by your fire dept, the smoke from a pellet stove will kill your family just as quick as the smoke from a wood stove.
 
Matty,
I get very little if any smell in the house mostly outside if any out there? If you sealed your vent pipe correctly you shouldn't get any smell. As for temp it can very due to pellet mfg outside temp ect also turning the stove on and off doesn't help either it takes a while to warm everything back up. I don't like a hot house so i set my t-stat on 70 and let it go.
 
Hey PDK,

Still not sure why my fire alarms did not go off! I'll have to test them again today by actually lighting something and sticking it underneath the alarm. I checked them just recently by pressing the testing button and they all worked fine :/ I also have a carbon monoxide detector dowstairs where the stove is and that didn't go off when I had all that smoke in my house. The smoke alarms are connected electrically and thay also have a nine volt battery in them too.

What would cause a stove to not heat the house as well besides temp? Is it possible that there is something wrong with the stove itself? What type of pellets do you burn?
 
Matty

I have the same stove the only thing i can think of why you have smoke in the house is the venting is too long or your burn pot is getting full of clinkers had that happen once to me. some of the things i have done to heat my 2700sf house.

after i start the stove i leave it for about a hour just to let it get to temp. change the setting to this heat range 4 draft fan 6 room fan 9 AUX 5.. and the AUX setting is the one that works best for me. AUX setting 7 will turn it about every 15 sec i use 5 it is about every 25 or so when ido it that way i get a great looking flame no build up of any ash extreme hot air and a great burn. now for the damper i have it out past the silver handle if you are looking down at it i did intall a OAK kit and it works great there. Make sure you have all the cleanout covers in place the 2 on the back and the 2 on the sides of the damper. now to the smoke issue where is it comming from? the adapter on the stove? the clean out T? what does your set up look like? can you take a few pics? as for mine i have a not so standard install i have 5' up 24" horz and 30" up i dont have any smoke issue i used RTV and the metal tape. and aslo since my install is not the norm i do clean the vent pipe out about every 2 weeks i kinda do the reverse leave blower trick. my clean out T is inside and i stick my shop vac hose in there and blow it out that way works great had my son take video of it the first time. for pellets i just got a ton of the ozark they work great i like the hardwood pellets. i am on the last few bags of rocky mountain these are a softwood.

Im no expert but above is what i use and seems to work great.
 
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