St. Croix Ashby poor burn on setting 1 and 2

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SueY

New Member
Nov 14, 2011
11
Newburgh NY
I had me insert installed last February so I am relatively new to pellet stoves. I get a very clean burn on setting of 3 and higher but can't use it on 1 or 2 because it burns so dirty. After just an hour I get a creosote stain on the glass and if I burn overnight the entire glass is covered with a thick coating which is difficult to clean off (found if I hold a paper towel against the glass and spray with cleaner - let it sit for a while and then clean it works quite well, but still a lot of work) When I burn on 3 and higher overnight I only get light coating of dust which wipes off. I know there are settings on the St. Croix which I believe are to fine tune the settings but I don't know what I change to improve the situation. Any help will be really appreciated because in my situation, 3 and higher are just too much heat a lot of the time.

Thanks!
 
You will find most pellet stoves run inefficiently on the low settings. You should be getting a sooty window not one with creosote. These stove produce very little creosote.

My St Croix does the same on #1 or #2. You SHOULD fire your stove up to #4 or #5 for about 1/2 hour each day to help keep the stove clean to to burn off deposits.
 
Your manual explains how to adjust the feed and blower speeds on feed #1, along with how to reduce the soot on the glass. I forget offhand what it says, but it's in there.

krooser's right, the manual says to run on 5 for ½ hour a day. I don't do that, but I run my stove on #3, except when it's idling for short periods.

If you're getting creosote on your glass, you're probably getting it in the stove's innards, too. Not a good thing.

I run mine on a thermostat with a 1º swing, heat level #3. Seems to be working fine. My old 'stat had a swing of 3º, so the stove would go out and relight several times a day. Now the room temp is more even, and the ignitor gets a rest.

In short, run your stove on #3 or higher, and use a thermostat to keep from melting the furniture. My 2¢.
 
I have looked at the manual and I see how to physically change feed and blower speeds but because all is working on 3+ I am afraid to change anything. I guess what I am asking is what does an increase or decrease in feed and or blower speeds do?

I tried the link on Safari on Mac and on IE on Windows and it will not play (this is a major problem to me with St. Croix's website - I can never access any of the manuals or videos on it - and yes I do have the correct version of Acrobat required by the site, the links to the manuals just don't appear) But I know that my flame on 3+ is excellent and not producing any creosote. It is only on the lower settings, and I have only tried the lower setting a couple of times. And yes I keep my stove clean and do crank it up to burn it off.

Keep in mind I just started using a pellet stove so I don't have the years of experience that so many of you do so I simply need to understand how changing the speeds will affect the stove so I know at least what to change and what direction to start. Thanks!

Sue
 
Odd - I'm running Safari and can get their vids and manuals. Sorry, I can't help you with computer stuff.

The settings for feed and blower speeds only affect heat range #1, the rest are fixed values. You can control the air with the damper, but they suggest a certain setting (the pencil width) and leave it alone. I have experimented with mine, and that seems to work for me. Other than keeping the stove clean, there's little to fuss with.

The default values for #1 are generally okay for most, but you may want to slow the blower if you have a long vertical rise in your exhaust. A long rise could give you too much draft for low heat settings. Depending on your pellets, you may want to increase or decrease the feed rate to keep the fire going on #1. Not much else to it.

I have a direct vent through the wall, and find I need to reduce the fan speed and increase the feed rate for the lowest setting to get a good burn.

Bear in mind those settings will be lost if the control loses power. You just have to reenter them when the power comes back.

I'm experimenting with a new thermostat with a small swing, so the stove is idling more than it was before. I noticed the glass was really dirty this morning, more than usual. I attribute that to a rather warm night and more idling. It's the light/dark brown powdery ash, which will come right off with a damp sponge (glass is cold).

In short, don't be afraid to experiment with the #1 settings - you can't hurt anything, and won't affect burns #2-#5.

Good luck, Sue. Happy burning - and a belated welcome to the forum!
 
Thank you heat seeker - that is exactly what I needed to know! I will play with it tonight - Good to know I won't mess up what i have working correctly!

Sye
 
You're welcome, and stay warm!
 
I have to be honest, I have never gotten a clean burn out of level 1. That's with burning good pellets to. I have the York insert, but basically all St Croix guts are the same. I have tried damper adjustments and reducing the voltage to the combustion motor. Reducing the voltage, 10 volts, works the best for me. But I have a tall vertical run. On feed rate 2 though, I'm good. I get a light chalky build up after a day that wipes clean with a rag. On level 3 and up I'm good to go. I talked to me dealer about it last yr and was told these stoves (St Croix) don't like to burn on level 1. For what it's worth you'll not have to use the lower levels to much.
How are you liking the Ashby? You have 2 convection blowers, mine only has one. My dealer was telling me the increased CFM makes a big difference.
 
Thank you Neversink, I didn't have a chance to fiddle with the stove last night and probably won't til the weekend but I will take the suggestions here and see what I can do. I also have a tall vertical run so hopefully what worked for you will for me.

I am new to pellet stoves so I have no idea how it compares but I will say on 3 it is really warm here! I love the heat of the stove. Our entire home is totally warm - no cool spots - and it is a "complete" warm. Not sure how otherwise to describe it. Totally "complete" compared to the baseboard heat from my furnace.

I will post my results when I get a chance to try.

Sue
 
ylomnstr said:
IronFire said:
First look at the air setting. This is what your flame should look like http://stcroixstoves.com/video-disclaimerP.php?video=hastings flame.flv

Brad
Click to expand...


Make sure you copy and paste the whole URL including the flame.flv

I first clicked on the link and it wouldn't play either. I looked again and saw that the flame.flv wasn't part of the hyperlink.
Click to expand...

My bad. It did it as a line wrap

http://stcroixstoves.com/video-disclaimerP.php?video=hastings flame.flv

Try this

Brad
 
Close the intake damper all the way down and open it back up an 1/8th of an inch. To much combustion air on a low setting causes the flue gases to cool and condensate causing the creosote. If you are getting a sooty burn at that point then they can open it up in very small increments.

Brad
 
By intake damper you mean the slider? I will try this also that sounds very simple.

This post has been very helpful and I really appreciate all of your simple to understand responses. I have my work cut out for me this weekend but at least I know what to do.

Sue
 
Sue Young said:
By intake damper you mean the slider? I will try this also that sounds very simple.

This post has been very helpful and I really appreciate all of your simple to understand responses. I have my work cut out for me this weekend but at least I know what to do.

Sue
Click to expand...

Yes!
 
I started the stove this evening and figured firestarter's suggestion we the easiest so I tried it. It worked fantastically! I burned the stove on setting 1 for about 1 1/2 hours and the glass is completely clean. There is only a little soot on the bricks but I think a burn on a higher temp will take care of that. Thanks everyone for your help.
 
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