a few ??'s
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jtakeman
Minister of Fire
Can you check the volts going to the combustion motor. Have you taken the blower out and cleaned the fins on the blower wheel? I still think you can increase the combustion blower speed and end up with the same result as putting a fan on the OAK.
But I would also get that exhaust straightened out. 4" all the way and the proper cap. You could also try a larger OAK Dia. There should also be a 90º or cap on the OAK termination! If you do end up putting a fan on the OAK air, Use some type of rheostat to adjust the speed of it.
Good Luck!
But I would also get that exhaust straightened out. 4" all the way and the proper cap. You could also try a larger OAK Dia. There should also be a 90º or cap on the OAK termination! If you do end up putting a fan on the OAK air, Use some type of rheostat to adjust the speed of it.
Good Luck!
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
You need to remove that impingement plate and brush and vacuum the entire exposed area and all crevices and paths out of the area behind the plate, also clean off both surfaces of that plate.
If you didn't remove the combustion motor and fan assembly (you need a gasket handy before doing this as the gasket that is there is likely to crumble or tear) and get the crud off of the fan blades and scrape the cavity. The blades must be clean and the edges crisp, do not bend anything while doing the cleaning. Make certain you also get the crud between the fan and the motor's mounting plate as that can crud up as well.
The ash on the blower will both interfere something fierce with both its ability to scoop up the air and move it, it also will cause the blower to slow down over time.
You also need to make certain all of your gaskets are good.
That ash pan cover sliding system needs to fully close and if the covers are warped or other wise deformed and not forming a proper seal then the air that is entering from there is going to act as a burn pot air bypass.
The wear/burn plate needs to be removed and scrapped, all of the holes need to be clear and to original size. That plate must sit flat and somewhat tight in the burn pot. The burn pot also has to be cleaned.
Do not remove the burn pot unless you have a replacement gasket, the gasket is critical for being able to auto ignite the pellets. If the area around that igniter has crud in it the igniter will not work. This is not to say that your igniter is good. If it doesn't glow cherry red then it is either dead, disconnected, or not getting any juice from the controller. Since you already manually light the stove I'm not going to pursue this part further.
Please remove that 90 degree bend on the OAK, get a piece of metal form a 45 degree bend in the metal, with one of the tails long enough to keep the bent portion at least 4 inches from the top of the OAK and the other to just reach the bottom of the oak plus a 1/2 inch. This will protect the OAK from being affected by winds plus reduce the restriction in the air flow to the stove and in the non burn season will allow you to plug the OAK to prevent entry of humid air and/or nasties. While you are modifying the OAK termination verify there is nothing in the OAK. Now this is important that OAK tubing must go over the air intake on the stove it must not go inside the intake (if it does you have placed another air flow restriction in the system), there must be no sharp bends or a dip followed by a rise in that OAK for the same reason.
Back at the stove you need to verify there is nothing in the air intake.
Unless you totally cleaned the stove when you first installed it the leaf blower trick isn't likely nor is using just an air stream to get all of the crud that is actually stuck on, some elbow grease with a brush is usually required. Do not rely solely on the leaf blower unless you have the latest jet turbine assisted krooser limited edition (it can remove the kitchen sink via the stove vent with its doors closed and 100' away).
ETA: Also follow Jay's advice and clean up the vent situation. Jay that blower setting on the stoves control is for the room fan. I'm going to poke around a bit more and see if I can find something on the controller and if we could have a picture of the component side of the control panel we might be able to see if anything is frying that shouldn't be.
If you didn't remove the combustion motor and fan assembly (you need a gasket handy before doing this as the gasket that is there is likely to crumble or tear) and get the crud off of the fan blades and scrape the cavity. The blades must be clean and the edges crisp, do not bend anything while doing the cleaning. Make certain you also get the crud between the fan and the motor's mounting plate as that can crud up as well.
The ash on the blower will both interfere something fierce with both its ability to scoop up the air and move it, it also will cause the blower to slow down over time.
You also need to make certain all of your gaskets are good.
That ash pan cover sliding system needs to fully close and if the covers are warped or other wise deformed and not forming a proper seal then the air that is entering from there is going to act as a burn pot air bypass.
The wear/burn plate needs to be removed and scrapped, all of the holes need to be clear and to original size. That plate must sit flat and somewhat tight in the burn pot. The burn pot also has to be cleaned.
Do not remove the burn pot unless you have a replacement gasket, the gasket is critical for being able to auto ignite the pellets. If the area around that igniter has crud in it the igniter will not work. This is not to say that your igniter is good. If it doesn't glow cherry red then it is either dead, disconnected, or not getting any juice from the controller. Since you already manually light the stove I'm not going to pursue this part further.
Please remove that 90 degree bend on the OAK, get a piece of metal form a 45 degree bend in the metal, with one of the tails long enough to keep the bent portion at least 4 inches from the top of the OAK and the other to just reach the bottom of the oak plus a 1/2 inch. This will protect the OAK from being affected by winds plus reduce the restriction in the air flow to the stove and in the non burn season will allow you to plug the OAK to prevent entry of humid air and/or nasties. While you are modifying the OAK termination verify there is nothing in the OAK. Now this is important that OAK tubing must go over the air intake on the stove it must not go inside the intake (if it does you have placed another air flow restriction in the system), there must be no sharp bends or a dip followed by a rise in that OAK for the same reason.
Back at the stove you need to verify there is nothing in the air intake.
Unless you totally cleaned the stove when you first installed it the leaf blower trick isn't likely nor is using just an air stream to get all of the crud that is actually stuck on, some elbow grease with a brush is usually required. Do not rely solely on the leaf blower unless you have the latest jet turbine assisted krooser limited edition (it can remove the kitchen sink via the stove vent with its doors closed and 100' away).
ETA: Also follow Jay's advice and clean up the vent situation. Jay that blower setting on the stoves control is for the room fan. I'm going to poke around a bit more and see if I can find something on the controller and if we could have a picture of the component side of the control panel we might be able to see if anything is frying that shouldn't be.
ok just got done cleaning it...
i did:
scraped all the sides top bottom
vacuumed it all out....
took the plate out scraped that all, and cleaned
cleaned up the burn pot and plate
cleaned/blew/scraped both fans
tightened up door for better seal
washed glass..
chipped carbon off the lower auger and tube
i unhooked the oak for right now..my house isn't very tight and its working very good
let me know if i missed anything
things i have to do:
go with 4 inch all the way up new pipe
new cap
bigger oak maybe right now its 1 1/2
started it back up and its doing well and its actually sparking without the fan on the oak..but we will see how long that lasts
i did:
scraped all the sides top bottom
vacuumed it all out....
took the plate out scraped that all, and cleaned
cleaned up the burn pot and plate
cleaned/blew/scraped both fans
tightened up door for better seal
washed glass..
chipped carbon off the lower auger and tube
i unhooked the oak for right now..my house isn't very tight and its working very good
let me know if i missed anything
things i have to do:
go with 4 inch all the way up new pipe
new cap
bigger oak maybe right now its 1 1/2
started it back up and its doing well and its actually sparking without the fan on the oak..but we will see how long that lasts
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
Sounds like you have a good plan of attack. Some stoves just need to be cleaned more often. Well at least the burnpot and the holes in it. My old quad would need the burnpot to be cleaned every 2 to 3 days. Scrape and clean the holes anyway. Or I got bad smokey starts and lazy flames. I did the blowers and vent cleaning around 1 ton of fuel burned through the stove.
Increasing the vent to 4 inches all the way up should improve the draw(draft) and so should the larger OAK size. Another thread had a cheap 3 inch OAK kit.
OAK link
Keep us posted and stay warm!
Increasing the vent to 4 inches all the way up should improve the draw(draft) and so should the larger OAK size. Another thread had a cheap 3 inch OAK kit.
OAK link
Keep us posted and stay warm!
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