ENGLANDER 25PDVC soot

I have had this stove for a year now and have had soot on air vents from day one. I have check all the gaskets called Englander and was told it was normal to have some soot on the vents, we get high winds in Wyoming. I am now starting to notice gray spots on my ceiling. Is there anything I can check. I also can smell smoke sometimes through the vents. Could there be something wrong with heat exchanger.

Yes I have an outside air intake and the pipe is sealed. I do open the door once a day to clean the ash out.

Wyoming is high country, elevation may be a factor. Does your stove heat well and burn clean with minimal soot inside the burn area? If not you may want to look at vent piping. Stove manufacturers recommend 4” above 4000, I wonder if calculations change at 5000’ or 6000’. I found this link very informative.

http://www.nevelsstoves.com/articles/Venting-your-pellet-stove.htm

I have 4 inch pipe and 2 45s with about 12 feet of pipe on it, the stoves burns fairly clean, clean it out every week, I clean the pipe out once a month with just a little ash in it. I have burned less then 3 tons of pellets through it.

Just my 2 cents...I live in Cheyenne, Wy. I have the 25-PDV. I've been messing w/this since I put it in in Oct. I am so close to perfect IMO with the way the stove is burning that I'm very happy thus far. It takes time to tune one of these things from what I'm learning. You didn't mention if you have a 3 inch intake on the outside air...that helped my issues tremedously.

Eric

I have the 2 1/2 kit that came with the stove, it is only running about 2 feet. I don't have any problems with it burning, just getting some soot and wood smell when the wind is blow hard.

I too had the problem of soot. I had it on the outside of my house around the vent. I have 5 ft of rise inside then a 90 out with a hood. Is your soot inside the house or on the vent outside? I used the 2.5 line also but switched when Mike from Englander advised me to. Not sure if you stated what settings are, I run mine in C mode and have the 3 inch line hooked up. What type of pellets are you burning?

Eric

I have been using blazers and heartland from sutherlands. The heartlands burn hot but have alot of ash with them. What do you mean by c mode, my settings are 5-9-1.

I have no idea what the mode does other than providing a more drastic change that the bottom three buttons can't provide. When messing with the modes you need to talk with Mike. He is it when it comes to messing with these stoves. I have burned nothing but Heartland from Sutherlands also...with good results, not sure on the ash compared to others though.

Eric

Appears your stove is working properly except for soot around the vents suggesting a possibility of unwanted flue gas leak. With a flashlight through the side and top vents I was able to get a good view of the exchanger top and back side including the exhaust blower connection and auger weld. Perhaps you can track the soot trail to its source.