Enviro Empress FPI

[rirockhound]

Hi:
Just got a load of pellets (CleanFire Pacifics) delivered and got to use our newly installed Enviro Empress FPI.

I am getting inconsistent initial results with it. Some days it works great, other days (like right now) it is difficult to get right.

It had been building up a fair amount of ash, so we have cleaned it a couple of times (about 1x a day). It has been shutting down occasionally, and the lights on the board start flashing.

Anyone have a good settings mix that seems to work for them? I have been using the factory presets for feed and combustion fan, with minimal changes noticed. I have been playing with the slider, and seem to get slightly better results when it is to the right (+) of center.

Anyone have any experience? Pellet Stove rookie...

 

[steamguy]

Okay, let's define what you mean by 'get right'.

Do you mean that it goes out when set all the way down on #1? If so, you're using too much air. Way too much.

Sliding the draft to the right adds combustion air, and if you have it too far over, you can actually have so much draft that you can blow pellets right out of the burnpot. You can also cause them to burn faster than they're being fed on the lower settings.

You should have gotten a book with the stove, it tells you what a 'good flame' looks like. If the flame looks like a blowtorch, then you're using far too much air, and need to slide the draft over to the left to shut it down. If the flame is 'lazy', then you open the draft up by sliding the lever to the right. Honestly, it sounds to me like you need to shut that draft way down. There is a LOT of range of movement, and a little movement goes a long way.

Shut it down by pushing it all the way to the left. If the flame is 'lazy' and reddish-yellow, then open it up bit by bit until the flame just turns yellow and lively. Start here. If after a day you have a lot of soot buildup on the glass, then you need to open the draft by another half inch. You should be running the stove at a point where you will need to clean the glass about every time you dump the ash pan. By that, I mean a 'haze' on the glass, but not obscured by soot.

Ash buildup depends on the quality of pellets you're burning. Some generate more ash than others. For instance, with the brand I'm using, I only have to dump my ash pan every three to five days. I do pull the burnpot liner every day and clean it. The burnpot will build up carbon on the one side, and that has to be chipped out.

Does that help?