Getting Dormant Pelletmaster Up and Running

[ajstephan]

I'm new to the forum, and new to pellet stoves. Bought the house 5 years ago and gave up on it after smoking out the house once. I have a Pelletmaster with a thermostat. I cleaned the horizontal section of the exhaust pipe yesterday, and cleaned out the inside of the unit. The unit worked, almost a little too good. I still have some smoke issues (better though) and the feed continues even when the thermostat is turned down.

I pulled the unit away from the wall and cleaned the exhaust pipe inside of the stove - which was 40% blocked. I completely cleaned out the ashes, and scraped the inside more thoroughly to get most of the creosote. I also chipped out the "clunkers" inside of the crucible.

However, I have a few questions.
- I am about to check the vertical exhaust up on the roof. Where can I get a chimney sweep brush?
- The seal on the door is nearly perfect, except for a small area on the bottom side of the door. Where do I get the seal material?
- The exhaust pipe and the seal are sealed with orange, rubberish adhesive. It looks like high temp exhaust manifold sealant for automobiles. Is this what I use or is there something better?

Thanks all, I hope to get this working once and for all this year!

 

[imacman]

- I am about to check the vertical exhaust up on the roof. Where can I get a chimney sweep brush?

- The exhaust pipe and the seal are sealed with orange, rubberish adhesive. It looks like high temp exhaust manifold sealant for automobiles. Is this what I use or is there something better?.....

The best “sweep” that I have found and use, is called “the LintEater”. They sell it in Lowes. It was originally meant for dryer vents, but since last year the manufacturer has found out that it works GREAT on pellet pipe. It uses a rotating brush hooked to flexible rods, and spun by an electric drill. I use it on my pipe, and the inside looks as close to new as your going to get. Do a search on this site for it, and you’ll see posts for it. Goes for about $40 with a bunch of adapters, plus you can really use it to clean your dryer vent! LOL Here’s a link to Northline Express…they sell it too:

http://www.northlineexpress.com/ite...le&kw=5GA-RLE202&source=froogle&kw=5GA-RLE202

As for the sealant on the pipes, it is probably exactly what you think...Hi-Temp silicone seal.

 

[Bkins]

The pipe sealant is called RTV High Temp silcone sealant. You can usually find it in pellet/wood stove shops, or Lowes/Home Depot sometimes carries it. It can come in differnt colors also. Black and Clear are common by me. It is give or take about $10 for a tube.

I have not seen the pipe brush the macman mentioned but do plan onlooking at it to see if it will work on my application. If your pipe section was 40% blocked you really need to do a complete pipe cleaning and stove cleaning. It needs to be done fairly often depending on the type/brand of pellets you are burning, the type/brand of stove you are running, and your settings on the stove.

Good luck.

Bkins

 

[krooser]

Red RTV sealent is the hi temp stuff.

There are passages behind your firebox that need to be cleaned out... tap the inside of the firebox and watch the ash drop into the ashpan.

Many of us use a leafblower to suck out all of that ash and soot... do a search for "leafblower"...

Good luck.

 

[hearthtools]

Ok I have a lot of experiance with the PM
I have sold over 800 and owned one for 10 years

What Model do you have?

Do a full service

Pull both blowers and clean out the house dust and pet hair

air compressed or Leave blower works great. BUT DONT SPIN the blower with the air you can over REV the motor.

Take all the brick out and Baffles and clean between the Heat Exchange tubes with a brush. Bottle brush or small Potato brush works great

use a Pellet bush and clean the horizontal run that goes from inside the stove to were the pipe connects.
DO THIS EVERY ONE TON OF PELLETS

Take a hammer and knock off the square over fire ring form on top of the burn pot.
Lift off the clinker ring
use a regular driver and a 7/16 wrench and remove the three bolts that hold the top (SLITTED) half of the burn pot. Ash will build up here and reduce the combustion air in the burn pot.

Chip the carbon off the inside of the top half of the burn pot and use a Razor to clear the slits. DO NOT CLEAR THE OUT SIDE edge of the slits this part is filled with cement you only want air flowing inside the burn pot.


Make sure you have a good seal on the DOOR, ASH PAN, and HOPPER lid or you will get smoke.

 

[ajstephan]

Thanks to all of you for your informative responses – this is a great forum.

I found a Rutland sweep at a local hardware store. They did have a “linteater”, however, it did not come with enough of the flexible rods, so I’m going to order one. I’ll give the pipe a sweep tonight.

I cleaned the inside thoroughly, but did not take out the bricks or disassemble the burn pot. Apparently, my “thorough” cleaning isn’t quite enough. This is more involved than I thought, but every interesting. That will be my Saturday project.

I also bought new gasket material and some 2000 degree gasket seal. I just didn’t think that the high temp RTV would be enough inside the stove, but I will use it on the exhaust pipe. Overall, the fan motors aren’t too dusty, but I will vacuum them off better. I really like the leaf blower idea.

My model is “Pelletmaster”, manufactured in July 1990. SN is 0005192.

Again, thanks to all. I'll post some pictures. I'm sure I'll get some of the responses I hear from my wife, "you call that clean!"

 

[ajstephan]

Here are some shots of where I stand, prior to cleaning #3 (see attached). Yeah, I know, more cleaning...

By the way, I put a yellow arrow on one of the pictures that points to a dial. Anyone know what this is?

 

[hearthtools]

Here are some shots of where I stand, prior to cleaning #3 (see attached). Yeah, I know, more cleaning...

By the way, I put a yellow arrow on one of the pictures that points to a dial. Anyone know what this is?

The Dial is a rheostat. this sets the speed of the LOW speed room air blower switch

Normal setting is turn it counter clock to high then turn back 1/4 turn. You want to set it as high as you can about 1/2 seed or so.
so the stove will not over heat if you run it on low blower

 

[hearthtools]

the bottom skirt comes off the pedestal so you can access all the blowers and stuff. 2 screws in front and two on each of the sides near the back

On your 5th photo it is very important to be sure the blower is clear. lent gets built up in the 2 1/2" hole for out side air. this is why you need to pull the blower just to be sure all is clean.


photo #2 it looks like you are missing the baffle that goes on top of the brick on the flue side. your left stoves right
it is a steel plate with a point that fits on top of the brick. I stops the heat from going right out the flue.

The inside of the stove looks sticky. could be from burning the stove on low for long time and or the flue is dirty.
or not enough combustion air because the intake screen is blocked, blower bad. burn pot slits need to be cleared, NOT ENOUGH VERTICAL PIPE

 

[ajstephan]

the bottom skirt comes off the pedestal so you can access all the blowers and stuff. 2 screws in front and two on each of the sides near the back

On your 5th photo it is very important to be sure the blower is clear. lent gets built up in the 2 1/2" hole for out side air. this is why you need to pull the blower just to be sure all is clean.

photo #2 it looks like you are missing the baffle that goes on top of the brick on the flue side. your left stoves right
it is a steel plate with a point that fits on top of the brick. I stops the heat from going right out the flue.

The inside of the stove looks sticky. could be from burning the stove on low for long time and or the flue is dirty.
or not enough combustion air because the intake screen is blocked, blower bad. burn pot slits need to be cleared, NOT ENOUGH VERTICAL PIPE

Great advice. A few more questions (for the moment anyway...)

Do you know of anyplace I could purchase my missing baffle?

This does not have a flue. Is this by design, or poor installation?

Lastly, regarding the sticky inside of the stove, I'll do the cleaning of the burn pot this weekend. However, the vertical pipe goes up 2 stories, so I should have plenty.

Many thanks! I'm excited to get this going now.

 

[imacman]

....They did have a “linteater”, however, it did not come with enough of the flexible rods, so I’m going to order one......

I bought mine at the local Lowes....they also had additional "extension" rods....4 to a package.

 

[hearthtools]

the bottom skirt comes off the pedestal so you can access all the blowers and stuff. 2 screws in front and two on each of the sides near the back

On your 5th photo it is very important to be sure the blower is clear. lent gets built up in the 2 1/2" hole for out side air. this is why you need to pull the blower just to be sure all is clean.

photo #2 it looks like you are missing the baffle that goes on top of the brick on the flue side. your left stoves right
it is a steel plate with a point that fits on top of the brick. I stops the heat from going right out the flue.

The inside of the stove looks sticky. could be from burning the stove on low for long time and or the flue is dirty.
or not enough combustion air because the intake screen is blocked, blower bad. burn pot slits need to be cleared, NOT ENOUGH VERTICAL PIPE

Great advice. A few more questions (for the moment anyway...)

Do you know of anyplace I could purchase my missing baffle?

This does not have a flue. Is this by design, or poor installation?

Lastly, regarding the sticky inside of the stove, I'll do the cleaning of the burn pot this weekend. However, the vertical pipe goes up 2 stories, so I should have plenty.

Many thanks! I'm excited to get this going now.

Flue is another word for your venting. you say you have 2 stories of vertical pipe that is your flue.

you cant get a baffle but you can have one made. I will measure one the next time I do a service on the Bay window pellet master.

im sure the stove will burn better now that you cleaned the horizontal pipe.

attached photo is how a pellet master fire should look

 

[krooser]

Rod,

You did a great job of helping this guy get going... no substiture for experience.

 

[ajstephan]

I finally got around to my cleaning after getting laid up with a back injury last weekend. (I wasn't happy as that was my Saturday project and it was 68 degrees outside so ventilation was going to be perfect). I pulled everything out, minus knocking the square ring off over the burn pot - it looks welded in to me. Regardless, the burn looks great and I cranked it up to burn off the creosote (?) on the sides that I couldn't scape off. The stove had a pungent smell to the burn that was probably the old black deposits. However, I cranked it up all day today with the windows and doors open and the wife isn't complaining about the smell anymore.

So far so good, I've got a few more fixes to do, but I'll start a new post. Thanks all for the help, I would have probably sold this off otherwise!

 

[ajstephan]

Well, I spoke too soon. While the burn of the flame is great, my wife it getting headaches and wants the unit out of the house. I'm still getting a smell when I burn, and smoke when I turn the unit off. I don't think the burn smell is bad, but I hear from other owners that I should have no smell at all. The smoke smell when I turn it off is unacceptable. The smoke is obviously from the cold air pushing the smoke down the chimney and into the unit, but I don't think I should be smelling it at all. Where it is coming from is the big question. So far, I have:

- Done a thorough cleaning of the unit (motors, burn pot, heat tubes, exhaust pipes, etc.)
- Replaced the door gasket twice
- Replaced the pan gasket
- Checked the pellet fill gasket
- Resealed the stove exhaust pipe joint with the pipe going outside with aluminum tape

The door gasket has been my biggest concern. My door gasket was the widest width available, although the replacement seems to be a little denser. My first replacement was a little short as I measured the length, and added a foot, but was a little shy on length when sealing it. I probably stretched the rope when measuring. I tried anyway, but still have the smell. I replaced it again yesterday, this time using extra silicone sealant on the edges and corners, but still have the same results. The door is extremely hard to shut with the thick gasket, but gets easier with time. I'm also checking for cracks in the air box, but haven't found any yet.

I know I need CO and CO2 sensors for the room, what is recommended? Secondly, are there CO2 leak detectors that are worth purchasing, or are there other ways to detect a leak locally to pinpoint the leak? I saw matches mentioned earlier. Anything else?

Thanks all!

 

[hearthtools]

Well, I spoke too soon. While the burn of the flame is great, my wife it getting headaches and wants the unit out of the house. I'm still getting a smell when I burn, and smoke when I turn the unit off. I don't think the burn smell is bad, but I hear from other owners that I should have no smell at all. The smoke smell when I turn it off is unacceptable. The smoke is obviously from the cold air pushing the smoke down the chimney and into the unit, but I don't think I should be smelling it at all. Where it is coming from is the big question. So far, I have:

- Done a thorough cleaning of the unit (motors, burn pot, heat tubes, exhaust pipes, etc.)
- Replaced the door gasket twice
- Replaced the pan gasket
- Checked the pellet fill gasket
- Resealed the stove exhaust pipe joint with the pipe going outside with aluminum tape

The door gasket has been my biggest concern. My door gasket was the widest width available, although the replacement seems to be a little denser. My first replacement was a little short as I measured the length, and added a foot, but was a little shy on length when sealing it. I probably stretched the rope when measuring. I tried anyway, but still have the smell. I replaced it again yesterday, this time using extra silicone sealant on the edges and corners, but still have the same results. The door is extremely hard to shut with the thick gasket, but gets easier with time. I'm also checking for cracks in the air box, but haven't found any yet.

I know I need CO and CO2 sensors for the room, what is recommended? Secondly, are there CO2 leak detectors that are worth purchasing, or are there other ways to detect a leak locally to pinpoint the leak? I saw matches mentioned earlier. Anything else?

Thanks all!

some tips.
before you shut if off run the stove on high and or the thermostat turned up for about 20 minutes to get the pipe hot so it has better draft.
Outside air will help also and will take some of the sound away also because it will muffle the combustion blower noise.

 

[ajstephan]

some tips.
before you shut if off run the stove on high and or the thermostat turned up for about 20 minutes to get the pipe hot so it has better draft.
Outside air will help also and will take some of the sound away also because it will muffle the combustion blower noise.

Thanks. However, the last time I ran the stove the feed rate was on high and the thermostat at max for over an hour to cure the gasket seal and burn off creosote. Also, my stove is plumbed for outside air.

I tried to check for a leak with the stove off (and cold) and the switch at "Start" with a candle flame at the gasket joints and exhaust joints, but saw now evidence of a leak. However, I may need to crank up the stove to do a more thorough test. I think it's time to call in somebody to check it out. It's maddening that I can't get this figured out myself...