Been in and around the forums since last year at this time when I got my P43 installed, you guys are a wealth of knowledge and I thank you for all the help you've provided me through other posts, it has been invaluable.
I've read around as much as possible and tried all suggestions I found applicable and still have issues. You can see what I burned last year in my sig and I've only had the stove on for about a month off and on so far this year burning primarily Geneva with a bag or two of Barefoot at the very beginning.
Every week last season I vac'ed out the stove and brushed off all the loose ash, after 1 ton of burning I took the stove down and did a more thorough cleaning. About 3/4 through the season last year I had an issue where unburned pellets were getting pushed over into the ash pan and it was starting a pretty decent fire down there. Took me a few days to get it resolved but some combination of cleaning the ESP probe, cleaning out the section of horizontal pipe that goes back to my fireplace vent, and taking the metal plate off the side of the auger feed area and cleaning out the fines resolved the issue. Stove ran without issue for the remainder of the season.
About 2 months ago I did another cleaning on the stove before the season started, this included vac'ing out the entire system, sweeping the vertical vent all the way up the chimney myself, cleaning the ESP probe, checking the cap near the auger for fines again, and really giving everything in the stove a good cleaning overhaul (no sprays or cleaner used except for on the glass). Put everything back together including re-attaching the vent pipe and putting a silicone seal down. It was during this cleaning that I realized I had left a hopper full of Barefoot Hardwood pellets in there all summer (whoops, live and learn I suppose). Noticed when I turned the stove on that it wasn't burning as well as it had last season, figured the pellets in the hopper had gotten some moisture collected (they hadn't been enlarged however). Didn't need the stove yet so I shut it down and left it until the cold weather started up trying to be optimistic that it was just some bad pellets causing the burning problems.
Fast forward to present day I've burned the remainder of the hopper off, and am having the same problem from last season where pellets aren't getting fully burned except for now I have a new wrinkle where the pellets are dancing like crazy in the burn pot. A good number of unburned pellets are ending up in the ashpan which results in a small fire again when more partially burned pellets get pushed over the cliff. Creosote was building up real quick inside and the glass was getting black after a few hours of burning. Even after switching to the Geneva Hardwood pellets fresh from the bag I'm having the same issue. Also note no smoke issues in the house, never had any in the previous season either and I'm assuming that's primarily due to my direct vent setup being up a chimney.
So I finally had enough and went to talk to the installer of my stove at their shop for any suggestions and scoured these forums for a solution. I showed them the picture attached, left side of the burn pot burning nice, right side not so much. Always seems to be the case. There is a video that shows the whole feeding process and the resulting dancing pellets (sorry for the poor quality, took it on my phone) with link at the bottom. The first 3 minutes aren't very exciting and sorry for the wind noise when the blower kicks on. He was thinking there was a restriction at the top of the chimney that was causing an airflow issue. He said he's had an instance before where he had to put some duct tape over the air intake baffle at the back of the stove to restrict the air flow in, this after he exhausted all other attempts to fix the issue. He also said the low draft voltage adjustment could help me (turn counterclockwise) but it only changes it by 10v and is really only for find adjustments. He also told me to check in the ignitor compartment to see if any ash or other debris had gotten pushed back into the rectangular opening that heads to the back of the stove, he said sometimes when cleaning you can inadvertently do this since it's such a tough area to get to. I checked this and the area was clear.
So when I got home I put my hand over the baffle once the fire started and the pellets immediately started burning better and not dancing around the burn pot, got a flame very similar to that of last year. So I put some duct tape over the baffle and let it run, watched it for awhile (nearly fell asleep, so comfortable in front of that thing) and seemed to burn great. Let it run over night and all has been good since. I also tried adjusting the low draft voltage adjustment, found the setting turned completely clockwise, turn it completely counterclockwise with no real change. Left it completely counterclockwise as advised by the installer.
I definitely don't want to leave the duct tape and would like to really find out what the issue is and what has changed. I called a chimney sweep and they can be out here next week to go up on the roof and check for any restrictions but if there is anything else that I could try inside the house before I resort to that $160 drop down I would be all ears.
Sorry for the long winded post but I figured too much information was better than not enough. For those dedicated enough to read the whole thing I applaude you on your determination and your reading ability (we engineers aren't a so good with the words).
Thanks again for all your help.
http://youtu.be/z6cML8uq5pA
I've read around as much as possible and tried all suggestions I found applicable and still have issues. You can see what I burned last year in my sig and I've only had the stove on for about a month off and on so far this year burning primarily Geneva with a bag or two of Barefoot at the very beginning.
Every week last season I vac'ed out the stove and brushed off all the loose ash, after 1 ton of burning I took the stove down and did a more thorough cleaning. About 3/4 through the season last year I had an issue where unburned pellets were getting pushed over into the ash pan and it was starting a pretty decent fire down there. Took me a few days to get it resolved but some combination of cleaning the ESP probe, cleaning out the section of horizontal pipe that goes back to my fireplace vent, and taking the metal plate off the side of the auger feed area and cleaning out the fines resolved the issue. Stove ran without issue for the remainder of the season.
About 2 months ago I did another cleaning on the stove before the season started, this included vac'ing out the entire system, sweeping the vertical vent all the way up the chimney myself, cleaning the ESP probe, checking the cap near the auger for fines again, and really giving everything in the stove a good cleaning overhaul (no sprays or cleaner used except for on the glass). Put everything back together including re-attaching the vent pipe and putting a silicone seal down. It was during this cleaning that I realized I had left a hopper full of Barefoot Hardwood pellets in there all summer (whoops, live and learn I suppose). Noticed when I turned the stove on that it wasn't burning as well as it had last season, figured the pellets in the hopper had gotten some moisture collected (they hadn't been enlarged however). Didn't need the stove yet so I shut it down and left it until the cold weather started up trying to be optimistic that it was just some bad pellets causing the burning problems.
Fast forward to present day I've burned the remainder of the hopper off, and am having the same problem from last season where pellets aren't getting fully burned except for now I have a new wrinkle where the pellets are dancing like crazy in the burn pot. A good number of unburned pellets are ending up in the ashpan which results in a small fire again when more partially burned pellets get pushed over the cliff. Creosote was building up real quick inside and the glass was getting black after a few hours of burning. Even after switching to the Geneva Hardwood pellets fresh from the bag I'm having the same issue. Also note no smoke issues in the house, never had any in the previous season either and I'm assuming that's primarily due to my direct vent setup being up a chimney.
So I finally had enough and went to talk to the installer of my stove at their shop for any suggestions and scoured these forums for a solution. I showed them the picture attached, left side of the burn pot burning nice, right side not so much. Always seems to be the case. There is a video that shows the whole feeding process and the resulting dancing pellets (sorry for the poor quality, took it on my phone) with link at the bottom. The first 3 minutes aren't very exciting and sorry for the wind noise when the blower kicks on. He was thinking there was a restriction at the top of the chimney that was causing an airflow issue. He said he's had an instance before where he had to put some duct tape over the air intake baffle at the back of the stove to restrict the air flow in, this after he exhausted all other attempts to fix the issue. He also said the low draft voltage adjustment could help me (turn counterclockwise) but it only changes it by 10v and is really only for find adjustments. He also told me to check in the ignitor compartment to see if any ash or other debris had gotten pushed back into the rectangular opening that heads to the back of the stove, he said sometimes when cleaning you can inadvertently do this since it's such a tough area to get to. I checked this and the area was clear.
So when I got home I put my hand over the baffle once the fire started and the pellets immediately started burning better and not dancing around the burn pot, got a flame very similar to that of last year. So I put some duct tape over the baffle and let it run, watched it for awhile (nearly fell asleep, so comfortable in front of that thing) and seemed to burn great. Let it run over night and all has been good since. I also tried adjusting the low draft voltage adjustment, found the setting turned completely clockwise, turn it completely counterclockwise with no real change. Left it completely counterclockwise as advised by the installer.
I definitely don't want to leave the duct tape and would like to really find out what the issue is and what has changed. I called a chimney sweep and they can be out here next week to go up on the roof and check for any restrictions but if there is anything else that I could try inside the house before I resort to that $160 drop down I would be all ears.
Sorry for the long winded post but I figured too much information was better than not enough. For those dedicated enough to read the whole thing I applaude you on your determination and your reading ability (we engineers aren't a so good with the words).
Thanks again for all your help.
http://youtu.be/z6cML8uq5pA