Heavy Ash, and Lazy Flame in P68 Burn Pot,Is this Normal?

[AlaskaCub]

I have been dealing with this heavy ash build up and a lazy flame for the last two winters. It happens after the stove has been running for a couple days straight or more. I usually just shut the stove down and scoop out the ash, and then restart it. Is this normal? I have used Pellets from B.C. which are a little softer , as well as pellets from the Midwest, doesn't seem to matter. Here is a picture for reference to what I am talking about, took it this morning.

 

[gbreda]

I'm curious on the responses here as that flame looks ok to me if it was on low-medium heat cycle. My flame goes much lower than that when in maint mode (room temp/manual).
When the unit is calling for heat, the flame will build from almost nothing and get very large and intense- sometimes getting close to the heat exhange for a short period. Does yours get larger at any time?

I will say that I dont get that kind of ash build up, but I tend to clear the ash at night and also do a quick burn pot scrape in the morning. Maybe I am just not allowing it to build to that level.

I also have not hit a real 24/7 burn for more than a few days yet. Been running for 2 days now, but shutting down today or tomorrow as the temps are rising into the mid 60's again during the day.

 

[jtakeman]

Are you scrapping the burnpot daily?

Right from the manual.

Scraping the burn pot:
Whenever adding fuel to the hopper, take the time and scrape the grate surface of the burnpot, using the scraper tool provided. This can be done while a fire is burning. Wearing heat resistant gloves, open the firebox door. Scrape any accumulated ashes from in front of the fire, into the ash pan. Now, scrape under the fire, in a downward direction, to loosen any carbon deposits. Do not scrape the fire out of the pot. Whatever you loosen will be pushed out with the flow of new fuel into the pot.

I would also make sure on your next cleaning that all the holes in the burn pot are clear. Use a probe to poke the holes clean. Also clean arount the ignitor area.

 

[amick780]

Not sure what pellets or how long it was since that last clean/scrape, but with my XXV the flame will get lazy if I don't give it a quick 30 sec burn pot scrape morning and night. You do seem to have a bunch of ash in there though. How many bags have you burnt?

 

[AlaskaCub]

I scraped it clean on Wed morning, its been running since, i have burned 3 bags since Wed. I did not know that the burn pot needed scraped every day or when you add a bag of pellets, thanks for that tip. Here is a pic right after I scraped the burn pot free of ash, and of course the stove is trying to reheat the living room, so the flame is much bigger than in the first pic.

 

[AlaskaCub]

As to the opening of the door and scraping the burn pot while the stove is running, does that stove have to be turned way down? I normally shut it down to let the fire get smaller then when its real small , I open the door and scrape the pot.

 

[amick780]

I scraped it clean on Wed morning, its been running since, i have burned 3 bags since Wed. I did not know that the burn pot needed scraped every day or when you add a bag of pellets, thanks for that tip. Here is a pic right after I scraped the burn pot free of ash, and of course the stove is trying to reheat the living room, so the flame is much bigger than in the first pic.

Looks much better, I think you will have better heat output if you stick to scraping the pot daily. I know it makes a huge difference with mine, I just wish I had realized sooner that I needed to scrape it daily. Good luck.

 

[jo2fst4u]

I give mine a good scrape every night, I dont ever get that amount of ash's on the pot. My flame is up and down as the room temp call for heat. My p-61 will run us out of the house.......Make sure to give you stove a good cleaning inside and out...


http://www.homewarmth.com/38&61cleaning;.html

 

[jtakeman]

That looks better!

You may also need to do it at night too. The more pellets you burn the more it will need to be done.

Keep it clean and it will keep you warm.

 

[amick780]

As to the opening of the door and scraping the burn pot while the stove is running, does that stove have to be turned way down? I normally shut it down to let the fire get smaller then when its real small , I open the door and scrape the pot.

Nope just open it up while its running scrape out the ash in front and down the sides, and scrape under the pellets that are burning. I have never turned it down. Your hand might get a little hot, but its not bad.

 

[gbreda]

Now that's the type of flame that makes you smile

 

[AlaskaCub]

Thanks for the info folks, guess it was just operator error. I could not find anywhere in the manual where it said that you could scrape it while its running, but doing as you all have suggested is much easier than shutting the stove off. Thanks for the info.

 

[gbreda]

This is exactly what makes this forum so useful........................... especially to a newbie like me :cheese:

 

[AlaskaCub]

No doubt that this stove is a workhorse. Last winter during a long -50 F cold snap, one night my wife woke me up and said that she smelled something burning. I immediately got up, and what I found was that the room temp sensor had fallen off the wall, and was down on the cold laminate flooring. It was trying to bring the cold floor up to 70 degrees and the house was 85 degrees. Thats pretty impressive when you consider the outside temps, but the stove was a working her azz off

 

[oak194]

I have a quick question, My parents have a P-68 that I cannot keep the glass clean on, it's black 1/3 the way down from the top.
I cleaned it real real good this summer, even hooked up the leaf blower/vac to the pipe and got TONS of ash out of it.(which i learned here btw.) But so far this fall the glass is still black. I know with my Quad 7100(wood) no matter how badthe glass is 30mins of full out burn she is clean.
Am I missing something? Or does the P-68 just dirty the glass that bad?

 

[gbreda]

I have a quick question, My parents have a P-68 that I cannot keep the glass clean on, it's black 1/3 the way down from the top.
I cleaned it real real good this summer, even hooked up the leaf blower/vac to the pipe and got TONS of ash out of it.(which i learned here btw.) But so far this fall the glass is still black. I know with my Quad 7100(wood) no matter how badthe glass is 30mins of full out burn she is clean.
Am I missing something? Or does the P-68 just dirty the glass that bad?

Not normal. My P68 does not get anything more than a very light gray at the top of the glass at any point so far.

Do you have an OAK installed?
What kind of pellets?
What are your settings?

 

[oak194]

No outside air, Pellets currently are Barefoot.
As for settings I'll have to ask my father. Next time I go down to their house I'll have to check.
I am going to clean the glass real good & see how long till it buid's up.

I had a feeling something wasn't right. Most pellet stoves I saw run the glass was never black.

 

[GVA]

To the OP
I would check my draft on the stove...
As well as performing the daily scrape.
The ash should kinda blow off the burnpot (that is you will see swiss cheese like holes in the ash) unless the stove is in low draft (maintenance burn) for long periods of time.
Also clean the stove completely after 30-40 bags using the above link

 

[summit]

clean the undrside access to the burnpot regularly, too... ash builds up down there and restricts airflow.