Lake Region Pellets burn results

[bclmread]

Good PR , I guess.

 

[warmncozy]

Dont understand how anyone could buy a ton or more of anything without trying some 1st

being a rookie at this I just ass-u-me-d that anything would work...just some better than others. So far I've been lucky. The only ones I wasn't happy with were the LG's I got from the company I bought the stove from. Who wooda thunk....

(Day 3 with the Lakes Region and still no clinckers)

 

[bclmread]

Warmncozy
What is your secret???
Does your stove use a burn pot?

 

[warmncozy]

Warmncozy
What is your secret???
Does your stove use a burn pot?

I don't know why they're burning so well in my stove. I do have a burn pot.

I saw somewhere on this forum that the pellets should be "dancing" at the bottom of the burn pot so that's how I adjusted the airflow for them and after 3 days (about 25 hours of burn time) I can still clearly see the grates of my burn pot.

If I have time and I think of it...I'll take some pics in a day or two.

I'd love it if these worked out. Being local should keep the price down somewhat.

 

[bclmread]

My pellets don't dance. My air flow was set by a tech.

Have you had your air flow set by a meter (something helix)?

 

[Delta-T]

warmncozy's stove has a damper set up, so it's really a set by eye type of thing.

 

[warmncozy]

warmncozy's stove has a damper set up, so it's really a set by eye type of thing.

Correct. I've never had it checked by a tech. I just go by eye. It was a pain at first because I didn't know what I was looking for, but the "dancing pellets" theory really helped.

Here's a pic of my burn pot after about 30 hours over 4 days of burning. I ran it on High, Med and low over that time and turned it off and on a few times also. (it hasn't been cold enough to leave it running)

 

[warmncozy]

Is that just ash build up in the bottom right hand corner of the burn pot or a clinker?

Ash buildup.

 

[bclmread]

My saga continues...

My tech was replacing my auger motor last week, and I showed him the solid mass that came out of the burn pot after 10-12 hour burns of LR pellets. He said he had never seen anything like it. He suggested increasing the airflow to see if more air can keep the burn pot more clear. Since he was there, I burned for several hours on lower temps (due to the warm outside temps), and the pot looks like it would stay a bit cleaner.

I ran the stove on LRP yesterday for 6 hours on low temp settings to take the chill off the house. No issues. This is relevant in a bit...

Now for the last 2 nights, I have attempted to run the stove overnight. It is set on a wall thermostat to run at low settings, then around 1AM, it kicks into high to start heating the house. Yesterday morning, I came down and the stove was off, and the #2 light was flowing. This usually indicates a "vacuum" pressure issue. I usually fix #2 light issues my cleaning a hose in the stove, which I did, and it fired back up. 2:30AM this morning, I woke up and smelled some smoke, so I went to check the stove and it was off, with #2 light blinking. I was thinking poor air flow, so I cleaned the burn pot, restarted the stove and went to bed. When I got up at 5:30, the stove was off and the #2 light was blinking. I cleaned it out again, and started it. It ran fine and the heat was set on high. Within one hour, the whole stove was off again, including the exhaust blower, and there was a lazy flame burning the remaining pellets. I have never seen a case where the exhaust fan shuts off when there is fire in the stove.

My initial diagnosis leads me to believe that the stove is running too hot, due to the increased air flow, and the high temp is tripping. I am thinking this since I have run the stove on low heat levels for 4-6 hours without issue, and it is shutting down only when in high heat mode.

I will be experimenting with a lower heat/pellet feed setting, and or a less air. I did not have this issue when running on high heat for many hours with less air...just the burn pot would fill quicker.

Any suggestions?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If the stove is tripping off because of overtemp conditions, take a good look at your convection motor, it is likely that is on its way out and thermaling off causing the stove to go over its temperature limit. It is also possible that the high limit snap disc is bad.

My bet is the convection motor being at the front of the failure cascade.

Your issue with the clinkers was likely due to ash overload in the burn pot, if the ash doesn't get blown out of the burn pot it can sit there and with enough time, heat, and the proper salt (mineral) content (sinter) fuse into a clinker. You really should set the air flow buy watching the burn, gizmos will get you close but don't take into account the actual fuel characteristics which can vary greatly.

Been there, done that, didn't like it, am currently dealing with a second convection blower issue.

 

[bclmread]

I hadn't thought about the convection fan being part of the issue. My tech had indicated that he thought the convection fan sounded like it could be going, but I really haven't noticed any difference. I have a back up fan ready and standing by...

I will be running the stove on a high temp this evening (setting 4 instead of 5) and see what happens...

Will change pellets out after testing setting changes with LRP, since I still have 90 bags of them

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Does your stove manual caution about the amount of time you run it at 5?

Some do, some don't, slow and steady usually is recommended and not trying to bring up the temperature all at once by running on the highest setting.

I'm beginning to get the feeling the stove makers didn't take into consideration the temperature inside the stoves shell and its effects on both motors and electronic controls.

Heat is a death sentence for electronics and motors.

 

[bclmread]

No word of caution in the manual about running stove on 5...

but then, why do the stove manufacturers say their stoves heat 1800 sf or put out 42,000 BTU??

Their literature should have an asterisk next to those claims..."only for 5 minutes, then stove must cool down...or you'll fry all working parts in the stove"

...Not happy about it either...

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

No word of caution in the manual about running stove on 5...

but then, why do the stove manufacturers say their stoves heat 1800 sf or put out 42,000 BTU??

Their literature should have an asterisk next to those claims..."only for 5 minutes, then stove must cool down...or you'll fry all working parts in the stove"

...Not happy about it either...

If it doesn't warn you then you should be set to go. Like I said some have warnings some don't, those that do have covered their a$$e$ those that don't may work just fine.

The square footage claims come with all kinds of caveats, as do most of the BTU claims, after all the BTUs from the pellets you burn really depends upon the moisture content (among other things) of the pellets. Not all pellets are created equal. Square footage claims depend upon the heat loss of the place you are heating and the temperature you heat it to and the outside temperature. Heat loss goes up as the temperature difference increases. A lot of folks get bit by the square foot claim as they don't understand what it depends upon means. Note it is up to xyz square feet.

 

[krooser]

Macman
Airflow was just set by the stove technician in September, using the airflow meter (name of device escapes me, but it has a probe that goes into the burn chamber).....

Magnahelic.

Good tool to have. I STILL think you have an airflow problem in that stove......those burned ashes should be blown right out of the pot during burning.

I'll be curious to know what it really is, when you find the cause.

I second what MAC sez... all this points to an ash-plugged stove.

 

[bclmread]

All stove pipes were taken apart by me and all were clean in July.
20 newly burned bags of pellets will not cause a clog this early in the season

if the stove is dirty, explain different burn results with different pellets?!?!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I've burned 5 bags (of the 2 tons I have purchased) in my Enviro Empress FS this week.

I've been burning between 5PM and 6AM. By 6AM, the burn pot is completly full of clinkers, and a little ash. After it cools, the contents of the burn pot come out in almost a complete block. This is the highest level of clinkers I have come across in my stove.

Stove was completely cleaned and air flow was set by tech one month ago.

I'm going to burn 5 bags of left overs (not Lakes Region) from last season and see if I get a different result.

I just finished reading the manual for your stove and according to that you need to increase your draft (which is done by pulling out the slider damper slightly).

The blinking #2 light indicates a pressure issue in the combustion path or a faulty pressure sensor.

Anything in the air path can cause this to happen, including a plugged up burn pot, air intake (are you running an OAK?), exhaust fan malfunction, clogged baffles (if any), clogged internal exhaust pathways (sometimes hidden behind the metal baffles that fake firebrick is up against) which go by the heat exchanger.

In short what mac was talking about and krooser agreed was likely the issue.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

What the installer set on the stove using the magnahelic was the airflow lower limit collar. That is the absolute lowest amount of air required to maintain a low fire. Think of it as a means to stop you from shutting off all of the air and providing a starting point.

 

[bclmread]

Last night, I ran the stove from 9PM to 1AM on low setting, then from 1AM to 5:30AM on setting 4 (out of 5), instead of 5 which I have in the past.
No issues...no #2 flashing, no shut down. Stove was clean before starting. I did not modify airflow...

Hopefully, running on slightly lower setting will cure my most recent issues.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Last night, I ran the stove from 9PM to 1AM on low setting, then from 1AM to 5:30AM on setting 4 (out of 5), instead of 5 which I have in the past.
No issues...no #2 flashing, no shut down. Stove was clean before starting. I did not modify airflow...

Hopefully, running on slightly lower setting will cure my most recent issues.

That's good, now riddle us this why would a possible over temperature shutdown be indicated by a vacuum error, perhaps the manual is incorrect and the flashing #2 actually indicates a loss of pellets in the burn pot.

BTW, can you post a picture of the control panel for you stove. I'm wondering as I've had more than a couple of shutdowns due to over temperature situations, like when there is a vacuum error it just shuts the auger off which leads to the stove going out, the light on my control panel blinking, which my manual says is due to loss of fuel, check hopper, refill if necessary, check over temperature snap disc if popped, let stove cool, reset and restart this indicates either over firing, a problem with the convection fan, or a bad temperature sensor then it talks about the vacuum and exhaust blower issues.

I hate manuals that don't lay it all out.

Now about the clinkers, that is a case of the stove not getting enough air to keep the ash from staying in the burn pot and like has been mentioned before just a light opening of the draft to the point that the pellets are being moved around in the fire pot (the so called pellet dance) will go a long ways towards getting rid of that issue. If the ash leaves the burn pot it can't form clinkers, the only other alternative is to burn a different pellet that produces lighter and or less ash.

My stove doesn't have a draft control the draft is completely controlled by the combustion blower and stack height.

So if one wishes to talk

 

[jtakeman]

Is that a clinker or a moon rock?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Is that a clinker or a moon rock?

Yes.

 

[jtakeman]

Is that a clinker or a moon rock?

Yes.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[jtakeman]

Is that a clinker or a moon rock?

Looks like a door stop.....

Thats one really big door your going to stop!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Is that a clinker or a moon rock?

Looks like a door stop.....

Be careful now, my poor stove was in great pain while giving birth to it.