Lopi Leyden auger dump fills the firebox after adding pellets

[supapally]

I woke up today to a pile of pellets in the firebox. Funny thing was: the stove was working great at 4AM when I looked in on it. So I cleaned it up and tried a restart and could catch a fire. So I did a complete overhaul of the stove. I still couldn't get a restart and found the auger was plugged and couldn't turn.

So I removed the 6 sheet metal screws on the auger cover in the pellet hopper and vacuumed out the entire inside, clearing the entire auger. So now it is turning. Now I have the stove running, but can't stop the pellets from piling up. The restrictor is set to throw embers that are almost fully burned so it is right. I have a good air flow, so what else can I do?

Also, since I lifted the auger cover, do I have to seal it down with furnace cement? I take it that orange material between the auger cover and the pellet hopper is not a gasket, correct?

-paul

 

[imacman]

The auger flight cover has to be sealed with Hi-Temp silicone seal....that's what you saw.

getting back to the full burnpot, what heat setting are you running at? What number is the air damper control set at?

What does "a complete overhaul of the stove" mean?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Do you have auger timing information for that stove and have you timed it.

While it is possible that your auger is delivering too many pellets, pile ups are generally caused by poor air flow and not having that auger cover sealed could be enough to cause buildup.

 

[supapally]

Okay, if I can't get it going, I will turn it off until I can fully reseal the auger cover. The air flow cannot be poor since I cleaned out the ash from the the entire stove (including the flue pipe clean-out.) If the auger cover is causing it to suck air from the pellet hopper, that must be it.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Okay, if I can't get it going, I will turn it off until I can fully reseal the auger cover. The air flow cannot be poor since I cleaned out the ash from the the entire stove (including the flue pipe clean-out.) If the auger cover is causing it to suck air from the pellet hopper, that must be it.

Well that hopper is now part of your air flow (actually an air bypass) and makes the air flow in the stove poor (in this case it isn't going through the proper path which is through the burn pot.

 

[imacman]

Okay, if I can't get it going, I will turn it off until I can fully reseal the auger cover. The air flow cannot be poor since I cleaned out the ash from the the entire stove (including the flue pipe clean-out.) If the auger cover is causing it to suck air from the pellet hopper, that must be it.

Do you have any aluminum foil furnace tape? You could use that temporarily until you get the silicone. Also, did you take the side covers off and clean the ash trap behind the firebox?

here's what my Astoria looked like when I used the tape to help make the pellets slide easier....should be good enough to tell if it's the lack of seal that's making the poor airflow:

 

[supapally]

Yes, I will check and see if I can find some furnace tape. I assume that duct tape is not for this application because it has cloth in it, correct?

 

[imacman]

Yes, I will check and see if I can find some furnace tape. I assume that duct tape is not for this application because it has cloth in it, correct?

correct

 

[hossthehermit]

The auger flight cover has to be sealed with Hi-Temp silicone seal....that's what you saw.

getting back to the full burnpot, what heat setting are you running at? What number is the air damper control set at?

What does "a complete overhaul of the stove" mean?

You must have a Lopi Leyden, now macman

 

[supapally]

The damper is wide open. We try to heat the entire house with it so we have been running it on the 5th heat setting on the scale (the 1st red). Over the last week we have switched from a mix of athens pellets plus corinth pellets. I never had a situation where the pellet flow was this fast. There is good air flow, maybe the best its had in a long while. Maybe the clog has thrown off the auger rate? It could not turn properly and may have been changed somehow. Anyone know how to adjust it? Can I adjust a potentiometer or something? How would I calibrate it, or is it more simple--if it runs a bit slower, it would work?

 

[imacman]

Only thing I can say is that usually when pellets pile up in the burn pot, the cause is a dirty stove that doesn't have enough airflow.

As long as you've cleaned the stove according to the owners manual "yearly or after 1 ton" cleaning procedures, and you're sure the exhaust pipe is clean from the combustion blower to the outlet outside, the only other things I can think of are bad combustion blower, or air leaks from the doors, door glass, or ashpan.

 

[supapally]

I will check the air leaks. The exhaust fan seems to be working okay. Thanks again for all your advice.

 

[Wood Nugget]

I am going to go against the grain on the air flow idea. With my leyden I can never open the restrictor more than half way, even on the highest heat setting. It seems that the stove gets too much air and blows the fire out, causing the pellets to pile up in the burn pot. This is true regardless of the type of pellets I have tried.

 

[supapally]

That seems to work a lot and I seem to be getting more heat out of it. Wow, thanks! I will replace any door seals that need it and maybe that will do the trick. Maybe others go through this every now and then? I have noticed no reduction in performance without the baffles and refractory, by the way. Plus, it is very much easier to clean this way. Since I have an ash vac, I hope this will make it easier to keep the horiz channel clean.

 

[imacman]

That seems to work a lot and I seem to be getting more heat out of it. Wow, thanks! I will replace any door seals that need it and maybe that will do the trick.......I have noticed no reduction in performance without the baffles and refractory, by the way. Plus, it is very much easier to clean this way. Since I have an ash vac, I hope this will make it easier to keep the horiz channel clean.

What was it that you think worked? You didn't make that clear.

And as for the baffles, they really DO need to be installed. The "refractory" isn't absolutely needed....it's for looks, mainly.

 

[supapally]

Burning Chunk above suggested to turn down the air flow through the restrictor. It was too high apparently. Maybe it was okay to have a high air flow when I had a mix of shorter Athens pellets with the longer Corinth pellets. Also, the delivery with the mix was about right with the higher air flow. I have no idea what makes it "blow" out, causing the pile-up now.

I found that my baffles were not quite long enough once I removed the refractor. So I have them out and the stove is happy. Is there something I'm missing? Maybe other versions of the stove have longer ones? Mine would not stay up since they rely on the refractory as a prop. Are they supposed to stay up by themselves? I have replacement refractory on order that is now cast iron. Maybe the new setup will work better?

 

[Wood Nugget]

I don't see anywhere in the posts above where it was recommended you remove the baffles and refractory. These should only be removed to clean behind them periodically. After reading your post above: ("my baffles were not quite long enough once I removed the refractor.") I am not sure what exactly you have removed from your stove. What ever it was, put it back. It came with that stuff for a reason.

 

[imacman]

Burning Chunk above suggested to turn down the air flow through the restrictor. It was too high apparently........ I have no idea what makes it "blow" out, causing the pile-up now.

I found that my baffles were not quite long enough once I removed the refractor. So I have them out and the stove is happy. Is there something I'm missing? Maybe other versions of the stove have longer ones? Mine would not stay up since they rely on the refractory as a prop. Are they supposed to stay up by themselves? I have replacement refractory on order that is now cast iron. Maybe the new setup will work better?

OK, IC. Everyone's stove set-up is different, so you need to fine tune your stove. If it's running fine now w/ the air down lower, then that's good. Just make sure that you don't lower it too much. You want enough air so the pellets "dance" around a little at the bottom of the pot, but not jump out unless their almost all the way burned-up. I think it mentions this in your manual under "restrictor adjustment".

As for the baffles and refractory, your right.....I didn't know that the baffles are dependent on the refractory to be held in place.

 

[supapally]

Thanks. I know about makin' 'em dance! At the lower air flow, I curious if it will be hot enough to eliminate the creosote. We'll see.

 

[curtthegreat]

One thing I didn't see mentioned is the flapper cover in front of the pellet chute. If you have a stove from 2008, they came with this. Get rid of the flapper, as it will cause jams.

 

[richkorn]

The rear of the two baffles sit on top of the refractory panels, that's how they are held up in the rear.

 

[supapally]

Flapper has been removed long ago. After another 24hours, I can see that the creosote is not getting burned off at the lower air flow. I will try adding some smaller athens pellets and see if I can raise the air flow again. Though, I still suspect the exhaust fan.

 

[supapally]

I put the refractory back in. I added some athens pellets to the corinth pellets I had switched to and so far have no idea if the pile-ups after filling will stop. I have also been able to increase the air flow a bit now. We will know more about the creosote in the AM. I will also get a current load measurement onthe exhaust blower tomorrow to make sure there is no issue.

 

[supapally]

No creosote on the doors this AM. The mix of 50-50 athens/corithn gets me to higher air flow and burns it off. The stove was cleaned this AM by a tech. He said it was clean. He checked the exhaust fan and the seals--nothing wrong with the stove except it's original design issues with the auger. Back in operation. I give my thanks to those of you who commented. It really helps and I appreciate having this forum to go to because 95% of what needs to be done is DIY. Experience is what you need when you're stuck.

 

[curtthegreat]

supapally, glad it is running good. These are a nice stove, but the 08 models had a few more issues. I think it was a rush to market stove, with the mad rush for demand.