Magnum Baby Countryside Installed and Running

[jrsdws]

Received and installed Thursday. Played around a little Thursday night learning to tweak fresh air draft, etc. and started a long test burn yesterday at about 3:30pm. Goal of the test is to see how many hours it burns without attention and how long one hopper of fuel lasts. Fuel on this test is corn/pellet mix 50/50.

Overnight low just 44deg here but strong winds 20-30mph. Garage temp started at 57deg at light up. It was up to 65deg by 5:00pm and maintained that all night.

It's my first install on my own and it could probably be better, but it's working. I may indeed still change venting to outdoor vertical rise to get it above the window. Vent and intake are facing east which gets the least amount of wind so maybe it'll work. Right now vent has a slight drop as it runs horizontally...probably not a good thing but hopefully not a deal breaker with the short run and OAK installed.

 

[DexterDay]

Please let us know how it burns. My best friend (forum member barnyard840x) has one. And it would constantly build up with pellets (overflowing over pot) no matter what heat setting and with the damper wide open.

Forum member Czech has one, as does Forum member CWR. The Webmaster (creater of Hearth) Craig used to have one. He recently sold it. His was beautiful. Had all the little dressings..

 

[jrsdws]

Burning pretty good so far. It took some learning to set the damper so she would stay running. I finished a test burn of a full hopper of corn/pellet mix 50/50 this morning. The entire burn was on heat level #1 and the little stove burned for 38 hours before running out of fuel. I scraped down the burn pot a few times after about the 20hr mark and did a quick dump of burn pot and re-light at around 26hrs. I think I could have had a more complete burn of the corn with a better draft adjustment. I'm not a real experienced corn/pellet burner yet so still learning how to get the most heat out of my burn, etc. Garage stayed at 67deg on second night with outside low of 38deg with 15mph wind. I thought it did pretty good and feel it has great promise for my needs.

I am now on to a test burn of straight pellets to make a comparison. This batch is Pro-Pellets (saving Somersets for house). I haven't made any draft adjustments yet and it seems to be a good burn going. With no changes to the stove we'll see how burn time compares. Heat output seems lower but I have no accurate way to measure at the heat exchange tubes yet. Of course this isn't a premium pellet, but is the same one from the 50/50 mix.

I will run a test on straight corn with the fuel feed jumper moved to far right for corn and heat level on #1 for same comparison.

I'm on vacation all week so lots of time to play.

I plan on hooking up to thermostat after testing the different fuels as I only intend to keep my garage at 40-45 degrees roughly, unless we want to do something out there.

I haven't really pumped the fuel to it yet to see how it does, but I'm anxious to do so. I don't think my heating requirements will demand that often, but I think it will handle it well.

 

[DexterDay]

In my opinion. A pellet stove should not require the pot to be dumped and cleaned (if burning pellets). I understand with corn, comes clinkers. So I get why you had to clean it. But keep a close eye on how high the pellets get in the burn pot.

Your model may not have a build up issue. Sounds like you are having great results alreay. Thats a long burn for 1 hopper full.

 

[jrsdws]

Thanks for the heads-up. I agree it should burn pellets without having to empty the pot. I opened draft air slightly and improved the flame. At 4.5hrs into this burn, it doesn't look like the pellets are building up. I'd say I have little more than my couple of handfuls I lit it with. I'll check the ash pan in the morning to see if the pellets are burning to a good white ash and falling through.

It appears that the pot that came with my Baby is the stainless burn pot for corn, but AES makes both stainless and cast pots specifically for pellets or pots for corn. The air holes on the pellet pot are all concentrated in the bottom of the pot whereas the corn pot has holes all the way up the sides. Makes sense I guess, but it would be nice to have one pot burns it all and burns it well.

 

[jrsdws]

14 hours into burn and the Baby raised garage temp to 67deg on straight Pro Pellets with overnight outside low of 34deg.

Pellets are indeed building up in the pot, but not a problem yet. No ash falling through to ash pan.

Here is a quick snapshot with the door open at 14hrs of burntime. After picture I used the scraper and stirred the pot and this lowered the level considerably.

 

[DexterDay]

The only ash that will be in the pan, is the fly ash that is ejected by the combustion air for the pellets. As the burn pot sits inside a liner, and is enclosed to keep the air coming in through the holes. More combustion air (open damper more) may solve your problem. The pellets need more air to fully burn. Should not be a pile of unburnt black pellets.

Thats what my buddies burned like, even with the damper opened all the way. To many holes in the burnpot above the pellets. The majority of air should be coming in through the bottom of the pot, to ensure proper combustion. He used to use the tool and just pull some pellets out of the pot and drop them in the ash pan. He had to do that once a day (at least/depending on heat setting).

Thats a good heater and is quite the little workhorse.

What color is your ash?

 

[ChandlerR]

jrsdws....Congrats on the stove! I am very satisfied with my little stove. I bought it for two reasons. (This was during the big pellet stove boom a few years ago) One, it was small and fit in my small family room perfectly...and two, it was the only stove available for immediate delivery. Everyone else was sold out. Anyways, I have learned how to run it and, yes, it requires a bit more work than a few others out there but it is very easy to work on and heats my whole house with a small amount of fuel. It paid for itself the first year I had it and didn't use a drop of oil.

When we run it 24/7, I empty the burn pot every 48 hours, give or take. I have gone longer, but not by much. I have a fire pit in my back yard so it's easy to dump the ash there. All I do is click the stove off, wait until it's shut down and the fan shuts off, open the door and with my welding gloves on, pull the pot out and dump it outside in the pit. On the way back in, I use the gloves to wipe the inside of the pot, tap it a few times, and back in the stove it goes. (Making very sure the pot is seated all the way in the stove) A handful of pellets. a squirt of gel, a clic of the lighter, and the stove is running. Total elapsed time 10 minutes.

Once a week, I do a quick clean that takes less then a half hour and once a month I do a type 2 cleaning, pulling fan covers, access points, pipe cleanouts ect. That's it.

I have had one issue with the stove. A low temp snap switch which I bought from Graingers for $20. I just installed a new door gasket and that's it. All in all, I am very happy with the stove...

Chan

 

[jrsdws]

Not burning pellets up to well here. I am getting dark ash and not much of it. I try to increase intake air with damper and I get the #2 light blinking and shut down. I also tried turning heat level up thinking it would allow for more fresh air but it won't.

It doesn't look like pellets are going to work well at least with this pot. I would've made 24 hours but that would be it, and obviously it seems that it's wasting fuel if not burning it completely.

Does anybody run the true pellet pot or have you made any mods to cut some air off on the holes located higher up the pot? Open to suggestions here

 

[ChandlerR]

Hmmmm...It's puzzling why you get the #2 light when you open the draft all the way. The #2 light indicates that there is not enough air...You would normally get this when you open the door with the stove running. Are you sure you're opening the damper, not closing it? (sorry, dumb question, had to ask) I played with mine and got the light to flash when the damper was shut. I have the stainless pot and the only time I had unburned pellets in there was when I (tried) to burn Inferno's. I know Dexter's friend has modified the burn pot, I have not had to. They offer a cast iron pot just for pellets and some day I may try it...just don't need to right now.


Chan

 

[jrsdws]

I think I'm doing it right. Turning the damper handle vertically (towards the floor) shuts the air down and the flame gets lazy and dies out. Raising the handle to horizontal position...or the end facing the wall, the flame becomes blow torch like and I get the #2 blinker within a minute.

 

[jrsdws]

Okay...looking for somebody who will take the time to look into the back of their Baby for me. The #2 blinker indicates the stoves vacuum switch has tripped.

I opened up both sides and found that the vacuum hose is hooked up, but I found two wires that are NOT hooked to anything. One red wire laying near the vacuum switch box...and the switch having the center terminal with nothing attached.

The other...well I can't find anything else with an empty terminal.


Can somebody confirm this red wire goes to the center terminal on vacuum switch, please?

 

[ChandlerR]

Hang tight...just back from the vets...gotta make dinner. I'll look after and let you know what I find. Isn't it funny that the vacuum switch opens when you open the draft all the way? Wonder is it's defective? You can check it with a multi meter and your mouth. Just have to be very gentle because you don't want to pop the diaphragm.

Is this a new stove?

Chan

 

[jrsdws]

Brand new stove, but older unsold stock. I think this is a 2007 or 2008 model year.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

About that vacuum error it can be caused if you get things in the exhaust system so hot that the combustion blower trips out.

A very vigorous blowtorch flam just might do that.

 

[DexterDay]

About that vacuum error it can be caused if you get things in the exhaust system so hot that the combustion blower trips out.

A very vigorous blowtorch flam just might do that.

He said it happened when the pellets were piling up and unburnt (black). Which means lack of combustion air? My buddy has his burn pot "mod'ed" and he can get a super white hot burn out of his Baby and never shut it down. Can burn it for weeks on end and even get pellets to fly out of the pot (literally).

His is a new (08 old stock) model also. It would build up to the point it needed dumped. Makes me think without "enough air" its tripping the vacuum.. Needs more air. Or thats what I am thinking. If the blower was tripping out, he would know (hopefully). The stove would smolder and smoke. Is the stove running for about 45 minutes after it shuts down?

Or the switch could be defective. Sent my buddy a message and the pic. He works nights, so he asked his Wife. I just got off the phone with her. She is afraid to open the doors and stick her hand in there. So I let it be. He will be home in the a.m. Maybe I can get him to log on for a minute. I will talk with him before he leaves (we work together, along with 3 other pellet burners)

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

"I try to increase intake air with damper and I get the #2 light blinking and shut down." said jrsdws.

 

[jrsdws]

I never get my damper open more than about 30% to 40% before it will shut down. The flame becomes more active but it trips the switch out within 15 seconds or so.

With the intake set where I can keep the stove running, I don't get full burn of pellets...just blackened pellets that build up in the pot.

In the event of the #2 blink shut down, I can close the damper slightly and push the power on button and it will resume burning.

If I let it go after the #2 blink shut down, both fans will run for a good 45 minutes as it cools and the pellets in the pot burn down significantly and go to white ash.

My apologies if I was misunderstood when I said "shutdown". The control shuts down and pellets stop feeding, but the fans continue until it burns itself out.

 

[DexterDay]

The red wire is for the ignitor (according to the manual schematics) my buddies is not hooked up either (got off the phone with him). If pellets are building up, it needs more air. But if its shutting down by adding more air?? Then I am stumped. Other than a faulty switch.

Like I said. He plugged (tig welded/ Disclaimer - Not recommending anyone to modify there stove) the top 2 rows of holes in his burn pot to increase his air. He now can get more air to his pot than my Quad. And my Quad is like a hurricane inside the pot.

His vacuum os not bypassed. Other than the burn-pot mod, we had to replace the ash pan gasket and the hopper gasket because of leaks. He bought the stove new. But it was a little over 2 yrs old.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

And according to the manual the #2 blinking light is a vacuum shut down ???

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If that vent in the picture you provided isn't up bubble at least 1/4 " per foot you have a potential for over heating your venting system.

 

[jrsdws]

According to the manual: "The #2 heat level light is flashing- The stove’s vacuum switch tripped."

 

[jrsdws]

I can rest my hand on vent before it runs through wall thimble. Wouldn't it be really hot if that was it?

Thanks for the help guys...I'll keep plugging away at it.

 

[DexterDay]

According to the manual: "The #2 heat level light is flashing- The stove’s vacuum switch tripped."

I have read it front to back. But opening your damper shouldnt make you lose enough vacuum to shut the unit down.. Going through the troubleshooting PDF now.

Have you checked the gaskets yet? Door seems pretty solid on those units. The ash pan and hopper gasket (have to remove outer shell to get to it) are pretty $hitty from the factory.

 

[ChandlerR]

Your wires are correct. Two gray wires with the middle terminal empty. One terminal is common, one is normally open and one is normally closed. You need the common and the normally open so that the switch closes when the fan starts. The red wire is for the ignitor if you had one, I believe. I'm beginning to think you have a defective switch. I think I would try jumping out the switch and then open the damper to see what the fire looks like. If it looks good and active then for some reason the switch isn't working properly.

One other thing. What happens when you open the door with the stove running? It should take ten to fifteen seconds but the stove should go into shutdown mode and the #2 light should flash.