Mt Vernon Missed Ignition

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I have cleaned the trap and removed the blower motor. I have made a long reach crevace tool too. When it does light there is some smokee just before ignition, always was. The light times vary depending on weather the unit is hot, or weather it is on the scond try and the ignitor has already had a chance to heat hings up, or just plain cold. So there is no clear answer to that question.

 

[jtp10181]

Well if you get a lot of rolling smoke on a cold startup, there is a problem with air flow. If you never gets a lot of smoke it is probably lighting just fine, when it does light.

One other thing you could check is the spring on the firepot floor. Does the floor still hug up tight to the firepot itself? Some of the earlier models had weaker springs and they would not work properly after all the heating and cooling. They made the springs a little tougher after they found that out. If the firepot floor sags a little it would let too much air in during ignition diluting the heat from the ignitor.

 

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I just want to make clear how I clean it not to be a pain or negative but so everyone knows, in case I missed something. I Brushed the chimeny up from the T. Then towards the stove from the T outside. I take a long hose and Vac in towards the stove until it hits the blower housing. I then remove the blower motor (convection). and shove that same hose a couple of feet back out towarsa the T. Next I cleaned the trap and motor housing. Then I re installed the motor. I next removed the baffle and cleaned the entire heat exchanger. used the crevace tool on both sides to make sure all was clean. I used a Mirror and a pick with a 90 deg bend to inspect and clean all the holes in the fire pot. including the slits in the bottom whrere the ignitor is. I am burning the same bafe foot my friend 1 mile down the road is burning, with the same stove. To this point burned a half a ton with no problems. It Burns great when it is running nice clean flame not dirty at all. It just won't light the pellet before it cycles auto clean

 

[jtp10181]

It cycles to autoclean because its not detecting any heat, thus it assume something has gone wrong, either no fuel, or ther fuel wont light.

Did you even read my comments about the firepot floor springs above?

 

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Sorry the springs seem OK the floor is tight. There are pellets in the hopper when it tries to ignite. This is why I am baffled, I will call the dealer again tommorrow.

 

[jtp10181]

Do you have outside air? If you do, try disconnecting it for a little bit and see if it makes a diff, also make sure the line is clear and not blocked with any debris.

 

[Gweeper64]

Ok, new theory... could it be your pellets? Have you changed brand of pellets recently and did it start after the change?

 

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I did some looking on iburncorn. I see the problem I have happens with corn quite a bit. Quite a few people preach proper placement of the ignitor as being very important. So I checked mine which I had recently replaced and it was more towards the door than the fire pot. So I rotated it towards the fire pot until it touched and then moved it off a tiny bit. It has started every time for two days. We will see long term. One thing I noticed and I think it could effect both corn and the pellets is barefoots are slightly smaller and will fit thru the holes in the fire pot . I wonder if this happens with corn too the grains block the holes enough to prevent air flow. Not every one but enough to delay ignition.

 

[Gweeper64]

Hopefully that solves it for you. Certainly sounds plausible.

 

[tsmith]

Boogers Dad, I am having the same problem with my AE, burning corn. You said you rotated the igniter untill it touched, what do you mean you rotated it? It fits into a slot that the wing nut tightens to. Has it been working properly for you since? I talked to someone on Iburncorn that said to try to pry the igniter slot open a little bit more, if not, they now make a new burn pot with a much larger igniter slot.

 

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there was just enought play in the slot the ignitor installs into to set the tip of the ignitor just about 1/4" from one side to another, so I placed it closest to the burn pot side. It has worked great so far

 

[tsmith]

Last night it happened to me again, it tried for 15 minutes and auto cleaned just as it was starting to light, it dumped and burned in the ash pan. Then it tried again and lit after 7 minutes ran and reached the set temp then shut down. After it shut down I set it to the high elevation setting, this is suppossed to provide less fuel and more air. When it went into start up again, it lit in 4 minutes, I did have to increase my flame height a little. I emptied my ashpan so I can tell tonight if I have any unburned corn in it or if it continued to light properly. I will let you know how it worked when I get home tonight to check it.

 

[tsmith]

Well the high elevation setting didn't do it either I had lots of unburned corn in the ashpan, and right now it is on its second attempt at starting and looks like it is going to dump the second load. Really starting to piss me off a little. I also have tried adding washers to get the igniter closer but don't seem to help. I am burning corn with pellets mixed. I am going to try spreading the ignition hole on the pot to make it wider if that don't work maybe a new burn pot with the larger opening. Any other suggestions?

 

[tsmith]

Well today I removed my pot and cut the igniter housing to match the new burn pots. I am now lighting corn within the first 2 minutes of the ignition sequence every time. It is working great. I attached pictures showing the pot the old way with my markings on it for cutting and after pics. I am very happy with the way it turned out and how it is working now.