pf100 Pot bubble and delayed ignition.

[villano5]

Hello. Appreciate all the helpful info in these threads. When my pf100(2534) lights off,(coil igniter), there is a violent boom. Some backstory. Stove about 9 years old. On and off been lazy and used the propane furnace to heat our house. So maybe 6 years of service. Maybe 2 years in,pot bubbled. My local dealer would not warrenty. said it had to be cracked. Next year it cracked. Put new burn pot on. (old style). Cracked and bubbled again. Have been running it like this for couple of years. didn't seem to hurt anything. Until.....
Now. When it lights it booms. I am guessing,because of the pot bubble the pellets are not lighting in a timly manner. And when they finally do there are lots of wood gases all catching at once.
So I need a new pot. My question is, will Harmon send a new one free because of design flaw? Do i really need the newly designed pot? It is $500. A lot of money. Could i find an older style pot? Used? Can i mess with the dip switches to get it to light less violently until i get the new pot. Any help would be appreciated.
I read through some of the older threads about the pot bubble. And no one seemed to think it was caused by the constant cycling of the igniter. Seems logical to me. My stove is a whole house stove. Cycles on and off very often. Most freestanding pellet stoves keep their flame going all the time. Less ignition cycles. Less hot and cold stress on the pots metal.....

 

[Lake Girl]

Is it actually the burn pot issue or the ignitor pump is starting to weaken? Have you made sure cleaning routine hasn't gotten lazy too? Gaskets are in good shape?

 

[villano5]

Is it actually the burn pot issue or the ignitor pump is starting to weaken? Have you made sure cleaning routine hasn't gotten lazy too? Gaskets are in good shape?

Haha .I do not have an igniter pump. I have the old style finned igniter. And before i ran it this season i did a thorough job of cleaning the unit. I suppose it could be a weak igniter. Taking too long to heat up and light. But the bubble in the burn pot is directly over the igniter. Seems to me that would be the issue.

 

[railfanron]

And you haven't cleaned it since the beginning of the season?? How many tons have you run through it?
Ron

 

[Lake Girl]

Haha .I do not have an igniter pump. I have the old style finned igniter. And before i ran it this season i did a thorough job of cleaning the unit. I suppose it could be a weak igniter. Taking too long to heat up and light. But the bubble in the burn pot is directly over the igniter. Seems to me that would be the issue.

Wouldn't be a first time a manual is inaccurate Shows an ignitor pump in this manual dated 5/14. When did they incorporate the pump if it wasn't always there?
http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/PF100.pdf

 

[villano5]

And you haven't cleaned it since the beginning of the season?? How many tons have you run through it?
Ron

I live in upstate NY. Mild winter so far. Around 3/4 ton of Barefoot pellets so far. I srape down the pot maybe 3 times a week. And run the shaker handle to clean the heat exchanger every other day.

 

[villano5]

Wouldn't be a first time a manual is inaccurate Shows an ignitor pump in this manual dated 5/14. When did they incorporate the pump if it wasn't always there?
http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/PF100.pdf

Lake girl. thank you. I appreciate the effort to help me. That manual is not the same one i have. Very similar. But different. And I dont know when they went to pressure ignition. I have read bout that style of ignition system in researching my problem.Buy that is not what came on this stove.. I basically have a hot surface igniter. But i do wonder if this other style of igniter is somehow better. Maybe wouldnt bubble or crack the pot, like myself and so many other have had happen.

 

[Former Farmer]

Now. When it lights it booms. I am guessing,because of the pot bubble the pellets are not lighting in a timly manner. And when they finally do there are lots of wood gases all catching at once.

You could try adjusting the amount of time that the feed auger runs for start-up. You would want to set the run time shorter. Eventually, you will probably need to replace your burn pot.

 

[villano5]

You could try adjusting the amount of time that the feed auger runs for start-up. You would want to set the run time shorter. Eventually, you will probably need to replace your burn pot.

View attachment 191819

Thanks. I lowered the feed rate to one. Thinking along the same lines. Wasn't sure of the relationship of feed rate and the dip switches. Maybe the dip switches overrides the feed rate setting for the initial burn?

 

[Former Farmer]

Maybe the dip switches overrides the feed rate setting for the initial burn?

The dip switches SET the feed rate setting for the initial burn

 

[villano5]

Since i set the feed rate to 1 i have not heard the stove boom.. Last night i observed a cold start. After a few minutes it light off pretty smoothly. But i quickly opened the door to look at how full the pot was. It was full to the brim! What the heck. My dip switches are set to off, on ,off. According to your info it is -43. But some of the setting are + and some are -. Little confusing. Shouldn't all the numbers be positive? I will change the dip switch setting, cold start it, let it feed. Then see how full the hopper is. And make a note.Thanks again. Farmer.

 

[Former Farmer]

But some of the setting are + and some are -. Little confusing. Shouldn't all the numbers be positive?

The numbers are values +/- from the programmed auger run time for initial startup. I see on another sheet that I have, that the default settings for the PF100 are on/off/on for dip switches 1-3. Which is to set the auger to run for 43 seconds more than the programmed time. You currently have your unit set to off/on/off which would run the auger for 43 seconds less than the programmed time. If your burn pot still is filling over 2/3 full, try setting your switches to off/on/on to set it to run 64 seconds less than the programmed time.

 

[villano5]

Makes perfect sense. Thank you. I or Saturday. Thanks.Farmer. Are the devices listed under your post the stoves you run?
"Quadrafire Castile insert
Harman PB105 boiler
Woodmaster Pellet Grill
10kw Solar PV system"?

 

[rickwai]

Have you checked the intake flapper? I have seen these partly stuck on the PF100s and that will cause a delayed ignition. Make sure it swings freely. Most pf100s are in a basement and dampness seems to make them stick over time.

 

[Former Farmer]

Are the devices listed under your post the stoves you run?

Yes. We are not using the boiler again this year because propane is cheaper than wood pellets. Will burn about 3 tons through the Castile. Use the Castile to heat the living room, dining and kitchen areas. Keep that part of the house at 70 or higher when we are home. Keep the remainder of the house at 65 or so. Works out very well for us. My wife agrees that buying the pellet stove was one of the best things we could have done. I enjoy being warm after working outside most days.

 

[Former Farmer]

rickwai makes a good point. I did have the flapper stick once on my boiler. Forgot about that since it was several years ago and only happened once.

 

[rickwai]

rickwai makes a good point. I did have the flapper stick once on my boiler. Forgot about that since it was several years ago and only happened once.

I learned this the hard way! I was working on a PF100 in a old farm house cellar that just would not light. I hooked a vac meter and it was pulling .7-.8 so I thought it had great draft and breathing good. Fired it up and it fed started to smoke ect. but just kept smoking and smoking without lighting. I waited and waited. The n I started looking around on the back of the stove to see if I could see anything when I saw flapper stuck. I tapped it open and with the rush of fresh air it burn pot it went off like a 12 ga shotgun!. Flames even shot out the air intake flapper! dust blew everywhere! So now I tap the flapper on every stove I go out to service if I have the back off

 

[villano5]

Yes. We are not using the boiler again this year because propane is cheaper than wood pellets. Will burn about 3 tons through the Castile. Use the Castile to heat the living room, dining and kitchen areas. Keep that part of the house at 70 or higher when we are home. Keep the remainder of the house at 65 or so. Works out very well for us. My wife agrees that buying the pellet stove was one of the best things we could have done. I enjoy being warm after working outside most days.

Propane being cheaper than Pellets sucks!. I remember when pellets were 125-150 a ton. That is why i bought the stove!