Turning PDVC over to my wife. General newby questions.

[DawgOnKing]

I have been using the search function here to research a lot of valuable info. This site has truly helped me out with my new stove. I don't want to add to the redundancy of the info, but I'm still in search of a few answers about my PDVC.

I travel weekly for work and tomorrow I will be leaving for 4 days. This means I'm leaving the stove and its operation in the hands of my dear wife. Not that she won't be able to handle the job, but I've been caring for the PDVC since I installed it and I REALLY like my stove. I have been cleaning the stove daily, which includes the items I've found here and info referenced by Englander:

- Empty burn tray and scrape off all buildup.
- Scrape off ash build up on sides of burn pot and around bottom auger tube.
- Use 1/8 drill bit for air holes.
- Finally I sweep all ashes in the burn pot, ash storage, and doors and finish with a window shine.

Good to go.

As for my wife, I don't expect her to do this daily. She simply doesn't have time in the morning to do this as I have. I'm planning on having her turn the stove off when she gets home from work and simply maintaining the burn tray/pot area. Removing clinker and ash in the tray. Does this sound good for the time I'm away? Any other tips to pass along for her?

As for cleaning question, I see that scraping the bottom auger has been mentioned here frequently. I'm not finding any buildup on my auger/tube. I can usually scrape a little buildup of the area surrounding the auger tube, but nothing inside or on the auger itself. Where should I focus my attention? Here's a picture of the stove following my cleaning this morning.

Next question concerns the "clinker". I just took 30 minutes to search and read the info available here. It seemed to be that many believe the clinker is a result of one of two things: low burn setting and pellet type. I have had to remove a clinker each day during cleaning. I roughly burn 1 bag per day and the clinker fills a good portion of the burn pot. Today I have been running on low setting all day (1-3) and there is no clinker for the first time, just ash in the tray. I'm confused as a result. Here's another pic:

Last question reverts back to my install. I've been meaning to ask this but have forgotten for the past week. I decided not to include the elbow at the end of my install for stability. My horizontal run ended up being too far from house to use the support bracket included. The pipe seems much more stable without using the elbow. As a result my smoke stack isn't installed as recommended. Should I install the elbow? My only concern would be an increase in smoke/soot on my vinyl siding. I don't want to hurt efficiency of my stove though. Here is the install:

Thanks again for any input. I can say that I'm officially a pellet pig. I love our freaking stove. Today (outside temp 27*F) is has maintained my addition and living/dining/kitchen area at 70*F while set to 1-3. My furnace has not run in hours!!

 

[slvrblkk]

I think by code (and safety for that matter) the vent can't be that close to your interior window. Did you have it inspected after install? Just curious.

 

[Panhandler]

Dawg, since you'll only be gone for 4 days, the wife really doesn't have to shut the stove off to clean it. If she feels more comfortable doing so, that's cool. I just open the door a couple times a day and scoop out ashes and clinkers from the burnpot with a tablespoon. As for clinkers, I have to believe that are from certain types of pellets, as this season is the first time in 5 years burning I have seen any and really only any of any size from Penningtons Nature's Heat and Pres-to-Log pellets. Maybe only once in 5 years have I seen any buildup on the auger tube, can't really remember, I may have just read about it on here last season (my first on this site). Take care of that PDVC and it will take care of you. One thing to check after the season is over is the end of the vacuum tube that connects to the combustion blower. It tend to get hard and crack from heat in this area. The first time or so you can just cut off the end and reattach. After that, pick up a piece of 1/4 inch fuel line hose from the local auto parts store. Travel safe! And stop sending me that damn lake effect snow! See, not all Steeler fans are bad.

 

[Lorne41]

Hello Dawg, I have the same stove as you and it looks like you're doing a good job but don't forget to get the burn residue down inside the burn pot, it can be blown up against the underside of the burn plate and clog the holes. Also don't forget to remove the impingement plate that hangs on top of the burn pot against the heat exchanger and clean inside the heat exchanger too. You might have to buy a short piece of automotive rubber hose
( 3/4 " diam.) and duct tape the end to increase the diameter so that it stays int he vac hose to help clean out those hard to get areas in the heat exchanger. It looks like you might have some carbon buildup on the bottom end of the auger tube, I use a large flat blade screwdriver and an old hunting knife to get it off mine, it's sometimes rock hard and takes some effort. I believe Slvrblkk is right about your vent pipe termination, it should be above your windows so that exhaust gasses cannot be sucked back into your house, local codes are different for each state and city and you should check yours for proper installation. You also should add a 90 degree so that the vent cap points downward so water and debri from outside cannot get into it.
Depending on what brand of pellet you are burning and what your stove settings are, can make clinkers. I get them from time to time depending on what brand of pellet I'm burning , clinkers happen. That's all I can come up with to help! ----Lorne.

 

[DawgOnKing]

Thanks for the replies gents. I have read from users and Mike about the rubber hose assembly to shop vac for cleaning behind impingement plate and will certainly put that together this weekend. Thanks for the tip.

As for vent pipe termination, I did not have the unit inspected and never thought about the issue of it being at window height. I will look into this ASAP and extend the vertical if necessary.

Looks like a little more time spent on verifying the burn pot is clean below plate and around tube may be necessary. I will grab a few more tools to help me do so.

Panhandler, certainly you haven't fallen to the darkside, you seem too intelligent for that! Thanks again for the help all. Keep the tips coming!

 

[Panhandler]

Thanks for the replies gents. I have read from users and Mike about the rubber hose assembly to shop vac for cleaning behind impingement plate and will certainly put that together this weekend. Thanks for the tip.

As for vent pipe termination, I did not have the unit inspected and never thought about the issue of it being at window height. I will look into this ASAP and extend the vertical if necessary.

Looks like a little more time spent on verifying the burn pot is clean below plate and around tube may be necessary. I will grab a few more tools to help me do so.

Panhandler, certainly you haven't fallen to the darkside, you seem too intelligent for that! Thanks again for the help all. Keep the tips coming!

Sorry I didn't mention the 3/4 rubber hose, but also consider a piece of 3/8 or 1/4 to reach into those larger holes in the burnpot under the wear plate (for your weekly cleaning, not for your wife's baptism). Shine a flashlight down there and you can see the ash in these holes. I had my stoves 6 weeks before I knew they existed. But that;s because I didn't know about this site. I bought my stove and knew nothing about pellet stoves. Actually, I can't remember where I heard about them. I still only know 3 people around here that own one. Glad we could help, I burned 4 years before I found this site, don't know how I made it. By the way, I'm the one on the darkside?

 

[Phatty]

i have the pdv, i shut the stove down and when the flame is out and use a pair
of plyers and dump the pot to the side, (alternating sides) i do this every 12 hrs.
brought a pair of welding gloves home for the wife so ahe wont burn her hands
add a bag of pellets as needed. i do a good cleaning once a week
shuting it down and letting it cool, vacuuming it and cleaning the glass

 

[imacman]

As Lorne mentions above, the vent "cap" you have on the end of the pipe is the wrong kind for that install. If the wind blows toward it, it will try to push the exhaust back into the stove....not good.

Either add a 90 and then the cap you have (pointing down), or you need to get a round cap for vertical pipe.

And yes, the end appears to be too close to the window...optical illusion?

Most stove manuals recommend the following:

Minimum 4' clearance below or beside any door or window that opens
Minimum 1’ clearance below or beside any window that does not open.

 

[DawgOnKing]

As Lorne mentions above, the vent "cap" you have on the end of the pipe is the wrong kind for that install. If the wind blows toward it, it will try to push the exhaust back into the stove....not good.

Either add a 90 and then the cap you have (pointing down), or you need to get a round cap for vertical pipe.

And yes, the end appears to be too close to the window...optical illusion?

Most stove manuals recommend the following:

Minimum 4' clearance below or beside any door or window that opens
Minimum 1’ clearance below or beside any window that does not open.

Thanks Mac. I will use the 90 in that case. As for clearances mentioned above, I'm not gonna be able to maintain that. The window in the picture above is from an office in my home. The windows are never open, but they will open of course. If I extend the the vertical above the windows I can obtain some clearance, but not the recommended distance. Obviously an error in my installation planning. I didn't see this mentioned in the manual for my PDVC but it does say to check local installation codes (#1 actually).

Thanks guys.