10-cpm dirty stove issue

[DexterDay]

My guess is that the EP series shouldn't need daily "maintenance" either, if running properly. The PDVC and PVC need that daily pot scrape....I think it's listed as a daily item in the manual.

Then it may hold true for the PAH and IP also?

They all have the On/Off and Hi/Low function.

If a stove can On/Off it better not have ash in the pot? Correct?

Many users of EP's and PAH's here? Never a complaint yet? Just CPM?? Hmmm

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If it can on/off it best not have too much ash in the pot.

As for the PAH's there have been a number that have had issues as well as the EP's

The daily maintenance for a top feed stove should be check the burn pot and if needed stir it or shut down and clean it, otherwise keep filling the hopper.

A number of such stoves are in the threads today that have burn issues related to various things from incorrect control mode settings to needing a good cleaning and other things in varying combinations.

I run a top feed on a t-stat but not in on/off mode. I clean it once a week and other than that I just monitor the pot and fill the hopper. I can easily go 26 bags on my dirtiest burn setting before it gets to the point I can't stand to look at it any more.

YMMV

 

[sculptor]

The gasket material you put around the cradle underneath the burnpot? Is that sold in lengths? How is it purchased?

After watching the fire I've noticed this. I see flame occasionally coming up in between the firebrick and the burnpot. The backside of the burnpot will very slowly fill while the front stays hot and clear. Eventually, the backside backs up and the stirrer starts to dump it in the front side, and slowly starts the filling process.

Let's just say someone has a warped burnpot that rocks slightly on the cradle. If you take some high temp silicone, run a beam on the contact surface underneath the burnpot. sit it on the cradle (outside the stove of course) with mold release on the cradle, so the silicone will bond with the warped burnpot, but not the cradle.

 

[DexterDay]

1/2" or 5/8" flat gasket is cheap. Around $7-$14 for a kit at a Hardware store or Hearth Shop

 

[jrsdws]

Personal experience with both PAH and CPM and if properly vented with a clear, clean exhaust path, absolutely no daily maintenance to keep the burn pot clean. The PAH really expels the ash...better than the CPM...but the stirrer on the CPM, running normal operation, makes up the difference. We've run some really poor quality pellets through both units and neither have issues with clinkers or burn pot build up of any kind....when properly installed and clean with no air flow bypass at burn pot or elsewhere.

My CPM pot had no visible bypass, but I added 5/8" flat gasket as pictured above and experienced a noticeable improvement in flame characteristic and ash ejection.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Frequently bypasses are not visible. Air goes through very small gaps easily.

Metal to metal seals are rarely air tight..

If the combustion air goes through the pot instead of around it, it removes more ash and that decreases the rate that the area under the burn pot fills with ash and allows you to burn longer between cleanings.

Also burn pot hole placement can have a big impact on how well the fire burns because if they are above the normal burn pile they too can be a combustion air bypass (please note the use of weasel word can).

It will depend upon the fuel being burned as well as the amount of the fuel that is going to be in the burn pot at the maximum firing rate.

 

[imacman]

......I added 5/8" flat gasket as pictured above and experienced a noticeable improvement in flame characteristic and ash ejection.

I too experimented with burn pot gaskets. I first tried using the 1/8" thick Lytherm. It worked well, but I hesitated actually adhering it to the cradle, seeing that it tears easily and I figured I'd be replacing it often.

I had a conversation with Dexter, and saw the above mentioned gasket he used. I happen to have some of that left over from my "Englander Early Bird Gasket kit", and installed it. So far, I am very happy with it, and would recommend this "mod" to the burn pot/cradle to any 10-cpm owners.....nice active flame.

 

[sculptor]

Thanks Dexter, Smokey, Imac & jr! I just installed and waiting the 2 hours it calls for.

 

[DexterDay]

Start that bad boy up..... Dont wait. The heat will cure the silicone/cement

(Nevermind. I see its been over 2 hrs.)

 

[sculptor]

Start that bad boy up..... Dont wait. The heat will cure the silicone/cement

(Nevermind. I see its been over 2 hrs.)

I couldn't wait the 2 hours. lol. The flame looks good! I noticed when I had the cradle and the burnpot out, that on the backside view of the burnpot sitting inside the cradle, it looked like the two corners touched, but there was a slight gap in the center. I also felt a slight rocking when I put my fingers on opposite sides of the burnpot that I hadn't noticed earlier in thread. Here is a photo 2 1/2 hours into the start-up. And things look and feel good!

 

[imacman]

What settings do you have the stove at when you took that pic? And that pic was taken AFTER 2 1/2 hrs of burning? That flame is WAY big!

Look at Dexter's pic above.....that's what mine looks like during normal burning on heat setting 5 or 6, and lower buttons at 2-5-1.

 

[DexterDay]

What settings do you have the stove at when you took that pic? And that pic was taken AFTER 2 1/2 hrs of burning? That flame is WAY big!

Look at Dexter's pic above.....that's what mine looks like during normal burning on heat setting 5 or 6, and lower buttons at 2-5-1.

On 9-9 my flame doesn't get that BIG There is build up already. I can tell based on flame size.

The flame should be much lower. Even on higher settings.

This is heat level 6. On 3-5-1.

 

[DexterDay]

Can you record video? And post to YouTube??

 

[sculptor]

My settings are on 3-5-1
I'm running it on 9 9.
Here is a pic taken minutes before this post without the flash under different lighting.

Now that I look at the first pic, I might have uploaded a pic from S U and mislabeled as after 2 1/2 hours.

 

[sculptor]

Can you record video? And post to YouTube??

No. I wish I could.

 

[imacman]

.....Now that I look at the first pic, I might have uploaded a pic from S U and mislabeled as after 2 1/2 hours.

Now THAT would be more reasonable. My start-up is like that.

 

[sculptor]

thanks for your help guys...........

 

[DexterDay]

thanks for your help guys...........

What happened?

"Went out Christmas shopping and came home to a filled burn pot. I think I am done with this chit?"

 

[Indiana]

dont give up yet. there is a problem. one of us will figure it out.

 

[sculptor]

What happened?

"Went out Christmas shopping and came home to a filled burn pot. I think I am done with this chit?"

I tried to remove it. It's Christmas and I don't want to be such a downer. I made a big mistake relying on pellet stove for primary heat. I knew it going in it wasn't advised. I did it anyway. I'm just a little frustrated seeing my family's disappointed faces coming home to a 36 degree house. And I'm feeling a little burnt out dealing with it.

 

[DexterDay]

I tried to remove it. It's Christmas and I don't want to be such a downer. I made a big mistake relying on pellet stove for primary heat. I knew it going in it wasn't advised. I did it anyway. I'm just a little frustrated seeing my family's disappointed faces coming home to a 36 degree house. And I'm feeling a little burnt out dealing with it.

Whole house heating with a pellet stove is possible. The house and layout play a Big part!

The stove does need to be operational though.

Leaks, Plugged up, Controller, or Combustion blower (weak/failing). There isnt much else it could be.

 

[Dr.Faustus]

Cheer up, you'll get to the bottom of it, and using it as a primary heat source is possible. I know this because I've been doing it for years with a 25-pdvc. I dont even have a furnace anymore. lost it in a flood years ago. Never replaced it because i never used it anyway.

I do keep a kerosene heater tucked away with a few gallons of kero in the garage in case a part on the stove breaks.

 

[sculptor]

DexterDay- I know. Unless there is a part of the stove not mentioned in the manual that needs to be cleaned, or a subject I have yet to read about on here in 4 years, I have no clue what it is? I clean over and over. My family thinks I'm crazy cleaning it as much as I do. I've removed the CB twice. I've removed the entire vent system cleaning each link thoroughly. I've ran a vacuum inside with the CB removed. I've been instructed by an Englander to clean the burnpot more regularly than called for. I've scraped that thing until I see metal. My latest experiment, when the pot filled up after 3 bags, after I know I just did a thorough cleaning, I cleaned it again. The next time it filled up after about 3 bags, I just emptied the burnpot, put it back in an turned it on, it went for I don't know how many bags? I don't keep good track of how bags it goes, or document the days and what not, but I can tell you that I've done all this cleaning since I first post my problem, which I believe is well and beyond the scheduled maintenance! Englander tech tells me with what he performed over the phone my CB is working fine. I'm hoping I would have caught a leak disassembling everything twice. Plugged up? I would hope that I wouldn't be missing it every time I clean, but it is possible. I've had a vacuum running with the hose run through the vent, and have used compressed air in hopes to dislodge it. The controller is the only thing that has never been brought up before.

 

[Dr.Faustus]

while doing the leaf blower trick, leave the leaf blower on, go to the stove and inside the stove find where the air is sucking out. while leaf blower is still on, shoot compressed air in there at 150 psi or however high your air compressor lets you. maybe that combined with the leaf blower should bust out any clog.

It'd be nice to have a 2nd person outside watching the leaf blower, who could tell you if theres soot flying out when you let the compressed air rip.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

sculptur,

What does your OAK look like inside the house and outside is there a screen on it and if so can you post a picture of the OAK and the outside termination for it.

I'm looking for things like sharp bends and too tight an OAK screening.