25-PDVC Refilling the Hopper

[jp57]

I was reviewing the operator manual on my 2003 25-PDVC (I've only had it 2 years) and under the "Refueling the Unit" section, it states to shut off the unit before refueling and "Do not operate this unit with the hopper lid open or unsecured".

Does this mean, strictly according to the manual, that one can not have the stove running/burning and refill at the same time? This seems rather inconvenient...especially for this model that doesn't have an auto-start.

I routinely open the lid slowly, refill, and close it back up while the stove is running. Is this a huge "no-no"?? Or is it simply that they just don't want you running the stove with the lid open for an extended period of time?

 

[TimfromMA]

Most stoves have a switch under the hopper that will shut the auger off when the lid is opened. Keeping the lid opened too long should only result in the stove shutting down as soon as the fire goes out from lack of fuel.

Fill it on up when you need. There's no need to shut down.

 

[Chrisnow86]

And scraping the ash out of the burn pot.. You can to that while it's running too.. Your hand will get a little toasty

 

[jp57]

And scraping the ash out of the burn pot.. You can to that while it's running too.. Your hand will get a little toasty

Thanks to this forum, I learned that too!

I got a set of hearth gloves and then stole a big metal spoon from the kitchen...works like a champ.

 

[Jigger]

I have an 05 model and I've owned it for the past 7 years.It doesn't have the hopper switch either. I just open it up and dump the pellets in when needed. When I clean out the burn pot from ash. Which is twice a day. I simply open the door and scoop them out. I have a small fireplace shovel that is the same width as the burn pot. when I do a complete clean out. I wait for it to cool down and the convection blower has stopped. Then I move the ash around to make certain there's no hot ones left. Then I vacuum and brush the inside out. The whole time the combustion blower is still running which helps keep the dust down when I'm brushing the inside out. When I do the leaf blower trick to it. I open the door and then start the stove. I go outside and man the leaf blower and run it till it the air is clear.