Accentra insert -why the holes in the bottom vent plate??

[lecomte38]

My insert has 4 square holes in the bottom of the right hear shield behind the ash pan. They allow heat from the fire to be sucked straight out the exhaust vent without passing the exchanger. I plugged mine with tin foil. I seem to be getting more/better heat on low fire. What are these holes for?
I also turned the vent blower adjustment screw all the way down. The window stays clean and the burn appears good. - Again more heat in the house, less up the stack.

 

[SPUD]

The advantage plus has two holes (one on each side of the plate behind ash pan). These provide access to clean out the exhaust passages. They should be plugged when stove is operating, otherwise draft will be poor.
Mine are capped with piece similar to the covers on sinks for unused spray hole.

Bill

 

[smirnov3]

Actually, given the direction of air flow, hot air should not be reaching those holes. What could happen is that air from the exhaust stream is sucked back into the burn chamber

My guess is that they are there to make sure that laminar air flow continues in low flow conditions (ie partial blockage of your flue)

 

[LIpelletpig]

Has anyone else plugged up these holes. It always seems that ash builds up or is pulled to these holes in the bottom right corner. Thanks for your input.

 

[investor7952]

I have the same insert and I am trying to figure out what holes you guys are talking about ? Not the ones that you use the brush on when cleaning?
Do you have a pic of these holes or be more specific where they are? Now I gotta know lol.

 

[LIpelletpig]

To best describe these holes...If your looking at your stove with the door open and the ash pan pulled out look at your lower right corner under the heat plate. There are three square holes that air is pulled through to the larger Square hole (pipe) that is behind the heat plate when removed. During routine cleaning you usually clean the larger square hole with the long wire brush. i would take a picture but my stove is currently running. I am not sure why the left side of the stove doesn't have these 3 square holes.

 

[Lousyweather]

heck, I'll give it a shot, but its pretty much what Anton says. the 3 holes there are there to ensure SOMe airflow if the exchanger grooves get blocked. Many folks arent as vigilant as the people here and dont clean those channels behind the plates. In extreme situations, these channels totally plug off, allowing NO airflow. The 3 holes on the right give a little leeway for this, but after those channels plug, the stove usually goes off on error anyhow. As for why arent there any on the left? I can only surmise that since the left hand tube is 2-1/2 times longer than the right tube, and the left tube bends, that it would be far more likely to get plugged by fines entering any holes in front of it if they existed. the left hand tube is prone to blockage anyhow if folks dont clean it often enough, so the addition of fines would only exacerbate the problem. But Im no combustion engineer.

 

[lecomte38]

I removed the tin foil plugs a while ago. My left side was blowing cooler air then the right ( there was a thread on this topic a few weeks ago ) With the foil removed the temp is a lot more even out of the two sides. Perhaps those lower holes are sucking cold air off the glass. ??? I also have turned the vent fan speed adjustment screw all the way down to slow discharge blower. efficiency ??

 

[Lousyweather]

I removed the tin foil plugs a while ago. My left side was blowing cooler air then the right ( there was a thread on this topic a few weeks ago ) With the foil removed the temp is a lot more even out of the two sides. Perhaps those lower holes are sucking cold air off the glass. ??? I also have turned the vent fan speed adjustment screw all the way down to slow discharge blower. efficiency ??

Usually when the left side blows cooler air than the right, its usually indicative of either the left side heat exchanger being plugged, and/or the left discharge tube being blocked (pretty common). The vent fan adjustment potentiometer only varies the voltage slightly to the combustion fan, and adjusting it is usually done in conjunction with a draft meter, which can quantify any adjustments, but do what works for you. I know in working on units where folks fiddle with board settings, etc, it can be difficult to diagnose issues, but since you seem to know what you are changing, its all good. If a tech has to come out, just let him know about the changes you made.