Am I Using This Right? Pel-Pro130

[Jyoung992]

Last year I bought my first pellet stove, and had nothing but issues after 5-6 months using it because of apparent bad control boards, and admittedly partly because I never used one before. But, Hearth replaced it for me free of charge because I had to replace every internal part within the first year of owning it. Both models have been/are PelPro130's

1. Finally installed the new one, and it doesn't seem like it's throwing out as much heat as the first one (really haven't let it run much more than an hour so maybe this is in my head, guess I'll find out when I get home today).
2. Additionally, this one seems to leave the house smelling smokier. I don't recall the first one making the house smell aside from the first use, or user error after that - so unsure why this is happening?
3. Are these things safe to keep running unsupervised? I.e. while sleeping, or when I'm at work?

I fired it up for the first time and let it cure for 30 minutes and the expected curing odor/smoke occurred. Turned it off until this morning and after it got going again, the vents where the hot air comes from also had the slightest bit of smoke coming out during start up. Eventually it quit smoking but the smell persisted. Turned it off, went to work & when I went home for lunch, same thing again. Tiny bit of smoke with the odor. I don't recall this happening with my first one but I've never owned a pellet stove before 2022 so I don't know if I'm using it wrong or hooked the second one up wrong, or maybe this is all normal?

Took the old stove out, and put the new one right in it's place....nothing was changed regarding the OAK or exhaust vent. Between removal and re-installation we cleaned the exhaust pipe that goes through the wall out entirely, including the ash catcher on the outside of the T fitting. We did not clean the 5' vertical part that is outside. Stove is vented straight out the back, through the wall, up 5' and terminates, like the attached photo (not mine, just as reference).

Trim is set to 0.

Flame seems pretty large - flickering above the feeder tube and out of view of the glass - also attached. Not sure if this constitutes as a lazy flame, or not? Also pretty sure that flame was during the start up sequence on it's initial start up if that makes a difference.

Lastly...the glass seems a bit sooty. Maybe it's normal but after 2-3 uses there is definitely soot accumulating on the glass, some larger specs too. Inside the baffles is mostly fine ash, with a few pellets that didn't make it into the pot being less fine ash.

Think that about covers it all...does this sound normal?
Can I provide any more info?
Anything I should try tinkering with or fixing first?

 

[Clarkbug]

Welcome to the forums, and sorry you have had trouble.

I would suggest you clean your outside pipe, and check to see what the very end of the pipe looks like.

You will probably need to adjust the trim, it seems like most everyone who is using the short vertical run has to. Try and adjust it the trim per the manual and see if that will help you. Make a small change and wait a few minutes, it takes some time.

What are you using for pellets? Fresh stock? Leftovers from last year?

Is the OAK clear? Nothing built a nest in it over the summer or anything?

 

[Jyoung992]

Welcome to the forums, and sorry you have had trouble.

I would suggest you clean your outside pipe, and check to see what the very end of the pipe looks like.

You will probably need to adjust the trim, it seems like most everyone who is using the short vertical run has to. Try and adjust it the trim per the manual and see if that will help you. Make a small change and wait a few minutes, it takes some time.

What are you using for pellets? Fresh stock? Leftovers from last year?

Is the OAK clear? Nothing built a nest in it over the summer or anything?

OAK is clear, and the outside pipe was just lined with a thin layer of soot. Currently using my last pallet left over from last year.

Turns out my issue was the exhaust pipe, though. The pipe that goes onto the exit of the stove, and into the pipe through the wall, was the culprit. I slid them together but forgot to twist it to “lock” them all together. After a few burns you could see the soot escaping between those two pipes. No more black soot or odor inside.

But what about burning these at night when everyone’s sleeping? Is that safe?

 

[Jyoung992]

Welcome to the forums, and sorry you have had trouble.

I

Welcome to the forums, and sorry you have had trouble.

Appreciate the welcome, by the way!

 

[Clarkbug]

OAK is clear, and the outside pipe was just lined with a thin layer of soot. Currently using my last pallet left over from last year.

Turns out my issue was the exhaust pipe, though. The pipe that goes onto the exit of the stove, and into the pipe through the wall, was the culprit. I slid them together but forgot to twist it to “lock” them all together. After a few burns you could see the soot escaping between those two pipes. No more black soot or odor inside.

But what about burning these at night when everyone’s sleeping? Is that safe?

I was pretty nervous about running my stove when no one was home or overnight, but after running it for a few weeks, I got over that and I would let it stay running. It does have some safety devices that will turn it off if the exhaust fan stops or the temps get too high, but they are failsafes, so you have to stay mindful. Clean your stove out regularly, dont put anything too close to it that might be flammable, replace your door glass if it gets dinged, dont let lots of fines build up in the hopper, etc.

Lots of folks burn pellets or woodstoves overnight, so if your install is up to code/per manufacturer's specs, you should be fine.

 

[Highbeam]

Absolutely safe to run unattended once you know it is correctly installed.

 

[bogieb]

I was nervous too when I had the P61a installed in 2014. I got over that and have 100% been heating my house with pellets ever since. That includes while I'm sleeping, while I was away for work 12-15 hours/day (IWF now).

Heck, when I go out of town, if my pet sitter is able to lift the bags of pellets to feed the stoves, they run basically unsupervised for days (besides the two 1/2 hour visits per day by the pet sitter).