I am new to this pellet stove stuff. I was given an American Harvest 6100 stove. My Dad installed it for one season back in 2008 and did not like it. Anyway it has taken me a while and about 4 hours of phone time with USSC but the stove is working pretty good. Mostly the front seal was creating huge problems. After that was replaced the fire is good now. But the issue is the fire box will get up to as high as 760 degrees but the bonnet does not put out anything more then 95. Not sure what is wrong. The exhaust vent is about 240 -260. USSC says that is fine. I am not sure if there is a heat exchange that might need cleaned of what. I need help. It is using 4 bags of pellets a day but does not put out much heat from the bonnet. Thanks
American Harvest 6100 No Heat
- Thread starter bobreeves0308
- Start date
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SidecarFlip
Minister of Fire
Sounds to me like it's filthy inside, especially the convection air distribution blower. Time to take it apart and clean it and lubricate the bearings. Curious as how you determined the temperatures..
None of them are 'plug and play, they all need regular cleaning.
None of them are 'plug and play, they all need regular cleaning.
I am using a hand held infrared thermometer . How do i get into that part of the stove? I have went over this thing with a fine tooth comb cleaning everything. Is it by removing the blower motors. I did not see any way in from the front.
SidecarFlip
Minister of Fire
The convection air path on all USSC stoves are within the weldments and as a rule don't clog up. Your issue points to a clogged up convection fan, time to remove it and clean the blower wheel and / or lubricate the bearings. 700 degree firebox and 200-300 vent temps are normal (at the termination of the combustion fan housing).
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
The manual did not cover anything other then minimal installation information and how to start a fire.
I have a American Harvest/USSC 6500. IF it is anything like mine you can access the room/convection fans by undoing the side and back panels. It is not extremely tough, pretty basic. You should be able to see the fans from the back rear of the stove.
Mine also has a place with 4 hex screws on the right top side (if facing the front) that allows access to the blower air path.
I would say clean those.
A couple other things:
1. You said you cleaned it with a fine tooth comb. Did this include the heat exchanger portion at the top inside of the firebox. It is kind of tough to get to, but ash can build up and reduce the heat exchange efficiency.
2. On mine on a low setting the air coming out of mine is not hot, it is just warm. I have mine setup on a thermostat and set the low setting feed rate to be more of a pilot light than for heat. Even with that, it heats the back half of my house when temps are not frigid.
3. My output air will get hot if the stove runs on a higher heat setting for a while, but it is a gradual increase.
4. Check out some Youtube videos by LandAirMechanic. He has an 8500, but it is the same basic stove and controls.
5. Look up in the USSC Trouble shooting sticky thread at the top of the forum. There should be a Tech Manual for it which is gonna help a whole lot more than the owners manual.
Mine also has a place with 4 hex screws on the right top side (if facing the front) that allows access to the blower air path.
I would say clean those.
A couple other things:
1. You said you cleaned it with a fine tooth comb. Did this include the heat exchanger portion at the top inside of the firebox. It is kind of tough to get to, but ash can build up and reduce the heat exchange efficiency.
2. On mine on a low setting the air coming out of mine is not hot, it is just warm. I have mine setup on a thermostat and set the low setting feed rate to be more of a pilot light than for heat. Even with that, it heats the back half of my house when temps are not frigid.
3. My output air will get hot if the stove runs on a higher heat setting for a while, but it is a gradual increase.
4. Check out some Youtube videos by LandAirMechanic. He has an 8500, but it is the same basic stove and controls.
5. Look up in the USSC Trouble shooting sticky thread at the top of the forum. There should be a Tech Manual for it which is gonna help a whole lot more than the owners manual.
SidecarFlip
Minister of Fire
You have to remove them from the back inside. I bet they are both loaded with filth.
I agree that keeping the stove clean is key for it to work well.
Sort of a side questions and because I think too much.....lol. Would dirty convection fans reduce the air temp coming out of the stove? They definitely would reduce the cfm of the air over the heat exchanger part and make it so it wouldn't heat a larger area well, but if the air is moving at a slower rate over the heat exchanger I would think that it might make the air temp exiting hotter due to more time spent in contact with the heat exchanger portion.
To me it almost sounds like the inside baffle part of his fire box may be insulated with ash and preventing efficient exchange between it and the air.
I know i can remove the blower fans but the top of the firebox has holes but no cleanout. Thanks for the tips
On mine I think it can be removed from inside. But if not I would use a shop vac with a brush. Also a compressor with a blow gun to try and clean it out. For the blow gun I would take precautions since ash could fly all over
SidecarFlip
Minister of Fire
Because it's an add on furnace, not a stove, the output heated air will be cooler than a stove. The USSC HX is all a sheet metal weldment and don't clog up but the fans do. You need to remove and clean them and lubricate the bearings with light machine oil. I bet the combustion path is loaded with fly ash as well.
SidecarFlip
Minister of Fire
On the combustion gas side, probably, not the convection side. Not possible.
Makes sense. The air out of my PP130 is a lot hotter than the air out of my USSC 6500.
SidecarFlip
Minister of Fire
Keep in mind that the firepot is EXACTLY the same size as my 6039 freestanding stove but you have twice the convection blower capacity so the heated air will be cooler because of the increased volume
