burn pot

[chrisasst]

I bought my stove last year ( kozi shop heater), the one I bought, the dealer used a couple times but he gave me a few hundred off the price. Not knowing much about these things I think I was taken advantage of. Now the burn pot lip on one side was straight and the lip on the other side was curved. I was / am having problems or something with heat output, so I went back to the dealer and looked at the new stove he had there and the burn pot was nicely silver and the lip on both side were straight. I told the guy mine did not look like that, he said it probably got hot and bent it. So bottom line, should I buy a new burn pot ? the way my burn pot is, I do have to make sure it sits in there just right or I can tell the difference in heat output and smoke output.. (unless I am just crazy)

<--new one






Mine is below

 

[lecomte38]

Wire brush it to make it pretty and put in a vise to straighten the lip. push a drill bit thru the holes to clean out any slag and yours will look just like the new one.

 

[chrisasst]

I thought about the vice a while ago, but didn't want to take the chance of snapping it with out having another one on hand..

thanks for the reply,..

 

[imacman]

Wire brush it to make it pretty and put in a vise to straighten the lip. push a drill bit thru the holes to clean out any slag and yours will look just like the new one.

I agree. If the dealer has a new one in stock, then go ahead and clean/straighten the one you have, and should work just fine.

If you DO have a big problem, you can always pick up a new one.

 

[chrisasst]

i wouldnt worry about it= looks solid & might do it again anyway. maybe flip it so the bend goes on the other side & pot gets symmetrical . how's the stove work as is?

being my first stove, I am not at all pleased with the heat output. However on the other hand, my house is old and not well insulated, so I am not sure if the stove is producing and the heat is going out my windows / walls, or if the stove is just not performing as I want it to..

 

[chrisasst]

i assume the blower for room air is blowing?

yes, it is on high. I also use a regular fan to move the air around. I have cleaned and cleaned the unit as well.

I am 85% sure I am not finding the right pellets either. I found some empire pellets towards the end of winter ( they deliver to me) that seem to give a little more heat but, I don't have many choices around here since I have no way to transport them.

Here are my choices that I found last year:

Instant heat = junk
pa pellets = junk ( I use these as starters)
walmart brand (can't remember name) = lots of build up
empire = better than the rest
energex (something like that ) from my stove dealer= ok I guess but I can only get about 20 bags in my van and it is a 40 minute trip one way..

 

[woodsman23]

Look to TSC for a brand called Lignetics or dry creek they are both solid pellets for burning. Dry Creek are made in arcade ny i am not sure where cortland is but tractor supply carries lignetics they are by far the best i have used.

 

[nailed_nailer]

I had a similar problem with the burn pot liner on my Enviro EF-2.

The front of the pot liner was badly warped. My initial solution was to buy a new one. Once I had that in hand I got out the hammer and anvil and straightened the old one out. Now it looks almost as good as the new one.

BTW: If your burn pot liner won't sit flat in your burn pot it will allow an air leak in the burn pot. Instead of pulling the combustion air up through the air holes and the fuel in the liner it will leak by. This may be part of your lack of heat problem.

Also, You should do a complete cleaning of the unit. I pulled mine outside last weekend and took off all the steel I could. Using the vacuum and compressed air I removed lots of ash. I even figured out why the damper rod never did anything on my stove. Previous owner had the combustion air blower housing assembly too tight to the firebox. The damper slides between the two. Now it works great. A complete cleaning requires you to pull off the blowers, clean the impellers, and lubricate where necessary.

Now if I can find a 3" vent brush and about 4 tons of premium pellets I'll be ready for the heating season.

Good Luck,
---Nailer---

 

[newpelletstove]

Here are my choices that I found last year:

Instant heat = junk
pa pellets = junk ( I use these as starters)
walmart brand (can't remember name) = lots of build up
empire = better than the rest
energex (something like that ) from my stove dealer= ok I guess but I can only get about 20 bags in my van and it is a 40 minute trip one way..

Chris, I have good luck with Energex. I have 6 tons of them in my basement right now waiting to keep me warm this upcoming season. They feed well, burn clean (no visible emissions out my pipe), not much ash, stove runs reliably/stays lit. I paid to have them delivered to my basement door.

I had the same problem you did with pellets from Walmart. Lots of ash and the stove went out at times !! I can't tolerate that.

 

[imacman]

Chris, I have good luck with Energex. I have 6 tons of them in my basement right now waiting to keep me warm this upcoming season.

Glad to hear that...I have an "insurance" ton of Energex coming from Tractor Supply in Sept in case my initial 4 tons of NEWP and Lignetics isn't enough.....this is my first winter w/ a pellet stove, so I wanted to be sure I had enough.

 

[chrisasst]

Well last year I went through a ton of pellets per month....currently I have 1 ton and can't seem to find anymore around here yet..I am getting a little nervous I must say.


I also forgot to say that I put a thermometer about 12" away from the blower and the highest it got was 120-125 degrees.

 

[tubbster]

i assume the blower for room air is blowing?

yes, it is on high. I also use a regular fan to move the air around. I have cleaned and cleaned the unit as well.

I am 85% sure I am not finding the right pellets either. I found some empire pellets towards the end of winter ( they deliver to me) that seem to give a little more heat but, I don't have many choices around here since I have no way to transport them.

Here are my choices that I found last year:

Instant heat = junk
pa pellets = junk ( I use these as starters)
walmart brand (can't remember name) = lots of build up
empire = better than the rest
energex (something like that ) from my stove dealer= ok I guess but I can only get about 20 bags in my van and it is a 40 minute trip one way..

Dangnabit!

I just paid for 2 ton of the pa pellets!
Why are they junk?

 

[newpelletstove]

Well last year I went through a ton of pellets per month....currently I have 1 ton and can't seem to find anymore around here yet..I am getting a little nervous I must say.

Sorry to hear that Chris - I hope you can find some.

 

[R&D Guy]

Agreed, doesn't look to bad to me either although I'm surprised it's not made of stainless steel. If you bought a new one, it would likely look like that after a year being made of plain carbon steel. Until it gets holes in it that weren't there before it should work fine.

Make sure the warped pot isn't allowing combustion air to escape around the pot. That could hurt your efficiency too.

 

[hearthtools]

I had a similar problem with the burn pot liner on my Enviro EF-2.

The front of the pot liner was badly warped. My initial solution was to buy a new one. Once I had that in hand I got out the hammer and anvil and straightened the old one out. Now it looks almost as good as the new one.

BTW: If your burn pot liner won't sit flat in your burn pot it will allow an air leak in the burn pot. Instead of pulling the combustion air up through the air holes and the fuel in the liner it will leak by. This may be part of your lack of heat problem.

Also, You should do a complete cleaning of the unit. I pulled mine outside last weekend and took off all the steel I could. Using the vacuum and compressed air I removed lots of ash. I even figured out why the damper rod never did anything on my stove. Previous owner had the combustion air blower housing assembly too tight to the firebox. The damper slides between the two. Now it works great. A complete cleaning requires you to pull off the blowers, clean the impellers, and lubricate where necessary.

Now if I can find a 3" vent brush and about 4 tons of premium pellets I'll be ready for the heating season.

Good Luck,
---Nailer---

It is normal for burn pot liner to bend or deform. Most of the heat is located i the liner.
this is a good thing new stoves have liners. Old stove you would need to replace the whole pot and OFTEN
Most Manufactures are making them out of much better stainless and or like breckwell changing to Cast iron.

the new burn pots for the enviro are much thicker stainless and a better grade.
the older thiner pot you could bend back by hand or steping on it. the new ones you would need much more of an atidude adjustment if it bent.

 

[chrisasst]

ok,
here is an update on my burn pot. I used a rotary sander to clean it up. it is still curved on the sides. I don't think the curves are effecting it any after closely looking but I could be wrong..
I just hope I didn't affect it more by sanding the stuff off. Should I paint it or should it be ok you think?
It still is not the cleanest looking thing but better than it was....

 

[lecomte38]

Looks like the new one. - forget the paint - it would burn off the first firing.

 

[imacman]

It looks fine. As mentioned before, the most important thing is that the bottom sits in the holder correctly, and there isn't any major gap so all the air blows up through the pot, not up the outside. Otherwise, I'd use it as is.

 

[chrisasst]

It looks fine. As mentioned before, the most important thing is that the bottom sits in the holder correctly, and there isn't any major gap so all the air blows up through the pot, not up the outside. Otherwise, I'd use it as is.

I'm not sure how it is supposed to sit in there actually.....
these pictures shows it sitting in the holder. There is a thing that looks like this [ that goes around it but that is not tight fitting...

 

[imacman]

There is a thing that looks like this [ that goes around it but that is not tight fitting...

I am not familiar w/ your stove, but it looks like something has to go inside the burn pot to keep the pellets from falling through.....do you have a pic of the "thing that looks like this [ that goes around it but that is not tight" ?

 

[chrisasst]

I am not familiar w/ your stove, but it looks like something has to go inside the burn pot to keep the pellets from falling through.....do you have a pic of the "thing that looks like this [ that goes around it but that is not tight" ?

thanks for the help...
I don't think anyone is familiar with my stove. I think I am the only stupid one...
here are some more pics...the first one is the [....the second one is the 3 pieces put together...and the third is inside my stove where the unit sits.

 

[JPapiPE]

Speaking as a metal structural engineer...I think that if this piece has been warped by heat (slowly) it can be bent back at least one time, further bends will most certainly fatigue the metal and make it weaker and possibly snap it. Perhaps your best bet is to bring it to a sheet metal shop with a large powerful brake ( essentially a mega vise) and have it closed up to specs. Make sure you know what to tell these brakemen, i.e., what the dimensions should be. Sounds like a 5 minute job in a sheet metal shop