Castel Serenity. Inconsistent pellet ignition?

[Deezl Smoke]

Hi all. New to the forum. I'm in western Oregon, near Hillsboro.

I have 2 Castle Serenity stoves. I have run a couple hundred pounds thru each so far. I dont know which manufacturer makes the pellets for Coastal farm and ranch, but the bag is a Coastal Premium label. They seem to be a good pellet as far as burn and cleanly, tight pellets. Maybe a table spoon of fines per bag.

The issue I am having, and because it happens in both stoves, I believe it to be either an adjustment or a pellet issue, is that the pellets "appear" to lodge in the pot every now and then, and keep them just a bit too far away from the igniter's reach.

The auger seems to be such that it does not grind up the pellets much, which I like. But some of the longer pellets maybe doing the bridging. Has anyone else had this happen? How might I address the issue? I have not noticed a way to adjust the igniter closer to the pot, but maybe I am not seeing it. Am I on the right track then, since it is inconsistent, that the pellets may be the issue?

Thanks for any help.
Don.

 

[rich2500]

Since it's happening with both stoves it seems like a pellet issue but I would think that they should eventually light as the pot fills..I personally have never had a misfire in the 2 years with my serenity.how is your draft gate set If it's all the way open maybe it's pulling to much air and not allowing the igniter to get the air hot enough to start the fire when pellets do bridge.might be worth a call to tech support and see if the igniter can be adjusted.

 

[Peterfield]

Throw a couple of handfuls of pellets into the burnout before you start it. I have a Harman but the installer recommended this procedure to help with pellet ignition.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Since it's happening with both stoves it seems like a pellet issue but I would think that they should eventually light as the pot fills..I personally have never had a misfire in the 2 years with my serenity.how is your draft gate set If it's all the way open maybe it's pulling to much air and not allowing the igniter to get the air hot enough to start the fire when pellets do bridge.might be worth a call to tech support and see if the igniter can be adjusted.

Unfortunately, as you know, there is no numerical measure system on the combustion gate. However, I have them what I would describe as 70% open. Perhaps this is too much? I had not thought about the gate settings as being related to the ignition, but now that you mention it,.......

I have only had one actual "misfire". The stove timed out before ignition and went into shut down mode. At that point I pulled the pot and noticed only a small bit of charred pellets at the igniter location. I emptied them into a container for use in my shop wood stove, so as not to risk issues with putting them back into the pellet hopper. I tried start up again, and was successful.

A couple times now, just before time out, the fire box fills with smoke and finally a couple sparks fly. Once the spark is big enough, the smoke ignites and is almost an explosion, but because the volume is low enough and the stove strong enough, it is not to worry. However, at that time, the pot is near full of pellets and it gets hot for a few minutes. This morning, this happened after putting a hand full of broken up pellets into the burn pot, and while watching the chimney outside, a couple embers made their way to the outside. This is not good, but only happens if the ignition at start up is faulty.

Perhaps I will do some fine tuning on the combustion gate and see if I have it too far open.
Thank you.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Throw a couple of handfuls of pellets into the burnout before you start it. I an be a Harman but the installer recommended this procedure to help with pellet ignition.

I did try that, last night in the north stove, and this morning in the south stove. Last night start up was successful, but this morning it nearly timed out before ignition, and ignition was not proper but did occur in time. I crumbled the longer pellets before putting them into the pot.

Thank you.

 

[Marina1327]

Unfortunately, as you know, there is no numerical measure system on the combustion gate. However, I have them what I would describe as 70% open. Perhaps this is too much? I had not thought about the gate settings as being related to the ignition, but now that you mention it,.......

I have only had one actual "misfire". The stove timed out before ignition and went into shut down mode. At that point I pulled the pot and noticed only a small bit of charred pellets at the igniter location. I emptied them into a container for use in my shop wood stove, so as not to risk issues with putting them back into the pellet hopper. I tried start up again, and was successful.

A couple times now, just before time out, the fire box fills with smoke and finally a couple sparks fly. Once the spark is big enough, the smoke ignites and is almost an explosion, but because the volume is low enough and the stove strong enough, it is not to worry. However, at that time, the pot is near full of pellets and it gets hot for a few minutes. This morning, this happened after putting a hand full of broken up pellets into the burn pot, and while watching the chimney outside, a couple embers made their way to the outside. This is not good, but only happens if the ignition at start up is faulty.

Perhaps I will do some fine tuning on the combustion gate and see if I have it too far open.
Thank you.

I have experienced the explosion you mentioned...twice with my Serenity. What I found causes it, is if the burnpot is not free of debris and there are ashes underneath and around the ignitor. I always vacuum underneath the pot and then turn the stove on....if the burn pot gets too filled before it ignites that causes too much smoke and the explosion...I would make sure the burnpot is completely empty first. Since I have been following this procedure I have not had any issues with igniting.

 

[Marina1327]

PS. As Rich mentioned, I would check the draft....my gate is only about 30 percent open

 

[Peterfield]

I did try that, last night in the north stove, and this morning in the south stove. Last night start up was successful, but this morning it nearly timed out before ignition, and ignition was not proper but did occur in time. I crumbled the longer pellets before putting them into the pot.

Thank you.

Glad it helped some.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

I have experienced the explosion you mentioned...twice with my Serenity. What I found causes it, is if the burnpot is not free of debris and there are ashes underneath and around the ignitor. I always vacuum underneath the pot and then turn the stove on....if the burn pot gets too filled before it ignites that causes too much smoke and the explosion...I would make sure the burnpot is completely empty first. Since I have been following this procedure I have not had any issues with igniting.

Thanks. I just cleaned the south stove this morning and did find a bit more fly ash under the pot than I expected. I vacuumed the whole thing including under the ash box. Made extra sure the igniter port was clean and no deposits. Cleaned the glass and fired it up. No issues this time. Very clean ignition with minimal smoke.

Your description sounds just like my issue. So I think we'll get this solved. Thank you.

Oh, and while the burn pot was out for cleaning, I noted that the combustion gate is closer to 50% than 70. But being a rounded gate covering a round hole, it is deceiving.

 

[Marina1327]

Thanks. I just cleaned the south stove this morning and did find a bit more fly ash under the pot than I expected. I vacuumed the whole thing including under the ash box. Made extra sure the igniter port was clean and no deposits. Cleaned the glass and fired it up. No issues this time. Very clean ignition with minimal smoke.

Your description sounds just like my issue. So I think we'll get this solved. Thank you.

Oh, and while the burn pot was out for cleaning, I noted that the combustion gate is closer to 50% than 70. But being a rounded gate covering a round hole, it is deceiving.

Hope it helped. It takes a little doing to get to know the stove but it really keeps the house warm. I vacuum under the ash pan every 3 or 4 days to keep it clean. The burn pot I vacuum under probably every 2 days unless I have shut the stove on and off repeatedly during the course of a day due to outside tempatures...then I would probably vacuum under it. The main thing I do is empty the burn pot before any ignition...so even if I have had the stove on for 2 hours and I shut it off...I check the burn pot for any ashes. Especially if you are using pellets that are not burning that great. I noticed a big difference between the two brands of pellets I have used so far. Will be testing out a 3rd brand this month.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Hope it helped. It takes a little doing to get to know the stove but it really keeps the house warm. I vacuum under the ash pan every 3 or 4 days to keep it clean. The burn pot I vacuum under probably every 2 days unless I have shut the stove on and off repeatedly during the course of a day due to outside tempatures...then I would probably vacuum under it. The main thing I do is empty the burn pot before any ignition...so even if I have had the stove on for 2 hours and I shut it off...I check the burn pot for any ashes. Especially if you are using pellets that are not burning that great. I noticed a big difference between the two brands of pellets I have used so far. Will be testing out a 3rd brand this month.

Awesome. Sounds very similar to what I am learning to do. I have been checking the burn pot at each start up as, if I had run the whole hopper down before shut down, there is some ash at the bottom covering a couple holes, but it almost seems like moist ash as it takes a dull scraper to loosen them before the vacuum will clean them up.

So far I have only found one local pellet that puts the pertinent info on the bag like moisture content and ash content etc. But of the brands I have tried so far, there is little difference in my stoves. Seems like a very forgiving stove that can use most pellets. But I have not put enough thru them yet to actually draw that conclusion. It just seems that way so far.