Castle Serenity - Comments & Question

[NoAsh-Man]

I installed a Castle Serenity about a month ago and have used it almost daily, at least for a couple hours each day. My wife and I love the stove. Our last stove was in Maine about 8 years ago and was a much larger, less adjustable Englander pellet stove. It served us well. Now in Virginia with a 2350sq.ft. antique home, we wanted a smaller stove to use as supplemental heat. We're heating about 1000sq.ft., sometimes closer
to 1700 (no insulation in the walls yet) if we let the heat rise to the second floor, running the Serenity on 1, occasionally 2.
The stove starts easily every time and heats up quick, but sometimes even on 1 I have a lot of popcorn pellets bouncing out of the burn pot. After about 5 minutes things settle down and the stove burns great (using Lignetics pellets). Once in a while however, after burning for a couple or few hours, I've noticed the flame burning very yellow and slower, blackening the glass, but my concern is the burn pot will be close to full with pellets. The flame when it's like this is to the top of the chamber sometimes. Is this all normal operation? I considered adjusting my air inlet (it's at 1/2) or my exhaust speed, but it seems to me there's too much airflow at startup and not enough airflow sometimes after burning for a while. I've not had the stove overheat, yet it puts out good hot air, so maybe I shouldn't be concerned?
I've been reading the Castle Serenity forums for a bit now so decided to add my 2 cents and also see if my stove is burning normal or I should try some adjustments. Any and all suggestions/comments appreciated.
Overall my wife and I are very pleased with the stove and the amount of heat it puts out.

 

[mikkeeh]

Try closing the air damper some...and increase the exhaust stalls. Make sure to keep the exhaust, and the fan voltage within 10v in each stall. I’ve found these stoves ar3 sensitive, and can require a lot of tinkering. To that end I made an adjustment for so I can change the air damper without removing the side panel.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

I'm no electronic wizard that understands how all the control circuit pieces work. But during start up, the only fan running is the burn fan. The room fan is not running yet. Once the burn chamber reaches a certain temp, or time pass, the room blower starts at which point the burn fan seems to go into the programmed speed as you set in the control panel. It appears to me, that the burn fan has a start speed that is preset and not attached to the user adjustments in the control panel.
So, at start up, you will get a fair amount of pellets blow out of the burn pot. Once the room fan starts, the burn fan slows and pellets set long enough to burn fully. However, your description tells me that you are not getting enough air to burn the pellets fully, so the pellets will start to build in the burn pot and the flame will go lazy. This is not normal or good. You want a good active and near straight up flame with just a small clump of pellets in the pot. I would speed up the exhaust blower on setting 1 to experiment.

I've been able to basically set my stove up for the pellets I burn and not touch the settings from there. That said, the fire in these lesser cost stoves, will go up and down a bit as fuel is fed into the pot to meet temp setting etc.

 

[mikkeeh]

I'm no electronic wizard that understands how all the control circuit pieces work. But during start up, the only fan running is the burn fan. The room fan is not running yet. Once the burn chamber reaches a certain temp, or time pass, the room blower starts at which point the burn fan seems to go into the programmed speed as you set in the control panel. It appears to me, that the burn fan has a start speed that is preset and not attached to the user adjustments in the control panel.
So, at start up, you will get a fair amount of pellets blow out of the burn pot. Once the room fan starts, the burn fan slows and pellets set long enough to burn fully. However, your description tells me that you are not getting enough air to burn the pellets fully, so the pellets will start to build in the burn pot and the flame will go lazy. This is not normal or good. You want a good active and near straight up flame with just a small clump of pellets in the pot. I would speed up the exhaust blower on setting 1 to experiment.

I've been able to basically set my stove up for the pellets I burn and not touch the settings from there. That said, the fire in these lesser cost stoves, will go up and down a bit as fuel is fed into the pot to meet temp setting etc.

Is the fan speed at startup, different than the exhaust fan setting later in the burn?

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Is the fan speed at startup, different than the exhaust fan setting later in the burn?

That's how it appears. Again, I do not know about the setup of the control panel mechanics. But when I hit start, the exhaust fan appears to be at a much higher speed than it runs at during the burn once the room fan starts. Glowing pellets are jumping around and out of the burn pot right up till the room fan starts.

 

[NoAsh-Man]

Is the fan speed at startup, different than the exhaust fan setting later in the burn?

Based on what Deezl has stated and other threads I've read this makes sense. Until the room blower comes on the exhaust blower is pre-set at a certain speed. My guess is that this is to help ignite the pellets and establish a hot fire, then when the room blower comes on the exhaust speed adjusts based on the selected burn rate of 1 - 5. With a burn rate of 1 or 2 selected the exhaust blower likely slows down, thus allowing a slower burn rate. Again, as Deezl has stated, if the air flow through the burn pot is insufficient, the pellets will build up, causing a lazy, dirty fire and eventually I'd guess an overflowing burn pot.
I'll try adjusting my exhaust voltage a step up on setting 1 and see what happens. Most of the time, like tonight, the stove is burning like a charm with little residue in the burn pot and a smaller but active and hot flame. Although I have run the stove overnight on a couple occasions, the few instances of a full burn pot and lazy flame did have me a little concerned, so normally I turn it off before going to bed. Hopefully increasing the stall speed will eliminate the issue altogether.
Thanks to both of you for the feedback!

 

[NoAsh-Man]

That's how it appears. Again, I do not know about the setup of the control panel mechanics. But when I hit start, the exhaust fan appears to be at a much higher speed than it runs at during the burn once the room fan starts. Glowing pellets are jumping around and out of the burn pot right up till the room fan starts.

I never put 2 and 2 together, but you're right, my stove does likewise. I listened when I started it this evening and as soon as the room blower came on the exhaust speed decreased.