Castle Serenity - lots of ash

[mudeprived]

I figured I'd post this in here since it's related to dialing in the stove.

I fired mine up and got a huge flame rather quickly. The flame was hitting the top of the stove and going towards the sides. I think this is too much flame. So should I dial down the blower/exhaust settings or is this air intake related? I am using default settings and air intake is closed as far as the screw will allow it (about 1/3).

I feel stupid posting alot questions but I'm a total noob at this stuff.

 

[alternativeheat]

I figured I'd post this in here since it's related to dialing in the stove.

I fired mine up and got a huge flame rather quickly. The flame was hitting the top of the stove and going towards the sides. I think this is too much flame. So should I dial down the blower/exhaust settings or is this air intake related? I am using default settings and air intake is closed as far as the screw will allow it (about 1/3).

I feel stupid posting alot questions but I'm a total noob at this stuff.

I'll let the folks who actually own and run these stoves answer regarding the specific setting details. But on start up a lot of stoves have a large flame initially as they burn off the initial load of pellets delivered during the starting phase ( my Harman does that). The key is if the flame settled down after a few minutes or not. If not, then you need to adjust something.

Asking stupid questions is what this place is about or why have it ? If we were all experts coming into this, we wouldn't need the forum ! Oh someone might get razzed over something they should know better but we just roll with it around here. In due time you too will be able to answer someone's questions who is new here. We are very used to it. I just don't know that stove all that well myself but am a quick learn over things mechanical. I asked questions here before I ever bought a pellet stove and it helped a lot in my choice. So welcome, have a seat by the fire and ask away !

 

[mudeprived]

I'll let the folks who actually own and run these stoves answer regarding the specific setting details. But on start up a lot of stoves have a large flame initially as they burn off the initial load of pellets delivered during the starting phase ( my Harman does that). The key is if the flame settled down after a few minutes or not. If not, then you need to adjust something.

Asking stupid questions is what this place is about or why have it ? If we were all experts coming into this, we wouldn't need the forum ! Oh someone might get razzed over something they should know better but we just roll with it around here. In due time you too will be able to answer someone's questions who is new here. We are very used to it. I just don't know that stove all that well myself but am a quick learn over things mechanical. I asked questions here before I ever bought a pellet stove and it helped a lot in my choice. So welcome, have a seat by the fire and ask away !

Thank you for your kind reply. I'm going to see how it does after burning for a while.

My living room got really toasty in the short time I ran it. It's a very effective stove!

 

[mrbeal]

mrbeal, how are those FSU doing ?

Playing with the stove now... I opened up the damper a tiny bit, the flame was a little low for my taste and it's now big and beautiful. As for ash, I'm sure it'll get a bit hot in here soon so I'll shut it down and look at the amount of ash. I'll report later tonight or tomorrow.

 

[mrbeal]

Thank you for your kind reply. I'm going to see how it does after burning for a while.

My living room got really toasty in the short time I ran it. It's a very effective stove!

When mine first star

I figured I'd post this in here since it's related to dialing in the stove.

I fired mine up and got a huge flame rather quickly. The flame was hitting the top of the stove and going towards the sides. I think this is too much flame. So should I dial down the blower/exhaust settings or is this air intake related? I am using default settings and air intake is closed as far as the screw will allow it (about 1/3).

I feel stupid posting alot questions but I'm a total noob at this stuff.

When mine first starts up the flame is HUGE while heating everything up and then settles down. I'd have to say it's normal for this stove.
Keep playing, it's taken me 3 weeks to "fine tune" my stove... I need to take a look later on but, for now, my advice is to keep an eye on buildup in your burnpot. I'm using a different pellet and am curious about ash and buildup.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

A fair amount of pellets will drop into the burn pot before they ignite. Once they ignite, yes, the flame will go big and hot until that large pot full of pellets burn up and the metered amount that coincides with the heat settings will then determine how many pellets are in the pot at any time. Default settings should be changed to meet your needs. But to do so, you really should have the stove warmed up and run for about 30 minutes. Then you can go into the controller and make changes, let run for 30 minutes and see how the changes work out.

 

[alternativeheat]

When mine first star



When mine first starts up the flame is HUGE while heating everything up and then settles down. I'd have to say it's normal for this stove.
Keep playing, it's taken me 3 weeks to "fine tune" my stove... I need to take a look later on but, for now, my advice is to keep an eye on buildup in your burnpot. I'm using a different pellet and am curious about ash and buildup.

Most pellets from TSC have burned more ashy in my P61 than FSU. Some worse than others. The Maine Woods blends are similar and the pure White Pines they had two years ago were hot and almost no ash at all by comparison to even FSU. But they just had those for part of that one year. This is why I say that FSU are good example of mid road pellets. I'd definitely take four tons of them for heat even in a severe winter.

 

[mudeprived]

A fair amount of pellets will drop into the burn pot before they ignite. Once they ignite, yes, the flame will go big and hot until that large pot full of pellets burn up and the metered amount that coincides with the heat settings will then determine how many pellets are in the pot at any time. Default settings should be changed to meet your needs. But to do so, you really should have the stove warmed up and run for about 30 minutes. Then you can go into the controller and make changes, let run for 30 minutes and see how the changes work out.

Thanks. The fire died down a bit and flares up as pellets drop in. I guess it's good.

I did notice smoke in the back upon start up. The Duravent pipe is leaking out of every possible section that I did not tape even the side connection on the 1 foot section. It only leaks when I start it up and I think once the draft is created then it stops. Is there a foil tape that I can use to completely wrap the pipe with? I did tape the joints with high silicone tape but that stuff is $6 for a small roll and would cost alot of money to tape up the entire pipe.

 

[mrbeal]

Most pellets from TSC have burned more ashy in my P61 than FSU. Some worse than others. The Maine Woods blends are similar and the pure White Pines they had two years ago were hot and almost no ash at all by comparison to even FSU. But they just had those for part of that one year. This is why I say that FSU are good example of mid road pellets. I'd definitely take four tons of them for heat even in a severe winter.

I "had" to shut down because it was warm in here so I checked things out. There is very little ash in the ash hole and the burnpot was all gunked up again. I'm wondering if I need to worry about the gunk at all... some of the holes were still open and I'm betting that the gunk would just burn up with the new burn cycle starting. The stove is getting ready to start up again, I'mm try to take a picture for mudeprived to show what mine looks like right after ignition.

mudeprived - you need to better seal your venting, tape up every connection and I bet you're all set. I have to admit this stove is frustrating at first (I assume most are as well) but seems easy to dial in once you understand what each setting is/does. FWIW, the EXHAUST fan speed is what I needed to adjust to fix my sparks/embers coming out the exhaust problem. To get my stove dialed in I just needed to do adjustments on the damper. I've gone from lots of ash (could be pellet brand related or not) to a small amount of ash on both Tractor Supply AND Home Depot FSU pellets (both about $5.12/bag) to a small amount of ash and WHITE ash on the back side of the burn chamber (was brown before dialing it in). Photo's in my next post.....

 

[alternativeheat]

Thanks. The fire died down a bit and flares up as pellets drop in. I guess it's good.

I did notice smoke in the back upon start up. The Duravent pipe is leaking out of every possible section that I did not tape even the side connection on the 1 foot section. It only leaks when I start it up and I think once the draft is created then it stops. Is there a foil tape that I can use to completely wrap the pipe with? I did tape the joints with high silicone tape but that stuff is $6 for a small roll and would cost alot of money to tape up the entire pipe.

Yes pellet stoves smoke on start up, that's normal. You need to seal Duravent, the standard grade in that brand is not self sealing. I sealed most of my joints with red RTV on assembly and still had some leaks in the clean out T ( which is my fireplace), so the T seams I sealed with RTV and the clean out cap with just some 200 deg duct tape. Then I had a leak at the stove connector joint and I just RTVd over it. As you said, "every possible joint". But I had some 400 deg black RTV and much of the exterior sealing I did with that. But where I sealed the internal joint on assembly it did not leak the first year, it was the second year and not the connector joints so much as the pre assemblies themselves leaking, like the rived T joints for instance and in the warmer weather when draft is a little lower.

Any of the double wall exterior surfaces of the vent will never see 200 deg unless there is a problem. Everyone uses silicone tape mostly but RTV still works too, just tougher to take apart.

 

[mudeprived]

I "had" to shut down because it was warm in here so I checked things out. There is very little ash in the ash hole and the burnpot was all gunked up again. I'm wondering if I need to worry about the gunk at all... some of the holes were still open and I'm betting that the gunk would just burn up with the new burn cycle starting. The stove is getting ready to start up again, I'mm try to take a picture for mudeprived to show what mine looks like right after ignition.

mudeprived - you need to better seal your venting, tape up every connection and I bet you're all set. I have to admit this stove is frustrating at first (I assume most are as well) but seems easy to dial in once you understand what each setting is/does. FWIW, the EXHAUST fan speed is what I needed to adjust to fix my sparks/embers coming out the exhaust problem. To get my stove dialed in I just needed to do adjustments on the damper. I've gone from lots of ash (could be pellet brand related or not) to a small amount of ash on both Tractor Supply AND Home Depot FSU pellets (both about $5.12/bag) to a small amount of ash and WHITE ash on the back side of the burn chamber (was brown before dialing it in). Photo's in my next post.....

Photos apprecaited!

This is how I have it taped up now:



I can't use that tape on the vertical crimps because you need to wrap it onto itself in order for it to stick and I'd need a ton of rolls to cover all that.

 

[mrbeal]

#1 white ash on back of stove (burning HOT!)
#2 ignition
#3about 1:15 after ignition
#4-9 the next minute or so of the burn

after a few minutes the flames start to fluctuate from low to high and back to low and so on... seems to be pretty normal. BIG things to notice are the exhaust outside - there really shouldn't be any sparks coming out and the amount of ash you get in your ash hole. I believe that, with this stove, you can dial in the cheaper pellets to burn with minimal ash (I'm assuming that the TS pellets I have are considered "cheaper") and have an efficient heat source. Most important for mudeprived right now is sealing up those joints!

 

[mrbeal]

Y

Any of the double wall exterior surfaces of the vent will never see 200 deg unless there is a problem. Everyone uses silicone tape mostly but RTV still works too, just tougher to take apart.

I've been monitoring my pipe, I haven't seen over 105 degrees yet.

 

[mudeprived]

#1 white ash on back of stove (burning HOT!)
#2 ignition
#3about 1:15 after ignition
#4-9 the next minute or so of the burn

after a few minutes the flames start to fluctuate from low to high and back to low and so on... seems to be pretty normal. BIG things to notice are the exhaust outside - there really shouldn't be any sparks coming out and the amount of ash you get in your ash hole. I believe that, with this stove, you can dial in the cheaper pellets to burn with minimal ash (I'm assuming that the TS pellets I have are considered "cheaper") and have an efficient heat source. Most important for mudeprived right now is sealing up those joints!

Thanks for the pictures. That's about the same as what I'm seeing. I have no sparks coming out of my vent so I'm good there.

I do have one issue...it's HOT. I have it on setting 1 and I'm approaching 82 degrees in the living room. It's slow in spreading through the house. I'm reading 68 in the kitchen which is right next door to the living room (divided by a wall and 3 foot opening). I'm about to turn it off so I can go back in there.

 

[mudeprived]

Yes pellet stoves smoke on start up, that's normal. You need to seal Duravent, the standard grade in that brand is not self sealing. I sealed most of my joints with red RTV on assembly and still had some leaks in the clean out T ( which is my fireplace), so the T seams I sealed with RTV and the clean out cap with just some 200 deg duct tape. Then I had a leak at the stove connector joint and I just RTVd over it. As you said, "every possible joint". But I had some 400 deg black RTV and much of the exterior sealing I did with that. But where I sealed the internal joint on assembly it did not leak the first year, it was the second year and not the connector joints so much as the pre assemblies themselves leaking, like the rived T joints for instance and in the warmer weather when draft is a little lower.

Any of the double wall exterior surfaces of the vent will never see 200 deg unless there is a problem. Everyone uses silicone tape mostly but RTV still works too, just tougher to take apart.

I need a temp gun to see what temps are like on my pipe before I choose my type of tape. Most of the foil tapes I find locally are rated for 200 degrees.

 

[alternativeheat]

Thanks for the pictures. That's about the same as what I'm seeing. I have no sparks coming out of my vent so I'm good there.

I do have one issue...it's HOT. I have it on setting 1 and I'm approaching 82 degrees in the living room. It's slow in spreading through the house. I'm reading 68 in the kitchen which is right next door to the living room (divided by a wall and 3 foot opening). I'm about to turn it off so I can go back in there.

r

I need a temp gun to see what temps are like on my pipe before I choose my type of tape. Most of the foil tapes I find locally are rated for 200 degrees.

My double wall Duravent pipe never gets hotter than just a bit uncomfortable to the touch, you wouldn't want to keep your hand on it but it won't sizzle either. With the exception of the single wall liner where it connects to the top of the T and runs up through the smoke shelf but that is fully sealed with red RTV. You're not touching that on a good hot burn.

 

[mrbeal]

Thanks for the pictures. That's about the same as what I'm seeing. I have no sparks coming out of my vent so I'm good there.

I do have one issue...it's HOT. I have it on setting 1 and I'm approaching 82 degrees in the living room. It's slow in spreading through the house. I'm reading 68 in the kitchen which is right next door to the living room (divided by a wall and 3 foot opening). I'm about to turn it off so I can go back in there.

Suck it up buttercup, it's a stove. I have fans to try to push the heat down the hall to the bedrooms and they work "ok". This isn't as good as I thought it was going to be but it'll work for the winter. I have electric space heaters I can use if necessary but, so far, I'm hot sleeping in my room at the other end of the house with nighttime temps in the high 30's - low 40's. Propane is WAY too expensive to even think of going back to it. It'd be cheaper to get another stove for the other end of the house and heat that way IMHO. So far I LOVE this thing!! There's a learning curve but it's pretty simple now that I've asked questions here and gotten really EXCELLENT responses!

 

[alternativeheat]

Suck it up buttercup, it's a stove. I have fans to try to push the heat down the hall to the bedrooms and they work "ok". This isn't as good as I thought it was going to be but it'll work for the winter. I have electric space heaters I can use if necessary but, so far, I'm hot sleeping in my room at the other end of the house with nighttime temps in the high 30's - low 40's. Propane is WAY too expensive to even think of going back to it. It'd be cheaper to get another stove for the other end of the house and heat that way IMHO. So far I LOVE this thing!! There's a learning curve but it's pretty simple now that I've asked questions here and gotten really EXCELLENT responses!

You can't really judge the output of a stove and how it will heat your house till it gets cold out.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Suck it up buttercup, it's a stove. I have fans to try to push the heat down the hall to the bedrooms and they work "ok". This isn't as good as I thought it was going to be but it'll work for the winter. I have electric space heaters I can use if necessary but, so far, I'm hot sleeping in my room at the other end of the house with nighttime temps in the high 30's - low 40's. Propane is WAY too expensive to even think of going back to it. It'd be cheaper to get another stove for the other end of the house and heat that way IMHO. So far I LOVE this thing!! There's a learning curve but it's pretty simple now that I've asked questions here and gotten really EXCELLENT responses!

Enter my world. I have a hall way right down the middle of the house. I have a serenity at each end of the hall. Mornings and evenings I am in the south end which is living room and kitchen. Night time I'm in the bedroom at the north. Which stove I run depends upon which end of the house I'm in. I never run both at the same time as that would cook me to well done in an hour, no matter the weather outside. One stove running only burns one stove worth of pellets.
At the price of these serenitys, I can buy 4 for the price of one fancy stove. But my house is not fancy, nor am I a fancy sort. My house serves a function for me, not a fashion statement. Having had my two stove system for over a year now, I would'nt have it any other way. My mind is at ease knowing that if we do get a cold snap with wind, even if one stove broke down, I still have heat. And it is the kind of heat that I like. I can run my stoves with solar if I choose, and certainly can run them with those small ultra quiet Honda inverter generators on eco mode.

 

[mrbeal]

You can't really judge the output of a stove and how it will heat your house till it gets cold out.

I agree to a point... we have a place on a pond - no insulation at all - and in the coldest of winters it's too hot for a long sleeve t-shirt on the coldest of days in there. 1 wood stove and 1 fireplace. You go through a LOT of wood but it is HOT! Come winter I'm pretty sure I'm going to need an extra heater in the far bedroom (mine) but I'd bet the rest of the house is comfortable... we shall see.

 

[alternativeheat]

and certainly can run them with those small ultra quiet Honda inverter generators on eco mode.

You could probably run them both on one generator if you lit the stoves manually.

I have a generator, it does about half-2/3 of the house including the oil boiler. So when we lose power I burn some oil, no big deal.

 

[rich2500]

Wow I go out to eat for dinner and come back to find mrbeal coaching mude on his stove,that's awesome.Hang in there mude you too will soon have your stove mastered.The Serenity likes to throw heat you will just have to play around with some fans and see if you can get the heat spread through the house.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

I agree to a point... we have a place on a pond - no insulation at all - and in the coldest of winters it's too hot for a long sleeve t-shirt on the coldest of days in there. 1 wood stove and 1 fireplace. You go through a LOT of wood but it is HOT! Come winter I'm pretty sure I'm going to need an extra heater in the far bedroom (mine) but I'd bet the rest of the house is comfortable... we shall see.

Remember you can up the voltage on the room fan. That will blow the heat further into the house and pull the heat off of the stove quicker. By pulling the heat off quicker, the area directly about the stove will cool some and the heat will be pushed further away into the house.

 

[Lake Girl]

Suck it up buttercup, it's a stove. I have fans to try to push the heat down the hall to the bedrooms and they work "ok". This isn't as good as I thought it was going to be but it'll work for the winter. I have electric space heaters I can use if necessary but, so far, I'm hot sleeping in my room at the other end of the house with nighttime temps in the high 30's - low 40's. Propane is WAY too expensive to even think of going back to it. It'd be cheaper to get another stove for the other end of the house and heat that way IMHO. So far I LOVE this thing!! There's a learning curve but it's pretty simple now that I've asked questions here and gotten really EXCELLENT responses!

You will find it more effective to place fans at floor level directed toward the stove room. The cooler air will get pulled into the stove, warmed over the heat exchangers, and pushed back down the hall. Encourages the convection loop...

 

[Nvnv]

I've been monitoring my pipe, I haven't seen over 105 degrees yet.

The pipe on my serenity is much hotter than 105 inside before it goes outside through the wall. This is the one thing that I've been worried about. I emailed Arsisam and they said it will be hot to the touch and it's normal for this stove. I shot it with a temp gun and it seems to be around 200. One thing I noticed is the temp gun will read only 90* if I aim it at the metal I have to aim it at the tape on the pipe to get a good reading.

Other than that it seems to be burning really well. I've been dialing in the air a little more than 1/2 closed and that seems to be best.

Edit: to be clear though I am measuring about 6-12" from the stove. My pipe goes about 18" straight out the wall then outside goes up three feet. Outside I can lay my hand on the pipe no problem.