Ceramic Sensor Question/Problem; Enviro Milan

[BARTSFAM]

Four days ago, I posted a question about my Enviro Milan not staying lit. Everyone recommended I clean the ceramic sensor. I took it out, and cleaned off all of the crud, put it back in, and I got fire on the first try.

I thought everything was OK, but I just cleaned the stove, and it would not stay lit again. I took the sensor out again, and it was covered in black soot again. Not as heavy as last time, but still covered in soot. I cleaned it off again, and got fire on the first try.

My question is that is this normal to be covered in soot again after four days? Is it supposed to do it's job of sensing covered in soot? Is the sensor in need of replacement? Or, is something wrong with the stove that the sensor got covered in soot after four days of use?

 

[Don2222]

Hello

I worked on an Enviro Mini and could not get it going until finally I removed the vacuum hose and stuck a pipe cleaner in the exhaust plenum pipe and puched out the hardened ash on the inside. In this case I feel the location of that hose pipe seems to be in the area of the exhaust where ash buildup is much more likely! So my point is that sometimes these parts are not always located in the ideal location. The whitfields have this pipe in the tip of the exhaust plenum just before the vent connection. Much less likely area for ash buildup!
So my question to you is:
Where is the ceramic snap disc located? Can you post a picture of it?
Also, alot of black build up means an over rich mixture just like a car. So in the case of a pellet stove it means there is not enough air going through the burn pot. Can you open the damper more?

 

[BARTSFAM]

Hi;
It is located right next to the exhaust blower. It is actually just above the exhaust blower fan. I can slide the damper to add more air also.

 

[Don2222]

Hi;
It is located right next to the exhaust blower. It is actually just above the exhaust blower fan. I can slide the damper to add more air also.

It sounds like it is in the normal place so you just may need more burn air.

 

[BARTSFAM]

So my question is..is the ceramic sensor supposed to be clean at all times to function properly, or can it work being slightly covered in soot?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

It can stand a certain amount of soot on it, you just have to finish the cleaning job, if there was a large amount on the POF it is likely the combustion blower cavity has crud in it along with the rest of the system.