Comfortbilt HP61 - issues - settings?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
J

jasonthines86

Member
Dec 7, 2017
5
NE, Connecticut
Hi everyone.
I just installed a new Comfortbilt HP61 pellet stove. Ever since the first fire the stove seems to not burn the pellets 100% and i am having to empty the ash pan every other day. The ashes look like charred saw dust with some good size, not fully burned pellets. During the burn, i see a lot of large glowing pellets being blown out of the fire pot and down in to the ash pan. I emailed Comforbilt a few times and they gave me the following settings:

Combustion Level/Feed rate/Exhaust Voltage/ Blower Voltage
H01/on 10, off 40/98v/100v
H02/on 20, off 40/ 101v/105v
H03/on 26. off 34/104v/110v
H04/on 30, off 30/108v/115v
H05/on 34, off 26/110v/115v

The stove exhaust thru my chimney. I have about 5' of 3" duravent, then the exhaust converts to a 6" and attaches to a stainless chimney liner. The chimney liner is about 25-30' to the top of the chimney. The intake is just open to the room (will taking in outside air help?)

I live in a very old house that is not well insulated. I have gone thru 1 ton of pellets this year since installing the stove late October. That includes not running the stove for 5 days in November (warm spell) and having it off 3 days early December. On cold days (low to mid 20's overnight) I find myself going thru 3/4 bags a day.

Any input is appreciated. Thank you.
 
I've been running a Comfortbilt HP22 here in NNJ for the past 3 years to heat about 2000 sq/ft. The stove goes on in November and gets shut down around March and runs 24/7. Originally I had the same problem....high pellet consumption, partially unburned pellets blowing out of the pot, and dark, coarse, ashes...basically inefficient burn. The problem was way too much airflow at the fire pot. Tune your intake air. I have a long chimney with a lot of natural draft and have my intake airflow adjustment almost completely closed. Adjust so the flame is slightly orange and slowing down and moving around rather than looking like a blowtorch coming up out of the pot. Also open the door air wash fully to allow air to "bypass" the vacuum of air pulling through the pot. It's the small slide knob like adjustment that you see with the door open. Make sure the adjustment is wide open. (I think the adjustment is fully to the right).

After doing all that, my ashes were light gray and as fine as talcum powder and air discharge temp went from 150f to 178f under the same conditions. My flue discharge temps also went down 20 degrees.... More heat stayed in the box, less out the chimney

I also adjusted my airflow and feedrate. I think Comfortbilt sets them to handle all the many pellet variations available and the end result is way too much air and fuel which makes for a cleaner burn but not as efficient. I run on full manual settings and dialed in the settings to burn 1lb/hr on setting #1. 1.25lb on #2, etc.... and only had to run @ #4 over the past few days when temps hit 0. Understandably, your situation will vary

Burn about 4-6 tons/year and love the stove.
 
Thank you for the reply. I’ll give adjust the intake air and see if that gets any better. I have noticed consumption down a bit since playing with the settings. But I never adjusted the intake air. Maybe I can really dial it in now. I do have the air wash fully open.

Thanks again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back