ECO-65 heavy smoke in hopper

[Rayterio666]

Any one of you having problem with heavy smoke in hopper? SBI told me that I have a very bad negative pressure in my house but looking at the stove heating with a wondow open beside it and the window closed, I don't see a big difference. I wanted to post vids of the flames but not allowed here
Tks

 

[MacGyver]

Do you have an OAK installed? Did you run through the tests to ensure your exhaust blower isn't faulty?

 

[Rayterio666]

Yes I do have an outside air kit! I cleaned my stove and everything is in good working order! I even verified using the electronic panel on the side of the stove

 

[MacGyver]

Are your flames real lazy? I don't know what could be causing smoke to build up in the hopper. Backdraft?

 

[hyfire]

It could be a plugged horzontal flue how many bags since the last clean? New or old style eco-65?

 

[Rayterio666]

Checked that too!!

 

[Rayterio666]

Macgyver, I can inbox you vids of the flame if you have an email you can inbox me

Tks

 

[hyfire]

Flames look like too much air with window open to me, but maybe you did not have the stove running long enough as it takes 30-40 min before its a constant feed rate. Looks like a difference to me window open vs closed.

 

[Rayterio666]

Ok but does the flame looks starved to you with window closed?

 

[crusher]

my profile picture is the flame from my eco 65 which is an older model

 

[Rayterio666]

Yup looks like mine! Tks

 

[hyfire]

Its hard to tell on your other video, but I do see a difference. Get a pressure gauge and it will tell the story on what is going on. You may have the stack effect in your home, where everything gets sucked out of the basement and goes through the roof from the attic. Anyway you should order a deflector from me for safer door temperatures to stop warping.

 

[Rayterio666]

Thanks hyfire, ir may be too late for the deflector for this one but if I get another one I will strongly think about buying one. I have seen it and I ghink that anybodyvthat have an ECO-65 should have one for security purposes How do îI install a pressure gauge?

 

[hyfire]

Looking at my flames today yours do look lazy with the window closed. You need to purchase a analog magnehelic gauge from ebay and make sure its vertical and place it on the stove one side of the gauge will be left open and the other one with a T into the line that goes to the pressure switch in the stove. Gauge should read 0-.5" w.c. or you can get a digital hand held one like in this video that uses metric Pa. I suggest you take some readings from the inside of the room vs the outside air pressure as this guy does in the basement.

When connected to the stove readings can vary between .32-.45 " W.c during normal operation, depending on the flue temperature, the temperature inside and outside temp, flue height, etc.

link to analog gauge or google dwyer 2000-0

(broken link removed to http://www.ebay.com/itm/DWYER-CAT-2000-0-MAGNEHELIC-GUAGE-0-0-50-15PSIG-/231211454841?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35d546d179)

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[Rayterio666]

Ok tks should I install closer to the switch or the output fan?

 

[hyfire]

Ok tks should I install closer to the switch or the output fan?

The difference would be not that critical but I would keep it at least 12" away from the PS.

 

[hyfire]

What could be happening is your house is pulling more air up than the oak is bring in and the exhaust blower is fighting against this neg pressure also, so it moves air out of the stove, but not enough and the flame goes up the hopper instead of the chimney, next step would be a hopper fire if its doing it long enough or after a power failure.

 

[Rayterio666]

Ok would it help if I ran another 4" vent parallel to the existing one?

 

[tjnamtiw]

Ok would it help if I ran another 4" vent parallel to the existing one?

OMG. OMG. I think what you really need is a stove expert to come look at your installation, do a thorough cleaning, check your exhaust blower, and find out the REAL reason why you are not exhausting your stove properly. Maybe there is a crack, separated tubes, or some other reasonable explanation. I know you said everything is perfect but .................

 

[Rayterio666]

@tjnamtiw
My installation was inspected byva certified WETT inspector, I clean everything with special instruction by SBI, replace all gaskets with new ones, my chimney is taped and is dismantled and cleaned in January.
I have been heating with an ECO-65 for the last 4 years. I had 3 stove so far because they all warp in the front... I know I don't know much about pellet stoves but if my stove is starving air, why is it heating enough to warp it!
This is the only stove that give me the heavy smoke in hopper problem

 

[tjnamtiw]

Then why in the world would you have had three in a row? If that happened to me, I would have switched brands long ago even if they wanted to GIVE me the stove. Clearly, if it's warping, the design is bad or it is being overfired to the point of destruction, whereupon it no longer functions properly. You should have gotten your money back long ago. You're risking the lives of your family, for heaven sake.

 

[MacGyver]

Ray: Out of curiosity, at what feed rate is the stove running in those videos? What kind of temperatures are you reading?

You can definitely see the smoke build up and the difference in the flames... Hmm I'm thinking hyfire is onto something.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Is the stove you're running in the video warped like the others? If your stove 'is warped in the front', I assume that means the door area, which would allow the door to leak air, bypassing the burn box and resulting in a lazy flame AFTER IT'S WARPED.

 

[tjnamtiw]

While the 'stack effect' theory is being pointed to as the cause, there are a lot of other more reasonable questions that need to be addressed. That stove is capable of 65,000 btu's, which is a brute! You're asking 8 archaic technology round tubes (just like my Quad's) to extract that heat. Reading your manual, you can actually set the convection blower to less than maximum speed while putting out those 65,000 btu's and then rely on a heat sensor (snap disk) to kick the fan to max until it brings the temperature back down. That just begs for over heating and warping if the snap disk is faulty or slow to react. That's crazy. Fan speed should be at max when running at max feed rate, period IMHO.
Nothing has been said about your exhaust set up. Please describe it including number of 90's. I know you said it was 'inspected' by a 'certified' inspector but .....
Have you ever pulled the combustion blower and inspected it? How about all the ducting inside the stove with the trap doors/inspection plates. It seems like there's plenty of places for soot buildup.
Have you ever pulled the convection blower to see if it's clogged with dust/fuzz/pet hair?
Having 3 stoves warp sure points to a problem.

 

[Rayterio666]

I inspected everything and went through setup with SBI. I have 2 45 coming out of stove, then 5' vert, 3' hor, and now I have 5' horiz outside where I had 15' before but SBI made me shorten it. I don't use the stove now. Only if I am home and working in the basement. I have a vac ready to take the smoke out through a window if the stove act up