englander 25-pah/timber ridge 55-trpah

[nypelletburner]

i need help
with the latest cold snap here in new york i turned up my stove to make the house temp keep up with the outside temp going down.
my burn pot loaded up so i shut it down last night and cleaned it out (tuesday) after doing a full cleaning the day before (monday) i sturred the burn pot this morning few clinkers and sooty window this morning seemed to doing ok when i left for work 5am when i returned at 5 pm the burn pot was over flowing and pellets backing up in to the drop chute.
i shut it down and did a full cleaning again.
i checked the vent pipe monday when cleaning looked ok.
oak is clear.
vent is 2'-3' horz out the wall 4' up out side 1' horz and cap
i checked to make sure im on the right burn mode after checking evey thing i could find here. this stove does not use the a,b,c,d and should be reading #3 it does
LLF @ 1
LBA @ 9
AOT @ 1
before this i had not run the stove higher than 3 was getting a lot of soot thats why LBA is at 9
buring fireside ultras yes i know they are dirty but i should be able to run my stove on 6-8 fuel-blower and not have the pellets back up in to the chute.
i have a thermostat that is woking fine ( thanks to people here and mike from englander)
i would call customer service but i cant due to my current work schedule. not knocking them all business need to have set hours.
any help or ideas welcome

 

[superchips]

Sounds like you have an air problem. 1 - 9 - 1 is not right for a proper combustion fan speed.

Just some guesses:
Your exhaust is pointed into the wind :cheese:
You OAK has a restricting bend or two in it.
Mice have made a home in the OAK :gulp:
The combustion fan is not operating at 100%
You have a leaky gasket - Door gasket?

 

[nypelletburner]

the factory setting for the stove is 1-4-1 have been turning it up 1 setting a day trying to get the fire to liven up.
my exaust is on the opposit side of the house from the prevailing winds
oak is almost strait out and through the wall checked the screen today and its clear
the door gasket seems to be good also the ash pan looks good too.
i dont know how to check the fan
at this point im thinking about putting more holes in the burn pot to allow more air to pass through it.

 

[imacman]

As mentioned above, this sounds like a dirty stove problem. Yes, I understand that you have cleaned it, but did you open the ash traps and get a vacuum hose in there? Did you bang on the back wall with a small hammer or mallet to dislodge any stuck ash? Since you have an out and up exhaust, have you tried the leaf blower trick after doing a full clean? Did you do the "dollar bill" test of the door gasket on all sides in a couple of places? Did you make sure the ash pan is seated right and the gasket is OK?

If you feel that these ideas aren't going to help you, then you need to get on the phone to Englander ASAP.

 

[nypelletburner]

did the "leaf blower" with my big shop vac
checked the gaskets
i remove and vaccum out behind the plates every week
i would like to test my exaust blower to see that it is operating properly just not sure how
keep the ideas comming and ill try to get on the phone after my work schedule changes with englander

 

[GrahamInVa]

at this point im thinking about putting more holes in the burn pot to allow more air to pass through it.

I would advise you NOT to do this.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Please post a picture of the OAK screen and check the OAK for any sharp bends. A picture of the burn pot from the bottom and some indication if it sits unevenly in its receptacle.

 

[GrahamInVa]

keep the ideas comming and ill try to get on the phone after my work schedule changes with englander

The Englander website is a great resource.

Info on dirty burn: http://www.englanderstoves.com/help/PelletStove/dirty_burn.html

How to test blowers, ect... http://www.englanderstoves.com/help/PelletStove/diagnostic_mode04.html

 

[Panhandler]

This could also be a matter of the stove being in the wrong burn mode. Sounds like a similar problem I had a few years back.

 

[nypelletburner]

i checked the burn mode this stove does not use the A,B,C,D mode it needs to be on mode/setting #3 (older post by mike from englander stoves)
it is on #3
we have had a few problems here (septic had to be dug up over the weekend)
the advice here said dont drill holes in the burn pot so i bought an extra stock one (can always go back to the old one ) and added a 3 holes in the front of the burn pot 1/2" off the bottom and a row of 7 holes on the back side at the same depth. .165 dia
looks like all my problems have gone away. no over filling and even my crappy fireside ultra burn better. no more black soot and my window stays clear for 48 hours now not 2 hours. i was able to trim the lba back to the factory setting "4" not "9" like before. now im able to run the crappy new england pellets and keep the house at 72-73 with out running it on 9-9. i am running it on 4-6. 29 degrees out side and the house is warm, before this change had the stove wide open and the house was at 68 at the same outside temp.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Now, will you please post a picture of the old burn pot you were having trouble with, sounds like there is a bypass.

I need it looking down on the pot, looking at the bottom of the pot and looking at each side of the pot.

 

[nypelletburner]

a correction is needed here i ordered a new one and drilled holes in the old one.
ill try to get some pictures of the modification over the weekend.
i should have the replacement one by then also

 

[nypelletburner]

after all the "correction" attempts it turns out my refurbished stove was leaking every where.
i did the dollar bill gasket check but was not doing it over every inch of the gasket and where i was not checking it there were leaks.
replaced the door gasket (leaking at the corners) and ash pan gasket (leaking all along the bottom where its hard to check).
the ash pan i ended up dubble gasketing and 95% or my burn problems have gone away still have one small leak in the door gasket on the lower left corner.
i'm planning on correcting this over the weekend.
still get ash (not soot) on the window after 24 hours but its gray not black.
heat is much better and im no longer loosing sleep and cleaning the stove every day
thanks to all who have helped and this forum is great!!