Englander 25PDVC Sooty

[mayhem]

Hi all, newly installed used stove in my double wide. I did the horizontal through the wall 3" Duarvent kit and then vertical 4', followed installation instructions carefully. Also installed the Englander OAK, well away from the exhaust. Couple issues I'm having with the stove, hoping some advice will help me in the right direction.

Stove runs great, hot as heck when we use it. It was self igniting, but the last 4-5 fires it hasn't self ignited, just runs for 20 minutes and then shits down with an E2. Sometimes clean the pellets out of the burn pot and retry and it lights properly, sometimes I just use the map gas and a handful of pellets to move it along. Exhaust seems great, but I'm unsure of my outside air, specifically if I'm getting enough outside air. The glass is sooty after every burn and I'm getting what I think is a lot of ash in the pan and leftover in the pot. More of a yellow flame than a bright whiter colored burn. I've temporarily removed the weather cover from the OAK as I can see it being possibly restrictive. Apart from that, I guess pull the OAK off the back of the stove and get in there to make sure its free of any obstructions? Any other advice for that issue or the self lighter would be greatly appreciated.

This is a used stove, seems like its in pretty good shape. I do not know the seller personally but he seemed pretty good about doing maintenance and things like that, stove was VERY clean when I brought it home and a test fire in the back of my pickup worked flawlessly.

Thanks!

 

[mayhem]

I should note that I'm using it on the lowest heat setting and room blower speed set between 0-2, usually both settings are on 1 because right now in shoulder season this thing is keeping my house in the mid 70's when its on its lowest settings.

Hmmmm...kind of wondering if maybe its feeding at the higher rate regardless of the setting. I might be dumping too much fuel in that way and it could explain the high heat and soot? Maybe?

Using Dry Creek premium hardwood pellets.

 

[johneh]

see page 26 of this manual
E2 code

http://pdf.lowes.com/useandcareguides/794909551007_use.pdf

 

[ericofmaine]

Do a search on the forums here about burn pot mods, I did it with my PDV and it has been great. These stoves are somewhat sooty anyways, the air wash that is supposed to keep the glass clean is, well... that said I'd rather have more heat than clean glass.

Also, I wouldn't take anyone's word on what was done for maintenance. I would, at a minimum, perform the "leaf blower trick" to really clean things out. I bought a used stove once that was "professionally" gone through and used a leaf blower on it and got a lot of ash and other built up stuff out of it.

Finally, as to your failure to ignite, the igniter might be getting weak or its position may need to be adjusted. The super-heated air needs to be able to get at the pile of pellets to get it to ignite.

Eric

 

[ARC]

but the last 4-5 fires it hasn't self ignited, just runs for 20 minutes

Check the end and alignment of your igniter.

The glass is sooty after every burn

Most pellet stove soot up fast when running on low settings. On my stove if i just run setting one I will have 1 inch ring of soot on edges of door glass in 24 hours by 3 days I will only have about a soft ball size area that i can see through.

I might be dumping too much fuel in that way and it could explain the high heat and soot

If it is taking 20 minutes to start you will have a pot full of pellets so it will burn hot/big until they are gone. As previously stated stove will run sooty on low settings

 

[mayhem]

"Leaf blower trick", but I see its more of a leaf vacuum trick, right? Shopvac on the exhaust should work I think as I have a leafblower, but its just that...a blower. Is this correct? Hate to pull the exhaust apart as I just got it put together and I'm hoping to get the building inspector over soon to get it signed off and I got those beads of goo just right on the seams.

A full teardown and cleaning is probably in order, agreed. Exhaust blower is a bit rattley sounding anyway and I see igniters are only $20 so might as well just change it out and start fresh.

Thanks!

 

[ARC]

shopvac on the exhaust should work I think as I have a leafblower, but its just that...a blower. Is this correct

Leaf blower has a lot more suction the most shopvacs, where is your clean out T? mine is outside I take clean out cap off the T stick leaf blower on and away it goes no dismantling of venting needed. I siliconed a 5 inch to 4 inch thick walled pvc adapter to the vacuum side of the leaf blower. The 4 inch thick wall fit right over the 3 inch pellet vent and I do not have to hold it there its that tight. I only have to do it twice a year, usually in January then at the end of the season.

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-am...MIuOqau_DSggMVfoRaBR1LDgquEAQYAyABEgJL2_D_BwE

 

[johneh]

If you use that trick remember to open the door
to the stove so as not to kill the vacuum switch

 

[Jigger]

I have a 25PDVC that I bought in 2005 and it's still running great. In that time I've replaced the exhaust fan once and the room convection fan once. The self ignitor went out several years ago and I'll probably never replace it. Because I found that by putting a couple of handfuls of pellets in the stove and hitting it with a torch. I can get up to temperature quicker. Before I light the torch I start the stove first. Which eliminate any smoke from coming into the room as it starts the draft quicker. By the time the pellets start coming into the burn pot I have a good bed of coals going. The draft on the stove isn't enough to blow the ash out of the burn pot. So twice a day I take a little shovel just big enough to fit into the burn pot and pull the ash out. I put the ash into the side pockets of the burn pot and vacuum them out once a week when I do a maintenance cleaning. I run my chimney brush up into the chimney every cleaning and put my leaf blower on the chimney every other week. In the spring I separate the stove from the chimney and run my brush through it. As far as the dirty glass it's the nature of the beast. It's just a build up of fine ash which has no cure. I live in a mobile also and this stove is my main source of heat. My set up is out through the wall 2 feet into a Y cleanout then straight up 6 feet to a round cap. I had to do it this way to get the pipe above the roof line and the stove sits between 2 windows.

 

[mayhem]

Leaf blower has a lot more suction the most shopvacs, where is your clean out T? mine is outside I take clean out cap off the T stick leaf blower on and away it goes no dismantling of venting needed. I siliconed a 5 inch to 4 inch thick walled pvc adapter to the vacuum side of the leaf blower. The 4 inch thick wall fit right over the 3 inch pellet vent and I do not have to hold it there its that tight. I only have to do it twice a year, usually in January then at the end of the season.

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-amp-3-in-1-electric-blower-vacuum-mulcher-62337.html?ccdenc=eyJjb2RlIjoiOTQ3MjgwMDUiLCJza3UiOiI2MjMzNyIsImlzIjoiMzkuOTkifQ==&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20752305993&campaignid=20752305993&utm_content=155812562295&adsetid=155812562295&product=62337&store=707&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuOqau_DSggMVfoRaBR1LDgquEAQYAyABEgJL2_D_BwE

My T is outside at the base of my chimney. I go a foot horizontally from the back of the stove through the outside wall to the T and then 4 feet up to the exhaust tip. Photo attached. The air intake is barely visible on the other side of the T.

 

[mayhem]

Just circling back here, the stove works great, just had the inspector by and he signed off on the installation. I've been using the stove pretty steadily, about 10-15 hours a day, light cleaning with scooping cold ash out of the burn pot and vacuuming every few days. I'll be replacing the combustion blower this weekend with a new one to quiet it down some as the old one has what I think is a bearing like while to it and the housing for the blower on its frame seems a bit wobbly, so I'll replace with new and clean/repair/store the old one for an emergency.