Enviro Mini flaming out

[mcnuts23]

MY enviro Mini has started to shut down.
The heat level 3 light is blinking.
When i open the inside the burn pot liner is full to the top with unburnt pellets and there is perhaps one or two slighty blackened pellets on the bottom
What may be the cause of this?

 

[MalcolmH]

#3 flashing is Exhaust temp to low. Sounds like your running out of coals before it can top it up and then flags Exhaust temp low as it cools down. Are you running it on low for extended periods, if so have you tried adjusting the auger trim up or close the draft down a bit, any changes in pellets, do you have OAK, and ofcouse did you clean it properly, sometimes manufactures have more detailed cleaning they will provide that is not included in the owners manual ironically.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Not sufficient combustion air. Could be a filthy combustion fan or excessive fly ash in the venting or even a dry bearing in the combustion fan motor. Have to have 2 things to run... Sufficient combustion air / draft and sufficient fuel. You have a combustion air issue. Most likely needs a deep clean.

 

[johneh]

Like Sidcarflip said needs a deep clean from air intake to exhaust termination
Here is a manual https://enviro.com/custom_content/docs/manuals/C-14941 Instruction Mini A Owners Manual.pdf
See pages 13 and 30

 

[mcnuts23]

Not sufficient combustion air. Could be a filthy combustion fan or excessive fly ash in the venting or even a dry bearing in the combustion fan motor. Have to have 2 things to run... Sufficient combustion air / draft and sufficient fuel. You have a combustion air issue. Most likely needs a deep clean.

OK i will try that deep clean. The stove is brand new, it was installed in January

 

[johneh]

How many bags of pellets used?

 

[SidecarFlip]

How many bags of pellets used?

What brand and were the real ashy or not. I clean mine every week actually and the venting 2 times during the season. They all are very hands on.

 

[mcnuts23]

What brand and were the real ashy or not. I clean mine every week actually and the venting 2 times during the season. They all are very hands on.

25-30 ish not sure have not kept track. The pellets come from Alberta

 

[SidecarFlip]

30 bags, way past time to clean it. That is about 1500 pounds of pellets.

 

[mcnuts23]

30 bags, way past time to clean it. That is about 1500 pounds of pellets.

When you say clean. Every 3 days i shut it down and clean out the firebox and empty the ashtray is there any other things that i need to do?

 

[johneh]

In the manual start at page 12
the full cleaning sometimes has to be done earlier than 2 tons
(100 bags) because of the pellet ash content
It sounds like the pellets you are using are very ashy
so a good cleaning is not a bad idea

 

[SidecarFlip]

In the manual start at page 12
the full cleaning sometimes has to be done earlier than 2 tons
(100 bags) because of the pellet ash content
It sounds like the pellets you are using are very ashy
so a good cleaning is not a bad idea

In fact it's a required idea. I bet the combustion path is loaded with ash. Probably the combustion fan plenum and the venting too. Myself, I consider cleaning the firebox and emptying the ash drawer minimal cleaning.

None of them (stoves) are plug and play. Just the opposite. They are plug and play for a short time then they degrade and you start having issues.

 

[mcnuts23]

In fact it's a required idea. I bet the combustion path is loaded with ash. Probably the combustion fan plenum and the venting too. Myself, I consider cleaning the firebox and emptying the ash drawer minimal cleaning.

None of them (stoves) are plug and play. Just the opposite. They are plug and play for a short time then they degrade and you start having issues.

Thanks for that I will read up into it more

 

[mcnuts23]

Did a deep clean. That’s what I found. Stove was installed on January 25 this year and the installer told me that I only had to clean that out once a year. Haha

 

[johneh]

Bingo
Now that's what we were talking about
Burns better now?
Necessary evil on pellet stoves. Ash must be removed.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Was the installer also the one who sold you the stove? He is / was FOS.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Develop a cleaning regimen and stick to it religiously. I do. I clean mine every 5 days and every 2 weeks clean EVERYTHING and bi monthly suck out the vent pipe with a leaf blower and end of season take everything apart (including the venting) and clean everything and pressure wash out the entire vent. All solid fuel stoves are very 'hands on', no matter what the manufacturer or any installer tells you. they tell you that because they want you to 'think' they are plug and play. The polar opposite is true.

We all know on here, we all have them. Some of us have had them for decades.

 

[mcnuts23]

Tried all of your suggestions and it was still dying. So I sat there one night and watched. Heat level 1. Combustion trim 3. Feeder trim 4

what I found was interesting. The pellet delivery was extremely hit and miss. There would be a good flame burning and then no pellets would drop. I could hear the auger noise and some dust would drop or one tiny pellet and the fire would die down to coals. Then after about 5-6 auger cycles. A lot of pellets would drop, smothering what was left of the fire and then keep dropping pellets until the fire box completely full and the stove shuts down. It runs fine on heat level 2 and up. But I would prefer to run it at level 1 overnight just to burn less pellets. And I am burning premium level pellets. Any more ideas?

 

[johneh]

There seems to be a sweet spot with every type and make of pellet
Your is feed rate 2 with the pellets you are using.
Personally, I can not run my stove as low as I want to because it
goes out just like yours. You have to feed enough pellets to keep
a fire anything less and it will go out. The way your auger feeds is
normal for a top-feeding stove. It is nice to use less fuel but you still
want heat so turn it up a little

 

[MalcolmH]

Like I mentioned before if you tried my suggestion or answered my Q's, if your stove is going out before it can top up your burn pot, your draft might be open to far and/or your auger trim is set to low. Now depending on how many hours on the stove, whether it has variable combustion and adjustable augar trim maybe there is play in the auger bushing adding to the inconsistency, or wear on the auger, or weak/dirty auger synchro electric motor or bad bearings. If your stove doesn't run on low something is wrong with the setup, its not normal or ok and most likely inefficient, the sweet spot is found by adjusting draft and auger trim and using a magnehelic gauge if you want it perfect. You can't even use the Hi/Low thermostat function if your stove doesn't run on Low, not normal or exceptable in my world, but to each there own I guess.

"#3 flashing is Exhaust temp to low. Sounds like your running out of coals before it can top it up and then flags Exhaust temp low as it cools down. Are you running it on low for extended periods, if so have you tried adjusting the auger trim up or close the draft down a bit, any changes in pellets, do you have OAK, and ofcouse did you clean it properly, sometimes manufactures have more detailed cleaning they will provide that is not included in the owners manual ironically."

 

[SidecarFlip]

I could hear the auger noise and some dust would drop or one tiny pellet and the fire would die down to coals

One question. How many fines are in the bags you are using? That 'dust you see are fines and usually fines are caused by excessive handling of pellets or poor pellet manufacture. The fines will displace the pellets in the auger but....

I'm also like Johneh. I cannot run my unit down any lower than HR 3 (even on a corn /pellet mix, because the fuel feed is so low, the fire goes out between fuel drops. I've tried many times to 'wean' it below HR3 and always the same scenario, it goes out and then fills the burn pot with unburned fuel because that is part of the shutdown sequence on my unit...and my unit is extremely adjustable for all firing parameters.

I believe you are attempting to run a too low feed rate and there isn't enough fuel being fed to maintain a fire.

Units will only burn so low and then there isn't enough fresh fuel being introduced to the burn pot to keep the fire burning.

You need to as is stated before, find the 'sweet spot' where there is enough fuel being dropped to maintain an active fire.

The all do that and they all exhibit the same end result.

One thing I will say and that is, when you run a unit that low, you make a huge amount of soot in the firebox and venting. They really need to run at a higher firebox temperature. Right now mine is running on HR5 and it's running remote (like always. so the burn rate will ramp up and down according to what the thermostat is calling for but I won't let the feed rate drop below HR3 and 2.50 PPH. Anything below that and it goes out.

 

[johneh]

See bottom of page 9 this manual

https://enviro.com/custom_content/docs/manuals/C-12135%20Instruction%20Mini%20A%20Owners%20Manual.pdf