First time pellet stove user - need help please!

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sczoelle

New Member
Oct 9, 2013
1
So I'm completely new to pellet stoves. I am trying to figure out this Whitfield WP2 Advantage 2. We tried it for the first time last night and it was a struggle the entire time. The stove was puttering around for a while, but I think I was feeding it too many pellets and not getting the fire/heat we desired. So today we took the ash tray and the "grate" out to clean them. Turns out they were filthy. No clue how long since they've been cleaned. Now, in the 2 times I've tried using the stove since, only a few minutes after closing the door, the fire goes out, and smoke starts leaking out around the glass edges, smoking out the room. From what I've read on this site it sounds like something isn't properly sealed. My best guess is the ash tray, but i'm closing it as much as possible and have the "keyhole" turned to the side, locking it shut. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thank you!
 
If you got that used which from the sounds of it you did and it is burning like that then you need to do a thorough cleaning.
Take off the firebrick and clean out the ash traps behind the side bricks, then go a step further and remove the grate and the grate adaptor plate which is held on by three screws. I am assuming you have the bar grate, not the pot and the grate with holes. Then look inside the ash trap where there are two screws on each trap. Take those out and you can remove the ash traps. Two air paths one on each side are there. Shove a vacuum hose through those to clean those out. Then put the front back together and remove the exhaust motor. Clean out inside the exhaust housing and put the exhaust motor back on with a new gasket. Do a dollar bill test on the door rope and if needed replace that gasket and your stove should be running like a beast again.

Those WP2's were practically unkillable but if those passages get crudded up with ash then it will run exactly like you describe.
 
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