Flame in stove varies in height

[ylomnstr]

So I've been test running my new St. Croix Hastings. The things fires up real nice and with the initial start up burn, the flames are a good 6-8 inches high, and then come down slightly after the first startup pellets burn, then the auger kicks in every few seconds, and I've noticed at least on the low setting that occasionally enough pellets drop to where I barely see the tips of the flams out of the burn pot. Then if on the next few auger turns, not as many pellets drop, it catches up and the flames come up again to about 4 inches which seems to be where I would think they should always be. My concern is shouldn't the flames remain a pretty consistent height? I'm afraid that if I leave the stove on for a long time on low, that the flame may die out if too many pellets drop and the flame can't keep up. Is this normal?

 

[imacman]

I just got my Astoria this summer, and while doing a test burn on the deck, I noticed the same thing on low.....nice big bright flame at first, then die down some, more pellets come down, flame goes back up again, etc, etc. I'm thinking this is typical of most pellet stoves on low setting.

Hopefully, some pellet "veterans" will chime in and give opinions.

 

[ylomnstr]

My old Quadra Fire at my old house seemed to be steady at all times once the initial burn died down. So I agree. What do you "vets" say?

 

[imacman]

Mike Holten from Englander's stoves (stoveguy2ESW) mentioned this in another post:

"...that said you will see fluctuations in flame height in some heat ranges its normal for pellet stove fires to kinda flare up as fuel drops in and drop some before the next batch falls in".

 

[ylomnstr]

I guess it makes sense, just not used to it since like I said, my old stove didn't seem to do that.

 

[mkmh]

I have this same stove and have observed similar behavior from the flame. I consider it to be mostly normal, though you will want to make sure your stove is getting enough air. This can be done by making small adjustments to the damper in the back of the stove.
You might also want to take a look at the exhaust coming out and make sure it isn't consitently black and sooty.

With my stove it took me a little while to get the damper set to where the stove seemed to burn well on all setting. I've also had to tweak it occasionally for different kinds of pellets.

 

[MCPO]

My Harman P38 flame increases when pellets are fed into the burn pot and decreases just before the next feed cycle .
This is more noticeable on lower burn settings.
Seems to be a normal / obvious thing to me.

 

[Xena]

I've got the Prescott but it has the same mechanical components afaik.

X2 what mkmh said.

 

[mkmh]

Don't want to hijack the thread, but figured i'd mention I just did my first test burn of the season with the Hastings. Figured I ought to test it because I cleaned then resealed the exhaust, and throughly took apart and cleaned the room air blower. You just never know when you might bust something when you are messing around...better to test now rather than first cold front.

Anyhoo everything worked 100%, and the room air bower is working better than it has in years. For any of you who haven't cleaned this component in a while you may want to try to get to it. Mine was totally crapped up with hair and crap after 3 seasons of neglect. After cleaning I think it is pushing at least 30% more air.

I would have loved to run it all night, but it is still 68 degrees here. Best to enjot this while it lasts