Frustrated

[Marina1327]

So you have pellets being blown out of the burnpot, is that correct.

Yes...I start out with the stove clean and the burnpot empty...Within a few minutes the burnpot is clogged and the pellets are going into the ashpan...Or the stove gets the signal that there are no pellets and it shuts off. I let it go today because it stayed on but then you see by the pic what the burnpot and ashpan looks like...It doesn't matter what setting or how much or how little the flue is open...Does the same thing and the smoke coming out of the vent is nuts.

 

[rich2500]

Is this still stove chow pellets, if so empty them out and clean out the firebox and try the other pellets you have without mixing in any stove chow.

 

[Marina1327]

Is this still stove chow pellets, if so empty them out and clean out the firebox and try the other pellets you have without mixing in any stove chow.

Yep...Soon as I get it cleaned out I am going to try a different brand...Then we will see

 

[alternativeheat]

Now that your venting is clean, it looks to me like you have your stove settings flammed up. You had opened it up when everything was dirty and now you probably are not back to where it was set before it plugged up on you. Just a suggestion, and maybe you have done this already, but seems to me you need to get your blower speed back to where it was before the clog and set your damper to 1/3 open or so and see how that goes.

Stove Chows should burn and stay in the pot at least, I think some setting is off. Maybe it's pellets but considering all the above, I'd be fairly surprised if so.

 

[rich2500]

Good point alternative, get the settings back to where the were then try the other pellets, if all goes well then try mixing some of the chow in and see how that goes, if that goes fine then try the chow straight again.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

I finally had to shut the stove off because this is the way the pellets are burning. The ash pan is filled with unburned pellets.

That's crazy. The burn pot looks like it is full of dirt. Those pellets must've got wet at some point in their journey from manufacturer to retailer. Probably sat on a truck in the rain without a tarp for a week.

If you have time, take a hand full of those pellets and a hand full of the new ones and take a picture. I'll bet these chows are swelled a bit. That would also be part of the reason things run at times then not.

 

[Marina1327]

Well still no go...I just got off the phone with tech support...They think it could be the door seal...Going to try changing it this weekend....

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Well still no go...I just got off the phone with tech support...They think it could be the door seal...Going to try changing it this weekend....

This is getting ridiculous. I cant believe the techs cant solve this. If they are sending out a new door seal, have them send out a new control panel too. This needs to get solved, or the next thing you know it's summer and you wont know if you have heat for next winter. They need to send out a new control panel so you can move right on to the next possible cause when/if the door seal dont fix it.

 

[Marina1327]

actually they aren't sending it. They told me to go to a hardware store and get it. I am trying to find one that carries the one they said I need......

 

[Deezl Smoke]

actually they aren't sending it. They told me to go to a hardware store and get it. I am trying to find one that carries the one they said I need......

I realize this is a pita, but can you get some good pictures of the current door seal before you buy something that likely may not work? Also, since the stove is not working, with it shut down, can you empty the pellet hopper and get some good pictures of the inside of it?

The pellet hopper does need to be sealed, including the lid, or it can cause a vacuum fault.

 

[Marina1327]

I realize this is a pita, but can you get some good pictures of the current door seal before you buy something that likely may not work? Also, since the stove is not working, with it shut down, can you empty the pellet hopper and get some good pictures of the inside of it?

The pellet hopper does need to be sealed, including the lid, or it can cause a vacuum fault.

Yep...I can do it tomorrow in the sunlight

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Let's take a minute and review.

The stove was working fine until a new brand pellet was introduced. Then a pro cleaning found a mostly clogged exhaust, cleaned it, and it ran for 3 days on the new pellets, then went back to the bad behavior.

Opening the combustion air gate did nothing. Changing the exhaust blower settings did nothing. Moving the wires to the back up sensor did nothing. The faults went from no ignition to fuel in the hopper.

Now there is a picture of the ash pan with fire burning up the pellets that should not be there.

One comment b Marina 1327 in reply #29 has my attention now.

It will turn on, light, feed pellets, run for about 5 minutes then it goes off and says check hopper for fuel. All the time, it's feeding the pellets,

All the time feeding pellets.

One question. Do you have a surge protector on the power supply cord? I apologize f this has been asked and I missed it. But with all of the inconsistent stove actions, I really am starting to believe the control panel is bad.

Given the picture already posted, the door seal, what bit of it is shown, looks fine. But the burn pot, just a short while of burning, is full of ash and clogged. there is fire in the ash pan and the ash pan has un-burnt pellet fuel in it. I dont think the pellets got there by too much air, though I can be wrong. By the looks of it, they got there from the burn pot over flowing. This could explain, IMO, why the exhaust was plugged, and may be plugged again. The control panel is over feeding pellets. Maybe not consistently, but at any given time it will over feed, smothering the fire which will smoke and cause the window to soot up, and begin clogging the exhaust.
Once the exhaust is partially clogged, this situation is exacerbated and the over feeding then really does smother the fire to the point of over flowing pellets into the ash pan. A faulty control panel may also cause differing faults that are inconsistent and cause other functions of the stove to malfunction.

I look forward to more pictures of the stove's condition to help confirm or deny some of this, but this problem needs solved and solved now.

 

[Marina1327]

Well I changed the rope gasket because I thought it might be that and nothing. It comes on, fires up, runs for 5 minutes and off it goes. There is no longer V on the display which means there is no vacuum pressure at all in the stove. I spent hours with it this weekend and nothing...Everything is clean...The seal on the door is perfect...I am this close to giving up. You can tell there is no vacuum pressure because the flame is weird...High and crazy and the glass fogs up...And then BAM off it goes. I called tech support again and they said the vacuum switch is bad...But the stove doesn't stop feeding pellets...I honestly think this thing is a lemon

 

[Marina1327]

And to answer your question...Yes it's plugged into a surge protector.

 

[alternativeheat]

Hmmm, it seems to me the switch is fine, you apparently have no vacuum and the switch is reading none. Are you sure you got the right gasket ?

 

[Marina1327]

Yep... 3/4 inch standard rope gasket...I called twice to make sure

 

[Marina1327]

Let's take a minute and review.

The stove was working fine until a new brand pellet was introduced. Then a pro cleaning found a mostly clogged exhaust, cleaned it, and it ran for 3 days on the new pellets, then went back to the bad behavior.

Opening the combustion air gate did nothing. Changing the exhaust blower settings did nothing. Moving the wires to the back up sensor did nothing. The faults went from no ignition to fuel in the hopper.

Now there is a picture of the ash pan with fire burning up the pellets that should not be there.

One comment b Marina 1327 in reply #29 has my attention now.

All the time feeding pellets.

One question. Do you have a surge protector on the power supply cord? I apologize f this has been asked and I missed it. But with all of the inconsistent stove actions, I really am starting to believe the control panel is bad.

Given the picture already posted, the door seal, what bit of it is shown, looks fine. But the burn pot, just a short while of burning, is full of ash and clogged. there is fire in the ash pan and the ash pan has un-burnt pellet fuel in it. I dont think the pellets got there by too much air, though I can be wrong. By the looks of it, they got there from the burn pot over flowing. This could explain, IMO, why the exhaust was plugged, and may be plugged again. The control panel is over feeding pellets. Maybe not consistently, but at any given time it will over feed, smothering the fire which will smoke and cause the window to soot up, and begin clogging the exhaust.
Once the exhaust is partially clogged, this situation is exacerbated and the over feeding then really does smother the fire to the point of over flowing pellets into the ash pan. A faulty control panel may also cause differing faults that are inconsistent and cause other functions of the stove to malfunction.

I look forward to more pictures of the stove's condition to help confirm or deny some of this, but this problem needs solved and solved now.

If the control board went after only 1 season that seems crazy but it makes sense. I don't know what to do at this point

 

[Deezl Smoke]

If the control board went after only 1 season that seems crazy but it makes sense. I don't know what to do at this point

I'm sorry to hear of so much trouble. But the stove is so simple in design that there is little left that it could be. Thing is, as soon as you sell it or give it to a neighbor, you just know they will replace one 10$ part and have a nice stove.

I did'nt think the door gasket would work as your old one looked fine. The sides of the stove come off with just a few screws. Have you had the right side panel off as you face the stove and pulled the vacuum hose off to make sure no water has formed in the hose and cause the vac switch to malfunction?

If so, then as far as I can tell, you are down to the control panel. I'd think the company should work with you on that. There's just so much inconsistent trouble with it to be a mechanical part. The control panel is like a computer. One day it can work 100% and the next day programs wont open or they crash etc. The control board can have a small crack in a soldier joint or a component has failed, but not completely. I have seen home circuit breakers fail and cause a fire, which is what the circuit breaker was supposed to prevent.

I really dont want to tell you to spend another dime on it if you think you are leaning toward replacing it with something else. But if the company would work something out with you to test a new control panel, I'd sure like to see of it does the trick and makes you happy,.......and warm for a change.

 

[Marina1327]

Well they want me to take a video of my fire and send it to them....So the engineers can look at it...