Seems to leak dust around the exhaust fan arbor and takes out my auger motors and is distributed thru my house by the convection blower. I looked at the Quadrafire Classic 1200 and the Heatilator ps35 , I also checked on the Englanders at Lowes but was not impressed that I would have to clean the burn pot every day since it had no dump on the bottom of the pot. any help or advise is appreciated.
gETTING RID OF A dirty US STOVE American Harvest
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Bioburner
Moderator
Welcome to the site. Have you checked out the amfm.com site for a better look at more of the Englander line? I think you may find a stove with ash drawer there. Englander has a reputation for good service too.
reallyte
Feeling the Heat
The cb1200 is a solid stove but will cost you more. The englanders are cheaper but have solid support.
Thanks I will check out the amfm site. The Englanders I saw at Lowes had a one piece firepot with no auger, and from past history with this US stove if the firepot auger quit I had to clean the pot sometimes 3 times a day, that is what scared me about that particular build. I have an old farm house in NY and use about 5 1/2 ton of pellets a year. I will say the Englanders were heavy steel built well. Do they have an issue with Dust thru the convection blower? I have COPD and need to avoid that ,I need a clean stove. I bought 5 tons of Pennington my first winter (what a Mistake) so DIRTY full of sawdust. I called Pennington and they did refund me for the cost of Three ton (better then nothing) I used the rest for mulch around trees in the spring.
Bioburner
Moderator
Pennington is a bird seed bagging company and sure just bags what they can. I bought a few bags couple years ago to try and not at all happy with the ash and poor heat. Great to soak up spills in the garage. Not many companies have a filtering system for the convection fans. May want to try and clean the pellets before moving them inside to the stove. Several methods. Screens and combination screen and vacuum. I screen all my corn before bringing into home to reduce the fines and the the horse and birds get fed. The Bixby stays a lot cleaner if it doesn't blow the the fines out of the pot.
You think all the dust comes from loading pellets, I know the whole inside the stove is covered and it plugs up the fins on the convection fan weekly, terrible I thought it was from the exhaust fan as you can see tracers around the arbor shaft where it builds up. Maybe it isn't my stove maybe it is the way I fill it...also I notice there is not a seal around the ash drawer when you shut it never was one . I found amfmenergy.com Thank you for all your help . The Englander is about 1000.00 cheaper then the CB 1200. I will look into it going to drive down to HD tomorrow.
Bioburner
Moderator
Mike is a regular here and is a tech for the company and may even be the one going through your next stove. Exhaust leakage is usually blackish. If you post the model number of your stove others may know if the stove is supposed to have ash pan gasket.
6039 American Harvest Multi Fuel bought at Aubushon Hardware it was a display I bought during the summer built in 12/21/2005 serial number 8044. NotBlack more grayish like the fly ash it has when you clean it not soot black I have burnt probably 30 ton thru it
The Englanders look awesome but my only worry was that I would have to shut it down daily to remove clunkers from the firepot due to there not being a self purge or a handle to shake the grate like on the Quad . Mike can you tell me is the Englander High Maintainence I really don't want to shut down daily as it is my primary heat. I have electric and fuel oil if I absolutely need, but my oil tank has not filledused in three years. I hate giving money to the opec nations by buying oil, I use synthetic oil in my bike and my cars. Sorry to be such a pest, I really would buy an Englander for the price I would save over 1000.00 but I will NEVER buy an ASHLEY or US Stove again
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Bioburner
Moderator
You got your miles out of the 6039. Surprised you haven't replaced several exhaust fans and a couple room fans. I suspect a exhaust leak somewhere or other flow issue.
Three auger motors a control board and an auger have been replaced , I would have replaced more motors but I figured out if I take the rear bushing out and turn it around it will run again . I have had the convection motor set up twice it is supposed to be sealed bearings, but if you disassemble it soak in wd 40 then (no kidding STP) then put some high temp grease in the housing it will run like new. Anyway tomorrow I will buy a new stove one or the other was just hoping to get feedback on how high maintainance it was, green heat rates the Englander as a simple design that does what it says it will it earned their Techs rating as Favorite.Take care and thank you... Roger
are you looking for a multifuel unit like the USSC unit was or a straight pellet stove?
i run a PAH at home and i usually only open the front door every few days to a week depending on how much the stove runs (have it on a stat) as far as being 'high maintainance" i wouldnt really describe any of our stoves that way though the newer designs are able to run longer between cleanings that the older units
i run a PAH at home and i usually only open the front door every few days to a week depending on how much the stove runs (have it on a stat) as far as being 'high maintainance" i wouldnt really describe any of our stoves that way though the newer designs are able to run longer between cleanings that the older units
Hello Mike I guess high Maintanance was a poor choice of words, I meant clinkers in the burn pot. I had to clean my US stove weekly and the exhaust monthly. That I didn't think was bad. I thought the Englanders were well made but I am used to an agitator in the fire pit and if it was not there I would had to have cleaned the US stove sometimes twice daily. I do not need a multi fuel in this area corn here is too high moisture and more expensive then pellets. Thanks
I found this site and green heat that rated the Englanders high but most of the sites that have owner reviews are difficult to take as you always have some people that jump the gun either review the first day or get angry over nothing , so hard to get an honest review (sort of like ebay) LOL I just want a stove I don't get so damn much dust from and I do not have to clean the pot everyday. Maybe I wanyt too much lol
ok kool, just wanted to see what you were in the market for.
as for cleaning any pellet unit more than once a day due to clinker buildup with pellets i suspect there was an airflow issue involved. i suspect Owen (who is a USSC customer service tech) could confirm that as he's obviously quite familiar with that product.
the only time i have those kinds of buildup occur when i am approaching time to do my "plates off cleaning" and even then its not twice a day
as for cleaning any pellet unit more than once a day due to clinker buildup with pellets i suspect there was an airflow issue involved. i suspect Owen (who is a USSC customer service tech) could confirm that as he's obviously quite familiar with that product.
the only time i have those kinds of buildup occur when i am approaching time to do my "plates off cleaning" and even then its not twice a day
I used to work for Tractor supply and my manager talked to the reps in their meetings in Tennessee, I was supposed to have a return call from their rep to see about repair or replacement since this stove blew exhaust from day one (properly installed) I feel it has a poor weld somewhere but I never received any type of contact from US stove so I will never recommend or buy their product again which was hard because" I could no longer sell customers a unit that I myself had lost all faith in". I will be buying a stove today and I will go to look over Englanders at lowes it is either an Englander or a Quad at this point. This is a great forum and I do not intend to insult a members product but I have had nothing but heart ache with USSC from day one so I am wanting to make the best purchase I can since I have just recently retired. I want quality at this point not price. Thank you for all your help everyone.
Owen1508
Minister of Fire
Hey Raja, Sorry to hear about the issues you are having in your unit. As Mike said it's most likely an airflow issue. just some quick background. I burned the 6041 for 4 years. It is the next gen of you unit only major changes were ignitor and location of agitator motor. Oh and BTW I was born/raised in NYC and lived many years in the Hudson Valley.
I'll assume you are using wood pellets (corn would be different). Just a little about clinker formations in wood pellets first so we understand how/why they form so we know where to look. There is really only 4 factors that contribute/effect clinker formations.
a. Ash content of pellets
b. Amount of silica in the pellets
c. presence of chloride (alkaline salts) in the pellets
d. Firebox temperature.
Silica will melt at 2100 degrees after it cools it fuses with ash and forms clinkers. Now if Chloride is introduced it will lower the melting point of the Silica to around 1500 degrees, this will increase clinkers. Now some units will produce them more if the firebox temperature is higher then others. So a way to reduce clinkers is to use only pellets that are graded to PFI premium standards. These will have lower ash content (less then 1%). Chloride is always less then 300ppm in all grades, as it only takes .25% (1/4%) to lower the melting point anyways. Silica varies greatly in pellets. Trying different brands may help. The last factor you can control easier. You may need the combustion air fan adjusted to lower the air flow as to not have a super hot (whiteish) flame. The idea is to get a good 10:1 or 12:1 air to fuel ratio. That unit is very adjustable regarding combustion air. I can work with you over the phone and dial it in if you choose to try this.
Cleaning the unit more then once a day is crazy. That should not be happening. Once or twice a week on that unit is more the norm.
Some questions..
When you do clean it are you vacuuming the Ash trap areas on the rear firebox wall on either side of the burnpot?
How often have you cleaned the combustion fan? Vent piping?
No matter I can resolve these and get the unit to run as intended. Weekly cleaning of firebox and ash areas are going to be norm. As well as at least a once a year break down cleaning of vent systen to include the combustion fan. I recommend resealing it with RTV and not reusing the gasket.
The fine issues happen if the pellets have a lot. You can also try sealing the hopper seams with RTV.
I'll assume you are using wood pellets (corn would be different). Just a little about clinker formations in wood pellets first so we understand how/why they form so we know where to look. There is really only 4 factors that contribute/effect clinker formations.
a. Ash content of pellets
b. Amount of silica in the pellets
c. presence of chloride (alkaline salts) in the pellets
d. Firebox temperature.
Silica will melt at 2100 degrees after it cools it fuses with ash and forms clinkers. Now if Chloride is introduced it will lower the melting point of the Silica to around 1500 degrees, this will increase clinkers. Now some units will produce them more if the firebox temperature is higher then others. So a way to reduce clinkers is to use only pellets that are graded to PFI premium standards. These will have lower ash content (less then 1%). Chloride is always less then 300ppm in all grades, as it only takes .25% (1/4%) to lower the melting point anyways. Silica varies greatly in pellets. Trying different brands may help. The last factor you can control easier. You may need the combustion air fan adjusted to lower the air flow as to not have a super hot (whiteish) flame. The idea is to get a good 10:1 or 12:1 air to fuel ratio. That unit is very adjustable regarding combustion air. I can work with you over the phone and dial it in if you choose to try this.
Again you have burned 30 tons of pellets so I'll assume you had this 5-7 years. When you take off the combustion fan each year do you/have you replace the gasket? use RTV? Sounds like the ash/soot that is leaking is getting sucked into the convection blower. Something in the vent system is not sealed most likely it's the combustion blower. The flange could have bent, the motor mount plate could be bent, or if you have never cleaned the fan it could be leaking at the shaft. If you want me to handle this for you I"ll PM you my extention and I can resolve this for you painlessly.
Cleaning the unit more then once a day is crazy. That should not be happening. Once or twice a week on that unit is more the norm.
Some questions..
When you do clean it are you vacuuming the Ash trap areas on the rear firebox wall on either side of the burnpot?
How often have you cleaned the combustion fan? Vent piping?
No matter I can resolve these and get the unit to run as intended. Weekly cleaning of firebox and ash areas are going to be norm. As well as at least a once a year break down cleaning of vent systen to include the combustion fan. I recommend resealing it with RTV and not reusing the gasket.
The fine issues happen if the pellets have a lot. You can also try sealing the hopper seams with RTV.
Thinking that is the agitator motor. There is a fix for that. It's free and I can send you one. You have an early made unit in latter years they had a insulation blanket that went between the firebox wall and the motor. The motor will fail quick due to the heat on that model and it was adjusted quickly. Your is a first 10k run. One of the first ones that were made of that model. Agin I can send it to you free of charge.
thats cool, i just was pointing out that they have a rep onboard here now (wasnt the case before this year) which IMHO is a good thing for everyone involved. truth be told i would love it for every manufacturer to participate in here. as for the issue you are having with the unit im not really going to get into it past general help on the unit itself as i find it counterproductive and in bad taste to degrade anyone elses product being a manufacturer myself.
as for my stoves, i'll answer any questions you may ask me
Owen1508
Minister of Fire
Sorry that happened. The request most likely never made it to USSC from the distributor rep. I wish you would have called directly. I can get it taken care of for you now. I know it's late but you could at least have a properly functioning stove you can sell (and feel good about) or continue to use.
I would not sell it as is but I sure would like to be able to us it in my cellar or give it to my son, but I could not do that as it is..thank you very much Owen wish I would have talked to you 5 years ago. I hope we can correct it I paid 1895.00 for this originally I have the receipt here still. Once again thank you I will call you Wed.... Roger I live near the Canadian Border in the snow Belt off Tug Hill
Corresponded back and forth with Owen today, he is working on helping me repair this to where it should be,I will update accordingly. Thank you Owen for being concerned. that means a lot and is a great start .
well USSC (thanks to Owen) did stand behind this stove , they shipped me most of the repair parts to put it back in shape, I will say they did very well by me. It seems USSC is really trying to improve their customer service and they picked a good man for the Job . I guess I got a proto type,so to say as it was only in the 8000 serial number range. It burns much better now then it did new. Thank you Owen for all your help you are an asset to your company and have restored my faith in the brand...
Caleb Joens
Member
I am entering my second year with a USSC 6041I and I have to say I am very pleased with the response from the company. I had some issued at the beginning of the year with auger motors burning out and they happily sent me replacements until we figured out it was the control board causing the issue. They then sent me a new control board and motor and I haven't had any issues since. So while it was a rough start everything turned out well.
When researching I heard a lot of concerns about this brand but being new to pellets I couldn't justify the expensive units and figured worse case I would end up putting it in my garage and getting a better unit for the house. I would have to say that if they continue to be as helpful as they have been I will likely be getting another USSC 6041 for the garage.
I honestly don't think USSC gets enough credit for standing behind their products and with Owen on these boards I am confident that I will get many years if use from my stove.
When researching I heard a lot of concerns about this brand but being new to pellets I couldn't justify the expensive units and figured worse case I would end up putting it in my garage and getting a better unit for the house. I would have to say that if they continue to be as helpful as they have been I will likely be getting another USSC 6041 for the garage.
I honestly don't think USSC gets enough credit for standing behind their products and with Owen on these boards I am confident that I will get many years if use from my stove.
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