Greasy inside my stove?

[Jman87]

I've been doing some low burns here, it's been cooler out but not cold enough to have my Harman burning at full throttle.. Just went to clean it and there is a greasy film on the inside..

Now.. I know it may be the quality of pellets, but could it be because I'm burning the fire on a low setting which is not burning the film off?

Need advice

Thanks!

P.S please don't turn my topic into a pellet bashing fest, hence why I didn't include brand (which I asked around and was encouraged to purchase) haha

 

[JDenyer236]

Is this a new stove? My guess would be from burning on low. Open that bad boy up for a bit and see if it goes away.

 

[Jman87]

Yes, new stove. About a month old, gone through about 10 bags so far.

 

[JDenyer236]

Yeah I would try to burn it on high for a bit. You may have to open the Windows for a bit

 

[Jman87]

I'm thinking so too. I just gave it a pretty kick butt cleaning.. First time it's happened to me so I'm thinking I need to crank it up a little more

 

[Happy Hour]

I know my stove doesn't like to 'idle' burn, prob. have to run it a bit hotter to avoid that 'greasy' film.

 

[fmsm]

Not bashing just asking, are you burning green supremes or NEWP?

 

[Jman87]

...Green Supremes

 

[Big papa]

I've been doing some low burns here, it's been cooler out but not cold enough to have my Harman burning at full throttle.. Just went to clean it and there is a greasy film on the inside..

Now.. I know it may be the quality of pellets, but could it be because I'm burning the fire on a low setting which is not burning the film off?

Need advice

Thanks!

P.S please don't turn my topic into a pellet bashing fest, hence why I didn't include brand (which I asked around and was encouraged to purchase) haha

You must have got a harman then welcome lol

 

[fmsm]

...Green Supremes

Not trying to bash or be a wise guy but I would say the pellets are your problem.

 

[Big papa]

When my stove is burning In maintence low burn it gets a little greasy creosote build up when it's burning hotter it goes away

 

[Jman87]

It's all good Will this grease destroy my stove? If I burn them hotter will it somewhat resolve it?

Kind of bummed. I burnt a bag the other day and it was fine.. Oh well lol

 

[heat seeker]

Sounds like creosote from too cool a fire. My manual calls for running the stove wide open for at least ½ hour per day. See if yours does, too...

 

[pinetop12]

As others have said I'd lean toward the low burn being the culprit. Last spring this happened to my stove,what a surprise to find the whole burning chamber to be coated in a sticky goo. Fired the stove on high the next night , the following day , stove was back to an easily cleanable ash, Lesson learned, Try to avoid low burn . If I recall this subject has come up in the past . With , One respected poster saying he cranked his stove on high at least once per day to help limit this issue. I'm a believer.

 

[Tonyray]

Everything pinetop12 said is correct....
low burn last winter for a while caused my Harman to get an oily greasy sticky film inside,,,
Fired that baby up on about 80 degrees for about 2 hrs and it all turned into a brushable ash.
Got that tip from right here last winter........

 

[TCZON]

Another to agree on the low temp burns. We did a lot of that last spring, while we still needed heat, but not a lot. This fall we put a t-stat in, so now when it calls for heat, the stove fires up at about a mid-range heat level (enough to cause all fans etc to kick in and burn hot), then when temp in the house is achieved, it will low burn for 45mins in case there is a call for heat again, if not, it shuts down. Much better to do a short hot burn, then a long low one. We've had no build up at all while running this way.

 

[Jman87]

Hey! I owe you all an update. The verdict is.. You're right! I turned up my Harman to about 75 and ran it for a while and all that sticky stuff is gone!

From now on my stoves going to run hot and heavy

Thanks guys!

 

[Tonyray]

Everything pinetop12 said is correct....
low burn last winter for a while caused my Harman to get an oily greasy sticky film inside,,,
Fired that baby up on about 80 degrees for about 2 hrs and it all turned into a brushable ash.
Got that tip from right here last winter........

don't think it matters but I put it on Stove Temp/auto when I need to Iet her Rip'n'Clean..