Heat level just not what it once was, how do I fix it??

[briggsy13]

Ok so all of a sudden our stove is just not putting off the same amount of heat. We've cleaned everything we know to clean:
inside (burn pot & vacuum out everything I can see)
took off those metal plates and ran a brush up those baffles to clean that out and vacuumed it out
metal brush cleaned the vent pipes
then attached leaf blower and sucked out the stove from the outside
vacuumed off the blower fan motor (it did have a layer of dust on it, after this it started blowing more, but it's not hot)

So normally the stove would keep the area right by the stove around 80 degrees, this made the rest of the house toasty warm as well, but in the low 70's.

Right now the stove is only getting the area by the stove up to 75, and obviously the rest of the house is much lower than that.

Still burning the same pellets, Hamers.

Please solve this problem for us

 

[Ssyko]

That actually is not a huge difference it may be in the pellets you are burning not the stove. I’ve had some this year that burn great but not alot of heat. I would try a few diff brands to see if it makes up the 5 or so degrees.

 

[briggsy13]

That actually is not a huge difference it may be in the pellets you are burning not the stove. I’ve had some this year that burn great but not alot of heat. I would try a few diff brands to see if it makes up the 5 or so degrees.

Maybe, but it's the same pellets we've had, so it seems weird that all of a sudden they would be different. I could even understand a bad bag or two but it's been going on for like 4-5 days now.

 

[Ssyko]

If you have a good flame and good heat I don’t know why there is a 5 deg diff. Wind in diff direction lately?

 

[briggsy13]

If you have a good flame and good heat I don’t know why there is a 5 deg diff. Wind in diff direction lately?

No don't think so. It's so weird, nothing has changed, if anything it's been warmer temps outside with no wind. Yesterday it actually broke 40 degrees F. But the stove never "caught up" or got near the warm house temps from before.
We had negative wind chills the other weekend and then it did struggle to keep up, but that made sense. We have old windows so the house is drafty, but again that is not new.

 

[Jhawknseattle]

Do you have an oak? Possibly with the colder air the fire was able to burn better/hotter.

 

[Ssyko]

What is the stove? Flame burning normal? Something get bumped while cleaning?

 

[briggsy13]

What is the stove? Flame burning normal? Something get bumped while cleaning?

It's a TimberRidge 55-TRP, the flame is good, burning clean, just not hot. What should I check that might have gotten bumped? I feel like I'm missing something obvious. We've had it for a long time usually a deep clean solves any issue it has had.

 

[briggsy13]

Do you have an oak? Possibly with the colder air the fire was able to burn better/hotter.

Yes we do have an oak, hubby took off the screen and cleaned it on Saturday. It burned hot before the super cold weather, but that was a good thought.

 

[saewoody]

You didn’t mention cleaning the blower unit itself (I’m assuming a pellet stove has one). If the squirrel cage in the blower is caked up, it will not push the heat off the stove as efficiently as before. I cleaned mine this winter and couldn’t believe the difference it made.


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[Roko]

What is the best way to clean the fins on the fan? I used my air compressor on low and the fins still look caked. Thanks

 

[Paulinator]

What is the best way to clean the fins on the fan? I used my air compressor on low and the fins still look caked. Thanks

On my old P22i I used a small wire brush and the vacuum with a crack attachment. The dust bunnies really like to stick to the fins. I'm going to break down my Harman at the end of the season and probably do the same.

 

[Ssyko]

Best way is to pull the blowers out of the stove, using a compressor blow in the exhaust side of the housing with 120 psi . It will remove everything. While your doing that blow in the motor itself and give the windings a cleaning. Use some common sence with compressed air and dont blow it at yourself

 

[briggsy13]

You didn’t mention cleaning the blower unit itself (I’m assuming a pellet stove has one). If the squirrel cage in the blower is caked up, it will not push the heat off the stove as efficiently as before. I cleaned mine this winter and couldn’t believe the difference it made.


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I only vacuumed off the screen on the outside of the blower motor. Once I did that I could feel a lot more air coming from the stove but it isn't very hot. I wish I knew the temps of the air it normally put out so I could compare it to now.

Any idea what temps the air coming out should be??

 

[saewoody]

What is the best way to clean the fins on the fan? I used my air compressor on low and the fins still look caked. Thanks

With the blower removed from the stove, I sucked out as much as I could with the shop vac. Then I switched the shop vac to blow. That got most everything else out, but be prepared for a huge dust cloud. I had one last stubborn bit that wouldn’t let go, so I used a small pic to get it free. Huge difference in heat coming off the stove. The stove had been used for a tad over 4 heating seasons. I think I will put this on my annual cleaning list.


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[saewoody]

I only vacuumed off the screen on the outside of the blower motor. Once I did that I could feel a lot more air coming from the stove but it isn't very hot. I wish I knew the temps of the air it normally put out so I could compare it to now.

Any idea what temps the air coming out should be??

I’m not sure how different temps would be on a pellet stove vs a wood insert (which is what I have), but I usually run my stove between 300-650 degrees in terms of the stove top temperature.


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[bill3rail]

Outside temperatures are obviously what affects our abilities to keep living spaces where we want them. Low temperatures affect our indoor heat and high winds KILL indoor heat fast.

With this in mind, we actually need some level of scientific recording of what temperatures the stove puts out in many differing settings
EG: Outside Temp.: Wind speed: Stove setting: Temp. at stove:
45* 8mph 5 & 2 85*
35* 14mph 5 & 2 80*

With this, we could actually see the effect of temperature and winds. Obviously, the more information we have the more accurate our findings will be.

Simply stated, a 5* difference is minimal and may very well have been caused by outside temperatures and winds.

Over the last three weeks, our stove has been off less than 20 hours total because the temperature outside being insanely low! I am sure our fuel oil usage is higher than normal with the outside temperature and winds.

Bill

 

[mr meener]

I have a P43 and it never put the heat out like the first year. in the winter once a month I take it outside on the deck open every door fine plate cover and use a leaf blower to blast it, the cloud of dust is gigantic but I never took the blower motor out to clean. Is it the motor on the bottom behind the ash pan?

 

[TonyVideo]

I have a P43 and it never put the heat out like the first year. in the winter once a month I take it outside on the deck open every door fine plate cover and use a leaf blower to blast it, the cloud of dust is gigantic but I never took the blower motor out to clean. Is it the motor on the bottom behind the ash pan?

Yes the motor is on bottom back behind the fan. I would also clean the holes in the front where the air comes out and the air intake. If you have hairy animals the hair gets into it from the intake and collects. Also I assume you scrape and clean the interior top and sides as well. Any ash build up acts like an insulator and less heat transfer.

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[saewoody]

I have a P43 and it never put the heat out like the first year. in the winter once a month I take it outside on the deck open every door fine plate cover and use a leaf blower to blast it, the cloud of dust is gigantic but I never took the blower motor out to clean. Is it the motor on the bottom behind the ash pan?

Here is the online PDF manual for your stove. It looks like pages 22-24 should cover the info that you are looking for about the blower motor. Good luck!

http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/P43.pdf


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[dozerdean]

I made a filter for my accentra,can u do the same?

 

[briggsy13]

So hubby was home this weekend and he took apart the combustion motor ( i think that's what it's called) and cleaned it out. That was our last step in cleaning every piece of the stove.

It still isn't burning hot, it's burning clean but not hot. Thankfully we are having some warmer temps for now.

We are pretty sure the pellets have a higher moisture content. We've always loved Hamers and spent more to get them vs the cheaper pellets. But apparently some of the new 2 tons we got this year aren't what they have been in years. past.

Anyone else having issues with Hamers???