High Powered Exhaust

[earl764]

Smokey,

Regarding gaskets, the only gasket I haven't checked is the one on the exhaust blower. I've never opened that piece.

As for the auger and its timing, Travis seems to keep technical details like this to themselves. I couldn't find anything in the manual.

I know we have a few other Astoria owners on the site. Anyone running w/ a vent of my length? 25-27'

I'm going to head up to the dealer on Saturday and try toget something worked out. This is very frustrating.

Anyone else here ever deal w/ Dean's in planstville, CT?

Thanks.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

First I'd send a PM to Don2222 who is running an Astoria Standalone and has seen some interesting things dealing with the fuel feed system https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/fort/19874/ imacman who is subscribed to this thread also ran an Astoria Standalone I have been exchanging PMs with imacman about this issue. I need timing information in order to be certain of a few things.

If you haven't cleaned the exhaust blower it could be that the plumbing is a bit compromised and causing improper feeding since vacuum issues can slow down fuel feed by stopping the auger.

 

[Wi Thundercat]

Smokey,

4" pipe all the way to the top w/ the cap mounted per code.

Thanks.

Could it possibly be the cap is fouled and is restricting the flow on high setting? Just a thought....

 

[CtPaul]

It never ceases to amaze me how much help members of this forum provide. I know I don't have alot of post but I have gotten tons of information.

Earl I have dealt with Dean's and never will again! Hopefully they have changed.I bought my first stove from Dean himself. Let me know if you want details
My guess is you are going to get 10x the help here!

 

[earl764]

Ctpaul,

I know what you mean. I just learned of their Bbb F grade, among other things.

For the guy who mentioned the cap, that's a good idea. Some of the things to check are more weekend work due to the time.

We'll see what happens.

Thanks

 

[stoveguy2esw]

just passing through , not my stove so this is a guess, anyway, is the liner insulated? that long a run if the stack temps are cooling enough to ceate enough "back pressure' to restrict flow. remember you are pushing cooler air with hotter less dense air and thats a long stack. reason i thought this is when you said that when it was not as cold it seemed to work better so maybe in those times wioth warmer outside temps the flue stayed warmer actually holding a better draft


just a thought

 

[earl764]

Mike,

That's a good point. That also might be why the tech said to not run the unit on high with the vent length I have.

The liner is not insulated.

I may look into trading the insert in and getting a stand alone. I could vent it horizontally with a much shorter pipe. It would be much easier maintenance wise.

I'll probably take a bath on it though.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Perhaps, the only thing is that flue should have a very good deal of suction going on in it as well and the EVL since that is the only venting on the stove is under 15 which makes it a candidate for 3".

Did you send a PM to Don?

 

[earl764]

Smokey,

I did shoot Don a PM.

I'm also doing some more experimenting...

I think I may have used some poorer quality pellets when doing some of my damper testing. This may have skewed the results.

I have the damper at 3.5 now and using some better quality hard woods. The unit doesn't seem to like the softwoods I had tried(premier).

I'm running it on max(6) and it's cold here tonight(25). We'll see what happens.

I'd like to try some Cubex, but the place I checked only sells by the ton. I may borrow a couple bags off a buddy and see what happens.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks everyone for their assistance.

 

[CtPaul]

Earl by the way I have an accentra insert. It is in an old chimney (over 25') so I lined it with 4" flex no insulation. Sometimes I get similar vibration a little after start up or in certain wind conditions. Mine is just for a short time. It is a similar sound if like when i bang/shake the liner during cleaning. I'm believe once the draft gets going I'm all set. I can also create it if I lift the hopper lid while the stove is cranking. As far as the wind situation, I live on a lake and we get some gusty winds sometimes.
I'm hoping when I install an Oak it doesnt cause a problem :cheese:

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Earl,

How did it go last night?

 

[earl764]

Smokey,

Some interesting updates.

First I would like to thank everyone for their comments and patience.

During my testing I had been using mostly new england pellets. The system would act differently at various damper/heat settings as one would expect. This led me to describe the symptoms a specific way. It turns out another issue was causing me grief.

The avalon has an auger tube that is at a 45 degree angle roughly. The auger turns so that pellets are brought from the bottom of the hopper up the tube and then dropped down the chute into the firepot.

There is a point where the auger is exposed and then you have an auger tube cover plate. At this point, any pellet which is too big to fit as it turns is chopped as the auger turns.

I found that I actually had pellets jammed in the auger at that point. Sometimes the auger would recover, other times it would be stuck.

While doing my testing this would happen, and led me to believe it was an air setting or the BS from the dealer about not running the unit on high. Which by the way, I called Travis Industries and they confirmed I can run it on high all day long.... Can't believe the dealer would say that...

So, the pellets the dealer sold me are apparently bad. Or at least not very avalon friendly. I'm going to try and get them to take the pellets back. I'd be willing to sell them to anyone on here real cheap. They ran fine in my friends New Englander.

Last night I traded a couple bags to a friend who had some cubex and vermont soft wood. The cubex burned all night. I did wake up and find the stove off with a small amount of pellets at the bottom. There was one jammed again.

The vermont softwood has been burning without issue. If this bag finishes up without any problems I may order a ton.

I also cleaned out the hopper last night and lubed it up w/ graphite spray to try and help things.

This was so frustrating. I'm glad I at least have a confirmed cause.

The auger isn't deformed, no metal on metal grinding, etc. Perhaps this model is more sensitive to poorer quality pellets?

I have a few bags of bayou and green supreme to try next.

Thanks.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Smokey,

Some interesting updates.

First I would like to thank everyone for their comments and patience.

During my testing I had been using mostly new england pellets. The system would act differently at various damper/heat settings as one would expect. This led me to describe the symptoms a specific way. It turns out another issue was causing me grief.

The avalon has an auger tube that is at a 45 degree angle roughly. The auger turns so that pellets are brought from the bottom of the hopper up the tube and then dropped down the chute into the firepot.

There is a point where the auger is exposed and then you have an auger tube cover plate. At this point, any pellet which is too big to fit as it turns is chopped as the auger turns.

I found that I actually had pellets jammed in the auger at that point. Sometimes the auger would recover, other times it would be stuck.

While doing my testing this would happen, and led me to believe it was an air setting or the BS from the dealer about not running the unit on high. Which by the way, I called Travis Industries and they confirmed I can run it on high all day long.... Can't believe the dealer would say that...

So, the pellets the dealer sold me are apparently bad. Or at least not very avalon friendly. I'm going to try and get them to take the pellets back. I'd be willing to sell them to anyone on here real cheap. They ran fine in my friends New Englander.

Last night I traded a couple bags to a friend who had some cubex and vermont soft wood. The cubex burned all night. I did wake up and find the stove off with a small amount of pellets at the bottom. There was one jammed again.

The vermont softwood has been burning without issue. If this bag finishes up without any problems I may order a ton.

I also cleaned out the hopper last night and lubed it up w/ graphite spray to try and help things.

This was so frustrating. I'm glad I at least have a confirmed cause.

The auger isn't deformed, no metal on metal grinding, etc. Perhaps this model is more sensitive to poorer quality pellets?

I have a few bags of bayou and green supreme to try next.

Thanks.

Did Don tell you about his bout with reduced feeding caused by fines and such in the bushings?

A bit of cleaning and lubrication and things were back to normal. This is sort of like other folks having stalling issues usually related to the auger motor.

I just want to make certain that you are making progress and that the issue isn't likely the venting being close to maximum.

Remember imacman also had the standalone version of your stove as well.

Keep us in the loop.

 

[earl764]

So I went to the dealer.

They think it's something in the auger assembly. bushings, motor, misc. parts.

They're bringing out a bunch of parts to replace this week.

If that doesn't do it, the next option is to ship the unit back to Travis.

All of my pellet testing ends w/ the same results. I've even tried panning the pellets in a colander to eliminate fines.

If the repair doesn't work, I may opt to skip sending the unit back to Travis and instead go for store credit and go to the dark side(wood burning insert).

Fewer moving parts. Maybe I'll have better luck. We'll see what happens.

 

[DirtyDave]

I know I am undersized in flue, 3 inch instead of 4 inch and runing equivilent to 30 feet . 1, 45* then 3 ft striaght at angle up, then T then a 45 then 1ft up and 45 then 16 ft up to cap to clear all the junk of corner install in a L corner of house with gutters and eves all cleared and custon mount brackets. I can run on 5 but it heats the house way to hot. seems to have good flow on roof maybe hopefully

 

[earl764]

This issue can now be put to rest.

Apparently the auger motor was bad. The tech thinks some of the teeth in a gear became stripped somehow, and whenever I hit those teeth and had more than mild resistance due to pellets, it failed.

I was starting to get concerned about the dealer based on some research I did. I went into the place on the weekend and calmly explained my issue again, how it was still happening and I as able to get someone out here asap.

The dealer really came through this time. I had had some issues w/ pellet orders, etc. in the past but this really makes up for that.

Thanks again to everyone for their comments/suggestions.

My picture is an example of the now working stove, plus toasted cat.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Glad to hear you are up and hitting on all cylinders.

That explanation you were given at first was pure baloney.