Horizontal Vent Pipe Plugging

[MainePellethead]

Hey all...

I have a small question...how much build up inside the horizontal venting is enough to shut down the units feeder(vacuum switch)?

 

[hearthtools]

Hey all...

I have a small question...how much build up inside the horizontal venting is enough to shut down the units feeder(vacuum switch)?

Depending in the pellets and how long the run is
normaly you want to clean all Horizontal pipe about every 100 bags

 

[MainePellethead]

Hey all...

I have a small question...how much build up inside the horizontal venting is enough to shut down the units feeder(vacuum switch)?

Depending in the pellets and how long the run is
normaly you want to clean all Horizontal pipe about every 100 bags

So...would there be any chance that approx. 40 bags shutting it down Rod? What happened is...I woke at about 3 a.m. this morning....stove was out. Red light was on calling for heat but nuttin. So at first I thought maybe fuel wasnt getting into auger feed....but looked and there was plenty of fuel. So I reset...and auger started working...fire started....but pellets were not feeding and fire would start to go out.....so i reset again...auger fed pellets....and seemed it stopped again....I did that maybe 4-5 times after checking to make sure auger was operating correctly. So....I left it til later in morning. I went back to it at 6 a.m. this morning....took apart....cleaned firebox, pot, behind the brick panels and wiped off the heat exchange tubes. Put everything back together...set thermostat....and it worked. I let it run for maybe 2 hours and it ran fine. Hmm. Its down now cause its mild here in Southern Maine here this morning. Could it be that it was just being picky? Or is it sensing some buildup in the Horizontal Vent? There was much behind the brick panels etc as I clean it daily promptly. My horizontal run is...approx. a foot and a half or so. Is it possibly "fines" get built up in that pipe maybe? Just has me curious. Thanks Rod.

Is it starting to heat up in northern California any at all Rod? We got a TON of snow this year....have about 115" of snow so far this year....no droughts this year lol

 

[hearthtools]

Hey all...

I have a small question...how much build up inside the horizontal venting is enough to shut down the units feeder(vacuum switch)?

Depending in the pellets and how long the run is
normaly you want to clean all Horizontal pipe about every 100 bags

So...would there be any chance that approx. 40 bags shutting it down Rod? What happened is...I woke at about 3 a.m. this morning....stove was out. Red light was on calling for heat but nuttin. So at first I thought maybe fuel wasnt getting into auger feed....but looked and there was plenty of fuel. So I reset...and auger started working...fire started....but pellets were not feeding and fire would start to go out.....so i reset again...auger fed pellets....and seemed it stopped again....I did that maybe 4-5 times after checking to make sure auger was operating correctly. So....I left it til later in morning. I went back to it at 6 a.m. this morning....took apart....cleaned firebox, pot, behind the brick panels and wiped off the heat exchange tubes. Put everything back together...set thermostat....and it worked. I let it run for maybe 2 hours and it ran fine. Hmm. Its down now cause its mild here in Southern Maine here this morning. Could it be that it was just being picky? Or is it sensing some buildup in the Horizontal Vent? There was much behind the brick panels etc as I clean it daily promptly. My horizontal run is...approx. a foot and a half or so. Is it possibly "fines" get built up in that pipe maybe? Just has me curious. Thanks Rod.

Is it starting to heat up in northern California any at all Rod? We got a TON of snow this year....have about 115" of snow so far this year....no droughts this year lol

Could be the port for the vacuum hose is plugged due to poor location
happens all the time on breckwells and some the enviro Windor.

Been warm here and cold.
on and off
we are up on snow pack this year. thank GOD for th lakes were so low last summer because they let them run low to feed at the City slickers 500 miles away water.

current snow dept depending on elevation is 50 - 90 inches
We are lucky where my store is and were I live no snow but drive 10 minutes there is a few feet.

 

[stoveguy13]

dirty firepot can cause same thing as well on the unit i would guess it may not have been getting the TC up to temp fast enough that would stop the feed as well. what setting was it on ?

 

[MainePellethead]

dirty firepot can cause same thing as well on the unit i would guess it may not have been getting the TC up to temp fast enough that would stop the feed as well. what setting was it on ?

Hmm....didnt think the firepot was that dirty as it had been cleaned approx. 12 hours before that. My Thermostat was set at 75....and the red light was on calling for fuel but wasnt being fed. But after cleaning out thorough this morning it worked fine and is still working right now. We'll see.. lol....going to check the horizontal pipe the next good day we have.

Thanks to you and Rod for the response....

 

[stoveguy13]

what setting was the stove set on? high med low

 

[MainePellethead]

what setting was the stove set on? high med low

oh lol...sorry. It was on Low....I set it on low at night while sleeping.

 

[stoveguy13]

dirty pot and low setting will miss on occasion make sure the TC is pushed all the way to the end of the holder you can try and give it a littel down angel into the pot as well this should stop it from missing anymore or you can just leave it on a high or med setting over night and it will get the same result. the venting and the vacum switch are most likely fine

 

[MainePellethead]

dirty pot and low setting will miss on occasion make sure the TC is pushed all the way to the end of the holder you can try and give it a littel down angel into the pot as well this should stop it from missing anymore or you can just leave it on a high or med setting over night and it will get the same result. the venting and the vacum switch are most likely fine

"TC is pushed all the way to the end of the holder"? Sorry....long day lol Down angel? I'm a mainer.....gotta explain a little lol....thanks

 

[stoveguy13]

TC thermocouple the wire that goes into the white piece that sticks into the top of the pot make sure the wire is all the way to the end and tip the front of the TC and cover into the pot this will allow the TC to heat up a littel quicker and not missfire the TC needs to see proper temps in certain amount of times or eles the stove will not continue to run hope that makes senes now

 

[MainePellethead]

TC thermocouple the wire that goes into the white piece that sticks into the top of the pot make sure the wire is all the way to the end and tip the front of the TC and cover into the pot this will allow the TC to heat up a littel quicker and not missfire the TC needs to see proper temps in certain amount of times or eles the stove will not continue to run hope that makes senes now

Ah yes! Thats makes alot of sense...(TC...duh...I should of figured that out)....I'll keep a better eye to that....I'll make sure its set....

Thanks alot for the quick answers.

We have alot of great people here in times of need....

 

[Philip]

Hey all…

I have a small question...how much build up inside the horizontal venting is enough to shut down the units feeder(vacuum switch)?

Can't tell you how much is needed to shut your stove down, but I can tell you I was surprised at the amount of buildup in my 3' of horizontal venting after burning only about 25 bags of Somerset pellets. There was a good 3/4 - 1" of ash. I noticed the flame was more active after cleaning the venting out. Since I don't have any vertical venting it's real easy to clean out the horizontal vent pipe. Next season I'm going to clean it out every week or two.

 

[MainePellethead]

Hey all…

I have a small question...how much build up inside the horizontal venting is enough to shut down the units feeder(vacuum switch)?

Can't tell you how much is needed to shut your stove down, but I can tell you I was surprised at the amount of buildup in my 3' of horizontal venting after burning only about 25 bags of Somerset pellets. There was a good 3/4 - 1" of ash. I noticed the flame was more active after cleaning the venting out. Since I don't have any vertical venting it's real easy to clean out the horizontal vent pipe. Next season I'm going to clean it out every week or two.

I was surprised as well about 3 weeks ago I took off the cleanout cap to the "T" and a bit more than I thought fell to the ground. My flame looks really good though in my case. It has been working since I had a problem couple nights ago...so...if I can get a few more weeks ....then I'll clean it to get ready for next season. If not I'll have to clean it lol....