how can we get more heat?

[Frustrated Rob]

We have had our 5510 Pellet stove for about 1 month. We have been adjusting the heat range and draft range settings. Still having problems with it burns clean for 8-10 hours then pellets start to build up and we need to clean the stove and start again. We were just putting 1 bag of pellets in the hopper, does this affect how it burns? Also, if we are just not getting enough heat - it's been running today since 1:30 pm, it's about 30 degrees outside and the temprature inside is 60 degrees. Our heat range setting is 150 low and 350 hgih and our draft is set at 150 low and 350 high. We are running the heat range on 4 and the draft is at 5. Can anyone help us?

Thanks, Rob & Mary

 

[krooser]

You can start with closing the draft... pellet stoves don't need much since they use a combustion fan to exhaust the gasses. If you have the draft too high you lose heat. It actually adjusts the air intake not the exhaust.

Mine is 90% closed...

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

After burning for awhile it is possible you are causing a burn pot air bypass to be setup because the fuel level in the hopper is too low.

This can lead to buildup in the burn pot.

There are other things that can also lead to the same symptoms.

Are you running that stove on manual or automatic mode?

Do you know what the minimum low setting and the maximum high setting can be for your stove?

I don't know if what follows applies to your particular stove.

On some of the USSC stoves if you run in automatic mode the damper must be completely open.

If you are running in manual mode you must use the damper to control the airflow into the stove as the combustion fan runs flat out.

 

[Frustrated Rob]

How do we adjust the draft? How do we adjust the damper? It doesn't say in the manual what the setting range is

We are running in automatic mode, the heat range we have set the low setting to 150and high setting is 450. The draft is at low setting of 100 and high setting of 350. We have the Heat Range at 4, Room Fan at 5 and the draft fan is at 5. The pellets are building up again so we are lowering the heat range low setting to 140. Am I correct that this slows the pellets that drop?

Is it better to run in automatic or manual?
Really appreciate the help.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You want to run in Automatic mode.

Please check the 2,3 and 5 items on page 17 in the installation manual.

Also please provide a description of your vent system starting at the stove and ending outside at the termination cap. A picture of the outside would also be of help.

I need the diameter of the venting, the lengths and orientation of all pieces that make up the vent system.

Also are you venting into the prevailing wind for your location, do you have an OAK installed, and how new is the construction of your house?

ETA: Your stove doesn't have a damper.

I think you likely have an air leak that is causing the build up in your burn pot, but we have to check the vent installation out first.

 

[arnash]

You shouldn't judge the heat output based on the temp in the room because that doesn't take into account the wind-chill effect outside which may be cooling your house faster than you realize. Instead, judge the heat output by how hot it feels when you're standing in front of it. As for the heat range low setting, although I'm totally un-knowledgeable about such advanced controls, I'd guess that the lower the low-range setting, the more you increase the difficulty at maintaining high enough heat for the stove to operate efficiently and optimally. What I've learned from my manual-only stove is that when the pellet feed-rate is too slow, the burn-pot slowly becomes depleted of red-hot coals which are needed to ignite incoming pellets, up to the point that the temperature in the burn-pot is too cool to ignite any pellets, although the pellets continue to fall into it. Then they extinguish the remaining coals as they cover them and smother them.
So, instead of being distracted by installation issues which should impact you flame quality right from ignition, and not after 10 hours of perfect performance, just try raising the lower setting instead of lowering it. Then the burn-pot shouldn't cool down so much and pellets shouldn't build-up because they'll be ignited promptly.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You shouldn't judge the heat output based on the temp in the room because that doesn't take into account the wind-chill effect outside which may be cooling your house faster than you realize. Instead, judge the heat output by how hot it feels when you're standing in front of it. As for the heat range low setting, although I'm totally un-knowledgeable about such advanced controls, I'd guess that the lower the low-range setting, the more you increase the difficulty at maintaining high enough heat for the stove to operate efficiently and optimally. What I've learned from my manual-only stove is that when the pellet feed-rate is too slow, the burn-pot slowly becomes depleted of red-hot coals which are needed to ignite incoming pellets, up to the point that the temperature in the burn-pot is too cool to ignite any pellets, although the pellets continue to fall into it. Then they extinguish the remaining coals as they cover them and smother them.
So, instead of being distracted by installation issues which should impact you flame quality right from ignition, and not after 10 hours of perfect performance, just try raising the lower setting instead of lowering it. Then the burn-pot shouldn't cool down so much and pellets shouldn't build-up because they'll be ignited promptly.

Wrong, that is the last thing he should be doing, you'll note he didn't complain about the fire going out.

A burn pot filling up after burning for 10 hours or 168 hours is the sign of an airflow problem usually due to ash plugging the air path under the grate. This means that the burn pot needs to be emptied and the air chamber under it cleaned of ash.

He has already provided one clue in that he only put one bag in the hooper. I'll let you figure out what that means when the stove has the hopper capacity of 150 pounds.

Please note in your manual any cautions about allowing the stove to run low on fuel.

 

[arnash]

"Wrong, that is the last thing he should be doing, you’ll note he didn’t complain about the fire going out."
I'll assume you know what you're talking about, since I know nothing about those kind of controls, but I would be astonished if any stove required cleaning after only 10 hours of operation. Considering how little ash pellet stoves produce, how could enough ash accumulate to reduce air flow in only 10 hours? Maybe poor quality pellets could produce enough ashy crap to reduce air flow through the holes in the burn pot after only 10 hours, but not the path beneath the burn pot. Agree?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

"Wrong, that is the last thing he should be doing, you’ll note he didn’t complain about the fire going out."
I'll assume you know what you're talking about, since I know nothing about those kind of controls, but I would be astonished if any stove required cleaning after only 10 hours of operation. Considering how little ash pellet stoves produce, how could enough ash accumulate to reduce air flow in only 10 hours? Maybe poor quality pellets could produce enough ashy crap to reduce air flow through the holes in the burn pot after only 10 hours, but not the path beneath the burn pot. Agree?

You need to be introduced to a brand new never been run stove and pellets from a brand new pellet maker.

Once you light the fire if there is any imbalance in the air/fuel ratio that results in any ash not being ejected from the burn pot it will eventually plug up.

The burn can appear to be fine and then one last straw will tip it over the edge.

 

[chris288]

Or you could just buy a bottom feet stove like a Harman and never worry about such issues again... I should know I went through a lot of this type of issues with my whitfield, great stove, but the Harman is heads and shoulders better.

 

[slls]

Or a Quad, see where the ash goes.

 

[arnash]

Yeah, I have nothing to compare my stove to, and it being over 22 years old, I have to assume that most of the latter designs are superior. Which includes having a variable pot. knob for the combustion blower. I get the impression that my combustion blower is probably not as strong as later models since it doesn't have the power to make the pellets move at all. Today as I was watching a burn pot that appeared too cool, flames too small, pellets too black, I began wondering if I could find a small blower that I could use to inject more air into the air-intake pipe. I tried the output end of a carpet-cleaner tank vac but it was too strong of course, though it did make the flame larger. Using a fireplace bellows made it smaller -too much, too quick, but the aim was to clear the burn pot holes of ash. It didn't improve the performance. It seems that the room blower runs quieter after the oiling, but the combustion blower seems weaker, at least in regard to the size and temp. of the flame. I hope that's only a temporary situation.

But on the bright side, my stove doesn't have a lot of electronic controls that can go bad.