How to burn wood pellets in 2006 Auburn corn burner

[Rxwoman1961]

Hi,
I had been looking for a used multifuel stove since July! I finally found a 2006 Auburn for $300. However, after getting it home and looking closer (cleaning and such) I was surprised to find a label under the hopper lid that says "For use with corn only". I thought Auburns were all multifuel stoves! So, how can I convert it to burn wood pellets? Thank you for any help.

 

[Ssyko]

if you use the little magnifying glass (search) for st croix auburn there are quite a few threads on the stove may help you out. I believe there is a few corn burners here that will pipe in also.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Most every corn burner will run pellets with no modifications unless it's a positive combustion draft unit then it becomes a burn back issue.

For 300 bucks does it actually function?

 

[Alfred]

I have a 2006 Auburn and I run pellets in it for what you would call "shoulder season" and run a corn and pellet mix for the colder months.
When I run pellets I use a "pellet pot" which they sold at the time I purchased the stove but I think they have done away with it and just had people use the corn pot. I tried the corn pot but just couldn't seem to get it quite right and I went back to the pellet pot.

On your air intake adjustment on the back of the stove I set it up for corn using the stop and leave it there and when adjusting for pellets (if needed) you can turn the arm in the opposite direction so you don't loose your corn adjustment. Your air adjustment should start open about the the size of a #2 pencil.
If you can download a manual for it (or already have one) that will be good place to start learning about the stove. I use the "leaf blower trick" on mine and it works great to keep the "hidden" passages open on this stove. Somewhere out there is some pictures of this stove that has been cut apart showing the cleaning procedure.

The picture is with the pellet pot I'm running right now.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Thank you Flip and Alfred! Yes, it runs, I had the guy send me a video of the auger turning and the fan blowing (sound) before I drove all that way. I tried running it last night with just pellets and it went out on me and I ended up with a house full of smoke. I added some corn to it tonight and bought starter gel. It seemed to run ok for about 30 minutes, got good and hot, then the auger decided to dump a bunch of pellets and corn all at once and for some reason it killed the fire. I'm still learning it seems.
Also I can hear the fan running, but it doesn't seem to blow much heat out. I've cleaned and vaccumed everywhere I could see, but maybe I'm missing somewhere? My green power light blinks all the time too. I googled that and wasn't able to find an answer.
Thank you guys. I've read good things about these Auburns and I know I just need to figure out what the heck I'm doing.

 

[Alfred]

Thank you Flip and Alfred! Yes, it runs, I had the guy send me a video of the auger turning and the fan blowing (sound) before I drove all that way. I tried running it last night with just pellets and it went out on me and I ended up with a house full of smoke. I added some corn to it tonight and bought starter gel. It seemed to run ok for about 30 minutes, got good and hot, then the auger decided to dump a bunch of pellets and corn all at once and for some reason it killed the fire. I'm still learning it seems.
Also I can hear the fan running, but it doesn't seem to blow much heat out. I've cleaned and vaccumed everywhere I could see, but maybe I'm missing somewhere? My green power light blinks all the time too. I googled that and wasn't able to find an answer.
Thank you guys. I've read good things about these Auburns and I know I just need to figure out what the heck I'm doing.

 

[rickwai]

Thank you Flip and Alfred! Yes, it runs, I had the guy send me a video of the auger turning and the fan blowing (sound) before I drove all that way. I tried running it last night with just pellets and it went out on me and I ended up with a house full of smoke. I added some corn to it tonight and bought starter gel. It seemed to run ok for about 30 minutes, got good and hot, then the auger decided to dump a bunch of pellets and corn all at once and for some reason it killed the fire. I'm still learning it seems.
Also I can hear the fan running, but it doesn't seem to blow much heat out. I've cleaned and vaccumed everywhere I could see, but maybe I'm missing somewhere? My green power light blinks all the time too. I googled that and wasn't able to find an answer.
Thank you guys. I've read good things about these Auburns and I know I just need to figure out what the heck I'm doing.

You need a long thin brush like a refrigerator brush up thru your ash traps and get that all cleaned out. You will be amazed how much stuff drops down. shake out the burn pot bottom by shaking it in and out to clear the ash from the gap in the bottom of the pot. Then pull rod out and get down on floor and make sure the 4 rectangular holes the pot floor mates up to are not packed full from shoving pot floor closed w/ over full ash pan.
Now leave ash drop covers off and front door open and get a leave blower and attached the vacuum end to your exhaust pipe and suck the stove out. It will run like a champ after these steps usually.
As far as burning pellets, you can burn them in the pot you have I dont think you can get the pot that Alfred is using anymore. The only thing I have found is the pot floor wants to carbon up and not want to slide open. The St Croix stoves are great little stoves and you can find them cheap. Just have to watch for them being overly rusty if they were on corn for a long time and not cared for properly.

 

[rickwai]

I see you are in Nebraska. I would run corn. It is easier in that stove. It is cheaper than pellets her. Pellets here are about $5/ #40 bag. Corn bagged at elevator is $5/#50. Exactly 1 cup of wood pellets and some starter gel on top, light, close the door and power it up. Very easy to light.

 

[Alfred]

Try to google "stcroix auburn stove cutaway" and you should get some picture of the guts of the stove. Check these pages of the manual out, they should help.
You may have to pull the exhaust motor and room fan out and give them and the chambers in the stove a good cleaning and perhaps some oil on the exhaust fan. I pull mine every year and do this and I'm on my second combustion motor and original room fan. I make my own gaskets though and you would most likely have to be able to replace them if you pulled the motors out. The pictures that you should find show a cleaning procedure using a old throttle cable on a drill, that's done at the end of season. I find the "leaf blower trick" works great with this stove as it gets these hidden passages clean as I believe on the newer stoves they added new plates to access these places.
I've done some other mods to mine to get a little more heat out of it but I have been very happy with mine. Once running good you should use heat levels 2-4 mostly as it doesn't seem to burn very clean on #1 (which in its self could be adjusted) and level #5 reminds me of the movie "the china syndrome" Lol.

I see you are in Nebraska. I would run corn. It is easier in that stove. It is cheaper than pellets her. Pellets here are about $5/ #40 bag. Corn bagged at elevator is $5/#50. Exactly 1 cup of wood pellets and some starter gel on top, light, close the door and power it up. Very easy to light.

 

[Lordtimothy200]

Hmmm wonder if YOU are the one that beat me to that $300 St Croix Auburn that popped up on Facebook Marketplace a while back. Been using a St Croix Auburn for years as a corn burner and it burns it well.

Do you have it drawing air for the combustion from the outside? I had a huge amounts of problem overflowing burn pots and it not staying lit when there was a north wind. Went to drawing air from inside and that took out all of those issues. Just something to look at.

And the fan to blow out heat into the room only turns on at start up, then turns back on once you reach operating temp. If you are having burn issues it might not get hot enough to turn on the convection fan.

 

[rickwai]

Hmmm wonder if YOU are the one that beat me to that $300 St Croix Auburn that popped up on Facebook Marketplace a while back. Been using a St Croix Auburn for years as a corn burner and it burns it well.

Do you have it drawing air for the combustion from the outside? I had a huge amounts of problem overflowing burn pots and it not staying lit when there was a north wind. Went to drawing air from inside and that took out all of those issues. Just something to look at.

And the fan to blow out heat into the room only turns on at start up, then turns back on once you reach operating temp. If you are having burn issues it might not get hot enough to turn on the convection fan.

I put a tee on as my term cap and it helped a bunch with the wind backing it up.

 

[Lordtimothy200]

May have to try that, used a elbow in ever configuration possible and didn't help any.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Not sure of the burn pot configuration but with my 6039, I mix corn and pellets at a 2-1 ratio. 2 parts corn to 1 part pellets. The pellets keep the hard carbon buildup minimal and no corn clinkers at all and a ton of pellets is good for 2 ton of shelled corn and I burn everything including the little red wings in the shelled corn. They roast too.

I mix mine up in 4 30 gallon plastic garbage cans at a time and that lasts me about 2 weeks.

 

[rickwai]

May have to try that, used a elbow in ever configuration possible and didn't help any.

With the St Croix stoves, if the vac switch opens more than I think 3 times within a couple minutes or so it goes into shutdown. So if wind is whipping and keeps momentarily backs it up to much it goes out. Most other stoves just quit feeding momentarily then push on.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Hmmm wonder if YOU are the one that beat me to that $300 St Croix Auburn that popped up on Facebook Marketplace a while back. Been using a St Croix Auburn for years as a corn burner and it burns it well.

Do you have it drawing air for the combustion from the outside? I had a huge amounts of problem overflowing burn pots and it not staying lit when there was a north wind. Went to drawing air from inside and that took out all of those issues. Just something to look at.

And the fan to blow out heat into the room only turns on at start up, then turns back on once you reach operating temp. If you are having burn issues it might not get hot enough to turn on the convection fan.

Timothy, if the guy was in Eastern Iowa, and had it originally listed at $400, for which it didn't sell for weeks, and then dropped it to $300, then yes, that was me.
To be fair I had been looking for a pellet stove since late July and missed out every time. I finally got lucky but had to drive to the other freaking side of Iowa to get it!
My air intake is inside. My drafty old house receives plenty of fresh air. I'm going to try cleaning some more crevices. Also I noticed my gasket looks fine, but the seal isn't that tight when I close the door. I did the dollar bill test and it doesn't hold the bill at all. Slides in and out easily.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Don't laugh at my walls. This old house is a drafty 130 year old plaster and lathe walled work in progress. I had it moved about 12 years ago and this corner is where the old brick chimney was. I remarried a few years ago and my husband was in the process of replastering that corner, among many other things we had planned. But cancer had different ideas and I lost him last year, so that ugly unfinished corner wall looks like crap. The stove pipe was already there for an old Siegler fuel oil stove I used to use, so I added some pipe and just hooked this one up to it. It vents up on top of the roof. I don't seem to have a tight seal on the door, if the dollar bill test is a good indication, so maybe that's one of the problems? I tried tightening the door latch but it didn't really help. Also it looks like a component was replaced at some time? It was just laying in there and the one wire laying to the right of it isn't attached to anything. I've added some pictures.
Thank you everyone for all your help and suggestions. I do appreciate it.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Try to google "stcroix auburn stove cutaway" and you should get some picture of the guts of the stove. Check these pages of the manual out, they should help.
You may have to pull the exhaust motor and room fan out and give them and the chambers in the stove a good cleaning and perhaps some oil on the exhaust fan. I pull mine every year and do this and I'm on my second combustion motor and original room fan. I make my own gaskets though and you would most likely have to be able to replace them if you pulled the motors out. The pictures that you should find show a cleaning procedure using a old throttle cable on a drill, that's done at the end of season. I find the "leaf blower trick" works great with this stove as it gets these hidden passages clean as I believe on the newer stoves they added new plates to access these places.
I've done some other mods to mine to get a little more heat out of it but I have been very happy with mine. Once running good you should use heat levels 2-4 mostly as it doesn't seem to burn very clean on #1 (which in its self could be adjusted) and level #5 reminds me of the movie "the china syndrome" Lol.

Thank you for attaching those instructions!

 

[Lordtimothy200]

That wasn't the one I was looking at, it was down in Kansas somewhere that had one close to that price.

Those pictures do help. It looks like you are missing a few wires and the safety switch needs to be replaced to operating shape. Looks like they used a jumper across the vacuum switch. Here is a pic of my stove to give you a idea.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Timothy
thanks for the pics. So It looks like I have 2 vacuum switches in there, neither of which is hooked up?
Great.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Well, I think I figured out why this guy took $300 for this stove.
I'm so sick of freezing my ass off in this house. F@ck Nebraska, I'm moving to Mexico.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Consider yourself fortunate you found one that cheap. Been not so seriously looking for another USSC 6039 like I have now, for the shop and there was one on Flea Bay about 2 hours from me. Guy was asking 1300 for it and it looked beat. I offered him 500 bucks which he turned down. Was the old style obsolete board and had a terrible paint job. Told him to keep my email address and when it didn't sell, my 500 cash offer stood. Wanted to ask him what he was smoking but I didn't.

Can buy a new one for 1300.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Well, I think I figured out why this guy took $300 for this stove.
I'm so sick of freezing my ass off in this house. F@ck Nebraska, I'm moving to Mexico.

I hunt over by Valentine, Nebraska. Have some huge Mule Deer there. Shot a B&C 10 point last year, it's heading my way (mount) to go on the wall wi8th the other ones from all over the United States, my consuming hobby, big game hunting.

 

[Lordtimothy200]

By the way, sorry to hear about your husband. Losing a mate is tough.

The door not sealing correctly could be the reason they have tried to bypass the vacuum switch. Ever so often I run into it dumping way to much corn in the burn pot, almost always the reason is a strong north wind. I just put an old elbow on the exhaust pipe and the problem goes away.

Is the chimney clean and in good shape?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Well, I think I figured out why this guy took $300 for this stove.
I'm so sick of freezing my ass off in this house. F@ck Nebraska, I'm moving to Mexico.

Mexican cuisine gives me the Hershey Squirts.................

 

[rickwai]

That wasn't the one I was looking at, it was down in Kansas somewhere that had one close to that price.

Those pictures do help. It looks like you are missing a few wires and the safety switch needs to be replaced to operating shape. Looks like they used a jumper across the vacuum switch. Here is a pic of my stove to give you a idea.

View attachment 269317

The wiring is correct and hooked up. The extra wire in there is a 3rd wire coming off the motor that is not used. The new motors come as a 2 wire.