Loud pop from Harman Advance

[zinfendel]

Starting my second season on a used Advance stove, ran really well last year and I learned a lot about pellet quality and stove maintenance. About 2 weeks and maybe 15 or so bags of Fireside pellets this year, the stove started making a very loud popping sound when feeding pellets sometimes So loud it would wake us up in an adjacent bedroom with the door closed. Seem to do it every 3 mins or so.

I am aware that pellets can get "crunched" in the auger, but this seems louder than that. So last weekend I let the stove cool down and cleaned it again. Some pretty heavy carbon deposits on the sides of the burn pot near the bottom and on the flame guide. Nothing seen touching the auger end though. The other thing that I have noticed with these pellets is that the "ash edge" on the lip is very wide, the flame/fire much lower in the pot. I have turned up the feed rate a bit, but haven't noticed a change. Problem? Adjust feed some more?

After the clean it was quiet again for 3 days, now is starting to pop again. Auger catching on a carbon deposit? Auger catching and chain slipping? Stove was made 2002 I think.

LMK if you have any thoughts/advice. It is quite cold now and if I have to shut it down again, I want to make sure I fix whatever is wrong...

TIA

 

[drewmo]

Not sure of your model, but is there a light indicating when the auger motor is on? If so, does this pop only happen then? I'd sit and watch the stove for a bit to see if you can see what's going on.