Mount Vernon AE Owners

[JoeS]

Can you please tell me what your favorite pellet is to burn?

It seems I have been experimenting for years but can't find the right pellet.

My experience with some Softwoods always end with excess soot to the point that everything turns black.

Hardwoods like Hamers seem to create excessive clinkers to the point they (the clinkers) don't drop out of the burn pot during auto clean and I end up getting a missed ignition since the igniter can't ignite the pellets though the clinker!

Am I the only one experiencing this problem?

 

[Lake Girl]

Stove been pulled out, all exhaust pathways and flue cleaned? What settings do you have? I know I have to adjust mine when I change pellets... but I have a different stove so can't advise you on the MV

 

[JoeS]

Stove been pulled out, all exhaust pathways and flue cleaned? What settings do you have? I know I have to adjust mine when I change pellets... but I have a different stove so can't advise you on the MV

That's just it, if you don't have the AE its impossible to answer this question. The stove is so tough to adjust because everything is already programmed, you don't have much freedom to adjust settings. I believe I was the first one to come up with the sunflower setting being the setting that gave off such tremendous heat regardless of what pellet you were using but lately I am not thrilled with any setting I try. Don't really know what is going on but I am getting frustrated. Seems that I need to do a complete clean (where I need to remove the baffle plate and utilize the leaf blower) every 15 bags or so. I could go a ton or so before! What changed?

 

[Caribfan]

That excessive clinker problem is impressive. I had never seen a clinker or even the remnants of one until recently. I have been burning Natures Own on a high feed rate. When I emptied the ashpan I saw my first clinkers in the bottom of it. I still like the pellets though - good heat. As for my favorite pellet I would have to say Lacrete, although I haven't burned them in a couple years because they are about $300/ton around here and I get big box stuff for $175-$190. They just require a little extra cleaning.

 

[Lake Girl]

Talked to the dealer to see if it is set-up right? How old is the stove? ... update in tech manual page twelve drill two holes in ignitor chamber??
(broken link removed to http://woodheatstoves.com/quadrafire-mt-vernonae-tech-manual-pellet-p-12274.html)

 

[scottvwgti]

I am running a Mount Vernon AE with no problems like you are experiencing. Switched to Hamer's this year after burning McFeeters last year. The McFeeters produced lots of clinkers, but nothing the auto-clean couldn't take care of. Since switching to Hamer's, I have not seen anything resembling a clinker, very little ash, and weekly cleaning is a breeze. I'm running the stove on the hardwood setting, with everything else stock. I have not made nor played with flame height or anything else. The thermostat runs on Manual, set at 74. Also, no OAK

How old is your stove? Maybe your computer needs updating? When your stove is burning what kind of flame do you have? I get an almost white flame, very large and very active.

 

[Madcodger]

I've had an MVAE for four years, and have never seen a single clinker. And my favorite pellet is Hamer's Hot Ones. Have also tried Cleanfire hardwood and Cleanfire Pacific Blend (softwood). Something's wrong with your stove, I'd say. What settings in thermostat?

 

[JoeS]

I've had an MVAE for four years, and have never seen a single clinker. And my favorite pellet is Hamer's Hot Ones. Have also tried Cleanfire hardwood and Cleanfire Pacific Blend (softwood). Something's wrong with your stove, I'd say. What settings in thermostat?

Running on manual setting medium, -4 flame height, high elevation (more air), hardwood.

 

[Madcodger]

Running on manual setting medium, -4 flame height, high elevation (more air), hardwood.

I run Automatic, MH (although on automatic may not matter), 0 flame height, normal elevation, hardwood. 1 degree temp differential, blower on Quiet mode.

The -4 height seems very low to me. I've experimented with manual and like it when very cold out, but stove seems to do best overall on Auto and settings above. Hamer's has been a great pellet for me, so I think your settings may be the problem. What model year AE? How long and what size vent? When was stove last cleaned (motor off)? And what's your elevation? Even in western MD, your elevation shouldn't require a high elevation setting. I undertand wanting more air, but it may be unnecessary.

 

[LMPS]

Running on manual setting medium, -4 flame height, high elevation (more air), hardwood.

I would agree with other -4 is low, this controls the feed rate and I am thinking the air flow. Might try turning this up and see what happens. When its cold out I am running on +5. Every set up is different.

Also, when was the last time you had your fuel tables updated? I know you are burning on high elevation and I know you know that this whips out any update to the fuel tables.
Might try having these updated and then try burning on normal elevation to see if that makes a difference.
By the way, thanks for the sunflower tip been using that off and on this winter. Great why to get more heat, it eats pellets on this setting but it does push out the heat.