MT Vernon AE not performing

[Jayadams78]

Good Evening,
I’m a new member to this forum. I have googled so many times and found great answers on this forum that I had to join. Thank you all for that. I’m in search of mr. Kap, or anyone else who can help me.

My 2017 MT Vernon AE has been giving me a lot of trouble this year. I have had poor performance to what I thought was only an exhaust blower. I got a new one and it was running great again until a few days ago. It does not want to really get out of start up and SS Low. If it stays running, I’m getting black soot on the glass and it’s just running like crap. I replaced the T couple and the problem still is there. I hope I don’t have to drop $600 on a control board. No error codes, just a poor running stove. This thing has been fighting me all winter.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Washed-Up]

I’m not familiar with your stove but the first question anyone here will ask is when was the last deep clean done? From your description above it sounds like an airflow issue. Best advice would be to clean it with the leaf blower trick

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[Jayadams78]

I’m not familiar with your stove but the first question anyone here will ask is when was the last deep clean done? From your description above it sounds like an airflow issue. Best advice would be to clean it with the leaf blower trick

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Yeah I guess I could have put that in there. I clean my stove weekly. The heat exchanger is never left to get really dirty. I closely monitor output temps of the stove and I keep good notes on all the types of pellets I burn. I will pull the blower twice a season and completely clean out the entire exhaust system. The stove isn’t dirty, but I would start there too.
That was the reason I replaced the exhaust blower earlier in the season. I was getting poor performance.

After the change, the stove was running like new again. Now it’s not getting out of start up and just not running right. Signs point to the tcouple so I replaced that and it didn’t help. I may have gotten a bad part because I tested it in accordance with the troubleshooting manual and the millivolts read .02. The manual says 15mv is normal. My old tcouple read out around the same. Now I’m confused and not sure what to do? Do I get another tcouple and see where that one is and give it another try or do I have another issue?

 

[kappel15]

You say you cleaned the stove. Did you take the baffle out and clean the holes at the bottom on each side ? Is the exhaust pipe clean, from stove to cap ? Is pot floor snug against the bottom of the pot ? Is the fuel table set for the fuel you are using ? Is the flame height set for enough fuel ? All holes in pot clear ? Not getting out of startup does usually point to an issue with the fp tc. Did you get an oem part, or after market? After market are notorious for not working properly, and some, the wires are backwards. And the fp tc has to be touching the inside end of the cover, to read correctly. And if you bend the wires too aggressively, you can put a crack in the coating, and this will cause issues. Keep us posted. kap

 

[Flathead fan]

You say you cleaned the stove. Did you take the baffle out and clean the holes at the bottom on each side ? Is the exhaust pipe clean, from stove to cap ? Is pot floor snug against the bottom of the pot ? Is the fuel table set for the fuel you are using ? Is the flame height set for enough fuel ? All holes in pot clear ? Not getting out of startup does usually point to an issue with the fp tc. Did you get an oem part, or after market? After market are notorious for not working properly, and some, the wires are backwards. And the fp tc has to be touching the inside end of the cover, to read correctly. And if you bend the wires too aggressively, you can put a crack in the coating, and this will cause issues. Keep us posted. kap

I was getting ‘Auger Jammed’ messages and failed ignition. pulled auger and cleaned. Reassembled. Would sporadically work. Finally pulled ceramic cover off of thermocouple and blew ash out of inside. Cleaned /examined thermocouple and reassembled, making sure end of tc was touching end of ceramic. Worked like a charm.
THANK YOU KAPPEL15! There is no way I would have related that to the problems I was having

 

[kappel15]

You're welcome. Stay warm. kap