Need Help with Pleasant Hearth PH35PS

[Christopher50]

I recently purchased the PH35PS stove and I am in need of some assistance. This is my first pellet stove so bare with me as I am still learning.

I purchased this particular model because the price point was right and the reviews are all fairly positive.

I have only had this stove installed for a week and I am already having problems. The stove starts up and ignites fine but after a few minutes the glass is covered in black soot. The termination cap on the vent pipe is also covered. The flame appears lazy and the burn pot will fill up with half burned pellets. It creates quite a mess and makes for some fun cleaning. From what I have read my stove is starving for air, however I am at a loss as to what to try next.

Here is my setup and what I have done:

Installation:
The stove is angled between two walls. It is vented horizontally straight through the wall-tee with one appliance adapter, one 45-degree bend, two feet of straight pipe and a horizontal termination cap. The vent pipe is 3” Selkirk VP type L. As per the instructions all connections have been siliconed with high temp RTV sealant including the connection at the stove.

I know some vertical pipe is recommended for draft but because of space restraints, I had to install it this way. The termination cap is 18” from my house and so far no soot has got onto my siding. I also have a UPS that will run my stove for several hours if I experience a power outage.

I have installed the outside air kit that came with the stove. My house is old and not extremely well sealed so I do not know if this was necessary but it was recommended so I installed it.

Wood Pellets:
So far I have tried 4 different brands of wood pellets. 1 hardwood, 3 softwood – all premium grade (low ash content, no chemicals etc, etc). Changing pellet brands has made no difference to the problem.

Stove Settings:
Changing the temperature control from min to max and everything in between has made no difference.

The thermostat sensor is on about 3 feet of wire and allows for different placements. As per some suggestions I found online, I moved this sensor but it did not help the problem.

The air supply on this model is electronically controlled via a small trim pot. I have followed the suggestions in the manual and tried it at all settings. Changing this does not appear to make much of a difference to anything.

The feed rate is not adjustable but the auger does NOT run continuously so I do not think this is a problem.

Rope Seals:
I used the match test to see if the seal around the door was leaking. It appears to be working as expected.

Cleaning:
I have been keeping the stove extremely clean as per the instructions in the manual.

Outside Air Kit:
Last night after running out of ideas, I tried disconnecting the OAK hose from the stove. The stove began running much better. Still some black soot but MUCH less than before. The flame also appears to be much more yellow than orange and more of the pellets are being burned. On inspection of the OAK hose it does not appear to be clogged at all.

I am stumped! I have contacted GHP customer support but I am still awaiting a response.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should try next?

Thanks for your time,
Chris

 

[ExhibitGuy]

I also have this model.. I have been burning since October. I notice that my glass also gets hazed but not black as you described. I have not had soot on the vent cap either.. I do have an OAK. I'm burning cheap HD pellets (Stove Chow). The stove seems to burn them well but I have had consistent 'hard cake ash' rather than light grey fluffy stuff.. I may disconnect the OAK for a bag just to see if that effects the burn as you did..

Make sure the baffles in the back are seated properly. I've noticed my center baffle doesn't always sit in the slots. I also clean the inside of the door thoroughly - I'm new to pellet stoves as well so I don't know enough to know if this stove uses an air-wash system. There appears to be gaps in the rope around the glass .. not sure if they allow air to be drawn in or not.

Not to sideline your discussion - how did you get the thermostat out of the cabinet? It didn't even occur to me to look to see if the thermostat has a cable or not..

Interested in this thread... as far as I've found - this is the first posting on this particular cabinet. ..

 

[Christopher50]

I also have this model.. I have been burning since October. I notice that my glass also gets hazed but not black as you described. I have not had soot on the vent cap either.. I do have an OAK. I'm burning cheap HD pellets (Stove Chow). The stove seems to burn them well but I have had consistent 'hard cake ash' rather than light grey fluffy stuff.. I may disconnect the OAK for a bag just to see if that effects the burn as you did..

Make sure the baffles in the back are seated properly. I've noticed my center baffle doesn't always sit in the slots. I also clean the inside of the door thoroughly - I'm new to pellet stoves as well so I don't know enough to know if this stove uses an air-wash system. There appears to be gaps in the rope around the glass .. not sure if they allow air to be drawn in or not.

Not to sideline your discussion - how did you get the thermostat out of the cabinet? It didn't even occur to me to look to see if the thermostat has a cable or not..

Interested in this thread... as far as I've found - this is the first posting on this particular cabinet. ..

I have let the stove burn a few more hours with the OAK disconnected. It is still looking good and producing much less soot. I still can't figure out why this is. As I mentioned before there is no obstructions in the hose or the face plate. WEIRD!

As for the thermostat sensor, you need to remove the right side cover to access it. It looks like a small black LED. It is near the bottom right of the stove sticking through a rubber grommet at the back. Mine had actually fallen out of the rubber grommet and was sitting at the bottom of the stove. It is pretty cold down there. I removed the twist tie on the wire, pushed it through the rubber grommet and placed it up near the temperature control knob. I found the advice on a forum post here regarding the PH50CABPS.

 

[Christopher50]

I got it fixed!

With the change in burning after disconnecting the hose I realized I must be missing something. I decided to completely remove the OAK hose and have a better look. Lo and behold there was part of a plastic bag in the hose about 3/4 of the way down. Light was still showing through and air seemed to be moving fine so I assumed it was clear. It wasn't!

I reconnected the OAK, gave the stove a good cleaning and now it is burning perfect. The rooms it heated to 70 before quickly went to 90! The flame looks perfect and there is no soot on the window. The firebox is remarkably clean too. The hardwood pellets are burning nice and leaving very little ash.

 

[Don2222]

Hello
I have worked on these stoves. I noticed the exhaust blower has been sourced by Pleasant Hearth and a few other companies from Huayi in China. These gems are built to the minimum specs and take their sweet time to come up to speed when turned on. Like flooring the gas in a volkswagen to get across an intersection before the light turns red!

Installing an upgraded 1.75 amp exhaust blower with large petal impeller blades will keep the fire door window cleaner and keep ash from clumping up in the burn pot! Just my 2 cents.

 

[Lake Girl]

Glad you found the problem and welcome to the forum Did the OAK come with the stove or was it separate item? May want to contact the seller to identify issue...

 

[ExhibitGuy]

Don, where do you pick up a larger exhaust blower? I would definitely give that a try if that would fix my "cake ash" issue..

 

[Maria C]

Has anyone had an issue with the auger feed on this particular model? I haven't had the unit too long and recently the pellets stop feeding. I took apart the entire feeder made sure it was cleaned and watched tocsee of the auger would turn. It seems to randomly work. I can get a fire going by manually turning it and at time the motor kicks on and turns the feeder. Other times it sounds that it's about to turn but never does. Does this mean I need a new motor or does it indicate another issue? Thanks in advance.

 

[Don2222]

Could be a torn bladder in the vacuum pressure switch or a weak or bad auger motor.

 

[NATNITO29]

I am new hear and am not sure how or where to post a question but I will try here. Please advise if this is incorrect.

I purchased a used PH35PS-B (pleasant hearth) pellet stove and was told it needed an igniter which i purchased and installed. The issue is a bit complex but I will attempt to explain.
I have read the manual and followed all the instructions but the stove will not ignite as it should. When I turn the dial up to a level nothing happens. I have waited and waited to see but nothing and the led flashed Green every second. If I disconnect the wire harness from the control dial and leave unconnected the stove will go through its procedure and light as it should although it runs at only one level, i cannot adjust the max or min level. If I reconnect the harness it goes into the shutdown procedure. As it does this it flashed amber and when complete it flashes green like it has finished but if I attempt to reignite as per the manual it will not and I have to disconnect the harness again and poof it works and lights as it should with the exception of the ability to adjust burn rate.
I hope this makes sense to some one.
I have checked all the connections and the internal fuse and all looks good but I am at a loss for moving forward.

Some please help becuasue at this point the stove will not be able to heat the area I am heating.

thank you

 

[Mt Bob]

Those "dial controls" are known for going bad.For several years the Manufacturer was sending them out free to anyone with a complaint.However, lucky for you,they are cheap to buy.

 

[NATNITO29]

Those "dial controls" are known for going bad.For several years the Manufacturer was sending them out free to anyone with a complaint.However, lucky for you,they are cheap to buy.

Ok so does my description of the issue suggest that the dial control unit needs replaced? How can I verify?

 

[Mt Bob]

As Ford is famous for saying--"replace part with known good part and then test". Or you could try calling the MFG. and see what they say.

 

[Ssyko]

If it runs after taking the dial out of the loop then i would have to say the dial has a problem. Try some contact cleaner and rotate the knob a few then try it, but like Bob said they were a big issue a few years back. Dozens of threads on hear about it.