New Castle Serenity Pellet Stove

[nvanzile]

Hey just installed a Castle Serenity this past weekend. I love the thing but I wish the auger could be slowed down a little bit. On the lowest setting I'm using about a bag and a half a day. My house is super small so its roasting. Has anyone had any luck with slowing down the auger?

Second, I saw mention of using corn. can some one give me some more info on corn whether it can be used in a serenity and what type to find? thank you!!

 

[Lake Girl]

Hey just installed a Castle Serenity this past weekend. I love the thing but I wish the auger could be slowed down a little bit. On the lowest setting I'm using about a bag and a half a day. My house is super small so its roasting. Has anyone had any luck with slowing down the auger?

Second, I saw mention of using corn. can some one give me some more info on corn whether it can be used in a serenity and what type to find? thank you!!

Castle serenity is not a multi-fuel so no corn... Looks like heat level is the only way to control the feed rate of the auger... Could use a thermostat which will cycle it off but this is harder on the ignitor.

 

[molsonman]

Stove is doing awesome for me, have not had a single problem so far and so incredibly easy to clean. I'm heating 1200sq. ft. and have never had to run the stove above heat level 1 to keep it at atleast 72 in the house,on heat level 1 i'm getting 16-18 hrs on a hopper, depends on the pellet I'm burning and what I have the draft set at. If you decide to get the stove and get it through Ace Hardware use promo code winter and it brings the price down to $ 850.00 if you pick up at a store,great stove for that price.

Great info on the stove. I bought mine at Ace using the code about a month or so ago. I love the stove so far. My only complaint is that it throws so much heat I have to shut it down. When it's left on overnight, it heats the living room and kitchen up to 80° and that's on setting 1.

I haven't played with any voltages. Is there a way to knock the heat down some?

 

[rich2500]

Hey just installed a Castle Serenity this past weekend. I love the thing but I wish the auger could be slowed down a little bit. On the lowest setting I'm using about a bag and a half a day. My house is super small so its roasting. Has anyone had any luck with slowing down the auger?

Second, I saw mention of using corn. can some one give me some more info on corn whether it can be used in a serenity and what type to find? thank you!!

I burn a mix of 20% corn just fine in my serenity,I can only burn the mix if it's real cold outside though or it gets to hot in the house.I buy bagged corn from tractor supply,I do get clinkers though when burning corn when I burn straight pellets I don't get clinkers.

 

[rich2500]

Great info on the stove. I bought mine at Ace using the code about a month or so ago. I love the stove so far. My only complaint is that it throws so much heat I have to shut it down. When it's left on overnight, it heats the living room and kitchen up to 80° and that's on setting 1.

I haven't played with any voltages. Is there a way to knock the heat down some?

Where is your draft set, I have found that if it"s getting to hot in the house if I open the draft all the way more heat goes out the exhaust and it don't get so hot in the house, with that being said I did install a rod to adjust my draft without removing the side panel.

 

[molsonman]

Where is your draft set, I have found that if it"s getting to hot in the house if I open the draft all the way more heat goes out the exhaust and it don't get so hot in the house

Everything is exactly how it came from the factory. My house is a little over 1200sq feet. I'd like to just keep the stove running but at a more comfortable level. Opening the draft should lower it some. Was wondering if there was a way to do that by lowering the pellet feed as well somehow.

 

[rich2500]

Everything is exactly how it came from the factory. My house is a little over 1200sq feet. I'd like to just keep the stove running but at a more comfortable level. Opening the draft should lower it some. Was wondering if there was a way to do that by lowering the pellet feed as well somehow.

Unfortunately there is no other adjustment for the auger feed other then the heat settings.You might be able to install an inline trim switch, I don't know for sure though if that would work.You could also make a plate to sit in the bottom of the hopper that would reduce the pellet feed opening.

 

[arby808]

I fixed the intake on my stove with a small rod and drilling 2 holes one on the intake gate and one on the side of the stove

 

[dooleyj67]

Hello All,

Need some help please! I'm burning 2 bags in 24hrs on low (manual) am I doing something wrong?
Settings:
Low heat setting manual (stall1), blower is at 90v, exhaust at 80v, Oak installed, Air gate half open.

-Using as primary heat for this winter-​

I bought this to save money but, $6.00bg @ 2 per day = $360.00 month "Roughly"
I'm loosing money... My furnace is down and can't get a new one until April 2018. Anyone know anything about settings on this that can help please.
Castel Serenity 12327 - 9/6/17

 

[rich2500]

your settings seem fine, what pellets are you burning; shorter pellets will feed faster

 

[Deezl Smoke]

What size bag ? I could'nt burn two 40 lb bags in a day if my life depended on it on setting 1 with your voltages. You must try a different pellet for a few days or something.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

So with the door glass clean, if you watch the flame, how much glowing pellet material is bouncing out of the burn pot? About the only way I can figure the stove would feed that much is if the pellets are not getting burned up completely and are being pulled out of the pot, allowing the controller to think more are needed to maintain a certain temperature. Otherwise, at 80 lbs a day, my stove would shut down on over temp at 90 volts and 80 exhaust.

Also, how hot is the exhaust piping getting? if the exhaust fan is pulling too much heat out, and not letting the stove transfer the heat to the room, that heat would be making the piping hot, and/or even sparks blowing out the exhaust outlet.

 

[dooleyj67]

I called castle and they are going to send me a new box control, it goes on the right inside.they said it must be bad.

 

[dooleyj67]

I will reply to the rest after work

 

[Talegas]

whoa, nice way to revive an old thread :D
Yes, do let us know if the control panel was at fault and if the fault was that the auger was feeding way too fast. Regardless if they burn or not, the only way to go through that many bags in 24hrs is if the feed is very fast (or rather small pellets are being used).

 

[dooleyj67]

Hello All, thank you for all the replies. I'm using crap pellets from tractor supply now(bought 30 bags) but used green team before (bought 30 bags) and another brand from home depot and they sucked. Just got the stove so I'm trying everything local and not much luck. The pellets are small now but the problem has been since day one.

My pot is usually about an 1/16 full upon empty which I do every day. Along with vacuum the 1/2 in of dust on the sides. Flam his the top in the beginning few hours then drops to only about 3 to 4 inches above the pot.

Exhaust pipe is pretty hot I have a small fan behind it to cool it and for extra heat.

Don't seem to be loosing a lot of embers, maybe I'll try turning the exhaust down to 80. Lowest.

Yes 40lb bag so almost 80lb a day.

And I'll attach some pictures

 

[dooleyj67]

 

[dooleyj67]

 

[dooleyj67]

That is from last night to now I vacuumed it out at 8:00pm and going to vacuum now 6:15 pm. I know there is no hearth I'm getting there please understand my wife is very sick so I really haven't had much time at all to mess with it and it's only 2 months old purchased September.

 

[dooleyj67]

Also my door pins comes loose and door

falls off anyone else. They said on the phone at castle to put on lock tight and tighten the bottom Allen screw.

 

[dooleyj67]

 

[killercarver]

Dooleyj67, interesting pictures! I'm new to pellet stoves, but got my Castle this past summer and have been absolutly loving it, and learning lots from it.

You're pictures show lots and lots of ash (I'm burning wood chips and pellets 90/10 mix) and don't see that much, and chips are dirty (but super cheap). The white color tells me you're burning ok (onto the lean side - too much air) and hot with the pattern on the glass and metal shell saying you have a lot of flame; probably too hot for the stove. Got a picture of when it's burning? Do you hear the auger switching on and off? Should be on for something like 2 seconds and off for 5, and continuing to cycle like that. And if you watch your burn pot, how high are the pellets getting from the bottom? Should be 1/4-1/2" in the pot; more than that and it's feeding too fast for the way the pot is designed and drilled.

The controller on the top of the stove is based on an Atmel processor while the bottom box next to the intake has power filtering and opto-isolators with small mosfets (on-off switches); if the mosfet is bad for the auger and failed closed, the auger motor could be running at full power and not cycling.

Billy

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Hello All, thank you for all the replies. I'm using crap pellets from tractor supply now(bought 30 bags) but used green team before (bought 30 bags) and another brand from home depot and they sucked. Just got the stove so I'm trying everything local and not much luck. The pellets are small now but the problem has been since day one.

My pot is usually about an 1/16 full upon empty which I do every day. Along with vacuum the 1/2 in of dust on the sides. Flam his the top in the beginning few hours then drops to only about 3 to 4 inches above the pot.

Exhaust pipe is pretty hot I have a small fan behind it to cool it and for extra heat.

Don't seem to be loosing a lot of embers, maybe I'll try turning the exhaust down to 80. Lowest.

Yes 40lb bag so almost 80lb a day.

And I'll attach some pictures

Dont make any changes until you install the new part.
The start up flame should hit the ceiling of the chamber for a few minutes, not hours, then die back down as you describe. Hours is likely a part of the over feeding.

The pictures do show a bit too much ash and the color around the pellet chute seems a bit cold. I think once the new part gets installed, you may see most if not all of your issues go away. Pellets dont look that bad. They should be shiny on the outside and slick. It's ok that they are short, the stove can be adjusted to them. But they must be solid, shiny on the outside, and slippery. That is indicative that the lignin had made it to temperature for adhesion.

The over feeding is likely the cause of the burn pot having so much build up. I think with so many pellets dumping in, the bottom of the pile never gets hot enough to burn fully and causes that layer of hardened ash. You should only have a few holes plugged in 24 hours and a simple scrape across with a metal tool of your choice should take care of that. As Rich2500 mentions, you can open the door for a few seconds to do this, then close the door. I do not have to vacuum for several bags. It's ok for the ash to build on the sides like that, just not that fast. You can also ad pellets with the stove running, you just cant leave the hopper lid open very long or the stove will go into shut down.

I'll not ask personal questions, but you mention your wife is very sick. I hope it is a virus, nothing worse, and that she recovers soon.

 

[dooleyj67]

Feeds pellets on average about every 5-7 seconds.

 

[dooleyj67]