New King 5500M owner

[mopar man]

I bought a USSC 5500M from TSC. I have it in my basement witch is mostly below grade. I had a wood burner in the basement hooked to a 7"x7" clay lay lined chimney with a piece of 6" clay pipe running thru the block wall. I put my pellet stove in the same location and relined the chimney with the 3" pipe. I have 2 90˚ bends inside the house and a clean out T in the chimney. The pipe rises 4' off the back of the unit then goes back 2' and up another 20' to a vertical vent cap ( not the hood that comes with a kit). I have been experiencing problems where the fire will burn down and no pellets are being dropped. Sometimes if I open the hopper door and then close it pellets will start to drop, but by then sometimes it is too late. It does not seem to want to go past heat range 2. I have also noticed the fans running after the stove is bone cold, or when I first plug it in. Sometimes they will come on by themselves when the unit is off. I pressed the OFF button last night before I went to bed around 11 and they were still running when I got up around 6.

Is this in any way connected to my exhaust setup, or do I have a defective part somewhere? I do not have an OAK because it did not come with one and no local retailers carry them or the 2" metal hose. I was told by a dealer of another brand that I didn't need one. I have had the control board replaced and the new one acts the same as the old. If I run the factory test the draft fan only comes on for a split second then goes off then continues to pulse like that. When I called about it I was told that was normal. I don't think they understood what I was trying to tell them. What do you think?

 

[DAKSY]

I'm thinkin that you need a 4" diameter liner to run that high...

 

[mralias]

I'm thinkin that you need a 4" diameter liner to run that high...

Agreed. Total EVL counting T as a 90 is 29 .

 

[imacman]

Total EVL counting T as a 90 is 29 .

NOT good. 4" exhaust is called for for sure.

BTW, is the basement finished & insulated, or unfinished?

 

[mopar man]

I would consider my basement semi finished. The part the stove is in has paneling and drywall on the ceiling, but I don't know if there is insulation behind it. It was a little room my grandfather built to sit and listen to his record collection. The rest of the basement is just block walls at the moment. Would I have to do the whole thing in 4" or just in the chimney? What kind of pipe would I need?

I have one other option. There used to be a roll up garage door in the back corner of the house. When my grandfather took it out he built an stud wall plug to fill the opening and a lean-to up against the house. I could install the stove there like it was upstairs and run the exhaust above the lean-to's roof. If I use a vertical cap that should keep me under 15 EVL. The only thing I don't like about that option is that the stove faces across the short end of the house.

 

[BIGISLANDHIKERS]

can u direct vent through the back of the chimney and avoid the 20' verticle rise?

 

[mopar man]

can u direct vent through the back of the chimney and avoid the 20' verticle rise?

The thought had crossed my mind, but I didn't know if I could put a hole in it with out it falling down. It is square cement block, not brick. How high could I go to keep the EVL under 15? I would have to add at least another foot to the horizontal pipe.

 

[mopar man]

Guess I have the 15 in just the bends. where that clay pipe goes into the chimney is right at ground lever. would have a weed burner exhaust.

 

[BIGISLANDHIKERS]

how about direct venting next to the chimney. increase your rise on the inside and avoid it all together.

 

[mopar man]

Can't do that, the chimney is completely outside the house. If I did that I would be running the pipe thru the floor in my bedroom closet and out the wall. What you see in the picture is fake brick cemented to the block wall of the basement. If I ran it out the side of the house below the floorboards that would put the vent less then a foot above ground and prone to getting covered by snow.

 

[DAKSY]

Can't do that, the chimney is completely outside the house. If I did that I would be running the pipe thru the floor in my bedroom closet and out the wall. What you see in the picture is fake brick cemented to the block wall of the basement. If I ran it out the side of the house below the floorboards that would put the vent less then a foot above ground and prone to getting covered by snow.

Once you get thru the wall turn it vertical for a foot or two so you get the required clearance to the ground. Your EVL should be within the specified length & you should be good to go...

 

[BIGISLANDHIKERS]

do you have a room upstairs where you could install?

 

[mopar man]

do you have a room upstairs where you could install?

not really. I have 2 giant rhododendrons on the end of my house that might interfere with the pipe. The electrical service is also on that end on one wall where I could put it. The other end of the house is all bedrooms.

Anyway, I did an experiment today. My cousin came up and we moved the stove to the back of the basement. I used the wall thimble and ran the exhaust out the window. I now has a 4' rise with a 90˚ elbow on the ends and then a 2' horizontal run ending in the cap from the installation kit. This should satisfy your EVL. I can start the stove set to H3 and it never heats up past H2. After it hits H2 the auger stops dropping pellets and the fire burns out and the fans stay on. If I open the hopper the room fan will cut back, then when it is closed the fans spin back up and the auger starts again. If the fire catches again it will go for a short period and then the same things happen. I've tried taping the switch down and holding it by hand (incase the lid wasn't holding it down), but I get the same results. If I run the diagnostic test everything will work fine. I unplugged the hopper switch and put a volt meter across the plugs. The voltage would read 56 and then go up to 110 when the auger came on. Is this normal? I am also getting a flashing light over the draft fan button......not all the time, but it will blink twice then go off. Maybe I have a bad pressure switch?

 

[mopar man]

I talked to customer service tonight. they told me how to test the pressure switch and how to bypass it. The fitting on the fire box is a little dirty, and the tube looks ok, but I'm going to clean them both up. We will see if it still does this with the switch bypassed.