New pellet stove owner, getting a Breckwell "The Big E" going. Generic stove questions.

[Stephan in BC]

Ok, newbie here when it comes to working on pellet stoves. I'm adding a pellet stove to my woodworking shop to help offset the electric heat and to provide makeup heat for when I have to turn the spray booth fan on. The stove is a Breckwell "The Big E", not sure of age but I downloaded the 2004 manual and it appears older than that.



I don't know if it's seen a lot of use, unfortunately it's seen little maintenance, the fire pot was completely clogged, not a single open hole.



I've been cleaning things and checking systems: fans and auger work, igniter works, control board appears ok.

1. Right now I've completely cleaned inside the hot side of the stove, and have noticed a fair bit of rust on the back wall plate. I'm not rich, but I can make almost anything. Should I make a new back wall, leave it as it is for now, or paint it with a 1500*f ceramic paint? Nowhere does it seem to be burned or rusted through, just looking pretty bad to this untrained eye.




2. On the topic of paint, I want to paint the exterior front, sides, and top of the stove. It's marked up right now and I have a lot of pride in the stuff in my shop. I've repainted our wood stove at home and it turned out great. Anything different about doing the same to a pellet stove?

3. There appears to be this little angled tray that sits loosely on the fire pot. What is this for? Should it be used? This one is starting to rust out but I can make a new one if its an important piece.



4. The igniter tube doesn't line up with the igniter hole in the fire pot. They almost overlap but miss by about 1/8". Should / can I drill a new hole in line with the center of the igniter tube. I have a suspicion that it won't work well unless the two are aligned?

Thank you!
And so the journey into "pellet hood" begins.

 

[Lake Girl]

Welcome to the forum! The link below is just for reference on parts that can be had, I'm sure there are other suppliers.

http://nevelsstoves.com/breckwell-pellet-stove-parts.html

For garage installations, 18" off the ground is required to avoid problems with fumes ...

That appears to be a burn pot collar - not sure if it was part of the original or an add-on to enhance performance. I'm sure others will chime in...

I used VHT header paint on the flame trap on mine (sanded, cleaned with acetone and cured in oven) and it is starting to bubble and peel. Many touch up their firebox paint during the summer... Be careful not to clog the airswitch tube when painting.

Most important are the internal smoke pathways ... fly ash clogs them and judging from the photo, you're Big E will be plugged. Page 17 of the manual the two "doors" for ash removal from the interior... Compressed air, dryer lint brush and a shop vac and the Leaf blower trick (use search box at the top of the page and you will find the info on using the vac ability of the leaf blower) will help clean out the internals. Just remember to disconnect the tube on the vacuum switch... and do this outside!

Combustion and convection fans will require clean-up too.

The ignitor works by sending air through the tube around the element. The super heated air is what ignites the pellets. Not sure on the Big E arrangement. Hoping another owner may snap a picture of their set-up to give you guidance.

Keep us posted...

 

[alternativeheat]

They rust easy inside when not in use, my new P61 had some rust inside after the summer.. All you can do is sand, lightly grind and wire brush the existing rust or sand blast.. And really from there just burn pellets. Paint it next summer if you want it painted inside but we all have pretty well determined that no paint will hold out inside the stove through a whole burn season. A lot of people oil the stove down inside and I think I will do that next summer.

In terms of burning a pellet stove in a shop where you spray paint. Hmm, not sure of the legalities but that aside. If it were me and I chose to do this I certainly would have an outside air kit attached to the incoming air to the stove. Crack some venting open when the paint booth fan goes on to help evacuate the fumes. Is this solvent based stains and paint or water ? The answer to that has it's own concerns.

 

[Stephan in BC]

Thanks guys! So I'll forgo the painting inside the firebox for now and it will be something I'll look more closely at in the summer.

LG I found those doors, they had 3" thick of ash behind them, all the way across. Got it all cleaned spic n span.

How does one clean the fans, I vacuumed the whole area in the back of the cabinet, do I remove the fans and service them?

I'm interested to hear about the igniter and alignment with the firebox hole when someone knows.

In regards to using it in a woodworking shop, thank you for the concern. It's fairly common around here. The pellet stove is installed with some careful guidelines; with outside air intake, and up stream of the air flow to the spray booth. My insurance co. is very careful about how they allow me to heat my shop, for obvious reasons. Also, I spray water based lacquers, a little bit of alcohol dies, but they're miscible in ratio with die concentrate and distilled water, so it's a non-combustible.

 

[alternativeheat]

Thanks guys! So I'll forgo the painting inside the firebox for now and it will be something I'll look more closely at in the summer.

LG I found those doors, they had 3" thick of ash behind them, all the way across. Got it all cleaned spic n span.

How does one clean the fans, I vacuumed the whole area in the back of the cabinet, do I remove the fans and service them?

I'm interested to hear about the igniter and alignment with the firebox hole when someone knows.

In regards to using it in a woodworking shop, thank you for the concern. It's fairly common around here. The pellet stove is installed with some careful guidelines; with outside air intake, and up stream of the air flow to the spray booth. My insurance co. is very careful about how they allow me to heat my shop, for obvious reasons. Also, I spray water based lacquers, a little bit of alcohol dies, but they're miscible in ratio with die concentrate and distilled water, so it's a non-combustible.

Ok, off topic here but I'd like to know.. Do you feel you get similar results from the water based lacquer as from a solvent based lacquer job ? I love a lacquer finish on wood worked items ( build clock cases mostly, so clear lacquer or shellac I use). I might make the switch if it's remotely similar in result. Can't do much about the shellac but I can the lacquer. Yes or no or a short explanation is good enough, we don't have to take up your thread for this.

 

[Tonyray]

They rust easy inside when not in use, my new P61 had some rust inside after the summer.. All you can do is sand, lightly grind and wire brush the existing rust or sand blast.. And really from there just burn pellets. Paint it next summer if you want it painted inside but we all have pretty well determined that no paint will hold out inside the stove through a whole burn season. A lot of people oil the stove down inside and I think I will do that next summer.

In terms of burning a pellet stove in a shop where you spray paint. Hmm, not sure of the legalities but that aside. If it were me and I chose to do this I certainly would have an outside air kit attached to the incoming air to the stove. Crack some venting open when the paint booth fan goes on to help evacuate the fumes. Is this solvent based stains and paint or water ? The answer to that has it's own concerns.

I sprayed the walls of the burnpot last spring with Pam Cooking spray..
Also put a box of DampRid in the burnpot which had about 1" of water in the box by fall.
No Rust that I could see...I thought you posted that u did the same or similar?

 

[alternativeheat]

I sprayed the walls of the burnpot last spring with Pam Cooking spray..
Also put a box of DampRid in the burnpot which had about 1" of water in the box by fall.
No Rust that I could see...I thought you posted that u did the same or similar?

Not me but should have !! No I had to try and clean it up this fall. Coarse nubs on rust on the side walls mostly. Sanded and brushed and just went ahead and lit it up. No paint. The burn pot had some rust too but thats shiny metal now with fire and .scraping.

 

[Tonyray]

Not me but should have !! No I had to try and clean it up this fall. Coarse nubs on rust on the side walls mostly. Sanded and brushed and just went ahead and lit it up. No paint. The burn pot had some rust too but thats shiny metal now with fire and .scraping.

I meant to say I sprayed the walls AND the Burnpot...
pretty much everything that was black including the Ash pan area..

 

[Stephan in BC]

Ok, off topic here but I'd like to know.. Do you feel you get similar results from the water based lacquer as from a solvent based lacquer job ? I love a lacquer finish on wood worked items ( build clock cases mostly, so clear lacquer or shellac I use). I might make the switch if it's remotely similar in result. Can't do much about the shellac but I can the lacquer. Yes or no or a short explanation is good enough, we don't have to take up your thread for this.

Yes, I'll give the super short explanation: I can get solvent like results with WB, but I can't get the advantages of the WB in a solvent based. WB has a much higher learning curve and is much less forgiving than solvent base, but nothing you can't handle, especially if you're not worried about a production setting. Lastly, its been 30 years since WB came out, they used to be terrible, but I am confident to say they are now better than solvent in almost every respect. Most don't want to use WB because they are finicky to learn, but I took the plunge and its all I use now.

 

[Stephan in BC]

I meant to say I sprayed the walls AND the Burnpot...
pretty much everything that was black including the Ash pan area..

Thank you for the tip!

 

[alternativeheat]

Yes, I'll give the super short explanation: I can get solvent like results with WB, but I can't get the advantages of the WB in a solvent based. WB has a much higher learning curve and is much less forgiving than solvent base, but nothing you can't handle, especially if you're not worried about a production setting. Lastly, its been 30 years since WB came out, they used to be terrible, but I am confident to say they are now better than solvent in almost every respect. Most don't want to use WB because they are finicky to learn, but I took the plunge and its all I use now.

Ok thanks ! I'll dig up some you tube on it.

 

[Mealie38]

My Breckwell Big E doesn't have a burn collar and runs fine.

 

[Lake Girl]

The plate just under the pellet feed chute does not appear to be part of the original. Did previous owner drill another access hole to the internal smoke pathway? Glad to hear you found the access doors and cleaned back there - the area goes all the way up to the top of the stove so make sure you get the whole area!

The Damp Rid is a good tip - many folks seal up their exhaust and outside air intake to reduce the chance of moisture in the summer - just remember to remove before firing her up!

You may (likely do) need a new gasket for the exhaust blower. Brush and vacuum the interior area, clean the blades, blow out the windings to remove dust bunnies and oil if there are oiling ports.

Vacuum switch - check your hose to make sure there are no cracks/splits and secured appropriately.

Ensure your thermodiscs are functional (POF and High Temp).

Enjoy the rebuild!

 

[Stephan in BC]

Ok, thank you for all of the extra help. I was wondering about that plate too. I'll see if I can chisel off those screws and see what the story with the plate is.

 

[Stephan in BC]

Well lookie here, I've got myself a mouse hole. These mice up here in Canada sure are tough little critters.

I'm going to get the stove running, at least to the point where I know everything works and then bring it back home to my metalworking shop and fix it up a little better than that tin plate. I've also noted that the welds on the right hand side by the clean out broke and the back plate has warped pretty badly.

 

[Lake Girl]

.... A lot of people oil the stove down inside and I think I will do that next summer...

It finally dawned on me why people oil the inside of the stove ... It's like seasoning a cast iron frying pan. With heat, that oil creates a layer of polymerization...

Edit: So how are you going to handle the "mouse" hole?

 

[Tonyray]

It finally dawned on me why people oil the inside of the stove ... It's like seasoning a cast iron frying pan. With heat, that oil creates a layer of polymerization...

Edit: So how are you going to handle the "mouse" hole?

I covered up my OAK bit did not cover the exhaust top pipe..
probably where the Inch of water came in thruout humid summer.
Note to self: cover both exterior openings next time.

 

[alternativeheat]

I covered up my OAK bit did not cover the exhaust top pipe..
probably where the Inch of water came in thruout humid summer.
Note to self: cover both exterior openings next time.

Possibly so Tony. All I know is I am oiling the inside of my stove next summer. Never had that problem with my coal stove but that was not air tight like a pellet stove is ( minus obvious intake and outlet). Added to my situation is we have an air conditioner right there next to the stove, so hot cold, hot cold makes for condensation.

 

[Tonyray]

Possibly so Tony. All I know is I am oiling the inside of my stove next summer. Never had that problem with my coal stove but that was not air tight like a pellet stove is ( minus obvious intake and outlet). Added to my situation is we have an air conditioner right there next to the stove, so hot cold, hot cold makes for condensation.

if u decide to use a cooking spray, use plain. NOT butter flavored or whatever.
but I;m sure you figured that out.. I just bought Walmart cheapo brand..

 

[alternativeheat]

if u decide to use a cooking spray, use plain. NOT butter flavored or whatever.
but I;m sure you figured that out.. I just bought Walmart cheapo brand..

We keep Canola oil spray for the grill all summer long. Not sure what I'll use yet. Butter might smell good next fall ! That's about 5 months away yet, though time does go fast. At the rate I'm getting out since retiring I "Might" make it to the store by then .

 

[Stephan in BC]

That makes good sense, the analogy of seasoning the cast iron pan.

It finally dawned on me why people oil the inside of the stove ... It's like seasoning a cast iron frying pan. With heat, that oil creates a layer of polymerization...

Edit: So how are you going to handle the "mouse" hole?

Well, I'm going to make a 1:1 template and then torch out a lot of that back wall. Then I plan to build a new wall, this time much thicker and out of a tough allow. I'm just looking through my old metal books to see what might hold up to the stresses of the heat cycling. I don't want to go stainless because I'd have to go at least 409, and even then there's no guarantee about cracking. I'm thinking a T100 or equivalent plate. I used to be a welder, I was 18 and stubborn as a goat, and had to be different than my father (he was the woodworker and I was the default apprentice growing up in the shop). Turns out I came back to my roots some years back and like it a lot more than the metal work. Who'd have thought. Anyways, sorry about the big side-track there.

 

[Stephan in BC]

Today was WETT inspection day and everything passed with no issues. After getting the stamp of approval I gave it a long test run to check for any potential issues in the new location, ie, nearby objects getting too warm, etc. but everything was just as planned. I know everyone likes pictures and videos more than reading, so here's a couple.

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[Lake Girl]

Hope you have a surge protector on the Big E ... protect all your hard work. Looks good...

 

[Stephan in BC]

Do people really put surge protectors on their stoves? I hadn't heard of that before. Guess I better go shopping.

 

[the cug]

what kind of surge protector. cost wise?