New PelPro user observations

[khpony]

Installed a new PelPro PP130 about 2 months ago. The learning curve is very different from the wood stove. We're in the mountains of northern New Mexico. House is 2 levels and a basement. Stove is located on the lower level in the living room and it's open to the main floor above so the heat rises to the main floor. First off it heats great. No issues there. However the door glass needs cleaned the soot nearly every day. I've tried to plus and minus the trim setting but it seems to not make any difference. The t-stat dial is really touchy and hard to adjust. The difference between low and #1 is a very fine line and it's been hard to adjust. However these issues are relatively minor to the operation of the stove for me. I love the stove and the flexibility it offers as opposed to burning wood and at nearly 74 years old that's important to me. I'm burning 1/2 plus bags of pellets a day and that's with temps in the 20's at night and 50-60 during the days. Overall it's a great stove and I believe it's going to suit our needs well.
Just my .02 worth!
Thanks

 

[Jeremy6500]

I have a PP130 that I heat with as well. Overall it has done well for me. I am going on my 3rd winter with it. It was already installed in the house I bought, so I am not sure how old it is.

2 things.

1. You talked about the dial thermostat. I believe that the Low/High settings are completely separate from a function standpoint from the numbered/comfort mode. Low/high run at one preset rate continuously with no fluctuations. The comfort mode it temperature controlled by the sensor mounted in the back of the stove. It adjusts all the settings continuously. So it could run all the way from low to high or even shutdown and re-light. I run mine at about 2.5 most the time. I agree the dial thermostat isn’t the greatest. Another option for you could be to look at a Pellet Miser thermostat for it.

2. With the glass getting black really fast. That is almost always a combustion air issue. So it could be two things. First it could be an airflow issue. If it is this it could be fixed by a good cleaning of everything including the vent, it could be a vent configuration issue or an air intake issue…..or a combination of the 3. Second you are in the mountains, so the air is thinner causing the oxygen to fuel ratio to be messed up. Sort of like having to retune the carb on a car at higher altitudes. Not sure exactly how to fix that. You would need more volume of air to burn the same amount of pellets.

For reference I am in northern Indiana at a much lower elevation and if my stove is clean it takes a few days for the glass to start to collect soot. Even if it goes all week without me cleaning it is is still easy to see in the stove, it just gets hazy around the edges of the glass that are not right in front of the fire.

Glad you like the stove. They have a hopper extension available that would increase its pellet capacity greatly

 

[Mt Bob]

Don't quite understand, there really is not supposed to be adjustment from low (maintenance burn) to #1. It is either/or. As said before.

 

[khpony]

Yes I'm slowly figuring out the dial. Also I'll have to live with the soot situation. I have a couple of strikes against me. First we live at elevation 7500 feet and yes the air is thinner here. Second in lieu of doing the exhaust kit thru the wall (wife didn't want me to cut thru it) I've run the exhaust up thru the old wood stove roof penetration. Due to the configuration of the existing hearth I had to use two 45 degree ells to set the stove on the hearth. Currently the lows have been hovering around 30 and daytime temps 55-65. We're burning about 1/2 bag of hardwood pellets per day which isn't bad. Living in the mountains amongst tall pine trees we don't get much direct sunlight during the day. All in all we're very happy with the stove performance and can live with the soot situation.
Thanks

 

[mtnbiker727]

The soot on the glass could also be the quality of the pellets. You can try getting 5 bags from a different manufacturer and run them for a week straight and see if the amount of soot/ash is different.

Glad you like it. Sounds like you'll spend some time tinkering with it to figure it all out.

 

[Clarkbug]

The soot on the glass could also be the quality of the pellets. You can try getting 5 bags from a different manufacturer and run them for a week straight and see if the amount of soot/ash is different.

Glad you like it. Sounds like you'll spend some time tinkering with it to figure it all out.

I have a PP70 that works pretty much the same as its big brother.

My biggest pet peeve so far is that there isnt a detent or resistance between the numbered settings, "Low" and Off for the stove. If you accidentally go to far, it puts the stove into shutdown and you have to wait 20 minutes to restart. Right now its not bitter cold here for me, so we start the stove in the morning at one of the settings, but then usually turn it down to low for a while. If you arent paying close attention its real easy to turn the stove off.

RE: soot, I have noticed that I get a lot of brown buildup on the glass. It wipes right off with a wet paper towel or if I use the brush attachment on the shop vac. I think its a combination of the pellets (TSC Hardwood - Currans for me) and that we spend a fair amount of time in the lowest setting of the stove. Im intending to try some other pellets out and will probably have a higher feed rate, so will see how that keeps my glass.

 

[khpony]

I have a PP70 that works pretty much the same as its big brother.

My biggest pet peeve so far is that there isnt a detent or resistance between the numbered settings, "Low" and Off for the stove. If you accidentally go to far, it puts the stove into shutdown and you have to wait 20 minutes to restart. Right now its not bitter cold here for me, so we start the stove in the morning at one of the settings, but then usually turn it down to low for a while. If you arent paying close attention its real easy to turn the stove off.

RE: soot, I have noticed that I get a lot of brown buildup on the glass. It wipes right off with a wet paper towel or if I use the brush attachment on the shop vac. I think its a combination of the pellets (TSC Hardwood - Currans for me) and that we spend a fair amount of time in the lowest setting of the stove. Im intending to try some other pellets out and will probably have a higher feed rate, so will see how that keeps my glass.

 

[khpony]

I'm currently burning Arizona Mountain Pellets from a local supplier. It's a softwood w/o any fines in the bottom of the bag. I may pick up 4-5 bags of TSC pellets which are Hood River Douglas Fir pellets. Only problem with them is they have some fines in the bottom of the bag. After I try them I'll report back. Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[Jeremy6500]

I'm currently burning Arizona Mountain Pellets from a local supplier. It's a softwood w/o any fines in the bottom of the bag. I may pick up 4-5 bags of TSC pellets which are Hood River Douglas Fir pellets. Only problem with them is they have some fines in the bottom of the bag. After I try them I'll report back. Thanks for all the feedback.

Let us know how it works.

Unfortunately I have a feeling that your biggest issue is altitude, which you can't change. You can adjust the trim to get you the most air you can and keep things as clean as possible.

You could always look at ways to adjust the draft motor to maybe get more flow. More flow would mean more oxygen, but it would also mean more heat pulled out of the burn chamber. Not sure there would be a good balance or not.

Really, if you are happy with the functioning of the stove and are willing to clean it more frequently you might just leave it and accept it for what it is.

 

[GRNDDAD35]

Installed a new PelPro PP130 about 2 months ago. The learning curve is very different from the wood stove. We're in the mountains of northern New Mexico. House is 2 levels and a basement. Stove is located on the lower level in the living room and it's open to the main floor above so the heat rises to the main floor. First off it heats great. No issues there. However the door glass needs cleaned the soot nearly every day. I've tried to plus and minus the trim setting but it seems to not make any difference. The t-stat dial is really touchy and hard to adjust. The difference between low and #1 is a very fine line and it's been hard to adjust. However these issues are relatively minor to the operation of the stove for me. I love the stove and the flexibility it offers as opposed to burning wood and at nearly 74 years old that's important to me. I'm burning 1/2 plus bags of pellets a day and that's with temps in the 20's at night and 50-60 during the days. Overall it's a great stove and I believe it's going to suit our needs well.
Just my .02 worth!
Thanks

I have the same stove I live in the white mountains I run my stove on 4 on the dial and I have my airflow set at -1 . I have played with the settings and I do see a small difference. Try this I had the same problem with half of the glass the top half getting dirty. I am retired so I clean the stove daily and use to do the window daily. This is what I did to solve this problem when I start up the stove I put it on 6 I have noticed when I use to start the stove on 3 or 4 it would smoke for a bit and that's when the glass would dirty. I now start the stove on 6 and it ignites very quickly with little smoke and the glass stays pretty clean for 3 or 4 days. I use very good premium

Installed a new PelPro PP130 about 2 months ago. The learning curve is very different from the wood stove. We're in the mountains of northern New Mexico. House is 2 levels and a basement. Stove is located on the lower level in the living room and it's open to the main floor above so the heat rises to the main floor. First off it heats great. No issues there. However the door glass needs cleaned the soot nearly every day. I've tried to plus and minus the trim setting but it seems to not make any difference. The t-stat dial is really touchy and hard to adjust. The difference between low and #1 is a very fine line and it's been hard to adjust. However these issues are relatively minor to the operation of the stove for me. I love the stove and the flexibility it offers as opposed to burning wood and at nearly 74 years old that's important to me. I'm burning 1/2 plus bags of pellets a day and that's with temps in the 20's at night and 50-60 during the days. Overall it's a great stove and I believe it's going to suit our needs well.
Just my .02 worth!
Thanks

Here is what works for me I had the same problem the top half of the glass would get dirty daily. I have my air mix set at -1 I have tried both positive and negative and there is a difference. Then start the stove up on high 6 or better I use to start mine on 3 and adjust it up to 3 1/2 -4 now I start it at 6 and as soon as it flames I set it to the desired temperature. I clean my stove daily but now my glass stays very clean for 3 to 4 days. This worked for me and I love the pp139 its affordable efficient and it pushes out the heat

 

[khpony]

Thanks GRANDDAD35 I'll give it a try. Curious how much pellets do you burn daily?
Thanks

 

[GRNDDAD35]

30 pounds day in the winter it heats my 1000 sq ft open concept down stairs at 72 degrees and the 1100 sq ft upstairs maintains 65 degrees. The baseboard heat never comes on down stairs and the upstairs only comes on overnight when temps go below 10 degrees. I also turn the stove off every late morning for 2 ours and I clean the stove daily in part of that down time.