Newbie with NI40 troubles

[Saltair]

I am sure all these questions have been asked before, but I cant find detailed answers on here as I try to learn how to navigate the site so feel free to link me to the info I need.

I have had a Napoleon NI40 installed for about a week. I haven't even burned two full bags of pellets through it yet. When it was installed we had to call tech support at the factory, my retailer has gone out of business and is a ghost, he indicated that some stoves were shipped with the hole fo teh igniter bored to small. We measured and mine was so we opened up to the spec and we had fire. The first time I ran it was only for an evening and the glass started to soot up right away and there was large Clinker left in the burn pot. I read up what I could find and it seemed like I didn't have enough air. The next time we ran it I cranked the air all the way open the fire started to go out so I closed the air until the pellets in the bottom of the pot were sort of shaking but not quite flying around. The flame looked cleaner the stove ran for five or six hours. There was little if any soot on the door, but still a small Clinker in the pot. The pot is also full of ash, very little is dropping into the pan and I have to dump the clinker and ash out before i can start I new fire. Last night I ran the stove all night. It was on from the time I got home from work until I got up this morning, maybe 12 or 13 hours. This moring the burn pot was almost full, say 2/3's or more, and there was still plenty of fire, but it had gone lazy. I noticed some soot on the glass before I turned in but this morning the top of the glass is completely black. Nothing has cooled enough yet for me to get in there, but I can see what looks to be a large clinker.

The owners manual is awful. The consumer guide on here is very general and isn't helping. I cant find anything that speaks to my problem beyond air adjustments or fuel quality. I cant do much in the short term about fuel quality, but what are the finer points of air control? Can anybody speak to this problem or point me towards info? I am buring Athen's Maine Wood Pellet Co. fuel.

 

[j00fek]

i wouldn't worry about the glass, your soot will vary depending on the pellets. clicnkers could because of the pellets your using, but dont hold me to it.

i had the same thing happen to me as well (burn pot filled up) my mother put the intake air on 1 all night, that's a no no, i do not have an Out side air kit so i use 2-3 on the intake. mostly 2 i crank it up to 5 when i start mine.

my father had to drill out his pot as well for a bigger lighter hole, i got lucky and mine was fine. you could drill yours out, just be careful when you do it. very easy.

i would have to guess that our stoves are the same but yours is just an insert. best thing to do with the athens pellets is to put a handful in the pot when you are starting your stove, i think it starts faster. as to what you said about air intake i would set yours to 3 after the stove is going, i would do 5 on startup.

we are in the same boat with the pellets, my glass is black after 7 bags, terrible... i know but thats fuel quality. im sure you have alot of fines getting burnt as well from the hopper, that adds to the ash content.

 

[crausch]

I don't know much about your stove, but I was looking through your manual. Since clinkers can be from the air to fuel ratio being improper and a sooted glass could be from a lazy flame, it sounds to me that you might have a draft problem. Was it windy last night? You should double check that door seal is tight and completely seated and the ash pan.

 

[j00fek]

I don't know much about your stove, but I was looking through your manual. Since clinkers can be from the air to fuel ratio being improper and a sooted glass could be from a lazy flame, it sounds to me that you might have a draft problem. Was it windy last night? You should double check that door seal is tight and completely seated and the ash pan.

i would have never thought of this, good point about the draft. depending on your outside air kit might have to put a cover on it...?

 

[crausch]

Saltair,

I was just reading something on a site that made me think about your post. The article was discussing negative house pressure. It got me thinking that if you don't have an outside air kit installed, and if your house is insulated very well (air tight), you could be creating a negative house pressure and possibly not getting enough fresh air into the stove. It could take several hours to reach that point. Hence a good flame for awhile, then slowly gets lazy. I think this why they recommend fresh air kits for mobile homes.

I am just throwing out suggestions here, but I guess you could eliminate the possibility by doing the following: The next time this happens, open a window or door and see if the flame improves.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[Saltair]

J00fek There should be little difference between our stoves, but my air control doesn't have settings. It is just and "L" shaped rod that I pull in and out. Do you match your auger speed to the fan speed? How does your stove run in any other than the "optimal setting"? Did your Dad just drill out the igniter hole or the others as well?

CodeBum, Negative pressure is not the problem. I do not have an outside air system, but if my house had any more draft I would have to start taking windchill factors.

If air is my problem can somebody give me tips on what to look for as I adjust the damper? Is there I good description on here somwhere?

 

[Saltair]

I got into the burn pot and there was only a small clinker and a couple chunks, the rest was all fine ash. The ash does not seem to be dropping into the ash pan. Any Napoleon owners seen this before?

 

[j00fek]

only had to drill out the lighter hole, haven't noticed ash not going into the ash pan even with my athens pellets hah

on the NPS40 the setting for the hopper and fan go from 1-5 and the auger has a "lighting" setting thats about 6 id say

iv had mine on for 2 days now and with athens pellets ash builds up below the pellet chute to the burn pot and infront, just aslong as your pot isnt filling up and has good flame/burning i wouldnt worry about it unless you checked the ash pan and there is very little in there.

i would try it with your damper on 1/2 next time to see if that helps

another thing that people have told me when they bought their NPS40, that there is alot of over spray from the factory that got on the inside electronics, i took off my side panels and looked at all the connectors that had spray on them and made sure the connections were not compromised by this. (of 10 stoves iv seen this be a problem on only 2) this spry would create problems for the temp sensors for the stove.