Old St Croix Lazy Flame and Pellets piling up in burn grate?

[Don2222]

This one bag of pellets created a lot of creosote in this St Croix Hastings since the last time it was cleaned!!
See pic of exhaust blower!
After cleaning the stove again and using new different pellets and a new exhaust blower it seemed better but after an hour the pellets built up, the flame was a little lazy still!!
Finally found the cleanout cover behind the ash pan. Stuck a brush in there and some more hard black chips of creosote came out and all of a sudden we felt the cold air from outside! Bingo the stove works fine and the flame is dancing again!
Has anyone seen such shiny black creasote and the hidden cleanout behind the ash pan on these old St Croix Pellet Stoves??

Could it be that the wood pellets had tree bark with creasote mixed in???

 

[heat seeker]

My guess is that the stove had poor airflow for quite a while, and the 'sote built up. I'd run the stove wide open for a few hours to burn things out, then do the LBT and see what comes out.

 

[corkman]

Hey don. Wow. That’s nasty looking stuff. Did you happen to notice what that Hastings had for a control board. I’ve seen a few in the past and they all had the tstat option. Then just today I came across this one in a 2005

 

[Don2222]

Hey don. Wow. That’s nasty looking stuff. Did you happen to notice what that Hastings had for a control board. I’ve seen a few in the past and they all had the tstat option. Then just today I came across this one in a 2005

Hi Corkman
It has the blue one. See pics
I installed the newest one which is blue but does not say St Croix at the bottom.

 

[Don2222]

My guess is that the stove had poor airflow for quite a while, and the 'sote built up. I'd run the stove wide open for a few hours to burn things out, then do the LBT and see what comes out.

It did have poor air flow and then the Shaft / Cage Weldment Broke so it was down for a while till the new part came in. However the creasote from the bad pellets made the exhaust blower slow down so it got worse really quick! The exhaust blower housing and the exhaust chamber below had a lot of creasote and that secret chamber behind the ash pan had chunks of creasote that we had to brush out and blow out. I am just glad we could get it all working again and the rest of those bad pellets were burned in the wood fire place. Now the the stove is burning Vermont wood pellets and running great!

 

[MSmith66]

The cover behind the ash pan is on newer stoves. The older stove never had that cover to access that area. You would have to remove the two spring clips and insert a cable into the area, very difficult at times. Then they put that access port in for easier cleaning.

 

[bogieb]

The cover behind the ash pan is on newer stoves. The older stove never had that cover to access that area. You would have to remove the two spring clips and insert a cable into the area, very difficult at times. Then they put that access port in for easier cleaning.

I had that cover on my 2008 Hastings. Not sure if that qualifies as a newer stove or not? The stoves without sound like a real PITA to clean that area.

 

[heat seeker]

My '04 Afton Bay doesn't have the 3rd cover. The LBT works so well, that I don't get an accumulation back there. I only remove the combustion blower every 3rd year just to check on things, but it's not necessary. I do the LBT every ton or ton-and-a-half.
Cleaning behind the wall is easy enough, and I don't use the flexible cable idea. I can clean back there with a bent piece of threaded rod, and the pot scraper tool. I look back there with a mirror now and then, and it's perfectly clear. I consider this stove very easy to keep clean and breathing freely.