P38 Not heating enough for this cold now

[rayttt]

I've had my p38 for about 5 years...and just replaced/ upgraded the Control Board.
Was a fairly simple install and its been working nicely except it just doesn't want to put out the heat that it used to. Im using the same pellets (same batch of CleanFires) that I was using 2 years ago before I upgraded the Control board so I dont believe its the pellets. Ive also have been burning Stove Chow, and Presto Logs.
All three brands seem to put out about the same amount of heat. Last week it did get down to a -9 here in PA and it did Ok in ..not great..could have used a little more heat. Last nite only went to -3 but it must have been a lot windier because this morning when I got up the house wasn't very warm at all. In living room where stove is was only about 68...which I usually keep it at 75 to 80 depending on outside temps...80 in living room in this type of weather keeps bedroom at 70. well as cold as it was..I decided that the stove just isn't able to keep up any longer. I did feel alot of cold air coming in from somewhere...windows maybe..will heat shrink them tommorrow.
I decided to turn the stove all the way up to see how it puts out. I turned the feed rate all the way up from its normal 4...and turned the set point in stove mode all the way up.
I figured that should be able to push pellets right out of the burn pot, but it doesn't. It gets to about 1 1/2 inches from the top..which is below where the set point is for the Feed rate.
Shouldn;t the stove push the glowing pellets out of the burn pot and into the ash tray?


I had just cleaned it about a week or 2 ago. Normally can go 4 to 5 weeks before stove needs complete cleaning so it should be ok.
Has anyone cranked their P series Harman up enough to push burning pellets out of the burn pot?

 

[m159267]

I have run my older P38 in Turbo mode several times for 30-60 minutes (on start-up). Huge flame & tremendous heat. I have never seen it push glowing / burning pellets out of the burn pot. My uneducated guess is if everything is working correctly - that should never happen.

 

[MCPO]

Mine never pushes hot glowing pellets out of the burn pot even when in turbo mode. For the short times that I ever use that mode it throws a tremendous amount of heat .
Eats a tremendous amount of fuel too ! No free lunch there.

 

[P38X2]

Unfortunately, you crossed beyond the capability threshold of your stove. While that sucks, you should be proud of your stove for not losing the fight until negative digit temps. The same thing happened to me with my P38, which inspired me to launch a massive counterstrike against the cold by replacing it with a P68

If your stove isn't pushing pellets out of the burnpot, congratulations, your stove is likely clean and running well. Barring a mechanical/electrical or cleanliness issue, the only way I can see pellets getting pushed out unburned is if they're highly defective, containing huge amounts of moisture or noncombustible materials.

 

[rayttt]

Unfortunately, you crossed beyond the capability threshold of your stove. While that sucks, you should be proud of your stove for not losing the fight until negative digit temps. The same thing happened to me with my P38, which inspired me to launch a massive counterstrike against the cold by replacing it with a P68

If your stove isn't pushing pellets out of the burnpot, congratulations, your stove is likely clean and running well. Barring a mechanical/electrical or cleanliness issue, the only way I can see pellets getting pushed out unburned is if they're highly defective, containing huge amounts of moisture or noncombustible materials.

When I was using the Old Control board I had never gone over more then about 2/3's of max feed rate...that worked fine in -10 degree we had a few years back.
It does seem that the house has sprung a large cold air leak. Sitting in my recliner with shorts on my left leg was nice and toasty getting hit by the warm air from the pellet stove and my left leg felt a very cold draft on it. Haven't tracked down where from yet.
I was just curious if the Burn pot could be overflowed if the 2 feed rate controls were turned all the way up.

 

[HarmanManP43]

When I was using the Old Control board I had never gone over more then about 2/3's of max feed rate...that worked fine in -10 degree we had a few years back.
It does seem that the house has sprung a large cold air leak. Sitting in my recliner with shorts on my left leg was nice and toasty getting hit by the warm air from the pellet stove and my left leg felt a very cold draft on it. Haven't tracked down where from yet.
I was just curious if the Burn pot could be overflowed if the 2 feed rate controls were turned all the way up.

Maybe check and make sure all burn pot holes are clear. Kinda ahrd to see the ones closest to the auger. Do you have access to a draft meter to do a draft test?

 

[rayttt]

Maybe check and make sure all burn pot holes are clear. Kinda ahrd to see the ones closest to the auger. Do you have access to a draft meter to do a draft test?

No draft meter.

 

[P38X2]

When I was using the Old Control board I had never gone over more then about 2/3's of max feed rate...that worked fine in -10 degree we had a few years back.
It does seem that the house has sprung a large cold air leak. Sitting in my recliner with shorts on my left leg was nice and toasty getting hit by the warm air from the pellet stove and my left leg felt a very cold draft on it. Haven't tracked down where from yet.
I was just curious if the Burn pot could be overflowed if the 2 feed rate controls were turned all the way up.

The smoke from stick incense is a great indicator of drafts. Just be aware of your breath and the wake your body creates moving from place to place, as it will affect the smoke. Under the baseboards on exterior walls, basement doors, outlets on exterior walls, and of course, the dreaded window draft, both the window itself and the casing, are all great places to check for air infiltration. If you're using an OAK, make sure both ends of the pipe are sealed properly.

Pick a scent that won't piss off the wife

 

[bbfarm]

You have 2 left legs?

 

[iceguy4]

check your house. In another thread the OP discovered his sliding door was open slightly....sometime we miss the forest because too many trees...

 

[jslinger]

You have 2 left legs?

Great question.