pellet stove component upgrade results

[cadmobile500]

my name is tom and although this is my first post I have been lurking here since march when I bought my pleasant hearth ph50cab.

although it is a "good stove for the money" it is not without its flaws. even though the hopper can hold 120 pounds of pellets the burn pot requires daily removal of clinkers. this stove has the burn pot without the holes in the bottom just like the pel pro 60 and 130. and uses a periods of low feed/hi combustion air to purge ash from the burn pot.

I burn cleanfire pacific blend.

my first attempt to remedy the clinker problem was to drill holes in the bottom of the burn pot. this helped but very little.

I then upgraded the combustion blower fan to a Harman 5" double paddle (the original one somehow got bent just running the stove on high) and this increased my convection air temp 9 degrees! the stock fan is a 9 big blade 4-3/4". although I got more heat from the stove the clinkers got harder and darker.

I had read that the weak Chinese combustion blower motors like on my stove(2900rpm .6amp) have a hard time spinning the bigger blower motor fans so I ordered the GA 3000rpm 1.75amp motor for a harman. it bolted right up after changing the electrical connecters.

anyways, after running the stove for 24 hours in thermostat mode(stove only ran on the lowest setting) I have no clinker at all in the burn pot. I actually have too much air(convection temp dropped) so I need to readjust the blower trim.

just thought ide share this info hoping it might help somebody.

 

[cadmobile500]

 

[dozerdean]

I always liked these stoves for the price point. Do u still have to clean the burn pot daily? My Haman dealer carries these stoves , they are a mixture of quadrafire & Harman stoves put together, that's what he told me.

 

[cadmobile500]

I have only run the stove for 24 hours after the motor upgrade but there was no ash in the pot when I got home from work
.
I still need to readjust the blower speed trim(im down about 5 degrees convection temp from before the motor upgrade)

im concerned I might not be able to turn the air down enough now...

 

[Mt Bob]

It is a ph50cab,not a cab50.Completely different burn pots.If your install is good,with your mods,and you have to clean the pot after 3-5 bags,should be ok.If it goes longer than that,you are probably wasting heat up the stack.

 

[cadmobile500]

if I can get my convection temp back up to the same before the motor swap without the build up in the burn pot I will consider this a victory

 

[Mt Bob]

In that old style of stove,you are supposed to have buildup in the pot,if you do not,lots of heat is going up the exhaust.

 

[cadmobile500]

In that old style of stove,you are supposed to have buildup in the pot,if you do not,lots of heat is going up the exhaust.

please explain

 

[Mt Bob]

Burning pellets leaves clumps,from impurities.In an old style,if you are not having clumps form,then the combustion air is so powerful,it is blowing the crap out,which means more heat is being blown out the exhaust(too fast) that could be used by the stove.Other stoves have a shaker grate system,or sliding grate system,or a self dumping pot,or they are a pusher stove--bottom feed-as a harman,which self cleans.

 

[railfanron]

Install a valve in the outside air intake and throttle the incoming air down a little at a time until you get it just right.
Ron

 

[Lake Girl]

Install a valve in the outside air intake and throttle the incoming air down a little at a time until you get it just right.
Ron

Could he not get the same effect by the blower speed trim? Haven't looked at the manual yet to see how adjustable they are...

 

[railfanron]

Yes he could Lake Girl but with the new fan and blade you might not be able to get the volume low enough. If the trim is hard to access the valve on the outside air is easier to get to.
Ron

 

[Mt Bob]

Yes he could Lake Girl but with the new fan and blade you might not be able to get the volume low enough. If the trim is hard to access the valve on the outside air is easier to get to.
Ron

Yep in certain installs,things have to be done.But in this case,his complaint was cleaning the clinkers every day,which is not an issue with that stove,is very normal.

 

[cadmobile500]

i didnt have any clinkers when i burned okanagan platinum . ..

 

[Lake Girl]

i didnt have any clinkers when i burned okanagan platinum . ..

So you are saying it is the pellets? What you spent on the upgraded components could have paid for a better pellet

 

[cadmobile500]

I already had the pellets.
parts cost me less than $100.
I like to tinker.

I still have too much air but this is how the burn pot looks after two days without cleaning.
this also stopped the rumbling noise related to the draft that my stove was making.

 

[cadmobile500]

the thing is I had read about people using higher amperage exhaust blower motors to improve low drafting.
my stove has 5 heating levels and usually runs on the lowest one when in thermostat mode. when the room temp drops 3 degrees the stove turns on(lowest setting-level 1). the room temp needs to drop 8 degrees for the stove to run on level 5 when in thermostat mode.
therefor I am trying to optimize my stove to run on the lower settings.
I have a meat thermometer measuring the heat output and with the stove running on the lowest setting(lowest feed rate) I figure anything that gets the thermometer to read higher is better.

 

[cadmobile500]

so..,
I couldn't trim the air down enough so I used some tape and incrementally blocked off the air intake until my combustion air temp came back up.
the clinkers are back but a lot smaller and darker.
I wish there was a way to increase the air just during the purge cycle.
I wonder if I somehow increased the pellet feed rate to match the increased airflow I could keep the burn pot clean since running the stove without any air restrictions keeps the pot clean but the stove runs too lean.
any thoughts?