Pellet Stove Newbie With Questions

[benignvanilla]

I am newb to the pellet stove world. So far we love our stove, but we've had a few problems lately. The biggest is it seems like we're having problems getting a good burn going. I have been anal about keeping the stove clean, so I don't think it's a clog, but sometimes the pellets pile up faster then they can burn.

What could this be?

 

[Michael6268]

Sounds like lack of air to the burnpot. Does the combustion blower seem to working ok? Are you sure there are no obstructions resctricing the flue? Does it have outside air hook up? If so try temporarily disconect it to see if it improves. Holes in and under the burnpot clean?

 

[benignvanilla]

Is it possible I just had the input air restricted too much? I usually keep it pretty low. I am not aware of any obstructions anywhere, and the fans seems to be working fine.

 

[Michael6268]

Absolutely. Try more air. Pellet stoves/pellets need just the right amount of air to burn properly. Experiment with the air settings.

 

[benignvanilla]

I've been told people will just let these things burn for days. So far, I don't see how they do it. Thanks for the tip, I'll try giving it some more air when it burns.

 

[Michael6268]

Sounds to me like there may be other issues. Is the burn plate properly in place? I once saw a guy trying to burn a pellet stove he bought off the floor from HD without a burn plate in it. He was new to pellet stoves and didnt realize it was missing. Also have you tried reducing the feed on it? If properly working you should be able to go for a couple days just loading it. What kind of stove is it?

 

[Xena]

I've been told people will just let these things burn for days.
So far, I don't see how they do it.

Ours burns 24/7 without a problem unless it's too warm outside
to run it, or I shut it down for a full cleaning which is about once a month.

 

[benignvanilla]

Burn plate?

 

[Michael6268]

The "little grate" looking thing in the little box in the stove with a bunch of holes or slits in it.

 

[GVA]

Yes What kind of stove are we talking about?

 

[Michael6268]

GVA- You take over for now. Wife just got home and where on our way out!

 

[Xena]

Little confusing because most stove
manuals refer to that as the "burn pot"
not "burn plate".

 

[GVA]

GVA- You take over for now. Wife just got home and where on our way out!

Hey wait a minute...... I'm about to clean my stove......... Well it's still cooling down it can wait.. ;-)

 

[benignvanilla]

Ok, I am off to clean it, and then let 'er rip with more air to see how it does. Thanks for the help.

 

[GVA]

I'm still cleaning but just wondering how long have you had this stove? and what's the frequency between cleanings?
I was assuming you just started to burn this stove but now i'm thinking you have had it for at least a month or two or three?
I'll get back to that later.

EDIT******
sorry just say that you updated the signature.
any way how many times had you cleaned it since october?

 

[benignvanilla]

We've had it since October. We've burned maybe 10-11 bags of pellet so far. Over that time, I've at a minimum cleaned the ash and such once a week or so, sometimes more if were using it a lot. Tonight I did a bit more intensive cleaning, as these bad burns have created a lot of soot. I am not running it with more air then I usually do and it seems to be doing OK.

 

[drizler]

I don't know the specifics of your stove but. Can you turn down the feed rate with some sort of adjustment? You also may have some poor pellets. The worst ones I ever hand as well as the only bad ones were marked Premium. You should be able to adjust that feed rate to slow it down though, check the book.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

air fuel ratio is a premium with pellet stoves, if you are getting a dirty burn , you simply are not getting the air necessary to cleanly burn what is fed to the fire. bear in mind also that "a dirty burn begets a dirtier burn" as it clogges up the system , gets more and more excess fuel in and thus makes it worse as it goes. adding air or reducing the fuel flow while keeping the air at the same rate is the answer to your problem.

 

[benignvanilla]

I am hoping it's a case of a bad bag of pellets.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

bad pellets could do it , here is how you check them

take about a half a cup of the pellets, put them in a glass bowl, cover the bowl with a saucer to trap air inside, nuke em in your microwave for about 45 seconds, then immediatly examine the bottom of the saucer and the bottom of the bowl, have to do that quick as the pellets will rapidly reabsorb moisture . if you have water in the bowl or dripping down the plate (turned sideways) you have wet pellets which may be your problem . i'd still check intake air.. hope this helps ya

 

[hearthtools]

A little bit more info and how it is installed will help

Is the vent Vertical (up through the roof)?
is the vent ALL pellet or are you adapted to wood stove pipe?

Are you direct venting. (out the wall that thats it)

Is you home Newer and realy air tight?
Do you have outside air?

What # do you have the air rod pulled out to?

If you are getting a good draft will no leaks in the stove you will see A diffence in the burn when you change the air rod in and out.
Test
with a High burn and the stove running hot for a min of 20 minutes
Push the air rod in.
You will see the fire Tall Orange and Lazy.
Then pull the air rod Out and the Fire will Drop lower and be a More yellow and intence.
if you see this change then your stove has a good seal and drafting well.

If you dont
Check the ash pan
Check your door for snug fit. (do you have a door handle, one Latch or two latches?) ther has been three upgrades in the door in the past few years.
Check to see if there is a screen in the cap if there is Clean it.
Check to see if any Horizontal pipe is running Downword. You want a slite rise
if your home is tight and you dont have out side air. Open a window a crack and see if this helps.

 

[GVA]

Rod, some questions are answered here

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/5853/

He had 2 threads running at the same time.