Pellet Stove problems, help!

[skolden]

Hey all, pulled out my wood stove towards the end of summer and then proceeded to put in a Lopi Foxfire 400-PS that the earlier tenants had left behind...I'm now beginning to see why! The last few nights I have been burning it on the lowest setting of output of pellets as well as air damper turned all the way down but by the time I wake up and check it the pellets have begun to back up into the auger tube. Last night for instance I cleaned the tray out completely and it only lasted about 12 hours before it was full, although I was able to poke at it, turn the air up and get it to burn faster but I would think I wouldn't have to clean or poke at it every night right? The only thing I have thought of that might be the problem are A) The pellets I'm burning (Eagle Valley, white pine) which seem to be fairly ashy and burn rather quickly, they are the only pellets I've tried, bought half a ton of them to try them out. The other thing could be B) The adapter for the stove to the pipe covered up two little holes on the exhaust vent and I wasn't sure if maybe those needed uncovered to allow for the stove to breathe so to speak. I wouldn't think that would be the issue since it's the exhaust spot and I would imagine smoke would try to work its way out there but I'll attach a picture anyway. Any ideas would be much appreciated, if I can't get the darn thing to work better I'll probably need to go cut some wood ASAP or try to find a reasonably priced pellet stove.

 

[Polar Bear]

How long has the stove been sitting? Did you give it the annual cleaning before putting it to use? It's not a plug & play.

 

[JDenyer236]

Yeah you don't want any holes in the exhaust or you will get smoke in the house. A pellet stove is not a wood stove and you don't shut the damper down for the evening. Try setting the damper midway and keep it there. It's not uncommon to have to clean the burn pot out daily on some stoves, or with ashy pellets. Did you clean the stove before putting it into service? 90% of all stove problems are related to dirty stoves. Here is the manual for that stove, it should help you with how and when to clean. (broken link removed to http://www.lopistoves.com/TravisDocs/93508043.pdf)

 

[johneh]

as air damper turned all the way down

Pellets need air to burn no air and they back up don't burn and leave glass very black
get a manual and read it . pellet stoves do not burn the same as a wood stove

 

[skolden]

To be honest all I did was clean the inside of it, the windows, and the heat exchange tubes on the top, wasn't really sure of what else to do, first time around them (so yeah it sat for awhile since I used the wood stove for 2 years). I will go through it thoroughly today I guess, when you guys say clean it though do you lubricate stuff on yours too? I notice that manual says oil but what kind of oil would you use?

 

[JDenyer236]

To be honest all I did was clean the inside of it, the windows, and the heat exchange tubes on the top, wasn't really sure of what else to do, first time around them (so yeah it sat for awhile since I used the wood stove for 2 years). I will go through it thoroughly today I guess, when you guys say clean it though do you lubricate stuff on yours too? I notice that manual says oil but what kind of oil would you use?

Something like a 3 in 1 oil should be fine. Your problem is not likely a lubrication issue, rather your stove is full of soot and ash. Read the manual I linked above, shows you where and when to clean. Pay special attention to the ash traps and combustion blower.

 

[Lake Girl]

Holes in exhaust pipe for screws to secure exhaust venting in place? Eagle Valley are supposed to be a very good pellet that burns hot but pellet stove needs air to burn properly otherwise pellets will pile up. Lowest level burn on most pellet stoves can be tricky to get the proper fuel/air mix. What outside temps have you been getting?

There will be internal smoke pathways that usually have a clean-out. I use a dryer lint brush to remove soot than use hose attached to my shop-vac to get in there.

Electric motor oil - for the combustion & convection fans...

 

[Lake Girl]

Make sure you have replacement gaskets....

 

[JDenyer236]

Make sure you have replacement gaskets....

X2

 

[skolden]

Holes in exhaust pipe for screws to secure exhaust venting in place? Eagle Valley are supposed to be a very good pellet that burns hot but pellet stove needs air to burn properly otherwise pellets will pile up. Lowest level burn on most pellet stoves can be tricky to get the proper fuel/air mix. What outside temps have you been getting?

There will be internal smoke pathways that usually have a clean-out. I use a dryer lint brush to remove soot than use hose attached to my shop-vac to get in there.

Electric motor oil - for the combustion & convection fans...

Maybe, I used Selkirk pipe and that adapter piece had to be hit in there, it was extremely snug past the first inch. As for the burn ratio I would have thought the lowest setting of pellets would work with the lowest air but like everyone has been saying maybe I have a ton of ash to clean up. Outside temps haven't been that bad yet, just above freezing at nights, although it has been frustrating to keep it working daily it does seem to put out enough heat so far on low.

I forgot to mention that every now and then the back plate (right near the air intake tube and exhaust tube) will sometimes push itself in or out as it sucks air, just enough to make noise but I couldn't see that it was hurting anything, don't know what causes that though!