Pellets piling up in firepot below 10ºF.. Tired of it!

[SmokeyTheBear]

Here is what my burn pot looks like after just 3-4 days in very cold weather. Bigger holes needed or something else?

Have you cleaned out those holes?

And that warped section isn't going to help any, you end up with the burn air bypassing the pellet pile on the outside of the burn pot.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Those additional holes above the original ones also rob air from the pellet pile.

What shape is the receptacle that burn pot sits in?

 

[Bioburner]

I was looking at the top and the area where the pot seals into the stove. Notice my picture shows a solid heavy upper skirt for a proper seal with welded corners. Maybe they had China produce a batch of pots.

 

[Bobcat698]

Yes, I clean them out during every thorough cleaning.
Pictures attached.

 

[Bioburner]

Yes, I clean them out during every thorough cleaning.
Pictures attached.

You have a serious issue with the warping of the burn pot in the front and it not sealing properly.

 

[Bobcat698]

You have a serious issue with the warping of the burn pot in the front and it not sealing properly.

Bend it back and weld it up?

 

[Bioburner]

Can try but its going to be probably brittle. If it don't work PM another me another message and I have a well made pot used.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Or get a new one.

You might be able to use some gasket to seal that gap until your new one comes.

 

[Bobcat698]

Here's my sweet 40 second hammer temporary fix..

 

[Bobcat698]

BTW, check out the pot picture in post #53.. Definitely warped more since then.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Here's my sweet 40 second hammer temporary fix..

I think it will likely deform again.

But you can give it a try.. Burn pots go to hell fast under a pileup the pot becomes part of a smithies forge.

 

[Bobcat698]

For sure, that's why I said "temporary"

I'll run it a bit and see what happens with it. Just that little gap can really screw things up, airflow wise eh?

 

[Bioburner]

Your dealing with vacuum and is a pain. Try getting a water pump primed with a small leak and you will know what I mean.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Hell one foot over on 3" vent or a little dip instead of the required rise in the horizontal portions of the vent system can cause all kinds of trouble.

I've been there with the pile up and burn pot destruction situation. I was also thinking that clinker collecting was a hobby sideline to running a pellet stove.

People consider us to be a pita on installation and cleaning.

I wonder why?

 

[Bobcat698]

Here's my stove, less than 12 hours of burn time after a thorough cleaning. Temp was between -19 and -2 all night.

 

[F4jock]

Here's my sweet 40 second hammer temporary fix..

Amazed you got away with that but it will likely warp again. Getting a backup?

 

[Bioburner]

Fire should be rolling up straight

 

[F4jock]

Fire should be rolling up straight

Maybe it's working well enough to get him by until he can get another.

 

[Bobcat698]

I'm ready to do whatever it takes to fix it.. You guys pretty sure the burn pot is the issue now?

 

[F4jock]

I'm ready to do whatever it takes to fix it.. You guys pretty sure the burn pot is the issue now?

Well, is it heating / working better since your "fix?"

 

[Bobcat698]

As you can see by the pictures I just posted, no. Same pile, different day.

 

[F4jock]

As you can see by the pictures I just posted, no. Same pile, different day.

Flame looks lazyish. Where is your draft pot set? As Smokey and Bio pointed out, a small vacuum leak in the burnpot area can do that as well.

 

[Bobcat698]

You mean the draft knob? It's pulled out 1/4 inch or so. When I went to bed it was burning fine. Obviously not anymore, but the firepot is darn near plum full..

 

[F4jock]

Last winter I had a new pellet stove that would build up a big pile of unburned pellets and choke. In the spring I took it outdoors and used a leaf blower to super clean everything.

It took an hour and unreal amounts of billowing ash, but it ran like new again.

Will need to clean it more and deeper this winter.

Pellet stoves want to be clean as a whistle.

You mean the draft knob? It's pulled out 1/4 inch or so. When I went to bed it was burning fine. Obviously not anymore, but the firepot is darn near plum full..

If you can't get a more straight flame you either have a vacuum or draft problem. The vacuum problem could be thorny. Lots of possible causes. The draft problem, well, after all you've done the only thing I can think of is exhaust size. One other question: If I read you right the problem exists when the temp goes below 10f but nothing else is changed, including feed rate?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

It should be in stock configuration to start with so that needs to be remedied.

Given how it is burning I'd expect that the stove is fouling its combustion air path at a very good rate.

Until then I'd be looking throughout the stove for bad gaskets (test them, don't just look at them).

I'd also be looking around all seams between the fire box and the outside world.

In other stoves there have been bolts or screws come loose and the joints that need to be gas tight no longer are.

Even things you might not think of such as auger flight covers have caused problems with air flow by not being sealed well enough.

Joints loosening in the feed system have also caused problems with air flow leading to bad burns.

Even missing shipping bolt hole covers have been known to cause such issues.

A plugged up heat exchanger, too much stack back pressure, a failing or undersized combustion blower. Crap being pushed into an area already cleaned while cleaning the next section (a compelling case for high air flow devices being used after and during cleaning).

In stoves that have a fixed combustion blower run speed like a lot of Breckwells, failure to properly adjust the damper for burning when you change the heat range (aka fuel feed rate).

Crap in the air intake path, frost or ice growth on too fine an OAK screen.

Man the list never ends.