I have a st croix afton bay pellet stove. I had a friend house sit for a week and he ended up not letting the ashses out of the bottom of the burn pot and it backed up bad a smoldered. I shut it down and cleaned the whole stove thoroghly. Took the combustion fan out, exhaust piping apart etc. The stove starts up well and the flame looks good, nice and bright and brisk, but you can notice a little excess smoke inside the stove and after 4 or five hours the burn pot starts to get backed up and overflows. I dont know what else to clean or try. any input is appreciated.
Plz help. Pellet stove not burning well
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momof2nutlings
Member
Did you look behind the small door/removable plate in the ash tray? If you look into that hole and up you will see a passageway that needs cleaning. Of course, I'm assuming your Afton is similar to my Prescott - I think it is but not 100%
Mine doesnt have anything behind the ash tray. Just the clean outs up by the pot and the area by the heat exchanger tubes and the spots behind the brick background
momof2nutlings
Member
Look carefully, I just pulled up the manual and it did refer to a clean out behind the ash pan. Look at your manual, in the maintenance pages.
Lake Girl
Moderator
Leaf Blower Trick as that will suck ash out of the nooks and crannies... Use the search box above to find some of the videos posted on the forum
bogieb
Minister of Fire
Are you sure there is no 3rd cleanout? It can be very hard to see as it is screwed in - I missed mine the first 2 times of cleaning. Of course, the manual for older models shows only 2, so that may be, just check again.
Also, make sure that the area in front (toward you) under the burn pot is clean. If you feel with your fingers, it will feel like a plate, but there are slots on each side and ash/clinkers can build up there. It can be a bear to clean out, but that build up can keep the ash grate from completely closing.
Also, make sure that the area in front (toward you) under the burn pot is clean. If you feel with your fingers, it will feel like a plate, but there are slots on each side and ash/clinkers can build up there. It can be a bear to clean out, but that build up can keep the ash grate from completely closing.
yes i did clean that out well as ive had that problem before. Mine is older, like an 06. I was just playing around with the electronic settings and turning the combustion fan down seems to make it burn cleaner.Does that make any sense?
bogieb
Minister of Fire
My understanding is that too much air can cause the fire to stay on top and not get to the lower level of pellets. Of course, it can also cause a fire to run riot; I guess it depends on a whole lot of factors and stove configurations.
OK so only doesn't smoke on #2 setting. If I go up to #3 or 4 smoke comes back. The walls inside get a white ash on them that is powdery and the Glas gets a dark black ash which wipes right off with a paper towel. Is this normal? I'm kinda new to pellet stoves so I don't tell know what to expect
bogieb
Minister of Fire
White ash is good. Black ash should be at a minimum, but my glass always gets it on the Hastings but easily wipes off, and it is more prone to the black stuff at low burn. The glass shouldn't get black quickly though, and if it is hard to wipe off that would be an issue. Still shouldn't smoke at 3 or 4 though.
St_Earl
Minister of Fire
and always disconnect the vacum line (to vacuum switch) when doing the leaf blower trick.
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