Poor burning performance from a St Croix Greenfield stove

[NavyBoy13]

Good morning everyone! I'm new to the forums, but I wanted to write it and see if I can get some advice on boosting the performance of my Greenfield corn burning stove. I got the stove about 7 years ago and it has been working well each season. This year I began having a problem with the stove being able to start: I'd push "start" and the stove would shut off after 30 seconds due to inadequate vacuum. If I did manage to get it started (after repeated attempts) I would only be able to achieve a poor burn, ie. the burn pot would overflow even at the slowest auger setting and the clinker would be very light and loose (not the dense clinker that I am used to). I replaced the rope gaskets in both the main door and the ash pan but that did not fix the problem.

I began to search the web and found several forums (including on this site) that said that a clogged stove can lead to this problem. I do all my own maintenance on this stove because I think that my local stove shop is worthless (they don't know much, and they rip me off). My routine maintenance consisted of snaking out the exhaust tube to the outside, vacuuming out the ash traps and blowing out the fan motors with compressed air.

After doing some more reading on the forums, it occured to me that the pathways upstream of the exhaust fan might be clogged. I pulled off the fan and found a bunch of ash caked up just underneath it. I vacuumed that out and also brushed off the fan blades themselves (which were very dirty). I put everything back together again. I did manage to get the stove to pull adequate vacuum, but it still took 2 to 3 attempts at pushing the start button. I'm pretty sure that it should start on the first try. I also was able to run the stove through the night, but the burn pot still fills up pretty fast on the low setting. I think that if I ran it on any other setting, levels 2 through 5, then the feed rate would snuff out the fire; the combustion just wouldn't be able to keep up.

Can anyone recommend anything else? I'd really like to get this thing to be able to run on level 5. I don't think that there is anything mechanically wrong with the stove. Since it's gone 6+ years without a good robust cleaning, then it makes sense that it would be jammed up, but I just don't know where that jam is.

Any suggestions are much appreciated!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

There are exhaust paths that start above the burn pot and go through the heat exchanger and down and back up a little bit these join behind the burn pot and then go to the combustion blower cavity. On St. Croix stoves the area almost directly behind the burn pot on the other side of the firebox walls gets plugged. This usually takes some time if you manage to keep the rest of the pathway open. There are manufacturer modifications that can be performed and newer version of their stoves come with a third ash trap clean-out port. You need to either thump on the firebox walls or get a stiff brush through the ports and above them to knock the mess down in order to vacuum the ash out.

You can go in from the combustion blower cavity towards the firebox with a stiff brush and a really strong well filtered vacuum to remove the mess.

Once you get that area cleaned you should also perform a dollar bill test on your door gasket and any ash pan gaskets (also check that the latching system is functional, both door and ash pan), make sure your damper is set correctly, and that the area around your igniter is clean.

 

[NavyBoy13]

Thanks for the quick response! I'll work at getting the area behind the firewall cleaned out. Do you know of any diagrams that show the flow path of the exhaust gas? I want to make sure that I get each passage, but I can't see what happens between the heat exchanger tubes and the combustion fan.

I've also heard of people using a leaf blower to clean out the stove. Is that just a matter of hauling the stove outside, putting the blower right up against one of the ash traps and blowing the whole system out?

 

[wwert]

Yeah, what Smokey said.

 

[wwert]

Don't be afraid to pound on the back inside wall with a rubber mallet to loosen the crud up. Use a leaf blower that has vacuum ability and hook the vac tube y
To the exhaust port with duct tape. Turn on blower and stand back. You will see just how cruddy your stove is.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Thanks for the quick response! I'll work at getting the area behind the firewall cleaned out. Do you know of any diagrams that show the flow path of the exhaust gas? I want to make sure that I get each passage, but I can't see what happens between the heat exchanger tubes and the combustion fan.

I've also heard of people using a leaf blower to clean out the stove. Is that just a matter of hauling the stove outside, putting the blower right up against one of the ash traps and blowing the whole system out?

Leaf blower is used as a high power vacuum and is attached outdoors to the exhaust venting, a nice cheap electric one is preferred. It gets all of the crud that gets knocked loose by the brushes and thumping the firebox walls, somewhere on the site is a cutaway diagram of a St. Croix Prescott but I never seem to be able to find it these days. So you are on your own. You could hammer on St. Croix for a diagram of the exhaust paths in your stove. I'm just someone who reads a lot and has somewhat of a memory.

ETA1: Whatcha mean cruddy stove wwert? I just cleaned my stove, emptied the burn pot and the ash pan, I even went so far as to clean the glass on the door and brush the firebox walls. I don't understand why my .....



ETA2: Leaf blower in action roof top vent situation.

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[NavyBoy13]

Thanks guys. This leaf blower/vacuum idea sounds like a good time. I might have to post a video of it.

 

[bbfarm]

We took our stove outside this fall and blew everything out with an air compressor after pulling the fans. You would not believe the ash that came out of this thing.

We removed the brick and put the compressor hose on the 2 holes Behind the firebox.

 

[rona]

Good morning everyone! I'm new to the forums, but I wanted to write it and see if I can get some advice on boosting the performance of my Greenfield corn burning stove. I got the stove about 7 years ago and it has been working well each season. This year I began having a problem with the stove being able to start: I'd push "start" and the stove would shut off after 30 seconds due to inadequate vacuum. If I did manage to get it started (after repeated attempts) I would only be able to achieve a poor burn, ie. the burn pot would overflow even at the slowest auger setting and the clinker would be very light and loose (not the dense clinker that I am used to). I replaced the rope gaskets in both the main door and the ash pan but that did not fix the problem.

I began to search the web and found several forums (including on this site) that said that a clogged stove can lead to this problem. I do all my own maintenance on this stove because I think that my local stove shop is worthless (they don't know much, and they rip me off). My routine maintenance consisted of snaking out the exhaust tube to the outside, vacuuming out the ash traps and blowing out the fan motors with compressed air.

After doing some more reading on the forums, it occured to me that the pathways upstream of the exhaust fan might be clogged. I pulled off the fan and found a bunch of ash caked up just underneath it. I vacuumed that out and also brushed off the fan blades themselves (which were very dirty). I put everything back together again. I did manage to get the stove to pull adequate vacuum, but it still took 2 to 3 attempts at pushing the start button. I'm pretty sure that it should start on the first try. I also was able to run the stove through the night, but the burn pot still fills up pretty fast on the low setting. I think that if I ran it on any other setting, levels 2 through 5, then the feed rate would snuff out the fire; the combustion just wouldn't be able to keep up.

Can anyone recommend anything else? I'd really like to get this thing to be able to run on level 5. I don't think that there is anything mechanically wrong with the stove. Since it's gone 6+ years without a good robust cleaning, then it makes sense that it would be jammed up, but I just don't know where that jam is.

Any suggestions are much appreciated!

I have pictures that show how the inside of the St Croix stoves are designed and that makes it easier to see how to clean them. I can e-mail them to you but need a e-mail address. Mine is [email protected]

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I have pictures that show how the inside of the St Croix stoves are designed and that makes it easier to see how to clean them. I can e-mail them to you but need a e-mail address. Mine is [email protected]

Hi rona, I trust things are going well for you this season.

I suspect quite a few St. Croix owners could benefit from those pictures.

 

[rona]

Hi rona, I trust things are going well for you this season.

I suspect quite a few St. Croix owners could benefit from those pictures.

I seem to be to "old" to learn new tricks like posting pictures on hearth.com and embarrassingly I had to ask my wife how to forward them to Alex. Part of that is I got a new computer then had to also get a new e-mail address and everything is different.
But yeah, getting used to being retired is a adjustment but still looking at the green side of the grass and buying green bananas so life is fine.
Somebody did post those same pictures on Hearth.com last winter maybe Alex would do it again if asked.
I want to wish everyone on Hearth.com a Very Happy New Year while I am in typing mode.

 

[heat seeker]

I clean the passage behind the burn pot with the scraper tool provided. I take the baffle out, and pull the rake forward, putting a rag over the handle so I don't poke my eye out. I then hold the scraper by the short end, and work the long end down the back into the passage, and scrape back and forth and up and down. It works very well, just make sure not to drop the scraper back there. To get the bottom few inches that it doesn't reach, I use a bent piece of threaded rod to reach up through the ash trap doors and scrape. A few taps with a small hammer, and it's clean. The LBT trick cleans out the blower area very well, as proven by pulling the fan out and looking in. I do this about every two weeks, and never get much out of there. I occasionally check with a mirror to see that things are clear in there.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

About the LBT next week when the temps get near or above freezing again my bucket of parts is due for a high use clean out. Perhaps I should order some gasket material to fashion a reusable gasket for that blower. I'm overdue in the gasket destruction arena, I've managed to reuse the same one four times.

About the area on the St. Croixs that is a pain to get to if you have a flexible metal snake or really flexible fiberglass rod you can attach to a variable speed drill you can thread that in through the clean out ports and let the variable speed drill whip it around (use the drill on low speed). But be certain you use plenty of suction or an air compressor (can get very messy and blow back at you) to get the ash completely out of the passages. otherwise you have just move it around.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Thanks guys. This leaf blower/vacuum idea sounds like a good time. I might have to post a video of it.

This forum loves dirty pictures .

 

[NavyBoy13]

Hey Guys, my son and I took the Greenfield out into the backyard yesterday. I snaked out the area behind the firewall with a metal cable, tapped on the firewall with a rubber mallet, and used a shopvac to collect whatever fell into the ash traps. Then I hooked up the leaf blower and let her have it! It pulled a lot of extra crap out (kinda looked like the video above). After all that was done, we hooked the stove back up. She drew a suction on the first attempt and is running like a dream! I ran her on level 5 for several hours yesterday and she was kicking out some major heat. I don't think it's ever run this well! Just in time too, because we're supposed to get a massive cold front coming here starting today.

I wanted to thank you all for the great advice and guidance! I was really pulling my hair out on this before joining the forum. Ginger appreciates the advice as well!

 

[Lake Girl]

Glad it worked out well for your family and Ginger Welcome to the forum.