Hello, new here to the forum as a member. Been browsing as a guest for the past few weeks.
I am having one heck of a time getting my pellet stove to run right. Little back story, we bought a house up here in northern Maine in the spring. Moved up in May. House came with a 2004 model year St Croix Prescott EXL. I tried to get it going on some of the cooler days but it didn’t want to feed pellets.
I have since been chipping away at it but I’m at nearly my end of what I can try. So far, I have replaced the vacuum switch, which didn’t fix anything since it would error out due to not seeing a vacuum on startup. I replaced all the door seals thinking maybe it was not allowing a good enough seal. That didn’t change anything. If I temporarily jump the vacuum switch, it will feed pellets and light.
Then it would error out due to not seeing the proof of flame switch close. Thought ok, maybe the switch is bad. It’s the snap switch that’s mounted to the exhaust blower housing. I tested the switch and it works as it should when off the unit and warmed to around 110-120° it’ll snap closed. I tested it both audible and with my meter. But I already had a new switch so I put the new one back on anyway. Still no change.
I’m using brand new, dry pellets, but I’m getting a lot of soot build up on the glass when I do finally get it to ignite and run. The snap switch will eventually close after I let it go through start up twice. The pellets I’m using are dougless fir, the golden fire ones from Lowe’s since the tractor supply ones sit outside. If I get this going I’m going to buy a couple tons from a local mill.
But then today, I noticed that the combustion air inlet pipe has a very weak suction to it. I can just barely feel any air being pulled in when I put my hand near it. I’m talking just enough to feel and that’s it. So I cracked the door open a little and the flame immediately got bigger and stronger. With the door closed the pellets will pile up up real bad and spill off into the ash pan before they burn. This paired with the very dirty combustion makes me say lack of oxygen. My exhaust is a horizontal exit and is about 4’ long in total. Has one 45° elbow at the back of the stove and the rest is straight through the wall.
What can I test or do next to get this thing working? Pull the exhaust blower? I have cleaned everything the best I could without tearing the whole thing down. I have read up on the leaf blower trick, but I don’t have an easy way of getting the stove outside.
I am having one heck of a time getting my pellet stove to run right. Little back story, we bought a house up here in northern Maine in the spring. Moved up in May. House came with a 2004 model year St Croix Prescott EXL. I tried to get it going on some of the cooler days but it didn’t want to feed pellets.
I have since been chipping away at it but I’m at nearly my end of what I can try. So far, I have replaced the vacuum switch, which didn’t fix anything since it would error out due to not seeing a vacuum on startup. I replaced all the door seals thinking maybe it was not allowing a good enough seal. That didn’t change anything. If I temporarily jump the vacuum switch, it will feed pellets and light.
Then it would error out due to not seeing the proof of flame switch close. Thought ok, maybe the switch is bad. It’s the snap switch that’s mounted to the exhaust blower housing. I tested the switch and it works as it should when off the unit and warmed to around 110-120° it’ll snap closed. I tested it both audible and with my meter. But I already had a new switch so I put the new one back on anyway. Still no change.
I’m using brand new, dry pellets, but I’m getting a lot of soot build up on the glass when I do finally get it to ignite and run. The snap switch will eventually close after I let it go through start up twice. The pellets I’m using are dougless fir, the golden fire ones from Lowe’s since the tractor supply ones sit outside. If I get this going I’m going to buy a couple tons from a local mill.
But then today, I noticed that the combustion air inlet pipe has a very weak suction to it. I can just barely feel any air being pulled in when I put my hand near it. I’m talking just enough to feel and that’s it. So I cracked the door open a little and the flame immediately got bigger and stronger. With the door closed the pellets will pile up up real bad and spill off into the ash pan before they burn. This paired with the very dirty combustion makes me say lack of oxygen. My exhaust is a horizontal exit and is about 4’ long in total. Has one 45° elbow at the back of the stove and the rest is straight through the wall.
What can I test or do next to get this thing working? Pull the exhaust blower? I have cleaned everything the best I could without tearing the whole thing down. I have read up on the leaf blower trick, but I don’t have an easy way of getting the stove outside.
