Reburn Issue Escape 1800

[Ajsteffen]

Hey guys,

Yesterday I pulled the front 3 reburn tubes in my Drolet escape 1800, dropped the baffle , and cleaned my flue (it was pretty good btw 😁). After I was done, I reassembled per the manual , and the last couple of fires it seems I’m not getting enough secondary activity, and I’m definitely burning dirtier. (See photos - chimney photo is about 45 minutes after startup).

It seems like the center of the tubes are not reburning much at all. Fire behavior seems inconsistent as well, not taking off like it did before. I pulled the tubes again tonight, inspected, and reinstalled with the same results.

For reference, same wood I was burning before. For the most part sub 20% mc pine .

Any ideas?

 

[Ajsteffen]

Also for reference, I have an Auber at200, so I’ve gotten pretty used to “hit a certain temperature and it’ll behave how I want”… I did clean that off, it had a small amount of buildup on the thermocouple. Maybe my flue temps were a bit muted before and now I’m not running hot enough? Just a passing thought.

 

[TomMcDonald]

Is there a secondary air inlet tube that could have collected a bunch of creosote during the cleaning and is now partially blocked? I'm not familiar with your stove but in my PE the secondary air tube can easily collect creosote during cleaning if it's not covered up beforehand.

Also, I would check that the baffle is perfectly seated to ensure gases aren't escaping past it where they shouldn't be.

Tom.

 

[Ajsteffen]

Is there a secondary air inlet tube that could have collected a bunch of creosote during the cleaning and is now partially blocked? I'm not familiar with your stove but in my PE the secondary air tube can easily collect creosote during cleaning if it's not covered up beforehand.

Also, I would check that the baffle is perfectly seated to ensure gases aren't escaping past it where they shouldn't be.

Tom.

Thanks Tom, that seems like a good thing to check. From what I understand of the secondary air routing , I don’t think that would be the case, but definitely worth a check.

 

[Ajsteffen]

Thanks Tom, that seems like a good thing to check. From what I understand of the secondary air routing , I don’t think that would be the case, but definitely worth a check.

Looking at the stove drawings, seems unlikely, but I’ll check it out.

 

[Ajsteffen]

Oh and I did double check the baffle is seated correctly.

 

[EbS-P]

Are you pulling wood from the same part of the stack that you were before? I am wondering if the wood is wet.

The secondary air system is simple so I’m not thinking there is anything wrong with the stove.

 

[brenndatomu]

A little buildup on the auber probe can make a big difference...that and maybe suddenly the wood you are burning is not as good as before...it happens

 

[Ajsteffen]

Are you pulling wood from the same part of the stack that you were before? I am wondering if the wood is wet.

The secondary air system is simple so I’m not thinking there is anything wrong with the stove.

Yeah, although my wood is variable. What I do is bring it into my semi-heated garage for a few days, then split and spot check mc on about half of what I burn.

Not says it’s definitely not wood, but this process has worked well for me all season, and suddenly after taking stuff apart I’m burning very differently

 

[Ajsteffen]

Hey guys,

Here’s an update for anyone wondering:
Took all the secondary tubes and baffle out, inspected the secondary air passages with a bore scope, all looked normal.

Cleaned the stove out, as I had quite a bit of ash in the bottom. Found my boost air holes blocked up, so cleaned those. It seemed like the ash was very packed down from my previous flue cleaning activities.

Fired it up, and it’s burning normally again. I’m thinking that between my boost air being plugged up, and the ash in the bottom being very packed, I may have just been starving for air, which explains the dirty burn.

Does anyone know how the primary air actually enters the firebox on these? I can’t seem to figure that out exactly.

I’ll post again if something changes. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[EbS-P]

Some good pics in this thread.

Dialing in the Drolet Escape (1500, 1800 and inserts)

The great value of these two stoves means lots have been sold. The intent of this tread is to help owners figure out the best/ most efficient way to run their stoves or inserts. I think the simple design is great but I am wondering if the easy breathing nature of this design results in an over...

www.hearth.com

 

[brenndatomu]

Does anyone know how the primary air actually enters the firebox on these? I can’t seem to figure that out exactly.

Right above the window on the stove face