Seeking tips on feed-rate adjustment on a Quadra-Fire Castile

[scott_cuddy]

I have had a Quadra-Fire Castile installed in my living room for one full season. All in all I'm happy with the stove, but I'm going through pellets at rate of about 2 bags a day. More importantly, the flame in my burn pot is substantially higher (read: the tip of the flame is dull yellow and extends roughly half-way from the tip of the burn pot to the top of the main chamber) than the rim of the burn pot.

Additionally, my dura-vent pipe outside my house gets pretty hot, so I feel like I'm burning a bunch of pellets just to heat the great outdoors, not my house.

The Quadra-Fire Castile only gives you one adjustment, the "feed rate control rod". This is a simple, reliable method, but considering the price of the Castile, really lame. A co-worker has a ProPel 120, which gives him independant controls over the auger feed rate and the fan, which are combined in a single switch on the Castile. I feel like I'm using the woodpellet stove equivalent of MSWindows, built for the user that doesn't care how things work, just wants it to be simple.

I am at the point of doing one of two things:

1) add a piece of metal (aluminum, steel, stainless, I'm not sure what) to the end of the plate that covers the auger pit so that fewer pellets can enter the pit.
2) remove the feed rate control rod and re-drill and tap new holes to allow the feed rate control to cover more of the auger pit so that blah blah blah.

I'm heavily leaning toward option #1, but am open to any and all suggestions.

 

[firewarrior820]

I didn't see it in your post but have you closed the feed rate rod all the way closed, then back a 1/4 inch?
That is what mine is set on works good ,nice flame . i burn a bag a day on high.

 

[jtp10181]

I have never seen this problem before. What pellet freak said is usually a good spot for the feed rate. Maybe you're getting excess air in someplace? Check your door gasketing and also make sure the firepot floor is tight and sealing well.

 

[Shortstuff]

My feed adjustment plate is as low as it can possibly go and I wish I could go a little lower as well.

Steve

 

[slls]

According to the Castile manual there is no convection high low fan speed, is that correct. There are 3 heat ranges I believe.

 

[jtp10181]

The three heat ranges also change the convection fan speed. You can tell because you can hear the difference between the three settings.

 

[scott_cuddy]

Thanks for the replies. I have tried every possible setting for the feed rate rod, and with little luck. The tip from JTP10181 re: the firepot floor, is a likely candidate. This fall I had to disassemble the firepot and steelwool off all of the rust on the floorplate. It could be that it didn't seal well after my work on it.

It's 9pm now, and about 20 degrees F, so I'll wait until tomorrow to shut the fire down and check.

Also, I have no OAK, which I've seen referred to several times as a good idea. How hard is it to install on the Castile? I work as a construction Electrician (Apprentice), so I'm no stranger to tools and such.

 

[slls]

Page 17 OAK in your manual shows the whole deal.