slow and low flame on enviro ef3 freestanding unit

[stinger68]

My flame on my enviro ef3 stove is very small and lazy not hardly going over the burn pot.I have the dial a fire on 12oclock on half way and should have a nice consistant flame.I opened the ash pan door a little bit and whala the flame grew bigger and better.Ok can that mean that the combustion blower may not be blowing enough air to the unit to make the flame be more vibrant?I slide the damper rod in and out and not much in difference if any at all .Any ideas to point me in a better burning stove?

 

[rap69ri]

I'll be the first to say it. It sounds like the stove needs a good cleaning ;-)

 

[stinger68]

ok sorry i forgot to mention i did a complete tear down of the stove and cleaned it like new.I`m pretty anal on my stove being kept very clean every saturday.

 

[rap69ri]

I hear ya, the stove is the only thing I like to clean. Do you have a fresh air kit on the stove?

 

[stinger68]

no just the pipe on the back sucking air inside the house.I put my hand over the air tube and feel it sucking in so it seems to be ok??

 

[rap69ri]

Did this just begin after a cleaning or have you noticed it getting progressively worse over time?

 

[stinger68]

just recently about 3 weeks now and as im typing in now the stove is on 12 oclock position or half way and the flame is almost non existent man really crappy flame.I`m going out of my mind trying to trouble shoot this unit and get ready for the upcoming cold weather we get here.

 

[rap69ri]

It's definitely an airflow issue. Check gaskets for leaks, burnpot holes being plugged up, combustion fan blades have a build up on them, etc...

If you put your hand over the air intake does the flame do anything?

 

[stinger68]

well holy crap my wife just put her hand over the air intake and the flame grew much greater and let it off the tube(in back right ) and the flame went back to smaller.

 

[rap69ri]

That's actually what it should do. Your cutting off the air supply (not the band thank God) to the fire when you cover it. The damper actually does the samething to the intake.

 

[stinger68]

ok then so hmmm anything else to try? i did take the combustion bower off on saturday and cleaned it and put it back on so the blades are not dirty or anything like that?

 

[rap69ri]

Last items tonight, need to go spend time with the boss (wife). Have you recently changed pellet brand? Are the holes in the burnpot unobstructed? Sometimes a few will become clogged with carbon.

Good luck until tomorrow.

Rick

 

[stinger68]

ditto on the time with wife lol and no i still have pellets from last summer that i stored in garage since july on pallets-possible they got moisture over the summer even on pallets off the ground in a insulated garage? will alk tomorrow if you have the time sir- thanks for talking to me.Darrell

 

[krooser]

At the risk of sounding repetitive I think your stove needs to be cleaned. No matter how good you clean those easy to reach spots these stove always have hidden nooks and crannies that you can't see. Use my leaf blower trick (posted on this forum)or a good, stout shop vac and vacuum the stove thru the vent pipe.

I bet this will make a huge difference...

 

[nailed_nailer]

Stinger,

I have the EF-2.

When I did my Summer teardown I noticed my slide damper would not fully seat in the closed position. By backing of the mounting bolts on the exhaust flange slightly I was able to get the slide damper to fully close (as much as it has travel for). You situation seems about the same. From the outside how far does your damper stick out the side of the unit when closed? How far when open? Now that mine is functioning in the closed position the knob is about 1/2" from the bulkhead. When fully open it is about 4" from the bulkhead. It seems to run the best with the pellets I am currently burning between 1" and 2" out. Depending on the dial a fire setting.

If you are noticing a big difference when you cover the combustion air intake or open the ash pan, it sounds like your gaskets are working.

Assuming everything electronic is functioning, the things I see that could be your problem are;

1. Damp pellets. Try picking up a couple fresh bags from a local retailer.

2. Blocked exhaust vent. Inspect/clean your vent. From the combustion blower to the vent cap.

3. Dirty Combustion blower. Pull it out and really clean the blades and internal housing. I use compressed air (outside) and a scraper. While it is off get a vacuum in the area before the blower behind the damper.

4. Dirty firebox baffles. I use a homemade vacuum tube about 3/4" in diameter x about 10" long that I stick onto the vacuum hose to really get the fly ash behind the cleanout plates and above the convection air tubes.

5. Blocked or dirty combustion air intake. Make sure the path is clean/clear. I know mine gets dog hair in it.

6. Is your house too tight? Try opening a nearby window while burning and see if the flame changes. If it does you might need an Outside Air Kit.

Just my $.02

Good Luck,
---Nailer---

 

[ResOps]

Hi Darrel,
This may sound absolutely insane but do you have your inner firebox in the right way? You know with the combustion holes lining up with the blower port? Sounds like a stretch but... I put mine in backwards once on my EF3
And when you say you clean it thoroughly -you mean you take the 3 baffles out and vacuum out the ports?

 

[stinger68]

hi guys once again thanks for all your time in typing in answer and fixes for my stove problem.I think i cleaned this stove pretty darn well so i sure its not a dirt issue-I called the company eastern embers in Nova Scotia(where i`m from) i was telling a rep about my pellets that i bought in june or july this year.I stored them in my fully insulated 2 yr old garage.He said that is not really a pellet issue if on pallets like i do have.He was very nice and told me to send him about a pound of pellets with the bag they came in and he would test them.If they come back damp he said he would take care of me.Ithought that was great customer service.Iwent to a friends house last night bummed a bag of his.I let my stove run out of pellets and put in a bag of his as was stated by your to try list.It seems to be working better now so i think i`m making progress now will try a few more bags and see how it goes.I will post my results on if stove is working better nad the results of my stored pellets that might be damp.Thanks Darrell

 

[ShaneR34]

Hey, Stinger.

I forgot about your PM (sorry), but these guys are helping you more than I ever could

One thing that I will add which I've just discovered:

It could very well be your pellets, yes, but compare the LENGTH of the pellets that are not burning well to those which are.

As I stated briefly in another post, I just managed to get 20 new bags of Eastern Embers, and these are burning very well. I can leave the stove on the lowest settings with no problems any longer. So, What I noticed is that this batch seems shorter in length than the last batch of Eastern Embers I had. I can say, without any doubt, that the auger is feeding many times better in my EF3 than it was before. So...don't discount the length of your pellets as a problem source.