Slow starting fire ups in my Castille

[Augmister]

Beginning season 4 with my oldest Castille. Issue is at startup. Stove is cold (has not run in a few hours), clean ash from pot (previous burn) move thermostat up, stove clicks on, red light shows I am calling for heat, get an initial small dump of pellets, and it takes 15 mins to get a small, spindly flame going... usually have to hit the button below the fan to dump more pellets, lots of smoke and then, finally flame. About a half hour for the fans to blow the nice hot air.....

Are my pellets damp? (Stored in the garage) Do I have an ignition problem? How long does the ignitors last?

 

[gog222]

I had the same problem earlier this year with my Castile. Slow starting , etc.. I took a small wire and cleaned out the little holes in the firepot that are used for starting. Stove starts very fast now..

 

[jtp10181]

Its an airflow problem. One of the things to check is the holes in the firepot as gog suggested. Also check the entire air intake and exhaust path, baffles, blower, vent, etc. If any part of the air flow path is restricted it causes a long ignition time.

 

[Czech]

Make sure the ignitor is made up well to the pot, meaning that it is tight and that the thumb screw is tight. I know that with mine, I have hit the thumb screw while removing the ash pan and loosened it to the point where the ignitor was not tight against the pot and caused the same deal. Other than that, like has been said, make sure that front slot and holes in the pot are open and you have decent fuel. Good luck!

 

[Nicholas440]

If its taking 15 minutes for that Castile to get a fire on, and lots of smoke, it sounds like one of two things could be wrong to me. Either you need a new ignitor, ($35) or you have some wet pellets. Damp pellets will smoke and take forever to get going.

 

[Augmister]

Thanks to all for your suggestions!

I am going to do a FULL cleaning on the weekend and go from there. I think it is a combustion/air intake issue as the ignitor is getting red and yes, I am making sure I have the screw tight for maximum convection to the pot.

 

[courtsandan]

How did your cleaning go? Did it resolve your issue? I just started up the used Castille I bought. It starts about the same as you explain - I thought this normal.
How fast should the pellet stove start up?

 

[jtp10181]

Once you see smoke it should light within 30-60 seconds.

 

[Augmister]

Thank you all for your suggestions! The big cleaning really did it. I shoved the shop-vac hose up the riser pipe (about 3 feet) and set the sucker to BLOW. I think this was a big part of the issue. Also had a problem with the door on the bottom of the pot and finally got that moving freely and cleaned all the holes in the pot out real good.
Stoves really need to be cleaned and maintained for cleanliness, as so many on this site will attest. Shame on me! Never again!

This stove now fires up fast and runs as good as the day I first lit it, three years ago!

 

[jtp10181]

Now you need to go clean the other one the same way. What you did should be done yearly at a minimum. Quad recommends every ton of fuel burned.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Thank you all for your suggestions! The big cleaning really did it. I shoved the shop-vac hose up the riser pipe (about 3 feet) and set the sucker to BLOW. I think this was a big part of the issue. Also had a problem with the door on the bottom of the pot and finally got that moving freely and cleaned all the holes in the pot out real good.
Stoves really need to be cleaned and maintained for cleanliness, as so many on this site will attest. Shame on me! Never again!

This stove now fires up fast and runs as good as the day I first lit it, three years ago!

I found that a .30 caliber gun bore brush bent at a 45 degree angle and attached to one section of cleaning rod is perfect for those 4 holes in the angle bottom plate in the burn pot. A .38 caliber bore brush is perfect for the angled holes around the pot and the ALL IMPORTANT clearance holes for the igniter air flow. From the start of the combustion fan to a flame on my Sante Fe tonight was 1 minute 57 seconds.