Smoke in hopper

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Arsenalpsu

New Member
Mar 15, 2015
12
PA
Hey guys, I have a 10 year old harman accentra FS. The stove works great but last week my wife shattered the glass hopper lid. (Closed it with a pellet in the way) I replaced it with a new one and a new seal. Now after running a few hours the hopper has some light smoke in it! Is the new seal just too tight, should a little air be allowed to enter so there is a negative flow in the box? If so should I jusy cut a tiny gap in the seal or is something else wrong? Thanks for any help!!!
 
Any help guy? She fills up pretty good with smoke, when I crack the lid you can see it start to get sucked down. Thoughts??
 
Being Easter you may not get many responses today. I think the gaskets are there to seal it air tight to draw air from the air intake at the back of the stove and out the exhaust. I would check the flapper on the air intake on the back of your stove first to make sure it is operating properly.
 
oh sorry, I cut a tiny hole in the lid gasket to induce a light vacume in there and that cleaned it up. The flap is fine moves free, the only thing I chanced was the new seal and new door. I will take a pic of it soon, but no smoke for pics now.

If the hopper is sealed up 100% with no vacume so it's equal pressure as the feeding tube/auger area what would stop smoke from rising and working its way back up towards the hopper?
 
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oh sorry, I cut a tiny hole in the lid gasket to induce a light vacume in there and that cleaned it up. The flap is fine moves free, the only thing I chanced was the new seal and new door. I will take a pic of it soon, but no smoke for pics now.

If the hopper is sealed up 100% with no vacume so it's equal pressure as the feeding tube/auger area what would stop smoke from rising and working its way back up towards the hopper?
The positive pressure of the exhaust venting! When is the last time you cleaned your venting?
 
If my exhaust was clogged it would be causing other issues right? I run a brush through the exhaust ever other ton. It was burning 100% fine until i replaced the hopper lid/gasket. I never had the problem before....it is definitely a tighter seal than it use to.
 
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Good thred, but I don't have any issues with her shutting down or not feeding pellets. Maybe this spring I'll pull the auger out and take a look! Thanks for posting that.
 
Hey guys did some recon...pulled the fines cover, there were some in there but not a huge amount, but I did clean it twice already this year. I took the chain off the motor and spun the auger, very easy to move, no resistance like the thred above mentioned. Any other thoughts?? With that small gap in the hopper lid gasket working what else do you guys recommend?
 
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