St. Croix Ash Cleanout Rod loose

[Poleyo]

I have a St. Croix Prescott and the Ash Cleanout rod keeps pulling out by itself during operation. Whenever I go by I push it back in, then it wiggles out again. I think it's causing a lazy flame sometimes and makes the area behind that panel attached to the cleanout rod get full of ash really fast, which is really tedious to get out.
Anyone know why the rod would be popping out?

Thanks.

 

[heat seeker]

Maybe the stove is not level front-to-back?

 

[jzm2cc]

This seems like a silly question, but is rod still connected to scraper section? I've seen a few broken rods where the attach to scraper due to gummed up Auburn's. Rod would move back and forth but scraper was held fast by the cresote.

 

[Poleyo]

Maybe the stove is not level front-to-back?

It actually isn't level, but it leans a bit back with the slant of the floor, so gravity wise it should never come out! We've lived here 7 years and this issue just arose this season.
Thanks for the suggestion

 

[Poleyo]

This seems like a silly question, but is rod still connected to scraper section? I've seen a few broken rods where the attach to scraper due to gummed up Auburn's. Rod would move back and forth but scraper was held fast by the cresote.

It's still attached. It lets the ash go down to the bottom when it's open. Until it gets jammed with ash behind the panel, then it won't move at all.
Thanks for the suggestion

 

[heat seeker]

Trying a second guess...is a motor/fan vibrating more than normal? That could ease the rod to move.

 

[Poleyo]

Trying a second guess...is a motor/fan vibrating more than normal? That could ease the rod to move.

That strikes me as the most feasible issue. I hadn't noticed an increase in noise, but opening the back I can hear a light crummy/clinkery rattle. Could be?
I also found a pile of pellet dust under the auger/pellet chute area (probably due to crappy pellets I bought). I cleaned the back out.
But this did not change my issue.

I'll post again if I figure it out.

 

[heat seeker]

You don't mention changing any motors, but a replacement motor/fan could cause vibration. My stove came with an aftermarket combustion blower that is a few steps in quality below an OEM part, it seems. It vibrated something fierce, enough to loosen the motor housing so it would rattle like crazy. I got an aftermarket replacement, and it was terribly out of balance from the factory. So, after balancing it, it's worked pretty well for a couple of years now, but still is not very smooth. It's not rattling, at least. For now. Hope you get yours figured out!

 

[adam.k]

Along those same lines, if you have ash build up on your blower that happens to be uneven, the blower could be out of balance. Just a shot in the dark, but try cleaning the blower fan. Make sure you get it all off.

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

[Poleyo]

Yes, I've replaced both fan motors (and it seems everything else in the stove) with after market stuff. Maybe it is noisier than it should be and I'm just used to it. I guess I should try to clean the motors to 'balance' them? Seems like cleaning is the answer to a lot of problems.
(Failing that I could stick a hair pin in the cleanout rod to keep it jammed in

 

[Poleyo]

I've figured out the problem. The ash cleanout cover is warped upward and getting caught and pushed by the versa grate rod. I haven't yet fixed the problem, but my first plan of attack is going to be trying to hammer it back flat while it's hot after use.

 

[heat seeker]

Thanks for the update! Let us know how your "percussive maintenance" worked out!