St. Croix York Heat Issues

[Turtlestunts]

Hey all,

Just joined the forum after reading/researching as much as I could about pellet stoves on this site. I decided to buy a st. croix york insert for my fireplace used off of craigslist, the price was decent so I figured why not. My father and I installed a 4 inch liner kit with a 3 " T adapter for the liner kit. I have noticed that I don't have any issues getting the stove started but it isn't getting anywhere close to heating my 1200 sq. foot house. I was hoping that sitting in my living room (where fireplace is) that I would have to crack the windows it would be so hot in here. In the meantime this has not been the case. I have burnt Pres-to-logs and another brand from Lowes ( I know, generic box cutter brands), but recently also bought a bag of Somersets that were stored inside a warehouse and they still aren't cutting it. When turning the stove on to a level 3, if I stand directly in front of the Unit it is extremely hot but it doesn't seem to disperse heat other then right in front of the unit. I also noticed that it seemed to be pushing the air directly at the floor. Once taking off the cover which is above the door, it shoots the heat out much better but still hasn't managed to keep my house much warmer then 64 degrees. What I have done to try to troubleshoot:

1) Took all firebrick out and tapped on back wall to get any ash to drop.
2) All ash pans have been cleaned every morning
3) Actually noticed insulation in the breather tubes which push the heat out so I unblocked all of those areas
4) Have no codes flashing on the control panel
5) Flame seems to be pretty steady across ( Not really v-shaped or only putting out flame on one side)

One thing I have noticed is the unit is missing one of the pieces that covers the rear of where the ash pans are. I don't know if this would create any issues or not. I have also taken a thermometer to right outside of where the heat blows and it appears to be coming out at approximately 200 degrees or so on level 3.

THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY, WHAT AM I MISSING ?

Thank you all for your time and suggestions

 

[bogieb]

Is the temperature of the room that the stove is in at 64 degrees? At 3, I would think you could get that room up to high 70's if not 80's (my Hastings can get my 12 x 14 LR into 80's at 3). If the room is nice and warm, just the rest of the house is in the 60's, then you have a heat dispersion issue. Try a fan or two up high (I have two pointed down the hallway to get heat into the bedrooms). You may find you need a fan down low, pointing out of a room at the far end of the house. I did that for the first 2 months, then found that it really wasn't necessary, in fact the bedroom actually got warmer as apparently I was pulling air from the garage that the bedroom is over - or that is my best guess anyway.

Also, how high is your ceiling? If over 8 or 10 feet, you might need a ceiling fan to help bring the heat back down. Even with my 8 ft. ceiling, I keep the LR ceiling fan on 24/7, on the lowest setting.

You do need to get a replacement door for that ash cleanout. I am unsure exactly what affect it being missing would have, but it would be best to get it into the configuration it is supposed to be in..

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

What did you do to stop stove heat from going up around that liner and out the chimney?

Tell us how you cleaned the stove before installing it, especially the convection (room) blower.

 

[Turtlestunts]

Is the temperature of the room that the stove is in at 64 degrees? At 3, I would think you could get that room up to high 70's if not 80's (my Hastings can get my 12 x 14 LR into 80's at 3). If the room is nice and warm, just the rest of the house is in the 60's, then you have a heat dispersion issue. Try a fan or two up high (I have two pointed down the hallway to get heat into the bedrooms). You may find you need a fan down low, pointing out of a room at the far end of the house. I did that for the first 2 months, then found that it really wasn't necessary, in fact the bedroom actually got warmer as apparently I was pulling air from the garage that the bedroom is over - or that is my best guess anyway.

Also, how high is your ceiling? If over 8 or 10 feet, you might need a ceiling fan to help bring the heat back down. Even with my 8 ft. ceiling, I keep the LR ceiling fan on 24/7, on the lowest setting.

You do need to get a replacement door for that ash cleanout. I am unsure exactly what affect it being missing would have, but it would be best to get it into the configuration it is supposed to be in..

Thank you for the reply.

The thermostat in the hallway which is adjoining this room is at 64 degrees and steadily dropping with the stove on level 4. I have 8 foot ceilings in the house with not a huge layout. The living room where the stove is located is cold, to the point that sitting on the couch in order to be comfortable we have to wear a sweatshirt/pants. Sitting approximately 7-8 feet from the insert I can barely feel the heat. Would there be any reason that it would essentially die or disappear?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Is the temperature of the room that the stove is in at 64 degrees? At 3, I would think you could get that room up to high 70's if not 80's (my Hastings can get my 12 x 14 LR into 80's at 3). If the room is nice and warm, just the rest of the house is in the 60's, then you have a heat dispersion issue. Try a fan or two up high (I have two pointed down the hallway to get heat into the bedrooms). You may find you need a fan down low, pointing out of a room at the far end of the house. I did that for the first 2 months, then found that it really wasn't necessary, in fact the bedroom actually got warmer as apparently I was pulling air from the garage that the bedroom is over - or that is my best guess anyway.

Also, how high is your ceiling? If over 8 or 10 feet, you might need a ceiling fan to help bring the heat back down. Even with my 8 ft. ceiling, I keep the LR ceiling fan on 24/7, on the lowest setting.

You do need to get a replacement door for that ash cleanout. I am unsure exactly what affect it being missing would have, but it would be best to get it into the configuration it is supposed to be in..

If it leads to the exhaust system and is down low in the fire box it will deprive the heat exchanger of heat to blow into the room.

 

[Turtlestunts]

What did you do to stove heat from going up around that liner and out the chimney?

Tell us how you cleaned the stove before installing it, especially the convection (room) blower.

What did you do to stove heat from going up around that liner and out the chimney?

Tell us how you cleaned the stove before installing it, especially the convection (room) blower.

Do I need to pack around the liner with insulation ? When pulling the insert out ( Which has been multiple times) I haven't felt any type of draft or other issues in the chimney. I vacuumed the rear of the unit with a shop vac and fished up behind the firebrick with a coat hanger to remove any ash that was stuck. I also went through after all firebrick was pulled out and chizzled any ash that was stuck out. Pulled all 3 ash trays and removed all ash. This is where one of the covers is missing in the ash pan area. I did not clean the blower but that was one of my next steps for tomorrow eventhough it appears to be working. The original owner told me that he had just gotten it serviced in the spring and had barely used it this season.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You should block any air flow around the liner just to make absolutely certain no heat can go up the flue. A block off at the top isn't the only thing you want. That chimney can suck a lot of heat just by being open at the bottom around the liner.

Roxul is good for this.

 

[bbfarm]

Do you have an OAK hooked up? Is there a blockage? We bring ours outside and blast it with an aircompressor at the end of each season

 

[Turtlestunts]

You should block any air flow around the liner just to make absolutely certain no heat can go up the flue. A block off at the top isn't the only thing you want. That chimney can suck a lot of heat just by being open at the bottom around the liner.

Roxul is good for this.

I will pick up some Roxul tomorrow as well as some lubricant for the convection blower. Any oil anyone can recommend I can pick up from home depot for the motor ?

 

[Turtlestunts]

Do you have an OAK hooked up? Is there a blockage? We bring ours outside and blast it with an aircompressor at the end of each season

I do not have a Oak hooked up and the liner kit I installed was brand new never been used.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I will pick up some Roxul tomorrow as well as some lubricant for the convection blower. Any oil anyone can recommend I can pick up from home depot for the motor ?

3 in 1 blue and white can only. SAE20 weight non detergent only. Two drops per port work it in.

 

[Turtlestunts]

3 in 1 blue and white can only. SAE20 weight non detergent only. Two drops per port work it in.

Thank you very much for all your help. Hopefully this will fix this.

 

[heat seeker]

You do need to replace the missing ash trap cover. On my stove, the output air temp is over 300º on level 3, more if I have really good fuel, with a pretty high volume of air. If it's over 32º outside, I can heat 2200 square feet on level 3 in the 70's.

 

[bogieb]

Thank you for the reply.

The thermostat in the hallway which is adjoining this room is at 64 degrees and steadily dropping with the stove on level 4. I have 8 foot ceilings in the house with not a huge layout. The living room where the stove is located is cold, to the point that sitting on the couch in order to be comfortable we have to wear a sweatshirt/pants. Sitting approximately 7-8 feet from the insert I can barely feel the heat. Would there be any reason that it would essentially die or disappear?

Get yourself a cheap thermometer you can set in the room where the stove is (get a couple more for other rooms). That way, when you do have the stove set up to where it gets the heat out, you can tell what the temp is in the LR versus the hallway (and bedrooms). That will tell you if you should try fans.

At zero degrees outside temp presently, I can tell you that right now my LR thermostat (which is hooked to the propane heater) reads 82 and the hallway thermostat (to the AC) is at 72. The thermostat for the stove, which I have set up in the office is at 73, and my bedrooms are at 71 with a couple of fans pushing heat down the hall. The stove just shut went to idle as I type this (benefit of having thermo in office, I hear it kick on/of when on the computer) but with the fans, the office and bedrooms will stay in the low 70's as my living room cools off. My stove is set at 3 and in Smart Stat mode so it idles for an hour unless heat is called for.

You might benefit from an OAK too, but follow Smoky's advice before you try that.

 

[skibumm100]

Get the flue pipe to chimney sealed up tight. Get an OAK hooked up. Install the ash cleanout door. Crank it and you should be good to go. York's are a pain to clean. Make sure it's cleaned out behind the plate. They really should have made that removable. It would be soooooo much easier to keep it clean.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Get the flue pipe to chimney sealed up tight. Get an OAK hooked up. Install the ash cleanout door. Crank it and you should be good to go. York's are a pain to clean. Make sure it's cleaned out behind the plate. They really should have made that removable. It would be soooooo much easier to keep it clean.

What a ST. Croix being hard to clean?

Nonsense, you just have get out the super duper air flow devices, the stiff brushes, scrappers, and apply some elbow grease as you chase the air flow through all of its passages.

Easiest job going not.

 

[heat seeker]

I beg to differ - mine is quite easy to clean, use the LBT once per ton, if that. I do a thorough cleaning every few days, and it takes me about 15 minutes, and the LBT might take another 15 minutes including set up and stowage of the blower and cord.

Perhaps my frequent cleaning makes it so easy. I did, moreover, learn my stove's ins and outs, and how it works. That makes a difference!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I beg to differ - mine is quite easy to clean, use the LBT once per ton, if that. I do a thorough cleaning every few days, and it takes me about 15 minutes, and the LBT might take another 15 minutes including set up and stowage of the blower and cord.

Perhaps my frequent cleaning makes it so easy. I did, moreover, learn my stove's ins and outs, and how it works. That makes a difference!

Show off .

 

[heat seeker]

"It ain't braggin' if you can do it." Dizzy Dean.

 

[skibumm100]

I guess I'm spoiled by the Austroflamm.... A couple of bolts and nuts and I'm looking right at the heat exchanger tubes behind the firebox back wall. On the York, you take those pretty panels off and you're looking at......another panel in front of your HX tubes that isn't removeable. If I still was running mine, I was going to cut the back of the firebox out and make a bigger plate that could be bolted in place. I used to dig around behind the plate with coat hangers and pound on it with a rubber mallet. I'm not familiar with the Afton Bay FS stoves but I know the Revolution furnace has a similar design but that area is easier to clean because the bottom is sloped to the clean out door, The York doesn't do that because it's an insert and the floor is in the way. Using the leaf blower trick on my insert is not trivial. You either want no snow on the roof, or 3 feet. It's pretty steep and 25 feet up.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Don't ya just love a close to home ski jump?

I have enough trouble staying upright without crampons on the foot wear once there is ice underfoot. Been wearing them since Thanksgiving Day morning.

Xena, maintains that you can get into the hard to clean area from the exhaust blower cavity and do a decent job of cleaning it that way.

 

[skibumm100]

I only really did a total, "take the thing all the way apart in the driveway" clean out once before I installed it. It was not cleaned by the previous owner at the end of the season so it was a little caked up. I take the plates out of the Austro every weekend and clean behind the plates, only takes another ten minutes and I know I'm completely cleaned out. I do wish the Austro had some more space under the burn pot. Maybe I'll make my own pellet stove with all of the best features of each stove.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I try to stay ahead of the curve on the cleaning at least mine is all easy to get to and the stove is simple. Replacing certain things not so much.

 

[Turtlestunts]

Update:

Can't find any parts for the ash pan doors so I went to home depot and picked up some material to make a door. Pulled the blower and cleaned that as well as completely taking the unit back apart and cleaning it ( Wasn't much since I had already done it before). After installing the ash pan door I made and cleaning blower yesterday I was able to keep the heat in the house to approximately 71 degrees with crappy Lowe's brand pellets. Hoping to try some better pellets today and see if my issue has been solved. Hoping i'm out of the woods but not putting all my eggs in one basket just yet.

Thank you everyone for your help. Hope I can report that this has been fixed.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Never put all of your eggs in one basket. It makes it easy for the egg thieves to steal if nothing else.