St Croix York Insert build-up on glass

[kentjw]

I am very pleased with my York insert.
I do get a black build up on the glass after only a 24 hour burn. When I do my weekly clean, I have to scape it off with a razor blade. Tried to clean it daily but this doesn't seem to help. Have fiddled-and-diddled with the damper and found the best burn is when it is completely closed. Have also noticed creosote build-up on the heat exchange tubes.
Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[imacman]

I'm not a St. Croix owner or expert by any means, but pellet stoves don't get creosote build-up unless the burn is way off, or the pellets are wet. And the fact that you're having to scrape with a razor blade doesn't sound good either. 95% of the glass build-up on my stove comes off with the vacuum w/ the brush attachment.

The most you should be getting is a light brown ashy deposit on the heat exchanger tubes, and something similar on the glass, IMO.

 

[kentjw]

Thanks for the reply.
Any idea what's going on with my stove?

 

[j00fek]

try opening your damper to 3/4

 

[old4x4]

I am very pleased with my York insert. .

Did you ever get your low heat problem fixed?

 

[kentjw]

I am very pleased with my York insert. .

Did you ever get your low heat problem fixed?

Not yet. Still working on it. The tech from where I bought it is going to give me a call.

 

[BIG WATER]

I think this is an early symptom of ash build up in the stove exhaust route.

This is a post that I suggested to another Hastings owner. He did all but the leaf blower. You can search for the post. " Hastings air issue".
The St. Croix stoves are all similar in function.

You can do it without the leaf blower inside the house. Too much soot dust. Krooser just posted a detailed thread showing a direct vent / Leaf blower
from the outside of the house.

Also Zeta suggests using a powerful shop vac and attaching a small tube to it and using it for the "Hidden Places".
My suggestions is to be patient and find a thorough cleaning method that works for you.

The soot build up on the glass will disappear. The stove will work like brand new. *** # 6 is not recommened inside the house.


1). Completely cleaned the Vent pipe with a 3” brush. From the T up and the outside cover down.

2). Removed the combustion fan. 6 nuts on top of the exhaust manifold. Scraped it out with a coat hanger. Both directions and vacuum.

3). Removed fire brick and thoroughly cleaned and vac.

4). Bottle brush and coat hanger to the heat tubes and surrounding areas. Coat hanger behind fire wall to clean out doors.

5). Remove clean out doors and coat hangered, bottle brush and vacuumed.

6). Here comes the big one. With the combustion fan off and the glass door and ash pan closed. Stick the end of the leaf blower in the
exhaust manifold. Stuff a towel around the end. Turn it on for five seconds. Vaccume out the ash traps.

If that does’nt work and your wife does’nt kill you for the soot mess you should be back in business.

Good luck
Big Water

 

[relxn88]

As an owner of a St. Croix York insert (my dealer also runs one at his home) DO NOT RUN WITH DAMPER OPEN MORE THAN 1/4 INCH The York will run from setting 1 to setting 3 on less than a 1/4" open(from right to left). Setting 4 and 5 can be opened another 1/8". I wipe my glass once a day with a paper towel and every 3 or 4 days with solvent I got from the dealer. I used to have buildup like you have when I ran the damper at half open or more. Not only does the glass stay cleaner, but I checked the heat output (using a meat thermometer) and the highest heat output is when the damper is at these settings. Give this a try and let us know how it works for you.

 

[jim5b]

I also have a St Croix insert and agree with relxn 88. The damper is no more than 1/4 open just like he said. If the flame is going up over the heat exch tubes then you need to close it more. I turn my stove to #1 for about 5 min then open the door to wipe the glass clean with a paper towel. Just dont spend more than a minute or it will shut down. Do the same with the ash tray.

 

[BIG WATER]

If the stove is functioning correctly. There would be no need to change the factory setting on the air intake damper..

My St. Croix EXP is not that finicky on the air damper. But if not properly cleaned, will start the black soot window and creosote on the heat exchanger.

The only way that kentjw's stove should make the door glass black in 24 hours. Is if it is on low setting. Then he needs to go to the manual that
explains the feed and damper trim on the control board.

For what it's worth.

 

[relxn88]

I'm glad BIG WATER owns a ST. croix, but there is an incredible draft difference between the York insert (with a 25ft vertical flue) and the Prescott thru the wall. Because the vertical flue has such a tremendous draft(I run on setting #1 with the draft trim at the lowest level and feed feed at the highest), it's not necessary to open the flue hardly at all. As for not having to change the draft settings, I think Big Water is correct, but you will get more heat and the insert will run more efficiently with the draft opened an 1/8" more or less on settings 4 and 5. How much more heat? Try the meat thermometer and see if it's worth doing. If after a half hour the temperature is the same or less, than leave the damper at the originial setting. I get about 15 to 20 degrees more by adjusting the damper 1/8" for settings 4 and 5. I can only say what works on my stove(which is the same as yours). Happy Heating!

 

[BIG WATER]

Just curious, 88. Did your glass build up with black soot and creosote on the heat exchanger before you dialed in your settings ??

Kentjw, how long is the vertical flue ??

 

[jim5b]

Hey 88, what temp are you getting from you meat thermometer and where do you put it to test. I also PM you to ask about any cleaning tips. Thanks

 

[kentjw]

Thanks Big Water for cleaning tips. Spent 2 hours today cleaning. Managed to break one of the side faux-brick inserts but pieced it back together for now. I understand St Croix has replaced this with a metal plate.
So, we'll run it on #2 setting for a week (dealer recommended trying this) and I'll report back.
Thanks to all.
Kent

 

[BIG WATER]

Kentjw,

I have not heard or seen on this forum, anything about running on 2. I think your dealer wants you to freeze.
We are expecting teens this week. I'm sure it's not a tropical paradise in Maine.

If well cleaned and following 88's air damper settings you should be able to crank it up.
After the thorough cleaning you may get a small amount of black soot. I believe that is the remaining creosote leaving the system.

My back fire brick panel is in pieces. It popped apart from high temperature. I also stick it back together.

Do you have a long flue or a direct vent ??

From the shores of Gitchigummee.

BW

 

[kentjw]

Big Water,
I think they meant 2 or higher trying to avoid the #1 setting for a while. This is a fireplace insert with a flu (SS liner all the way up) of about 12 to 15 feet.

From the shores of a cow pond.

Kent

 

[BIG WATER]

Kent,

How is it burning today ??

From the state of the failed auto industry.

BW

 

[kentjw]

BW

So far so good. Got a little tan build up after about 5 hours but this time it wiped right off instead of being stuck on! I opened the damper a pubic hair to se if I can get it just right.

See if 34 billion helps!

 

[kentjw]

Overnight burn left a tan haze that wiped right off. I think that's as good as it's going to get. The York has to much glass as far as I'm concerned. Looks great when clean but try clean it in 30 seconds with the fire going!

"A day that will live in infimy"

 

[jaybyer]

I am now experiencing the same kind of build-up on the glass with my York insert. First I had the lopsided flame, read earlier post: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/28977/

Now I have a brand new replaced York insert and from the first day it was turned on, last Friday, after 12+ hours running it on heat level #3, with the damper knob closed except for about 1/8", I get a black ash build-up on the glass, so thick you cannot even see the flame behind. I also had black creosote on the glass that had to be scraped off. Pellets are Warm Front, made by New England Pellets. My flu is 35' tall, with a exhaust running directly all the way up. it cannot be a cleaning issue since the stove has less than 100 hours of use, and I have vacuumed it every day and cleaned the glass every day.

I did notice the fireplace clean out door in the basement is open. Anyone know if this could be providing too much air, even with the damper adjustment almost closed? If I understand the manual correctly, all of the feed and voltage adjustments only effect heat level #1, and I never run it on heat level #1.

As for heat output, I can measure a temp of around 170 on heat level #3, higher on level #5, but the York seems unable to heat my first floor of 1,100 sq. ft. It keep the room it's in, 240 sq. ft. comfortable, but the remaining first floor is about 64 or less. I keep my normal oil heat thermostat set at 64 so we don't freeze. No idea what the temp would be if I set it at 55!!

JB

 

[kentjw]

JB,

Some things to consider.

It takes about fifteen bags of pellets to break in.

I wipe the glass when I see a brown haze starting to build up. This could be every few hours depending on the burn temp but, as a rule, I wipe it first thing in the morning, when I get home from work and before I go to bed. I don't shut the stove off when I do this. I also empty the middle ash pan every day with the stove running. Wear gloves

Make sure the ash pan panel is secured correctly. This can be tricky.

The door latch on mine didn't seem to close the door all that tight. I adjusted the latch for a better fit.

35 feet seems like a lot to me. Read the manual about that. There is an adjustment.

Bottom line: There's a lot glass to clean on these stoves. The "wings" seem to get dirty first. The damper settings don't seem to have to much effect on the glass build up. I set mine like you have yours.

It would be nice if St Croix would read this forum and give some advice.

Kent

 

[BIG WATER]

Does your liner go all the way to the top ? Or does it adapt to the existing flue ??

 

[jim5b]

I have the same stove with the same 35' rise. I get a grey buildup that i wipe once a day. I guess that is normal. I run mine on 4 all day with the cold weather (burn about 1 1/2 bags a day) , my downstairs is 70-72 in that room, and about 67-69 for the other 2 rooms downstairs. About 62-64 upstairs . I have 950 sf on each floor. When the temp goes below 20 the upstairs zone( furnace) turns on. I keep it set at 60. I have only had the stove for 2 months but I think thats as good as it gets. Not surprised after reading that the inserts are less efficient... Just mildly dissapointed that I cant heat the ENTIRE house. Tons of info on this site

 

[jaybyer]

Big Water...........Yes, my liner goes all the way up, and at the top it continues through my existing chimney cap to it's own cap above.

Today when cleaning I had a full burnpot, with some pretty big clunkers. I also noticed this morning there were lots of pellets in the side ash pans, and for a while there was a small fire in the ash pan. Yesterday I closed the door to the fireplace cleanout in the basement, to see if maybe there was too much air being pulled up through it, and I am going to give it another day. If I find the same results tomorrow the door will be opened again. And as always I had ash buildup on the glass so thick I couldn't see the flame behind it. Had to scrape again this morning. It was off all day today as it was 60 outside.

I clean this thing every day, and really don't have a problem with doing so. But to have to scrape the glass every day is not good. My dealer says turn it to 5 and it will burn off. So far that hasn't helped either. I find it not dirty when I go to bed at 10, by 6 AM it completely coated.

I agree with Kent..........way too much glass. You could do without the sides completely and still see the flame, assuming the ash doesn't block it!!

I am curious about whether my expectations were too high for this stove's ability to heat my home. Based on St. Croix literature, and info from my dealer, my hope was to keep my 1st floor warm, and so far that isn't happening.

JB

 

[BIG WATER]

JB,

I am confident that your insert will heat your home really well. Even though St. Croix tech support is less than adequate, the products are very sophisticated.
I believe once you pin point your problem, the insert will exceed you expectations. You will not be able to stand in front of the insert.

Someone here can figure this thing out.

BW