Trouble shooting hot pellets in air intake screen.

[castle newbie]

We have owned a harmon for some years and its been pretty good but we added a castle we bought on sale. Its more economical most of the time compared to the harmon. I went to hunting camp and the wife calls and says the stove is huffing and she noticed hot pellets laying in the air intake screen in the rear of the stove. . I instantly told her to shut it down as id imagine it could catch fire.

Im just getting home today any ideas what would cause it to get hot pellots in that area? I ve never had a issue with our harmon like this. I know the key is to keep it clean clean clean. Ill check it out when i get home just thought id possibly get some ideas as its cold here. Ive never owned a castle so im new to this model. Its nothing like my other stove.

 

[Ssyko]

Some way there were pellets under the burn pot that ignited thus probably disoriented the air flow through the pot causing the huffing/pulsing how they got to the rear of the intake was probably a result of the pulse.

 

[tbear853]

Which Harmon?

Is there a cold air inlet / pie that gets air from outside?
IF so , does it have a screen over its opening? .... and where is the inlet opening in relation to the stove flue exit / open end?
I'm wondering if there is any chance the air intake is pulling in the occasional exhaust that may have spit partial burns out?
Any winds? I know that some winds can blow inward into a flu that exits horizontally thus reducing combustion air pulled through the burn pot as the wind pressure fights the combustion fan, and the result is often unburned or incomplete burn of pellets.
I don't own a Harmon, but my stove has Harmon written all through it's guts.

 

[Washed-Up]

I don’t own a Harmon either but I own a “Harman” P61A and those are some odd symptoms

 

[bogieb]

Which Harmon?

Is there a cold air inlet / pie that gets air from outside?
IF so , does it have a screen over its opening? .... and where is the inlet opening in relation to the stove flue exit / open end?
I'm wondering if there is any chance the air intake is pulling in the occasional exhaust that may have spit partial burns out?
Any winds? I know that some winds can blow inward into a flu that exits horizontally thus reducing combustion air pulled through the burn pot as the wind pressure fights the combustion fan, and the result is often unburned or incomplete burn of pellets.
I don't own a Harmon, but my stove has Harmon written all through it's guts.

I believe he was talking about the Castle having the issue, not the Harman. If that is that case, it is a drop feed, not a screw feed.

 

[castle newbie]

Yes gentleman, its a castle sorry for the confusion.
Our Harmon is working fine...We just dont depend on it because its a pellet hog to us. this castle for the money has been pretty dang good until this now. She said she cleaned it.....but she didnt pull the actual ash pan up and out, my bad. Ive always did the cleaning on the stoves. The harmon she knows the deal since weve had it for some time.
So the ash built up under the pan and i believe blocked the exhaust passage. This castle is quite a bit different than the p68 in design. It started up last night after i cleaned it and so far so good.
One thing I did notice on this stove is it need alot more attention to the burn pot as it fills quicker and piles up the pellets. so a lil more maintence Ive found. but it is more efficient. Thanks for the responses guys.

 

[castle newbie]

well Im back unfortunetly. I thought i had this thing figured out. after a really good cleaning, This morning when i came down stairs i have a laggy flame....and the burn pot is over flowing. Wasting alot of semi burned pellets. I put a dollar in 3 of the 4 spots on the door...top both sides...and i cant pull the dollar out. I thought maybe the gasket went bad? my next idea after work today is to check my chimney for obstruction and my clean out. I believe this could be an air flow issue?

 

[ARC]

If you can try the leaf blower trick, you need a leaf blower with vacuum capabilities and you suck the ash out of stove and vent from outside. Some times stoves have spots that plug that you just can't get to with vacuum or brush.

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[castle newbie]

Well the stove is fixed this time i believe. I had an obstruction in the exhaust pipe above the T. Never had that happen before. We have been jumping around the last few seasons looking for a better deal on pellets since they have gone nuts like everything else since 2020! May have got some low end ones? I didnt really notice it burning them tho. But burning clean now..good flame. THanks again for the help, this forum is a great resource.

 

[castle newbie]

Well the stove is fixed this time i believe. I had an obstruction in the exhaust pipe above the T. Never had that happen before. We have been jumping around the last few seasons looking for a better deal on pellets since they have gone nuts like everything else since 2020! May have got some low end ones? I didnt really notice it burning them tho. But burning clean now..good flame. THanks again for the help, this forum is a great resource.

SPoke too soon errrrrrrr. I got 4.5 tons of new to me pellets this year and my harmon is burning perfect. Yet this stove, even after this good cleaning, Im still wasting pellets. Build up in the pot. Seems to dump alot of pellets every cycle. cycles ALOT.... It wasnt like this before so im perplexed. I cleaned the pot last night when i got home so shut it down....cleaned and re fired. took a while to fire but when it did....it really huffed hard! blew a big puff of smoke out through either the door or the blower vent where the hot air comes from. I couldnt tell as I wasnt near it but i sure heard it! Any suggestions please?

 

[Burnin Since 1991]

SPoke too soon errrrrrrr. I got 4.5 tons of new to me pellets this year and my harmon is burning perfect. Yet this stove, even after this good cleaning, Im still wasting pellets. Build up in the pot. Seems to dump alot of pellets every cycle. cycles ALOT.... It wasnt like this before so im perplexed. I cleaned the pot last night when i got home so shut it down....cleaned and re fired. took a while to fire but when it did....it really huffed hard! blew a big puff of smoke out through either the door or the blower vent where the hot air comes from. I couldnt tell as I wasnt near it but i sure heard it! Any suggestions please?

I think I'd check the chimney again.

 

[ARC]

I think I'd check the chimney again.

Leaf blower time!

 

[castle newbie]

I think I'd check the chimney again.

these stoves are designed different for sure. The exhaust is under the ash pan. i can see where it would take ALOT of cleaning constanly. Just weird its been causing me grief this season . I thought for sure it would be the new pellets and they were junk. but once i fired up my other stove down stairs...zero issues with it. Ill look again at chimney

 

[Washed-Up]

What are you’re settings at?

 

[castle newbie]

Leaf blower time!

I wish it was that easy. Its been 4 degree here for a few days. Im old and cant climb that roof in the summer let alone the ice covered rood now. Do the best i can from the inside. Maybe i can rig the leaf blower to my T clean out and blow it out that way

 

[Washed-Up]

Try running hot for an hour or so, I’ll run minP61a HARMAN at 4 and 4 on stove temp for at least an hour once a week minimum and it helps keep everything open and breathing well. Could you post a photo of your setup? Exhaust piping height etc.

 

[castle newbie]

What are you’re settings at?

im running this castle serinity on manual. mostly on level 1 in the early season.....and IF its really cold with my p68 running downstairs . on level one as well. running both on low, one down one up...seems to keep the house pretty comfortable. i rarely run the castle on any higher than one by itself.

 

[Washed-Up]

Fair warning, running any Pelletstove on low constantly will cause build up in the burn chamber and the exhaust…that’s why my suggestion of running the P68 on 4 and 4 occasionally…keep us posted

 

[castle newbie]

Fair warning, running any Pelletstove on low constantly will cause build up in the burn chamber and the exhaust…that’s why my suggestion of running the P68 on 4 and 4 occasionally…keep us posted

Thank you for the advice I guess i just need to keep up on the cleaning more often if im going to keep them on low. With the price of pellots in my area...i cant imagine how many id go through if i ran both on med or high?

 

[Washed-Up]

I don’t mean to run them on high all the time…an hour a week on 4 and 4 is what keeps mine healthy

 

[bogieb]

SPoke too soon errrrrrrr. I got 4.5 tons of new to me pellets this year and my harmon is burning perfect. Yet this stove, even after this good cleaning, Im still wasting pellets. Build up in the pot. Seems to dump alot of pellets every cycle. cycles ALOT.... It wasnt like this before so im perplexed. I cleaned the pot last night when i got home so shut it down....cleaned and re fired. took a while to fire but when it did....it really huffed hard! blew a big puff of smoke out through either the door or the blower vent where the hot air comes from. I couldnt tell as I wasnt near it but i sure heard it! Any suggestions please?

And that is why most of us say the Harman's will eat just about anything without any fuss.

The Castle seems to be unhappy with the pellets. I assume you have tried adjusting the draft? I know the drop-pellet stove that I had, a St. Croix Hastings, was very picky on draft and if I changed pellets I had to go thru the process all over again.

 

[castle newbie]

And that is why most of us say the Harman's will eat just about anything without any fuss.

The Castle seems to be unhappy with the pellets. I assume you have tried adjusting the draft? I know the drop-pellet stove that I had, a St. Croix Hastings, was very picky on draft and if I changed pellets I had to go thru the process all over again.

ill have to look into the manual about that.....im not familiar with changing that or that i could THank you.