US 6041 Stove - Many Issues

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Mattbph

Member
Dec 20, 2010
38
Dutchess County, NY
Man,
This year I've had nothing but problems with my 6041 pellet stove. The newest problem is that the burnpot fills with all of these pellets and the flame shoots right through the middle into where the pellets drop. It seems as if I have to clean out my stove every 3-4 days, doesn't this sound like alot of work?? I know some people that let there stoves run several weeks straight before having to shut it down and clean it. Seriously thinking about getting rid of it to get another one... I personally think US Stoves are a piece of crap. Have any thoughts?
 
How about telling us what you consider a proper cleaning?

Then about your vent system (in detail please) and existence or not of an outside air kit.

What else in your house burns fuel (gas stove, oil fired hot water heater, gas dryer, fireplace(s), etc ) ventilation devices (kitchen exhaust fans, bathroom exhaust fans, electric dryer, etc...).

How are you operating your stove?
 
Just a thopught but have you asked for the experts on this forum help????

You may be able to get your stove to run the way it was designed to. I would start by telling us what exactly your stove is doing, what the settings are and last but not the least when was the last time the stove was COMPLETELY torn apart and cleaned. How old is your stove and how many bags/tons of pellets have gone through your stove. If you have asked and still can't get it to run corectly please accept my apology.
 
Proper Cleaning... after stove cools off
1) Disassemble burn pot and clean it out thoroughly
2) Clean out all ash within stove including air vents above pellet shoot and clean outs on the side of the burn pot

Stove has 3" PL Vent (12" Long) - inside house
Inner Wall Thimble
Outer Wall Thimble
3" PL Vent (12" Long)
3" PL Tee w/cleanout
5 more 3" PL Vent Pipes attached to the Tee
3" PL Vent 90 degree Elbow
3" PL Vent Termintion Cap - outside house

Most of the piping is inside the house and their is no air kit

We heat our house with electric if the stove is not working and do not have any other source of burning fuels

Mostly keep stove at:
Heat Setting: 3
Draft Setting: 5
AU setting: 7
Room Fan: Automatic
 
Did you do some good old fashioned thumping of the rear and side inside walls of the fire box?

All fake fire brick removed and don't do any thumping on cast iron

The area behind most clean outs is large and can have ash jammed between the steel that requires both brushing and thumping. On some stoves there may be more than one level on each side (I don't know about your stove).

I don't see where you got a new combustion blower gasket and removed and cleaned the impeller on the blower, the cavity it sits in and from the cavity back towards the firebox.

No mention of cleaning out the venting.

It pays to also check the air intake side because various critters and little ones have been known to store things in the intakes.

Off hand I'd say you need to do some more cleaning.
 
Not a big fan of these stoves, this came from your manual.
MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS
Soot and Flyash - Formation and Need for Removal
The products of combustion will contain small particles of flyash. The flyash will collect in the exhaust venting system and restrict the flow of flue gases. Incomplete combustion, such as occurs during startup, shutdown, or incorrect opera- tion of the room heater will lead to some soot formation which will collect in the exhaust venting system. The exhaust venting system should be inspected at least once per month (of heavy use) to determine if cleaning is necessary. Corn has a high ash content.
Daily Maintenance Surfaces on the front of the heater will be extremely hot during operation. Always wear heat resistant gloves
to perform periodic maintenance.
• Using a wooden stick, tap the side heat exchangers that are located on the left and right sides of the firebox. When you open the door, they are located directly inside to the left and right. When you tap the sides with the wooden stick the loose fly ash will drop out of these holes.
• Inspect inside heater for excessive ash build up. You will learn some fuels produce more ash than others. If excessive, remove the inside ash clean-outs. Once you have cleaned out the ashes, replace the clean-outs. Depending on your fuel and use, these clean-outs may be removed only weekly.
• If clinkers develops in the firepot,clean thoroughly. You may have to do this once or twice a day depending on the moisture content of the corn. If this is not cleaned out, it could cause the agitator to jam. USSC highly recommends an additive (see Fuel Additive) be added to your corn to eliminate these clinkers. Contact your local dealer for avail- ability and cost. You will need this additive if the agitator “fingers” develop an accumulation or build-up.
• The clinkers on the agitator and burnpot are easily removed when soaked in warm water for 10 minutes.
• The ash pan (especially the model 6041I) should be cleaned out on a daily basis or as needed depending ash build-up.
SPECIAL CLEANING/OPERATIONAL INSTRUCTIONS:
After cleaning or when operating the heater, you need to make sure that “both” clean-outs are in their proper position. If left out or placed incorrectly, the combus- tion air is effected greatly and the heater will not burn properly.
Also, make sure that the ash dumps on each side of the damper are pushed in completely. This will also effect the com- bustion airWeekly Maintenance
• Shut down the heater as directed in the operating instructions. Allow the heater to cool to room temperature. Re- move the small clean-out slides in the lower corners of the firebox. Tap the sides of the burn chamber with a wooden stick. Do not tap the firewall behind the burn box as it may damage the ceramic firebrick. Scrape the fly ash from the clean-out chambers toward the front of the burn chamber. Remove the fly ash from the burn chamber and replace the clean-outs.
• Remove the ash pan and dump the ash into a metal container.
• Cleaning of the exhaust system will depend upon the ash and debris content of your fuel. If your fuel has a high ash content and/or significant debris in it, your exhaust system will require weekly cleaning. Cleaner fuels will allow for monthly cleaning of the exhaust system. Remove the exhaust pipe from the back of your heater and remove any ash that may have collected in the pipes. Replace the pipes to the heater and seal with high temperature seal tape. If you have installed proper clean out tees you will not have to take the chimney sections apart.
Spring Cleaning
When the heating season is over make sure that you clean out all of the fuel in the hopper, firebox area, ash pan and firepot area. Corn and any ash can accumulate moisture over the summer months causing the unit to rust and the fuel to mold. Corn left in the unit will attract mice and can cause internal wiring and insulation damage.
When the unit is cleaned out, take the venting apart, clean out the fly ash, rinse the venting out with a water hose and let dry, take the draft fan off and clean, clean out all areas such as back heat exchanger and lubricate the auger, auger tube, firepot area, agitator shaft and bearings and hopper area with a light oil (something like Pam cooking oil works great to coat the inside of the unit and the moving parts). Clean the glass, doors and outer cabinet so that you are ready for the next heating season. Use of a wet/dry vacuum makes all cleaning easier.
 
What happens to the pellets in the burn pot is that they burn down into ash and the ash gets ejected, both the rate of burn and the ejection of the ash is controlled by the air flow provided by the combustion blower, anything that impacts air flow will result in burn pot build up, whether the cause of the airflow is reduced intake air, constricted exhaust system, or gaps where gaps should not be is all the same when it comes to having the proper amount of combustion air going through the pellet pile in the burn pot.
 
Ditto on what Smokey said above. A minimum of 80% of all pellet stove problems are due to a dirty stove. The stove MUST have plenty of burn air to run correctly.

BTW, what brand of pellets are you burning?
 
Also, when this happens my stove smokes up my house a little bit... is this common?? I am going to try and give my stove a really good cleaning. If this doesn't work I am selling it because I am tired of all the problems and issues. It's too much of a worry when I am at work or elswhere wondering how it is operating.
 
You should be able to go awhile without having to clean, but you have to do a really good cleaning every ton or two. A really good cleaning means to get the entire air passage clean this includes the venting.

It is possible you have other issues but since the clean out information didn't include close to what is a really good cleaning I will harp on that first.

Have you tested your gaskets? They need to be tested on a regular schedule as well.

If your combustion blower is running, the combustion air path is clear, there should not be smoke except at start up and that should not be noticed by other than seeing it through the stove window or exiting the vent system.

A lot of smoke at start up is another symptom of ash in the works and possibly a couple of other things...
 
Okay guys gave it a really good cleaning:
1) Took exhaust piping off and cleaned REALLY WELL
2) Vacummed the excess ash off of the back where the exhaust piping attach's
3) Cleaned the exhast fan
4) Cleaned the in and outs (even tapped on them) to get access ash vacuumed up
5) Thouroughly cleaned the burnpot

Started it up and had a STRONG odor... almost like a wood fire smell... it STUNK!!!

I don't know guys; this pellet stove is really getting me angry (grrrrrrrr)
Matt
 
Sounds like you have leaking vent joints now and a bit of brush and vacuum work could have cleaned the venting without removing anything other than the clean out cap at the tee, the termination cap, and the combustion blower (hope you had a new gasket before doing that).
 
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