Has anyone else had random ignite failures with one of these stoves? If so I may have the answer.
It has nothing to do with my thermostat or even the ignitor itself.
Since literally day one of installing the stove, she has had many totally random ignite failures, like every couple days. I got frustrated because it would always work fine when I was there. (Isn't that always how it works?) Every time I would check the ignitor and everything else and it was fine so I knew it was nothing I did. I bought a spare cartridge heater (ignitor) from an online store for a fraction of the price of the genuine one just to have around in case, because sooner or later it is going to wear out anyway.
So one of the last times I was there, I pulled out the ignitor tube and the little scrap of insulation just came apart so I left it off. The bolts transfer the heat to it anyway. This set the tube a little closer to the burn pot. I also adjusted the ignitor very close to the end of the tube, like 1/16" away. Still problems.
So the next time I finally I got looking closer and the burn pot fit is just so ridiculously sloppy. US Stove should be embarassed to produce such a sloppy fit burn pot when the operation of the stove depends on it sitting precisely. Every time you set it in there, it sits a little differently. The burn pot also works its way down between the heat and pellet impact and once it gets down to the bottom, the hole mostly misses the ignitor tube AND becomes farther away from it. No wonder the thing wouldn't start sometimes. When it wouldn't start, she would take out the pot and clean it and then it would work again till a couple days later when the pot settled down in the holder and sure enough another failure.
So 2 weeks ago I brought over a few strips of steel to rest under the ignitor side feet of the pot, so the pot sits solidly in the correct position. I ended up using 2 strips of 1/8 x 5/8 flat bar that I get free from the work scrap pile. This lines up the hole with the ignitor tube, and keeps it very close to it.
Guess what? Today has been 2 weeks and she's still been running it off thermostat every day and night, and ZERO ignite failures since I did that! It looks like we have solved the problem!
It has nothing to do with my thermostat or even the ignitor itself.
Since literally day one of installing the stove, she has had many totally random ignite failures, like every couple days. I got frustrated because it would always work fine when I was there. (Isn't that always how it works?) Every time I would check the ignitor and everything else and it was fine so I knew it was nothing I did. I bought a spare cartridge heater (ignitor) from an online store for a fraction of the price of the genuine one just to have around in case, because sooner or later it is going to wear out anyway.
So one of the last times I was there, I pulled out the ignitor tube and the little scrap of insulation just came apart so I left it off. The bolts transfer the heat to it anyway. This set the tube a little closer to the burn pot. I also adjusted the ignitor very close to the end of the tube, like 1/16" away. Still problems.
So the next time I finally I got looking closer and the burn pot fit is just so ridiculously sloppy. US Stove should be embarassed to produce such a sloppy fit burn pot when the operation of the stove depends on it sitting precisely. Every time you set it in there, it sits a little differently. The burn pot also works its way down between the heat and pellet impact and once it gets down to the bottom, the hole mostly misses the ignitor tube AND becomes farther away from it. No wonder the thing wouldn't start sometimes. When it wouldn't start, she would take out the pot and clean it and then it would work again till a couple days later when the pot settled down in the holder and sure enough another failure.
So 2 weeks ago I brought over a few strips of steel to rest under the ignitor side feet of the pot, so the pot sits solidly in the correct position. I ended up using 2 strips of 1/8 x 5/8 flat bar that I get free from the work scrap pile. This lines up the hole with the ignitor tube, and keeps it very close to it.
Guess what? Today has been 2 weeks and she's still been running it off thermostat every day and night, and ZERO ignite failures since I did that! It looks like we have solved the problem!
