USSC/ashley/king 5500 popcorning

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Ryan McGomery

New Member
Dec 9, 2021
20
Lancaster, ohio
I am concerned about the amount of flying embers/ unburned pellets flying about my stove. When I called the manufacturer, they told me that when new pellets drop in, it should disturb the lighter embers/ash, and bounce them out of the pot. But how much is too much? I've burned wood my absolute entire life. And when my father said he was switching to pellet, 4 years ago, of course I was skeptical. But it truly amazed me. Pour them in, and clean it out. The manual that comes with my stove sucks. What settings, upper and lower lbs/hr, draft fan rpm, and heat range, is every one running their USSC/ashley/king 5500 at? Please only respond if you have this brand. I have a thermostat hooked up as well. Oh. And when i spoke with manufacturer, they did with a thermostat, you should leave it on HR-3. They said it allows the stove to range better on this setting. Thank you.
 
I get quite a few sparklers, Embers really similar to a regular wood fire. Not actual burning pellets, just the small embers sparklers. If pellets were jumping out, I'd say it was too much combustion air and I've set my draft up within perfect spec. My stove is a bottom feed so in my case they not caused by pellets dropping but the burn air coming through the air holes in my pot. In my old Englander top feed, I'd get a little splash of embers when the pellets dropped and a few here and there other times. I'm not concerned about it at all, been doing that in both stoves for 12 years and it's pretty to look at.

Here is a video on YouTube someone has of the same stove as mine and the embers are similar to mine although I may have a bit more with the pine pellets I use and I think normal. It's not the best video since their glass is filthy and mine stays almost completely clean, but you get the idea.
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I have a USSC 6500. My Pr1 pph is 1.6. My Pr3 (highest on mine) is 5pph. Mine burns well on these setting without any pellet overflow.

I am still tweaking my draft fan settings a little.

Keeping the combustion air path clean is very important.

I get some embers flying around in both my stoves, but no actual burning pellets.

The technical manual links in the USSC troubleshoot sticky thread are a must have for these stoves.
 
As far as unburnt pellets bouncing out of the burn pot. I get that some. I believe the pellets hit the agitator and bounce out sometimes. I purchased a burn pot extension collar and it seems to be helping quite a bit. I still get some, but not nearly as much. I think your 5500 has a different style burn pot than mine. Not sure if anyone makes an extension for it.
 
I have a USSC 6500. My Pr1 pph is 1.6. My Pr3 (highest on mine) is 5pph. Mine burns well on these setting without any pellet overflow.

I am still tweaking my draft fan settings a little.

Keeping the combustion air path clean is very important.

I get some embers flying around in both my stoves, but no actual burning pellets.

The technical manual links in the USSC troubleshoot sticky thread are a must have for these stoves.
Thank you for responding. Okay, our stoves are almost identical. Now wouldn't you agree, that dif brand pellets burn at dif rates right? My dad got his stove 4 years ago. And have been trying to find pellets to fit factory settings. Instead of changing factory settings to match the pellet. Does that make sense to you? How long have you had yours? Now where is this manual? I've seen yall talking about sticky links, but I ain't gotta clue what that is. Thank you
 
Thank you for responding. Okay, our stoves are almost identical. Now wouldn't you agree, that dif brand pellets burn at dif rates right? My dad got his stove 4 years ago. And have been trying to find pellets to fit factory settings. Instead of changing factory settings to match the pellet. Does that make sense to you? How long have you had yours? Now where is this manual? I've seen yall talking about sticky links, but I ain't gotta clue what that is. Thank you
This is the 3rd winter I am running mine, but it was in the house when I purchased the property. I had to give it a good cleaning and replace some stuff to get it running.

Yes, different pellets burn differently. There are a few different brands that are readily available to me. I took the approach of selecting a pellet that seemed good quality and then adjusting the stove to burn those. Then I try and just stick with the same pellets.

As far as trying to use the default settings......USSC does not appear to be very consistent with them and sometimes they make the stove almost unusable. My Pr1 pph was 5 and my Pr3 pph was 13. Way off!!!

Also, look up a guy on Youtube called LandAirMechanic. He has an USSC 8500 and does a really good job explaining how to program it etc. That is where I started and then tweaked it from there.

The sticky threads are the ones that are permanently at the top of the forum. The one I am talking about is called USSC Troubleshooting.

 
This is the 3rd winter I am running mine, but it was in the house when I purchased the property. I had to give it a good cleaning and replace some stuff to get it running.

Yes, different pellets burn differently. There are a few different brands that are readily available to me. I took the approach of selecting a pellet that seemed good quality and then adjusting the stove to burn those. Then I try and just stick with the same pellets.

As far as trying to use the default settings......USSC does not appear to be very consistent with them and sometimes they make the stove almost unusable. My Pr1 pph was 5 and my Pr3 pph was 13. Way off!!!

Also, look up a guy on Youtube called LandAirMechanic. He has an USSC 8500 and does a really good job explaining how to program it etc. That is where I started and then tweaked it from there.

The sticky threads are the ones that are permanently at the top of the forum. The one I am talking about is called USSC Troubleshooting.

Jeremy6500, I too started with Land Air videos. One control point I am still trying to tune is the percent run of the agitator (C-5 Setting). Default is 50%. Any experience on increasing or decreasing?
 
Jeremy6500, I too started with Land Air videos. One control point I am still trying to tune is the percent run of the agitator (C-5 Setting). Default is 50%. Any experience on increasing or decreasing?

I adjusted mine some to see if there was a noticeable difference. I was thinking that increasing the agitator might aid in getting the ash to fall out of the burn pot and into the ash pan.

To be honest I didnt notice any real difference, so I just switched it back to the defaults.

Was there an issue you were trying to address with this?
 
I adjusted mine some to see if there was a noticeable difference. I was thinking that increasing the agitator might aid in getting the ash to fall out of the burn pot and into the ash pan.

To be honest I didnt notice any real difference, so I just switched it back to the defaults.

Was there an issue you were trying to address with this?
So I did the same, I increased to 65% thinking it would help keep the ember bed lower. I get a lot of ash build up on the sides.
 
So I did the same, I increased to 65% thinking it would help keep the ember bed lower. I get a lot of ash build up on the sides.

I had an issue with ash and pellet build up in the burn pot. For mine a very thorough cleaning, draft fan adjustment and feed rate adjustment fixed the issue in mine.
 
You can always drill your burn pot holes out a little bigger. I have considered this and Amy end up doing it at some point, but overall having a clear/clean air path is a must.