Vent installed correctly?

[SmokeyTheBear]

It wasn't the vertical portion that I was concerned about it was the lack of rise in the horizontal run.

The amount of ash doesn't have to actually cause a blockage, just a 1/4 " thick deposit of ash in a horizontal run will do it.

Then you never did tell us if the vent was 3" or 4" if it is 3" you are over the recommended EVL and that means you can have a draft issue.

There is also the possibility of the combustion blower not running at speed either because of the blower motor or the control panel.

 

[njpitbulllvr]

It wasn't the vertical portion that I was concerned about it was the lack of rise in the horizontal run.

The amount of ash doesn't have to actually cause a blockage, just a 1/4 " thick deposit of ash in a horizontal run will do it.

Then you never did tell us if the vent was 3" or 4" if it is 3" you are over the recommended EVL and that means you can have a draft issue.

There is also the possibility of the combustion blower not running at speed either because of the blower motor or the control panel.

I was misunderstanding what was meant about the rise, now I think I am getting it. Do you know where I can find a picture of what it should look like? I do believe it is 3" and I am pretty sure it was a kit.

I made the appointment for the tech to come out Tuesday. They said he will also check the specs on the venting. The person who initially helped was a general handyman. Ah, the joys of first time home ownership. We are just not getting anything right the first time )

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

It wasn't the vertical portion that I was concerned about it was the lack of rise in the horizontal run.

The amount of ash doesn't have to actually cause a blockage, just a 1/4 " thick deposit of ash in a horizontal run will do it.

Then you never did tell us if the vent was 3" or 4" if it is 3" you are over the recommended EVL and that means you can have a draft issue.

There is also the possibility of the combustion blower not running at speed either because of the blower motor or the control panel.

I was misunderstanding what was meant about the rise, now I think I am getting it. Do you know where I can find a picture of what it should look like? I do believe it is 3" and I am pretty sure it was a kit.

I made the appointment for the tech to come out Tuesday. They said he will also check the specs on the venting. The person who initially helped was a general handyman. Ah, the joys of first time home ownership. We are just not getting anything right the first time )

I hear you on the home ownership, been doing that one for the last 39 years.

Ok, any portion of a vent run that is "horizontal" needs a rise of one quarter inch per foot (this is a very small rise slightly more than 2%. At no time should a "horizontal" vent run have a downward slope. Sometimes a horizontal run will start out with the proper rise but a loose support strap on the vertical portion will allow the weight of the vertical section to deflect the horizontal portion downward. The end result is additional air flow restriction and faster ash build up in the horizontal run.

3" venting normally presents too much air flow resistance when the EVL exceeds 15 to calculate your venting systems EVL you add up the EVLs of each of its parts as follows:

45 degree elbows = 3 EVL
90 degree elbows = 5 EVL
a clean out tee = 5 EVL
each foot of horizontal run = 1 EVL
each foot of vertical run = 0.5 EVL

You have just counting the elbows and none of the runs a starting EVL of 13 and it looks like you have at least 3' of horizontal run and about 3' of vertical run adding another 4.5 making for a total EVL of 17.5 . It is very hard estimating pipe lengths from pictures so the vertical and horizontal run lengths I just used may need to be adjusted.

1 tee = 5
1 45 = 3
1 90 = 5
3' vertical = 1.5
3' horizontal = 3
_______________
total 17.5

If you couple a downward sloping horizontal run with too high an EVL you get a faster ash build up inside the stove and run.

Now the Englander tech said to check for vacuum issues, well an ash laden exhaust system in effect creates the equivalent of a loss of vacuum but I doubt if that is what he was thinking about. The likely thing he was thinking about would be unsealed vent joints and items deforming gaskets or lack of a proper seal due to loose latches on the hopper or the firebox door not actually closing properly.

These stoves are very sensitive to anything that interferes with the proper air flow through the burn pot. I can't belabor this point enough. Bad air flow = bad burn = lots of ash = even worse air flow ..... a vicious cycle.

Ash is very good at lodging itself in all the wrong places, it can even find its way into the vacuum sensing system and that can result in both failure to start and random shutdowns (well they appear to be random).

 

[njpitbulllvr]

An update to this thread... we gave up on the pellet stove. We paid quite a bit of money to have a technician come out and evaluate our set up, clean (minimal ash), and inspect the stove burning. It just was not the right fit for us.
We ended up switching to a wood stove, Jotul F 400 that we had professionally installed. It heats the house much better and is less of a headache all around for us. Thanks so much for the help and suggestions during our trouble shooting.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

E2 is a failure to start. There are no snap discs in Englander stoves, they us a heat sensor and a vacuum switch on the door and the standard vacuum switch on the exhaust. So there are two vacuum lines that should be checked and the door seal. The dollar bill test. It is still recommended to have the vertical rise on the inside of the house or to insulate the vertical rise if on the outside. Such as box it in like a chimney look. This prevents cold wind in the northern climate from cooling the exhaust in the venting before it exits. If the exhaust cools prematurely then more pellet ash can build up in the outside vertical vent requiring more frequent cleaning. Also the ash in the burn pot does pile up in front of the igniter hole very easily. So the burn pot should be cleaned almost daily so the stove will lite the next time it is turned on.

The control panel has a diagnostic mode so you can select that mode and test all the components.
See diagnostic instructions here > > http://www.englanderstoves.com/help/PelletStove/diagnostic_mode04.html

 

[smoke show]

Don, they switched to a wood stove.

 

[Don2222]

Yes, just wanted to make sure everyone knows Englander does not use snap discs.

 

[Lousyweather]

I wonder if they got their money back on the purchase of the original pellet stove? Did the dealer come out and troubleshoot it?

 

[smwilliamson]

I thought I chimed in here....that vent is too close to the window regardless. 4 feet with or without air kit.