vistaflame vf55,help with draft setting

[corkman]

ive been burning for the past few days whether i needed to or not in an attempt to see what the stove can do and to try dialing it in for the best burn.well its been a struggle to say the least.
pretty basic install with 4" pipe,t off stove with a 45 to get pipe centered on stove,10ft vertical thru roof and cap.oak also installed.
stove is set to premium pellets and running on factory setting of 3 for combustion trim and pellet feed trim and ive been trying both trebios and green team.
the 1st fire i had seemed very active so i tested it with the magna gauge and the reading was very high.the needle on the magna was pegged all the ways to the right telling me i had to much draft.my magna goes from 0 to 0.25.the recommended setting for the stove is a reading of .15 to .17
with the stove running on high fire i cannot get the recommended reading.draft is pushed all the ways in and the magna is reading .21 telling me i still have too much draft.adjusting the combustion trim down doesnt help much either .so with that much air why am i getting such a dirty burn.ive burned just under 2 bags and ive had to clean glass twice already.big arc of black ash running from bottom right of door to top left of the door.
all of this is telling me that i do not have enough air but the magna is telling me different.
heat from the stove is not great.on medium fire (#3) i can hold my hand 6inches from the stove and keep it there.fire seems very low and does not get above the burn pot.any help woul be greatly appreciated.will get some pics up ltr 2day

 

[Woody1911a1]

where are you taking the vacuum reading ? at the little 1/8" hole ? if not that's your problem .

cheers Woody

 

[corkman]

i am taking it from the 1/8" hole on the right hand side panel

 

[Woody1911a1]

do you have an 1/8" hole on the left side ? from the manual "The reading can be taken from the ⅛”
hole located on the Unit’s lower left Pedestal Side. "

 

[corkman]

i do not have a hole on the left side.i thought that was odd when i read the manual and it said the reading could be taken from a hole located at bottom left of pedestal.mine is located bottom right which is on the opposite side of where the combustion blower is.

 

[Woody1911a1]

hmmm , i have a vistaflame too only my port is on the front . on some stoves of my model that hole is open and some have a screw that has to be removed . any small screws on the left side ?

 

[corkman]

nothing on the left side.i had a meridian before this and the hole was on front just under glass.i know if you try to take a reading from the vac lines that it will be different than if you take it from the 1/8"hole.do you think that since the hole is on the right side of the unit instead of the left that it would give a different reading.

 

[Woody1911a1]

yea , when i was setting up my stove a week or so ago , i was taking the reading off the vacuum line and the readings were way high . my gauge goes up to 1.0 and no adjustment would get the down far enough . then i asked here and someone told me what i was doing wrong .

it really sounds like you're not taking your readings at the right port .

 

[corkman]

two things ive noticed so far that are different from the manual.the hole for taking the reading is on the right and there is definately none on the left.also it says in the manual that when the stove is under the control of the t-stat that the red light will flash,thus letting you know it is being controlled by the stat.not the case with my stove

 

[Wachusett]

Corkman, The ash pattern on the glass you describe is normal for most M55's. When setting the draft with the Mag the stove needs to be run on high for a good hour or more before setting the draft by the gauge. Full on hot stove.

Is the needle holding steady or bouncing around? The trim adjustments will have little effect on the gauge readings. You want to set the draft with the feed and air trim at the factory setting of 3 on heat 5. This will allow some trim up or down at each heat setting.

Also on heat level 3 the blower doesn't push out a lot of air IMO, may be why it seems temps are low. One more thing the hole for the gauge needle on my stove is on the right side pedestal just above the top of ash pan.

 

[corkman]

this is what the glass looks like after less than a bag burnt.i let the stove run on high for a solid 90 minutes and had all the settings on the stove just as you described.the needle was bouncing some between .20 and .21.i cant get it to drop any lower and that is with the damper slider pushed all the ways in.having to push it all the ways in doesnt seem right to me.
my flame on heat level 1,2 and 3 seems awful low and doesnt even get above the pot on #3.i wonder if i need to adjust the auger cover plate to allow more fuel to the fire.as it is right now i can see 2" of the auger in the hopper.do you think i should raise it up to allow more fuel to feed.just out of curiousity what does you flame look like on #3 and how much of the auger can you see in the hopper

 

[Wachusett]

Ash does look a little heavy for only 1/2 a bag.

Noticed your install pics on other post (nice install), Looks like newer construction & windows (tight), wondering if having
the OAK hooked up might help. Or possibly crack a window to see if you notice a difference.

When adjusting the draft plate, after each adjustment you need to give the stove 5-10 mins. at that setting
then check the gauge.

My stove does not have the auger plate. Flame height on 3 is generally at the middle of the glass, leaning left due to air flow.
Thats the reason for the ash pattern.

 

[corkman]

have had the oak in since day 1.just didnt take a pic since i did it later in the day .im a little baffled by this.warmer temps this week so not sure how much it will run but hope to play with it a bit more to get it dialed in