What causes this? (fire pot picture)

[Deezl Smoke]

Not sure, but this may be what causes the occasional mis-ignition. This picture is of a very small spot of build up after about 12 hours of run time. Often it is twice that size if the stove has run longer. It is just ash. Very easy to break up with a screw driver and get it to fall thru the holes. Since noticing this and clearing it before each fire as a standard routine now, I have not had any more mis-ignitions.

But what is it that causes this build up? Pellet content? Hole size? Or is it that I only run the stove on low all the time?

Edit to ad stove make and model. This is inside a Castle Serenity.

 

[fmsm]

What are you running for pellets? My money is on the pellets. That being said I went to a Harman bottom feeder because my Englander needed a daily scrape even with good pellets.

 

[bags]

Carbon builds up quicker running low and slow so that's not helping. It could also greatly vary from one brand of pellets to another. When I run low and slow I get much more carbon build up and in a shorter time frame even using good pellets. I have only burned three different brands of hardwood pellets (all great pellets Somersets. Pro Pellets, & Greenways) and I never have had an opportunity to find or try softwood pellets which might have less tendency for hard carbon deposits. Just a guess from what I've read. Each stove brand also has different tolerances for build up on the pot.

That said you are figuring yours out so just get into a routine that works and keep in mind the routine could switch using different pellets too.

 

[rich2500]

I get that also with certain pellets, I just open the door for a few secs. and do a quick scrape once a day

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Ok, so this sounds quite normal for these stoves. In most other ways, these stoves are so forgiving as far as pellet types and brands. I tried at least 3 before settling on these Coastal farm and ranch as I buy gift cards on their 20% off sale and use them to buy the pellets. Even so, I decided to try a couple bags of golden fire last week and the only difference was the color of the ash. It had a darker color to the ash. But the same small build up, which does not seem to effect the performance or heat output, and all else appeared the same.

Here's the ad side of the bag. Cant find the manufacturer of the pellets yet, but I'm pretty sure it is in the pnw, as Coastal is a pnw chain and the pellets are doug fir.

 

[chken]

Not sure, but this may be what causes the occasional mis-ignition. This picture is of a very small spot of build up after about 12 hours of run time. Often it is twice that size if the stove has run longer. It is just ash. Very easy to break up with a screw driver and get it to fall thru the holes. Since noticing this and clearing it before each fire as a standard routine now, I have not had any more mis-ignitions.

But what is it that causes this build up? Pellet content? Hole size? Or is it that I only run the stove on low all the time?

Edit to ad stove make and model. This is inside a Castle Serenity.
View attachment 169508

That's pretty normal. And as you've learned, whenever you startup the stove, you should make sure the pot is empty and the holes are open. You should ream out the holes every once in a while, as they may close up over time with carbon.

Why? Pellets all do that, some more, some less, but running on low will contribute to it.

 

[smwilliamson]

Potassium, chlorine, salts in the wood fiber. Not 100% new wood fiber but reclaimed wood mixed in to the feed stock