Whitfield Advantage Plus Freestanding not burning fast enough

[Stephen_techguy]

I bought a used Whitfield a year ago off of Craigslist. When we first got it, it obviously took us a little bit to get used to how it should run. Just as we really started to figure it out, the auger motor started fail. We made it work and whenever the pellets would get jammed, I would take the stove out from against the wall and force turn the auger to unjam it(while it was off of course).

So just about 2 months ago I bought a new auger motor from the website woodheatstoves.com. I put it in and it's working great, too great. All you hear are the pellets dropping now. However, as in my picture-it seems the Ultragrate burn grate doesn't drop the ash from the pellets fast enough into the lower ash tray. What then happens is the ash builds up and when the stove goes to drop more pellets, they fall to the side. Over a few hours the pellets that have fallen to the side, then start to flame themselves causing a fire on the sides.

I have my damper all the way in, the heat output at 1, the fan at 5, and the combustion air at 2 o'clock. I am pretty on top of maintenance and will vacuum the upper rods and plate, the ash tray, the back of the stove. Is there something I'm missing? Is it time to replace the convection fan?

 

[MButkus]

I would bet, behind that white brick is tons of ash. Take out the fire pot. Two metal plates on the sides, loosen the two screws, the metal slides up and off. CAREFULLY take off the two side brick. Take out the center CAREFULLY. You'll see the ash, then there are two metal sheilds, top and bottom screws come out (not the big screw). At the bottom you'll see rectangular holes, get a vacuum.
Did you get the right auger motor ? There is an adjustment screw (if you have the push button controller) for the feed. Take the air control on the side and pull it out 80%.

 

[Lake Girl]

Think there are some photos of the areas that MButkus is referring to on this link https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/please-help-before-my-wife-kills-me.160169/#post-2150437

... cleaning exhaust vent and internal exhaust pathways should make the difference.