My Whitfield still has the original burn grate. (With the drilled holes). I have been contemplating upgrading to the ultra grate, but don't know if it is worth it. Has anyone upgraded and can say whether it is with it or not?
Whitfield upgraded burn grate
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Hello, in my first season with the Quest Plus it was difficult for the stove to stay lit on the lowest setting. My stove is only heating a rather small appartment, so I rarely use the higher settings. My first consideration was to make the burn pot more narrow in order to "focus" the fire in center of the grate. I even made a thread about, and from the answers to this, it turns out that forum member Snowy Rivers has made some mods to the burn pot in her Whitfield Advantage II to enable it to burn nut shells. A very unusual type of fuel, but according to Snowy, it works perfectly and the nut shells contain a lot of heat!
The thread can be read here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...at-lowest-setting-whitfield-quest-plus.48700/
In the mean time I have learnt a lot more about my stove and how to make it run stable on the lowest setting. The short version: Even a small amount of fines ( sawdust ) is enough to reduce the feed rate remarkably. And especially on the lowest setting, the fines will quickly block the pellet feed and eventually make the stove shut down. The fines have a tendency to accumulate, since they are stuck down there in an infinite loop.
Note: The rotation of the auger is by no means blocked by the accumulated sawdust ( that would be a disaster ), but still it's very annoying to come home to a cold house.
The remedy was simple: I bought a small handheld accu-vac that I keep close to stove. Whenever the hopper is getting near the empty state, I simply vacuum out the fines. This operation takes about a minute or so, and now I'm so happy to have a perfectly running pellet stove
This way, I avoided the need of making any mods of the burn pot.
The thread can be read here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...at-lowest-setting-whitfield-quest-plus.48700/
In the mean time I have learnt a lot more about my stove and how to make it run stable on the lowest setting. The short version: Even a small amount of fines ( sawdust ) is enough to reduce the feed rate remarkably. And especially on the lowest setting, the fines will quickly block the pellet feed and eventually make the stove shut down. The fines have a tendency to accumulate, since they are stuck down there in an infinite loop.
Note: The rotation of the auger is by no means blocked by the accumulated sawdust ( that would be a disaster ), but still it's very annoying to come home to a cold house.
The remedy was simple: I bought a small handheld accu-vac that I keep close to stove. Whenever the hopper is getting near the empty state, I simply vacuum out the fines. This operation takes about a minute or so, and now I'm so happy to have a perfectly running pellet stove
This way, I avoided the need of making any mods of the burn pot.
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My stove runs great even I the lowest settong (1/1), but I'm the kind of guy that has to tinker with everything, pretty much 'fix it till it's broke' haha. Maybe I'll leave it alone. This is the burn pot insert my stove has. (broken image removed)
Wow, you have one of the early Advantage stoves made from 1985-89. This is vintage stuff. Take care of her, and she won't let you down for many years to come. All parts should still be available.
You can, however, save a lot of money by making motor gaskets yourself. Don2222 made a very useful thread on how to do this using Lytherm sheets. His thread can be found here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...ower-hi-temp-lytherm-gasket-from-sheet.86680/
I can understand from your posts that you like tinkering/modding your stove, so if you need inspiration, I would like to share a modification/improvement of the stove that has been puzzling in my mind for some time: An ash wiper to keep the window clean!
Several singlearm handoperated wipers are available on the market. In marine stores they have the Sea Dog Manual Windshield Wiper:
http://www.sea-dog.com/groups/1887-manual-windshield-wiper
![[Hearth.com] Whitfield upgraded burn grate](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/143/143170-df52c56d201e7b315c9c3a6ee8bc196e.jpg?hash=MX-2u5mVfD "[Hearth.com] Whitfield upgraded burn grate")
And in a store for vintage autoparts they have this handoperated wiper assembly used in Ford cars from 1928-31:
(broken link removed to http://lbcunited.com/earlyford2/product_info.php/cPath/96_291/products_id/3345?osCsid=af964f0283c5d308faef78073a913f0e)
![[Hearth.com] Whitfield upgraded burn grate](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/143/143171-1b57959847231fe4f5cbbd41d82fad56.jpg?hash=ALi6Zj3J9i "[Hearth.com] Whitfield upgraded burn grate")
The rubber parts must be replaced with a heatresistant material. The Lytherm gasket sheets should be perfect for this if it is cut in the right sizes. The two rubber washers/gaskets sealing the wiper hub could also be replaced with some of similar size made of Lytherm. Thermo-silicone will be a perfect way to fix the Lytherm wiper-strip in the metal rail.
Imagine how wonderful it would be to have a perfectly transparent window just by operating the wiper now and then? And another benefit: The air wash slots could be blocked permanently, because they won't be needed anymore. This will also improve the draft.
Only thing is, the see-thru area will come to look like this. Is this wiper pattern bad? Not to me, it looks like a smiley
![[Hearth.com] Whitfield upgraded burn grate](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/143/143172-54ebf388fe74591583557ee645e2b65c.jpg?hash=lmk5A9WQcj "[Hearth.com] Whitfield upgraded burn grate")
You can, however, save a lot of money by making motor gaskets yourself. Don2222 made a very useful thread on how to do this using Lytherm sheets. His thread can be found here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...ower-hi-temp-lytherm-gasket-from-sheet.86680/
I can understand from your posts that you like tinkering/modding your stove, so if you need inspiration, I would like to share a modification/improvement of the stove that has been puzzling in my mind for some time: An ash wiper to keep the window clean!
Several singlearm handoperated wipers are available on the market. In marine stores they have the Sea Dog Manual Windshield Wiper:
http://www.sea-dog.com/groups/1887-manual-windshield-wiper
And in a store for vintage autoparts they have this handoperated wiper assembly used in Ford cars from 1928-31:
(broken link removed to http://lbcunited.com/earlyford2/product_info.php/cPath/96_291/products_id/3345?osCsid=af964f0283c5d308faef78073a913f0e)
The rubber parts must be replaced with a heatresistant material. The Lytherm gasket sheets should be perfect for this if it is cut in the right sizes. The two rubber washers/gaskets sealing the wiper hub could also be replaced with some of similar size made of Lytherm. Thermo-silicone will be a perfect way to fix the Lytherm wiper-strip in the metal rail.
Imagine how wonderful it would be to have a perfectly transparent window just by operating the wiper now and then? And another benefit: The air wash slots could be blocked permanently, because they won't be needed anymore. This will also improve the draft.
Only thing is, the see-thru area will come to look like this. Is this wiper pattern bad? Not to me, it looks like a smiley
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Haha, yes that would be pretty nifty! She is an old girl, but still blows hot, knock on wood. It's model # is WH 24314. There is no gasket on the room blower motor as the one side slips into a tight fitting fan. I just run a bead of RTV on it before reinstalling it. As for the convection blower, it has a flat rope seal on it that has been in great shape the last three years. Thanks for the link though!
The previous owner was kind enough to leave the original manual. If I remember correctly, my stove was manufactured in 1991.
Sorry to throw this back to the top again. I am just hoping there was someone on here that knows the answer to my question. The real big problem I have is after 7 or so days of continuous burning, the burn pot below the grate gets filled with ash. The only way to clear it is to shut the stove down and remove the pot. Since the combustion air enters the pot (which is sealed) once it's filled, the flame gets less air.
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