Pellet stove overload question?

[Jim_Rogers]

I am now running a pellet stove in my mother's basement to heat her house up. This is the second season running it.

I think I started around this time last year.

I have been cleaning it quite regular, like every 5 bags or so, and it has been working more or less ok.

The other day I found the firebox looking like this:



 

As you can see the burn pot was completely overloaded and there was burning pellets in the ash pan below on each side.
I knew this was not right and shut it right off.

After about an hour and a half or maybe two hours, I came back to clean it out again, as I had before. Actually just the day before and I was concerned that something was wrong and it was feeding the pellets in too fast.

We did have one cold night and I turned the feed rate switch up from one to two but at the time I took this picture it was set at one. And I figured the stove didn't reset back to one and it was still feeding at the second rate setting.

I called the previous owner and explained what I saw and what was happening. He has asked me if I had cleaned out the flue pipe lately.

I told him I had not.

He suggested that I clean it out and that it wasn't getting enough "air" to fire to burn the pellets completely and that's why they were building up.

I shut it down, waited for an hour for it to cool down, and took the pipe out of the chimney and cleaned it out.
I didn't think that it had all that much ash/soot in it but I cleaned it out and put it all back together again.
On the back of the stove is a small inlet pipe with a small damper. I'm not sure if the damper got moved or not, but I opened it a little more.

Since I did this it seems to be running correctly and not overloading the burn pot with pellets.

I am writing this today to let other know that this could be the problem if it happens to you.

And to ask, "has this ever happened to you?"

Jim Rogers

[thecfarm]

Some of those pellet stoves are just about like those Classic OWBs.They want you to buy them,but don't tell you how to keep them clean. My FIL has had two or three of them. The cheaper the stove the more cleaning there is to do,from what he said.He even put a length of rubber hose on to the vaccum to clean out one of them.

[beenthere]

As well, the condition could come about by having damp pellets.
If the burn doesn't give off the heat, the auger thinks more heat is needed, so augers in more pellets.

Don't know what the condition or the storage situation has been for the pellets to assure that they are dry for burning.

But good stack air flow is important as well.

[WmFritz]

Jim you don't mention what brand you have but, I would try to find a manual to download.

I bought a pretty basic Heatilator (SL50) for the cabin 3 years ago. I only burn about a ton of pellets a year in it. One of the first things I learned about mine ( with much help from the manual)  was how and when to clean it. I tear the innards out of it monthly and the flue once a season. The one thing that surprised me was how little ash/soot I'd find in it and how much better it runs after the overhaul. It doesn't take much to throw it out of whack.

Beenthere makes a good point about damp pellets. I'm not sure if you can even tell if you have moisture in them by looking at them. I go out of my way to make sure a get dry pellets.
I only buy them from a seller that stores them inside. I see them sitting outside at the big box stores and I have to believe there's got to be some condensation going on inside the bags with the temperature swings. I think I may pay $20.00 a ton more. It's worth it to me knowing my pellets are dry.

[thechknhwk]

You could have buildup or "clinkers" in your burnpot that might be covering up the igniter.  The stove calls for more pellets because the fire is not starting fast enough.  Have you vigorously scraped the burnpot?

[Jim_Rogers]

You could have buildup or "clinkers" in your burnpot that might be covering up the igniter.  The stove calls for more pellets because the fire is not starting fast enough.  Have you vigorously scraped the burnpot?

Yes, I have cleaned out the burnpost holes and the lower grate. I will clean it even further next time to be sure that the airways are not restricted.

Jim Rogers

PS. Last winter, we carried all three tons down the bulkhead stairs and stacked it up in the cellar. This year I haven't had my helper come over and do it yet. I hope he's available tomorrow to do it. Then I can put the plastic back over the bulkhead door to keep the cold draft out.
I have been using the pellets right from outside, which are cold, sometimes. And part time from the few bags I have already down there. I tried to carry in a bag and stack it up every time I go into the house so that they are in there when it's raining out. Carrying in a wet bag gets my clothes wet, some times.
The pallet stacks are covered with the plastic that they get shipped with, except one stack that I have been bringing in.
I was wondering if cold pellets vs warm pellets would make a difference. I would think that they would warm up in the hopper before they are burnt.
What do you think about cold pellets vs. warm pellets?

[WmFritz]

What do you think about cold pellets vs. warm pellets?

My concern with pellets sitting outside at Home Depot is you Cant know how long they've sat out there. 1 month... 8 months?  How  much condensation builds up inside those plastic bags from day/night temp swings?

In your case, you wouldn't need to worry about it, IMO.

[Jim_Rogers]

The last time I cleaned the stove before yesterday's cleaning. I figured out what was wrong.

I had to lay down on the cellar floor to get low enough to look up and see the bolt holes for the ash pan door bolts. I noticed that the ash pan door had a gasket around it. Also I noticed that the door wasn't closing completely so this gasket could work. I removed the ash pan and found that there was some ash behind it up again the back wall that was preventing the ash pan from sliding all the way back.

I cleaned out the ash pan tray and then the ash pan could slide all the way back and the door would close up tight when I tightened down the door bolts.

Since I did this, it hasn't overloaded at all.

And I think it's burning the pellets a lot better and very little ash per 12 hour cycle.

Jim Rogers

[WmFritz]

 

[thechknhwk]

Glad you could figure it out.  Sometimes those pellet stoves can be trying.

[Jim_Rogers]

Glad you could figure it out.  Sometimes those pellet stoves can be trying.

I'm glad too. It's been burning very nicely for at least 10 days or more.

Jim Rogers

[SwampDonkey]

Pellet stoves are growing in numbers up here especially for those that can no longer handle wood. The price actually works out the same between pellets and firewood chunks. We now have a few pellet manufacturers. We are finding the hardwood pellets are the best, a lot less ash. Not much for a flu, just out the side of the wall and a short section of pipe that is U shaped on the end, pointing down. Never see anything for smoke.

My elderly aunt has one and my brother as well, just installed this winter.