# Lets see your Pot? (burn pot that is)



## DexterDay (Feb 24, 2012)

Last year this came up and turned out to be a decent thread. Pretty informative. 

Its a way to show everyone the inside of different stoves and how they are designed. Also. If your in the market for a new stove and/or always wondered what the inside of a certain model looks like???

My furnace is burning now. So I only have old pics showing it outside the liner. But you can see how it cleans itself. A cast burn plate comes out over the pot and lights the pellets (fire underneath) and then the pusher plate (back of pot) pushes forward and the front of pot (flapper door) opens and ash/clinker gets pushed into the ash pan. 

I will post pics within the beast. But they will have to be tomorrow. And unless you already have a pic of your pot. You may have to wait (if you dare show us. ;-P )

So.... What'da ya say??? Lets see them pots......

Quad and Englander to follow. Need room to post other pics.


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## DexterDay (Feb 24, 2012)

Quad Classic Bay. Different than the Castile and Santa Fe, by having open sides so the ash drops in the ash pan. The AE is another animal also. 

Nothing burns like a Quad!! I must say. Out of my 3 stoves. It definitely has the "coolest" looking burn. Also stays the cleanest with cleaning. Can go quite some time without even pulling the clean-out rod.


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## DexterDay (Feb 24, 2012)

Englander pic. Nothing special. It has a much steeper ramp (plate) than new models. But its almost 17 yrs old.


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## smoke show (Feb 24, 2012)

Heres one of them.


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## Don2222 (Feb 24, 2012)

Hello

Here is my Quad Classic Bay too!!

1. Big Round Fire Pot just before painting shows trap door in bottom that is operated by a front pull knob!

2. Newly Painted Fire pot in Burn Chamber!

3. Loop Ignitor is glowing Red against the bottom of the Big Fire Pot seen behind front access panel!


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## UMainah (Feb 24, 2012)

Cool thread. I'll have to take some pics after work today.


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## saladdin (Feb 24, 2012)

First year of burning and have a Cab50. Do you guys actually remove the burn pot from the stove to clean when you "summerize" your stove? Or just clean it while it is attached inside?


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2012)

Here is the pot of the new stove by Paromax, called the Rafael.  (all photos of pots after burning and prior to cleaning)

On this stove the fuel is dropped down to the bottom of this "tube" and baked on an ash bed.  As the gasses come off the heated pellets, preheated air is injected thru the holes in the sides. I'll post a photo of it burning later as I want it running for the weekend.  What you see at the bottom is three augers that are used for ash extraction.  Maintaining the ash bed level is critical in the performance.  Not too low or you can lose the bed, not too high or you may cover the bottom holes and lose some of the reburn.

As long as I dont change pellets, my settings are perfect.  It will heat about 1500 SF of showroom at 2lbs per hour feed rate.


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2012)

St. Croix Hastings.  This has the versa grate system (i'll try to get a photo of it later)  Pretty typical burn pot.  A tray with holes in it.  Pretty stove, not much trouble with it.


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## smoke show (Feb 24, 2012)

Interesting. Those augers must get consumed over time?


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2012)

Enerzone Euromax.  I guess it would be refered to as a bottom feeder.  I've tried a few different pellets in it and the stove never let me down.  Kinda works like our coal stoker.  Pushes the fuel along and when it hits the end to fall off into the ash pan its all burned up.  No build up, no speed bump, no drama.  Like the Europa, can run for 2 weeks without having to shut it down.  To me, looks same as some of the Harmans.


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2012)

smoke show said:
			
		

> Interesting. Those augers must get consumed over time?



They do.  If you manage the ash bed they can go for 5-10 years.  The trade off of being able to micromanage the extraction rate is well worth it.  Depending on the quality of fuel, I can go up to 4 weeks without shutting the stove down.  (The other extreme was some switch grass pellets that I needed to have the extraction turned all the way up for and had to still shut the stove down every two days)

Most customers who have bought their stoves from us and who are instructed on how to use them havent had to get new augers and we have been selling them for about 7 years or so.


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2012)

AES Magnum Countryside. Typical burn pot but that stirrer in there is pretty nifty. Keeps things agitated and makes it a very reliable and versatile burner. Some of the other components are lacking IMO but since we are just talking pots, I happen to like this one for being forgiving.


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2012)

Hearthstone Heritage pellet stove.  Not a lot of experience with this one.  I've maybe put 1/2 ton thru it.  As far as the burn pot goes, never a hitch.


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2012)

Enerzone Bio 45.  Very typical stove. Dump the pellets in and blow air thru the pot.  The reason I like to sell them is Enerzone 5 star warranty.  Other than that, pretty unremarkable.


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## DexterDay (Feb 24, 2012)

Wow.... Thanks for the pics Franks... 

That Enerzone Euromax is a stove I am looking at replacing my Classic Bay with. Seems to be a Solid design and burns well. Ive talked forum member Fyrebug (Bert , SBI) about these. He said it just like you did. Burns for weeks without shutting down.

The Hearthstome looks interesting also. Not a very long "drop" to be a Top Feed.

Have a Buddy with the Countryside and a buddy with a Baby Countryside. The agitator in the Countryside makes it a much better choice. Much better burn.

Thanks.


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2012)

Aside from being prettier, I would go with the Euromax over the Heritage.  There is also an excellent chance that your Enerzone dealer will be a standup company.  Enerzone doesnt just plop their stoves anywhere.  Unless you were going to be heating more than 2K SF, I would still lean towards a Europa just because of how quiet it is and the fuel savings.

In regards to noise, the Euromax is much quieter than the Heritage though.  I can also fit 3+ bags into the Euromax hopper.


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## Fsappo (Feb 24, 2012)

As promised, here is the Rafael burn pot operating.  It's tough to get a good photo thru the glare of the glass, but you can make out the jets of flame where the combustion air is introduced.


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## Turbo-Quad (Feb 24, 2012)

Don2222 said:
			
		

> Hello
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> Here is my Quad Classic Bay too!!
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> ...



My Mt Vernon pot doesnt really look like that.  I'd like to see that burning.


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## St_Earl (Feb 24, 2012)




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## gymrat0663 (Feb 24, 2012)

Bosca Spirit 500 burn pot.  The first pic is the stove cooling down for its weekly cleaning.


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## movemaine (Feb 24, 2012)

Man, I'm glad I've got a bottom feeding Harman.

Burn pots where ashcan surround your burn pot seems archaic? or not the best way to handle ash. And with an exposed igniter, seems like it would wear quicker as well. I wouldn't be surprised to see more pellet stove companies find alternative methods to feed pellets than a drop system.


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## smoke show (Feb 24, 2012)

No love for a top feeder?


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## Northwoodneil (Feb 24, 2012)

Harman PC45 burn pot. I leave the agitator and corn end plate in when I burn. Harman does make a pellet end plate that lets the ash fall into the ash pan. The pics are of my stove after 1 week of non-stop burning and never opening the door from Saturday to Saturday.


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## ByCo (Feb 24, 2012)

I don't normally take this out and show it to anyone but if you promise not to let anybody else see, I'll show you. I feel so...dirty. :red:

25-PAH


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## saladdin (Feb 24, 2012)

St_Earl said:
			
		

>



Glad to see another 50. Was wondering if the "whitening" from ash on the back plates was common. Guess so.


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## burrman (Feb 24, 2012)

Franks said:
			
		

> Enerzone Bio 45.  Very typical stove. Dump the pellets in and blow air thru the pot.  The reason I like to sell them is Enerzone 5 star warranty.  Other than that, pretty unremarkable.



looks just like the burn pot to my osburn hybrid 45


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## DexterDay (Feb 24, 2012)

smoke show said:
			
		

> No love for a top feeder?



I have love for both... ;-P

They both have a spot in my Life..


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## DexterDay (Feb 24, 2012)

burrman said:
			
		

> Franks said:
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Osburn and Enerzone are both made by SBI.

Like the Drolet Eco-65 is the same stove as the Enerzone Euromax.


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## Xena (Feb 24, 2012)

St Croix Prescott. More or less the same firebox bits as that Hastings posted by Franks except
I think the Prescott has a bigger ash pan and I've got the steel refractory panel
and that stove looks to have the older style faux firebrick.
Anyway here's a few pics of the inside.  The burn pot just drops in the space
so it's easy to remove/reinstall for cleaning which I did today.

burn pot out of stove 





where burn pot sits





burn pot seated. You can see down into the ash pan in this pic.  Stove came with
decorative grates that set on either side of the burn pot but when the stove is
in 24/7 use I don't bother with them because it makes it easier for the ash to drop
right down into the pan without them in the way.





another shot of the ash pan and view of the ash traps with flaps removed





a pic with the decorative grates





heat exchange tubes





baffle installed after cleaning heat exchange tubes


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## St_Earl (Feb 24, 2012)

saladdin said:
			
		

> St_Earl said:
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oh cool. this answers my question of if the cab 50 and the ps50 are essentially the same stove w/ different hopper sizes.
at least the burnpots and baffles are, it seems.
i'm guessing pretty much everything else is the same too. 

top feeder schmop feeder.
i _love_ this burn pot. 
when you see the vortices around each hole and the way it burns, you just know it's a good design.
my little blast furnace.
the holes never get plugged.
and the flexible auger seems basically impervious to jams.


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## movemaine (Feb 24, 2012)

smoke show said:
			
		

> No love for a top feeder?



Not at all. I'm a bottom feeder kind of guy. 

The top feed systems feel badly engineered to me. It's almost as if because pellet stoves were originally designed that way, that some companies have a hard time thinking of a new way to approach the problem.

Specifically, the round shallow burn pot systems seem like a pretty poor approach - especially with the potential for ash to choke your flame. 

I bet if you took an engineering team that has never designed a pellet stove and just gave them pellets and told them to design a system to get the most heat and efficiency out of the pellets, that little round burn pot wouldn't make it past the trash bin.

(Have a riled enough people yet?)


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## smoke show (Feb 24, 2012)

Yep, thats a good start.

I won't derail Dex's thread.  :zip:


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## DexterDay (Feb 24, 2012)

smoke show said:
			
		

> Yep, thats a good start.
> 
> I won't derail Dex's thread.  :zip:



Yet..... ;-P

(Joking :lol: )


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## smoke show (Feb 24, 2012)

I'm turning over a new leaf...


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## The Other One (Feb 24, 2012)

Xena said:
			
		

> St Croix Prescott. More or less the same firebox bits as that Hastings posted by Franks except
> I think the Prescott has a bigger ash pan and I've got the steel refractory panel
> and that stove looks to have the older style faux firebrick.



Its identical to the inside of the Hastings.  You are right about the bigger ash pan, but thats not not really much of an issue for me.  I would like it to hold more pellets.  It barely fits one bag and thats if its completely empty and I move the pellets around with my hand to make them fit in the hopper.  Otherwise I love it.  Simple and easy to work on.


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## jtakeman (Feb 24, 2012)

smoke show said:
			
		

> I'm turning over a new leaf...



Yeah right! Hah!  :bug:


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## SmokeyTheBear (Feb 24, 2012)

movemaine said:
			
		

> Man, I'm glad I've got a bottom feeding Harman.
> 
> Burn pots where ashcan surround your burn pot seems archaic? or not the best way to handle ash. And with an exposed igniter, seems like it would wear quicker as well. I wouldn't be surprised to see more pellet stove companies find alternative methods to feed pellets than a drop system.



Those round burn pots do not have an exposed igniter.

And that one that Franks posted can likely make most of the others look like they were back of the envelope engineering misguided brain eruptions.


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## smoke show (Feb 24, 2012)

SmokeyTheBear said:
			
		

> movemaine said:
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Well said.



			
				j-takeman said:
			
		

> smoke show said:
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I see your not...


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## movemaine (Feb 24, 2012)

SmokeyTheBear said:
			
		

> movemaine said:
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Sounds like an interesting concept/approach, but it still has an "ash management"  issue and I enjoy that my Harman mostly manages ash on it's own. But using the gases, etc, seems like an efficient way to boost combustion.


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## smoke show (Feb 25, 2012)

My bottom feeder has a bigger "ash management" issue then my top feeder does.

just sayin.


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## jtakeman (Feb 25, 2012)

I must be getting old! All these naked burnpots don't seem to excite me much anymore! Sad really!


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## DexterDay (Feb 25, 2012)

Hard to get any better pics. My 1st post (start of thread) shows most individual parts pretty well.

1 pics is the pot as is (dirty) another pic is the pot with the cast reburn plate out (temporary plate that burns pellets while Main pot is being cleaned/dumped)

Another pic shows the pusher out, cast reburn plate out and the "pellet speader" removed (to better show pieces.

Last pic is looking down burn pot. The back of the pot pushes ash out, the front of the pot is a "flapper" door. As the back gets pushed forward, 2 rods on the bottom sides of pot, push the door open. 

All in all a pretty slick system. Only downfall to it... Is that the stove ramps up to Level 5 for about 30 minutes prior to.pushing out reburn plate. This is to get the "Clinker" (ash) hot to ease the removal (designed to burn corn also). After 20 minutes on High (5), the reburn plate comes out and pellets are ignited on the plate from the fire below. After about 5 minutes of pellets dropping and burning on plate, the pusher cycles back and forth twice to empty pot. The plate pulls back and the fire on the plate, drops into main pot. The stove then continues a High burn to build a "bed" of coals (although it doesn't keep it long) for about 10 minutes after clean cycle. So 30-40 min of Full on Blasting heat.. 

If your house is already at temp (stat satisfied) then its likely this pot change (what they call it) or cleaning will overheat the home and shoot way over the set-point. I get about 4Â°-7Â° during this cycle (depends on outside temp).


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## bbfarm (Feb 25, 2012)

Ours looks pretty identicle to Xena's.  St Croix must use the same pot and versa grate in all their stoves.  we have the old style ceramic brick though and our drop hole is rectangle, no arch.


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## slls (Feb 25, 2012)

movemaine said:
			
		

> smoke show said:
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And all along I thought bottom feeders were poor design, trying to push pellets at speed and hope they burn.  
Dropping pellets into a cauldron of fire made more sense to me.


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## movemaine (Feb 25, 2012)

> cauldron of fire



Into the bowels of Hell? Well, since you put it like that, now it makes sense to me


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## smoke show (Feb 25, 2012)

movemaine said:
			
		

> > cauldron of fire
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> Into the bowels of Hell? Well, since you put it like that, now it makes sense to me



https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/91601/


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## Don2222 (Feb 26, 2012)

Franks said:
			
		

> Here is the pot of the new stove by Paromax, called the Rafael.  (all photos of pots after burning and prior to cleaning)
> 
> On this stove the fuel is dropped down to the bottom of this "tube" and baked on an ash bed.  As the gasses come off the heated pellets, preheated air is injected thru the holes in the sides. I'll post a photo of it burning later as I want it running for the weekend.  What you see at the bottom is three augers that are used for ash extraction.  Maintaining the ash bed level is critical in the performance.  Not too low or you can lose the bed, not too high or you may cover the bottom holes and lose some of the reburn.
> 
> As long as I dont change pellets, my settings are perfect.  It will heat about 1500 SF of showroom at 2lbs per hour feed rate.



Hi Franks

Are all the components in that stove DC 12v?
http://www.energymizers.com/proddetail.php?prod=RAFAEL55

Looks nice!


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## magentaman (Feb 26, 2012)

Just emptied the ash drawer and cleared the holes in the grate.


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## smoke show (Feb 26, 2012)

More pot for Dexter.

With and without wear plate installed.

Old skool pdvc.


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## UMainah (Feb 26, 2012)

Here are some photos of my burn pot.
Fairly typical top feed setup. The grate is setup sort of like a trap door which I only flick open after it's shut down and I'm about to clean it.


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## VCBurner (Feb 27, 2012)

Hey DD, nice thread!

I don't have much to add, being new to pellet stoves and appreciate looking and learning about all these different systems.  However, I will post a pick of my Enviro Windsor burn pot and liner tomorrow (have been away from hearth for a couple of days and don't have any pics to show of it right now.)  My father in law's Traditions by The Earth Stoves (TP300) has an absolutely huge burnpot, it has got to be made of 1/2 inch steel!  I wish I had a pic to show here!  Next time I go over there I'll take one.


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## VCBurner (Feb 29, 2012)

Here are the pictures I promised.  I forgot to take a before and after, but here's the after.  
1) Inside the firebox without pot/liner
2) Burn pot and liner in front of stove
3) Burn pot back inside the stove
4) pot/liner back in


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## thedak (Mar 1, 2012)




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## exoilburner (Mar 3, 2012)

This one is for a Harman pellet furnace but looks like some other Harman stoves.  The 4 magnets were to help demonstrate the type of steel used.


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## Don2222 (Mar 4, 2012)

Turbo-Quad said:
			
		

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Ok, Turbo-Quad

This Quadrafire classic bay 1200 FS is now a movie. The movie was taken when walking by the window and then going into the shed on a 30 Deg F Winter's night with the Ohip Players!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oy7LTUl6sQ


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