# Castle serenity owners BE ADVISED !



## Jake86 (Jan 31, 2017)

Your igniter is going to be good for approximately 240 ignites. That's how many I got.  Not bad considering. I used this number of lights over a period of 10 months of use. Last heating season and so far this year. That's turning the stove on and off once a day give or take.  Replacement igniter is $28. Plus $8.s/h.  Not sure how hard it is to replace myself.  Anyone out there done it before?  Did you light your stove manually with a torch before the part arrived?
As usual, Adasam (stove supplier) has great customer service.  Only they may have to get back to you next day as they're so busy.
Moral of this story, use your igniter sparingly or have a backup igniter on hand just in case.


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## Deezl Smoke (Jan 31, 2017)

I should not admit this as I already have two stoves in a 900 sq/ft house, but because they were so inexpensive when I bought them and Oregon has no sales tax, I bought a third one just to have on hand. It's sitting in a insulated semi van out on the barn. Still in the box bolted to the pallet.


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## Jake86 (Jan 31, 2017)

Deezl Smoke said:


> I should not admit this as I already have two stoves in a 900 sq/ft house, but because they were so inexpensive when I bought them and Oregon has no sales tax, I bought a third one just to have on hand. It's sitting in a insulated semi van out on the barn. Still in the box bolted to the pallet.



Two's' company, threes' a crowd !


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## alternativeheat (Feb 1, 2017)

I see no need to set off alarms to all Serenity owners over the fact that one persons igniter crapped out.

Anyone's igniter in any stove can go at any time, it's a wear item. On the other hand, the next one might last 7 years.


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## rich2500 (Feb 1, 2017)

x 2


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## bags (Feb 1, 2017)

$28 bucks for an igniter is CHEAP! I wish the igniters in my stoves were $28 bucks. It is always good to have some back up parts in stock at the house for things like this. Especially during the cold burning season. Then you don't have to wait or do without your stove except for the quick repair.


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## Talegas (Feb 2, 2017)

28 bucks does sound cheap. Maybe that is why it last that much.

That said, the serenity manual states "every time the hopper is filled with fuel, the firepot should be emptied"

Following that, 5 "tons" later you would need to replace the igniter. What is that, 2 years or 1 very bad winter? By the way, really? anybody here actually does that, shut down the stove for every hopper filling to clean the firepot?  I'm 4 days into a continuous burning and after seeing some clickers pictures in other threads I want to shut it down and compare my firepot using the northern american pellets brand.


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## alternativeheat (Feb 2, 2017)

Do you really have to shut down to scrape the pot, you can't just scrape off some ash and stuff and scrape under the burning embers with the stove running ? I shut my stove down for a full cleaning but I scrape the pot every day with the stove running.


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## Talegas (Feb 2, 2017)

alternativeheat said:


> Do you really have to shut down to scrape the pot, you can't just scrape off some ash and stuff and scrape under the burning embers with the stove running ? I shut my stove down for a full cleaning but I scrape the pot every day with the stove running.



This is how you handle the firepot, maybe i could just use a pick or something to poke the holes, but the fire will have to be out thus machine shut down. Next version they should have sort of "metal arms" so yuo can poke the holes without having to open the window up.


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## pageyjim (Feb 2, 2017)

Clean the burn pot whenever it needs it. May want to try to turn the stove down to its lowest setting let it settle and scrape out clinkers etc and close the door and resume burning without shutting the stove down when you don't want to shut it down. There are scrapers out there already made or rig up something yourself. May want to use an oven mitten if you want.


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## pageyjim (Feb 2, 2017)

The Castle Serenity looks like a good value for a pellet stove from what I can see. But I can't see how the life expectation for an igniter is based on one persons experience. But even if that was the actual average life expectancy I would simply do manual starts and save the auto start when it was needed. HSI's are a weak point on most stoves and gas furnaces. A lot of factors can come into play with igniters. Some furnace manufacturers lowered the voltage to igniters just to help them last longer. It could be how they are located and how they cool, it could be the quality of the power or the control board causing the "early" failures. 
Maybe start a thread with Serenity owners with a poll to see how long they last and if they use thermostat operation or not etc if there is a real concern out there.


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## rich2500 (Feb 2, 2017)

pageyjim said:


> Clean the burn pot whenever it needs it. May want to try to turn the stove down to its lowest setting let it settle and scrape out clinkers etc and close the door and resume burning without shutting the stove down when you don't want to shut it down. There are scrapers out there already made or rig up something yourself. May want to use an oven mitten if you want.


Exactly what you do if you don't want to shut the stove down.


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## Mt Bob (Feb 3, 2017)

Well,as one of my stoves has an igintor(the harman)I use it the same as a furnace.In mild weather ,it starts,stops,and relights itself,as it is supposed to.I depend on it,therefore I will probably replace the ignitor this summer,as it falls within harmans recommendations for the usage the ignitor has seen.It is called maintenance.Parts do not last forever.They are wear items.Not much different than spark plugs,better to replace them when recommended than wait for a problem.


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## raydelgado (Sep 17, 2019)

My castle serenity wont start,shows no warnings ,ran diagnostics ,it shows nothing but limit light, so all good, ive changed igniter, moved wires on exhaust as was told every thing cleaned thoroughly ,pipes ,stove ,burning pot etc, still wont light, had for 3 yrs and ran flawlessly, had to move it to do tile floor, and when put back it wont light, just gets really smokey, any help would be appreciated. oh and air slide is half way


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## rich2500 (Sep 17, 2019)

You sure the pellets didn't absorb moisture.


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## raydelgado (Sep 17, 2019)

rich2500 said:


> You sure the pellets didn't absorb moisture.


i emptied them out and put more from fresh bag, but nothing changed, very frustrating


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## JA603 (Oct 26, 2019)

You probably have it working by now.  I just had the same problem, wouldn't light just smoked alot.  Turns out I had some ash in the pipe.  My stove is 3 years old and the igniter went last winter so I've been doing a manual light ever since.  I find it lights easier if I turn it up to HI to light to increase the air flow through the burn pot.


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