# Darn pellet stove feed rate?!?!?!



## TedNH (Oct 18, 2006)

Now Im very confused.
I had been burning my Harman XXV at feed rate 4.  which seemed ok but really went thru the pellets fast.
I have dialed it back to 3, and turned the room temp fan down half way between high and low.
Im going thru much less pellets and the room seems to be maintaining a good temp.  
So what is the difference in feed rates?!  This morning when I was checking on the stove I could see red hot pelllets down in the ash pan.
ugh...
any insight you guys can lend me?
Im using Energex premiums.


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## smirnov3 (Oct 18, 2006)

check some of the other pellet threads from the last two days - we have been talking about just this.

BeGreen reposted a good one about how the pellet stove dictates fuel consuption during heat up, and (to a lesser degree) during temp maintenance.

basically, set the rate high enough so that the house warms up fairly quickly, and low enough so that you don't waste pellets. should be between 3-4 for premium pellets & a typical house.

and remember - it's an Art, not a Science.


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## GVA (Oct 18, 2006)

TedNH said:
			
		

> Now Im very confused.
> I had been burning my Harman XXV at feed rate 4.  which seemed ok but really went thru the pellets fast.
> I have dialed it back to 3, and turned the room temp fan down half way between high and low.
> Im going thru much less pellets and the room seems to be maintaining a good temp.
> ...



Couple of things to consider I burned those last year and they seemed to burn hot as hell but should burn completely before being pushed out of the burn pot.
What's the flame look like short or tall, color and pattern.
Was the stove draft tested at installation?
Might be a incomplete combustion problem (again it might be)

Again feed rates are based on 60 Hz which is why the feed rate only goes to 6.
the easiest way to look at is when in high burn (only) The feed motor will run by whatever you have it set at times ten so 3 would be 30 seconds on 30 seconds off.
2 1/2 = 25 sec on 35 sec off.  4 = 40 sec on 20 sec off.... etc.
when in maint. burn the control board will dictate feed rate on its own to maintain temp
Alot more info out there on this sight.


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## HarryBack (Oct 19, 2006)

actually, GVA, I think youll find the correlation of feed rate to time to be roughly a factor of 8.....thats what I was alluding to in a previous thread with the timing of the auger and on/off cycles.
Doesnt make alot of sense when set to 3 you see live pellets in the pan, and when set to 4 you dont....unless the stove just started up...then you can actually get live embers in the pan.
Is your flame color a orange-red or a yellow-orange? Is the fire really active, or a lazy flame? As GVA said, have you had the draft tested? If so, what is it? Are you using outside air?


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## moog5 (Oct 19, 2006)

With my XXV, when I burn Golden Fire pellets, I have to set the feed rate  to about 2.5, any higher and  it will push embers off the edge.  I am now burning Eureka Future Fuel from Walmart and have it set at 3, anything higher will push embers off the edge.  I hear allot of people talking about settings of 3 to 4 being a good setting.  I can't get anywhere close to those values without shoving embers off the edge.  

I am pretty meticulous when it comes to scraping and cleaning, but what I found myself not doing enough last season was cleaning out the igniter area.  Keeping it cleaned out seemed to really help with a good hot burn.     I suggest you make sure that area is clean, give the grate a good scrape, then re-follow the steps in the  owners manual for setting the feed rate.   Then get a good feel for how often you need to scrape.  If after time, it looks like you are getting close to shoving embers off the edge (even after scraping), then check the iginiter area again, it will likely need to be cleaned.


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## cogger (Oct 19, 2006)

Anton Smirnov said:
			
		

> and remember - it's an Art, not a Science.



How true this is. It is all a proccess of trial and error, roomtemp, outdoor temps, drafts, pellet grade , etc.... explore different ways and figure which is best and most comfortable for you


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## GVA (Oct 19, 2006)

HarryBack said:
			
		

> actually, GVA, I think youll find the correlation of feed rate to time to be roughly a factor of 8.....thats what I was alluding to in a previous thread with the timing of the auger and on/off cycles.
> Doesnt make alot of sense when set to 3 you see live pellets in the pan, and when set to 4 you dont....unless the stove just started up...then you can actually get live embers in the pan.
> Is your flame color a orange-red or a yellow-orange? Is the fire really active, or a lazy flame? As GVA said, have you had the draft tested? If so, what is it? Are you using outside air?


Just wondering is that factor of 8 for 110vac 50 hz?


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## moog5 (Oct 20, 2006)

TedNH said:
			
		

> Now Im very confused.
> I had been burning my Harman XXV at feed rate 4.  which seemed ok but really went thru the pellets fast.
> I have dialed it back to 3, and turned the room temp fan down half way between high and low.
> Im going thru much less pellets and the room seems to be maintaining a good temp.
> ...



To set your feed rate, go to page 16 in the owners manual and follow helpful hint #7.


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## GVA (Oct 20, 2006)

Pete S said:
			
		

> TedNH said:
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Hold on there pete....... are you running in stove temp mode?  
I believe most of us are running Room temp mode which throws helpful hint # seven right out the window....  Interesting point here for tednh what mode are you running in Ted?


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## moog5 (Oct 21, 2006)

GVA said:
			
		

> Pete S said:
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I always run in Room Temp mode but it doesn't matter if I normally run in Room or Stove temp mode.   The feed adjuster setting applys to both Room and Stove temp modes. The feed adjuster setting simply sets the maximum length of time the auger will run each 60 second cycle to assure it doesn't ever push unburned pellets of the edge.      

I think you are confusing the helpful hints on page 16 as falling under Stove Temp Mode instructions which start and end on page 15.


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## GVA (Oct 21, 2006)

Pete S said:
			
		

> GVA said:
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helpful hint # 7 is the same on page 4 and 5 in my manual this is auto and manual This is to set *maximum burn rate *and should have nothing to do with normal settings. :roll: read your page 15 and 16 side by side and you will see that there is no difference in the text you need to be in stove temp to set maximum burn.


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## moog5 (Oct 21, 2006)

GVA said:
			
		

> Pete S said:
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I thought you told me to "hold on" because helpful hint #7 was to be thrown out the window dependent on what mode is normally ran in.   I think you and I are trying to make the same point.  To "set" the feed adjuster per the hint it says to be in Stove mode.  Once you follow the procedure it doesn't matter what mode I or anyone runs in.  Do you agree?  
(the helpful hints in the xxv manual are repeated on pages 16 and 18).


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## GVA (Oct 21, 2006)

No and yes to the question..
That helpfull hint is only to set maximum burn rate ie: the maximum rate of feed for maximum heat without wasting pellets(IN STOVE MODE)...  If you do this It's not like the stove learns how to regulate itself after doing this in room temp mode....  If the room temp is set to 70 and the stove thermister senses this it will not run based on the feed setting any longer it's internal setpoints will take over to maintain a flame without going out.  Whereas stove temp and max feed rate is based off the ESP ie: the flue temp, it is only a setting to set your stove up to act like a wood burning stove without the complications of monitoring the flue temp and dampering down.  Can you set the ash bed to less than an inch?  Yes but that would lead to wasting pellets and possibly the stove from shutting off from the esprobe from sensing too high a flue temp..
Again helpful hint 7 is only valid for running in stove temp mode :down:


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## moog5 (Oct 22, 2006)

GVA: Sorry, to completely disagree with you.   The feed adjuster applys to both Room and Stove modes, not just Stove mode.

I run 100% of the time in Room Temp mode.  To figure out my feed adjuster settings I follow hint #7(In Stove mode on H, ...1/2 hr burn ...check ash width, ...fine tune ash to 1" width).   If I set the feed adjuster to 4+ and run in Room Temp mode, it never fails,... if my stove senses the need to raise the room temp significantly, it will shove embers off the ledge.   If I use the setting figured in hint#7, it doesn't.

If it only applys to Stove mode, tell me what happens when you put the room sensor under a ziplock bag full of ice (stick it into another bag to keep it from getting wet), or leave all the doors and  windows open in your house assuming it's cold outside,  then set your stove to ROOM mode, at 90F,  and feed adjuster setting at 6.  If the feed adjuster setting applys only to STOVE mode,  the stove shouldn't operate any if you do all of the above but with the feed adjuster setting at 1.

I agree with you if you mean you have to be in Stove mode when  following  hint #7.  My apologies if the above is based on an misinterpretation of your last post.


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## GVA (Oct 22, 2006)

All I am trying to say is that(#7) this is to set max burn (or should I say proper way to set max burn)
Yes feed adjuster is for both stove and room temp


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