# newbie question on flame height



## doublewide (Sep 17, 2010)

I'm planning on burning on setting #3 (out of 5).  I am getting really good heat, but my flame is barely visible through the bay window of the stove.  It is mostly down in the burn pot and coming up 6-8 inches.  I want to burn efficiently, so would setting the flame higher by adding more air or by increasing the pellet feed rate really lower the efficiency of the stove?  Also a lot of the pics of stoves I see are burning with a 18" to 22" flame.  How close should the flame be to the heat exchange tubes, without burning too hot or too inefficiently?


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## DAKSY (Sep 17, 2010)

You're kidding, right? I've NEVER seen a pellet stove with an 18" flame.
In fact, I don't think I've never seen a pellet stove with 18" of clearance 
between the burnpot & the Heat Exchanger tubes. Pellet furnace - maybe...
My P43 cranks with 6-8" flame height...If it had 18" of flame height would be 
4" higher than the top of the stove....


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## Delta-T (Sep 17, 2010)

I can only think of 2 stoves that would even be able to have 18" of fire, the Lennox Bella, and the Enviro Maxx, so I wouldn't use pics of other units to judge the operation of your unit.

and maybe the Europa, that might have enough room for 18" of fire.


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## vvvv (Sep 17, 2010)

ithinx if the yellow flame gets constricted by the metal its combustionarily regressive=soot. aint saying u wont get more heat in the room!


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## mark d fellows (Sep 17, 2010)

to get a higher flame you need to add more fuel.  If you add more air, it will burn cleaner up to a point, and then you start to put out the flame.  I would just burn it, see how much soot, clinkers, and heat I get, and then not worry about it.

Pellet burning is an art, not a science.  This isn't jetted liquid fuel you are burning, so don't worry about it too much unless you have problems with a dirty stove, too much ass, or clinkers.


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## Panhandler (Sep 17, 2010)

," too much ass".  Wow, haven't had that problem in about 25 years!


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## slvrblkk (Sep 17, 2010)

Panhandler said:
			
		

> ," *too much ass*".  Wow, haven't had that problem in about 25 years!



I don't know how I missed that when I first read his post...too funny


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## mark d fellows (Sep 17, 2010)

Panhandler said:
			
		

> ," too much ass".  Wow, haven't had that problem in about 25 years!



Truth be told, I have never had that problem.  No matter how much I would try to brag as an 18 year old!


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## doublewide (Sep 18, 2010)

DAKSY said:
			
		

> You're kidding, right? I've NEVER seen a pellet stove with an 18" flame.
> In fact, I don't think I've never seen a pellet stove with 18" of clearance
> between the burnpot & the Heat Exchanger tubes. Pellet furnace - maybe...
> My P43 cranks with 6-8" flame height...If it had 18" of flame height would be
> 4" higher than the top of the stove....



Okay I was not looking at my stove, but now I am from the burn pot to the top is about 12-14 inches.  I'm just trying to figure out at what level to set the feed rate, air, and heat setting. My flame is about 6-8 inches, so I guess all is good.  I saw another post, and the guys pic had the flame all the way up to the heat exchangers.  I  will try to find the post so you can see the pic.  Thanks for the help and the stories about how you used to get some "ass."

Check out this flame that is why I asked.


https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/58976/


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## SmokeyTheBear (Sep 18, 2010)

On my stove there is about eleven inches between the burn pot and the heat exchanger.

Are you certain you aren't being confused by the pictures lack of visual guides as to distances and angles.

While I can get a very high flame it only happens when I burn it wide open and even then it doesn't hit the exchanger.


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## jtakeman (Sep 18, 2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJpTSayhkjY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIvcpjsS0jY&feature=related 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5urg6OphUAA&NR=1 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDzeS-7Z02g&feature=related

What you don't want!(turn the volume down music is load!)


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## imacman (Sep 18, 2010)

This is what my Englander 10-cpm looks like when it's burning, and also a shot of what my previous stove, an Avalon Astoria looked like burning:


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## krooser (Sep 18, 2010)

The flame on my wind turbine was about 150'.....





Sure glad I bought that... the air quality around my home has really improved....


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## SmokeyTheBear (Sep 18, 2010)

That doesn't look very green to me.


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## vvvv (Sep 19, 2010)

the hottest part of the flame is at its tip & if there wasnt a stove enclosure involved u might lose heat. as is u can lose heat either into the room or to the outdoors via exhaust which will result from excess combustion air flowing thru the stove to burn the pellets & TO KEEP THE GLASS CLEAN! sootier glass results in better room heating ithinx.
actual contact of the flames to the metal will result in wearing out the metal faster


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## Winslow2010 (Dec 26, 2010)

I seem to have *flame dysfunction.*  My Lennox Winslow PI-40 has low flames.  For the most part, the flames are either in the burn pot or 3-4 inches and that is on a setting of 3 (out of 4).  I tried to adjust the airflow but that did almost nothing.  I am starting to suspect a low pellet feed.  I have been burning 1.5 bags per day even on the 3/4 setting which seems low based on the manual feed rate of 1.8 pounds to 3.8 pounds per hour.

Setting 1  1.80#/hr   Bag every 22 hours
Setting 2  2.47#/hr   Bag every 16 hours
Setting 3  3.14#/hr   Bag every 12 hours
Setting 4  3.80#/hr   Bag every 10 hours

I have been running on setting 3 for days and using maybe 1.5 bags per day.  I don't want to use more pellets but something does not seem right with these numbers.

Any thoughts?


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## SmokeyTheBear (Dec 26, 2010)

Winslow2010 said:
			
		

> I seem to have *flame dysfunction.*  My Lennox Winslow PI-40 has low flames.  For the most part, the flames are either in the burn pot or 3-4 inches and that is on a setting of 3 (out of 4).  I tried to adjust the airflow but that did almost nothing.  I am starting to suspect a low pellet feed.  I have been burning 1.5 bags per day even on the 3/4 setting which seems low based on the manual feed rate of 1.8 pounds to 3.8 pounds per hour.
> 
> Setting 1  1.80#/hr   Bag every 22 hours
> Setting 2  2.47#/hr   Bag every 16 hours
> ...




Please see: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewreply/761594/ .


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## Winslow2010 (Dec 27, 2010)

After the difficult task of sitting in front of the stove while the snow comes down outside  , I think my issue is inconsistent pellet delivery.  I have been using the Pennington Oak pellets that are dated 2008 and do not have the PFI grade.  A decent number of them are longer than the 1.5" max length requirement.  I am going to switch over to the Hammer Hot Ones and see if I get a different result.  My flame height does goes to 6-8 inches when the pellets consistently drop.  During the slow drop periods, the flame recedes into the burn pot.


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## EZsteve (Dec 27, 2010)

Winslow2010 said:
			
		

> After the difficult task of sitting in front of the stove while the snow comes down outside  , I think my issue is inconsistent pellet delivery.  I have been using the Pennington Oak pellets that are dated 2008 and do not have the PFI grade.  A decent number of them are longer than the 1.5" max length requirement.  I am going to switch over to the Hammer Hot Ones and see if I get a different result.  My flame height does goes to 6-8 inches when the pellets consistently drop.  During the slow drop periods, the flame recedes into the burn pot.



yeah the pellet quality i think has alot to do with your problem. i have the same stove and i had good even heat and flame with premium pellets. then i bought what said it was premium pellets and they do the same thing you are describing. unfortunately i have a ton of them. i learned a valuable lesson and always test before you buy.


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