Accentra keeps shuting down, could wind be effecting ventilation?

[wyopellet]

Hi,
I am new to pellet stoves and I recently installed one in my basement with 3" flue pipe with (2) 90's and a horizontal exit run of about 3' through the foundation and a 45 elbow for final exit. It seems to work fine when the wind isn't blowing but it blows about 5 out of 7 days here in wyoming. I called our local harmon dealer and he said to go up to 4" flue pipe outside the house, so tee up off the 3" with a 4" x 3" tee and have a vertical run of 4" up to the soffit and this should solve the vent problem. The stove runs great sometimes and then the status light will blink and it will shut itself down. I unplug it clean out the burnpot and it fires right back up for awhile. but it seems to be wind related. because it will run all night long when the wind dies down. Does what the dealer says sound right? will that vertical run actually help the venting? or could I just turn the 45 elbow away from the wind and maybe this would help the venting problem.
Thank You for any advice.

 

[HarryBack]

Well, be careful and read the venting instructions for your unit...there are recommended clearances to the soffit as well....I think its 18", if ventilated. Check out the section in your manual labelled "requirements for terminating the venting", I beleive its between figures 33 and 34 in your manual. I dont think it'll do it anyways. By raising the pipe, you'll be effectively exposing the end to MORE wind, not less (I usta live in WY myself......Gillette....inlaws are still in Casper).
Try putting an endcap on, rather than the 45 (looks kinds like a dryer vent)....normally dont reccommend this, but with your high winds, might help.
What is the draft reading of the unit? Was it ever tested?
Did you plug the two bottom holes in the base of the unit where the Accentra is bolted to its shipping crate? If you remove the ashpan, you should see two bolt heads, NOT two holes in the base.
IMHO, using 4" pipe wont help anyone but the dealers bottom line. I actually think it would work against you. Thats a shot-in-the-dark solution on your dealers' part.
You mention the status light blinking. How many blinks? This is VERY important, as dealers use it as a diagnostic feature....really wishing you had a draft reading here! (Im guessing you have a 6 blink error, but let us know!)
Ive never heard of a stove going out due to the wind, but I guess its possible if a sustained wind could overpower the combustion fan and create positive pressure in the burn chamber. Its kinda wierd that this might happen, but i guess its possible, just not likely.

 

[elkimmeg]

Couple if things to mention here, required is a verticle run between 3 to 5' . Second is not mentioned is all pellet pipe connections need to be sealed.
to prevent loss of pressuer to draft and in the burn pot.

Third part not mention is the need and setup requirement it properly adjust the draft as detailed Page 11 in your manual

 

[wyopellet]

I have a vertical run inside of about 7 feet and then it 90's out through the foundation about 3'. It is giving me a 6 blink error on the status light. Now as far as my draft setting goes they said to turn it all the way to the right at the dealer but it appears that the people I bought the stove from have stripped out this plastic screw I have tried heating up a small straight screwdriver but can not tell if it is turning it may have turned a little. any suggestions on this.

Thanks for the reply's

 

[GVA]

I have a vertical run inside of about 7 feet and then it 90's out through the foundation about 3'. It is giving me a 6 blink error on the status light. Now as far as my draft setting goes they said to turn it all the way to the right at the dealer but it appears that the people I bought the stove from have stripped out this plastic screw I have tried heating up a small straight screwdriver but can not tell if it is turning it may have turned a little. any suggestions on this.

Thanks for the reply's

Harry's right, DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT........ This is the crucial part of pellet stoves. Adding pipe may increase it but you should have more than enough draft with your setup
Some questions

How old?
Outside air hookup?
How long have you had it?
how many bags have you burned?
What does the flame look like? (rolling around, or active and being blown to the back)
What kind of pellets? premium or standard?
Last time it was thoroughly cleaned?

These help with diagnostics, I am curious why the former owners sold it to you was it doing the same thing? I hate to say it here but if the screw was already stripped out when you got it it sounds like someone has been playing too much with trying to adjust the draft and not actually checking it. It could be a couple of things but I can't tell you certain things till we have a better background here.
so let us know.

 

[wyopellet]

The stove is going on 4 years old, I do not have an outside air hook-up, I have been burning it for about 2 weeks using premium pellets and have burned about ten bags. The Flame does not seem to be rolling around and I guess would describe it as active. The stove was really clean and looked like new when I bought it. It does seem like it quits feeding and there will be partially burned pellets towards the front of the burn pot and the ash for the most part is brownish in color. There also seems to be alot of carbon build-up on the top portion of the glass and on front of ashpan and inside the main door it is real flaky black build-up but I thought this might be normal since I burned pine in my woodstove for years and it did the same thing. I have a service call scheduled for tomorrow and will get a draft reading and go from there I guess.

I thank evryone for there advice and reply's

 

[HarryBack]

draft reading is a must, especially when the circuitboard has been damaged due to someone else's likely "fiddling" with it. If you must , buy a new circuitboard......also, just for kicks, pull out the slide plate and see if it has any sticky residue on it, and look in the hopper, when its empty, and see if you see any large amount of discoloration in the throat of it (very bottom).

 

[wyopellet]

$200 dollars later and I'm up and running. had a combustion motor that was going out, he said there was no vacuum he changed it out and now it is working like it's supposed to. He also replaced my circuit board and set the draft, the fire was lazy before and now it dances around. and my feed motor is working properly also. The wind must have created backdraft that would put the stove out because when the wind was not blowing it would work, so hopefully I'll be good to go. Might do the 4" vertical run if it starts to stain my siding