So to start off I have a St Croix scf 050 corn/pellet furnace. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but hoping someone can help me. I am used to running pellet stoves, not the furnaces. But this is what I have and thought it would be easy for me. Its turning out to be a nightmare. It seems like every other night I go home from work with my 2 kids the stove is off. and the pellets have got stuck in the shute and start to burn before they get to the fire box. then it shuts down. it was working fine when I first started with it and now that it is cold and i need heat (which it is my only heat source) I can't keep it running. Has anyone else had any problems like this?
any ideas??
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superchips
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I highly recommend that you contact the manufactures tech support at your soonest.
Not trying to be a hard ass, but whenever you get pellets burning between the burn pot and the hopper there is a serious chance of a fire hazard.
Not trying to be a hard ass, but whenever you get pellets burning between the burn pot and the hopper there is a serious chance of a fire hazard.
Well last sat I cleaned out the 3 pockets and brushed out the grates on top. Cleaned the exhaust pipe as well. What else should I be cleaning? Any way to get to the auger and clean that? I'm at a loss I don't know what else to clean. That's all I cleaned on my pellet stove. And the person I got the stove from didn't tell me that he cleaned any where else.
redchicka said:
Betcha missed that on your pellet stove as well.
Please tell us about the venting starting at the adapter and ending at the termination cap. We need to know every single piece, along with all lengths of straight pipe, the diameter, and the orientation of the pieces.
Also is this a new unit or did you buy it used?
Do you own a leaf blower that also acts as a leaf vacuum?
Is the pellet burn pot in the stove?
Please test your door gasket and let us know how that goes, also any gasket that might be around the area the ash bin gets removed from.
it is a used one. Exhaust is a 4" run about 18'.
No don't own a leaf blower but from what I read that is a purchase i'll be making. I think maybe I got in over my head with this. But I'm going to figure it out somehow.
Not sure about the gaskets either but I will check that out.
Pellet burn pot? the guy never said anything different so i'm assuming but you all know where that leads. Guess there's a another thing i'll be checking too.
This all gives me places to check. Thank you so much for all the help so far. I'm going to be a pellet burning queen all thanks to all of you!!
No don't own a leaf blower but from what I read that is a purchase i'll be making. I think maybe I got in over my head with this. But I'm going to figure it out somehow.
Not sure about the gaskets either but I will check that out.
Pellet burn pot? the guy never said anything different so i'm assuming but you all know where that leads. Guess there's a another thing i'll be checking too.
This all gives me places to check. Thank you so much for all the help so far. I'm going to be a pellet burning queen all thanks to all of you!!
Most used stoves are ash filled. We see that issue on a regular basis here. Good luck, let us know how things progress.
its a straight run to my chimney there is a 90 elbow at the pipe the comes out of the stove. that was the only way to do it...from what i'm told. since i didn't hook it up.
and the ash filled from when i cleaned it out on sat it went from only being 65 in my house to 72 which is where i wanted it and wasn't burning it on high. its just that the pellets are getting "stuck" as i call it in the shute and then shutting down. Its very frustrating cuz i know the stove should be heating my house without too much problem.
and the ash filled from when i cleaned it out on sat it went from only being 65 in my house to 72 which is where i wanted it and wasn't burning it on high. its just that the pellets are getting "stuck" as i call it in the shute and then shutting down. Its very frustrating cuz i know the stove should be heating my house without too much problem.
redchicka said:
There was likely a lot of ash still in the unit when you bought it, the number one unstated reason for getting rid of a pellet stove is because it no longer burns like it did when new. That is because the owner never bothered to properly take care of it.
They need regular maintenance, and a light brushing of the heat exchanger and dumping of the burn pot and ash pan doesn't even begin to do the job.
TLHinCanada
Feeling the Heat
I don't think that cleaning the stove will help the pellets jamming in the chute. If its the only source of heat not a good situation. I guess that's why they advise to have another source of heat. I'm not knocking anyone, don't know anything about the furnaces configuration, just thinking sometimes there are reasons for rules (a lot of insurance companies don't allow pellet stoves as primary source of heat). Good luck with your problems.
TLHinCanada said:
I suspect that the problem is that the pellets are backing up starting at the burn pot, why I don't know, just a WAG.
SmokeyTheBear said:
I think you are correct also Smokey. As there is another thread about a 050 thats doing the same thing. Both used stoves.
Well had the stove checked out by a pro....and the thing at one point was on fire. Not a good thing. so i'm still without heat. The auger motor is burnt out in it now too. not in a fun sitch. I guess it could be worse.
The thing about a pellet stove is that ash can cause most if not all of the terrible things that happen.
The ash starts piling up under the burn pot, this chokes of the air the fire needs for a good burn, this in turn raises the burn pot temperature frequently past its ability to remain in proper shape while because of the incomplete burn the pellets keep piling up, this in turn leads to the pellets in the chute to backup and smolder and for some to spill into the ash bin eventually the hooper can start smoldering as can the ash bin. The stove is sturdy enough to actually survive this happening and remarkably not normally start a house on fire. But if the hopper gets open all bets are off. The end results of this is usually a number of no longer working parts.
By the time this occurs it is also likely that additional locations in the stove have become packed with ash and perhaps creosote (a wood burners worst nightmare), when the stove is fixed if it isn't cleaned out there is a worse problem waiting for just the right conditions.
You need to make certain that all parts are operating, that the stove is totally clean, and there is no structural damage to the heat exchanger and fire box.
The ash starts piling up under the burn pot, this chokes of the air the fire needs for a good burn, this in turn raises the burn pot temperature frequently past its ability to remain in proper shape while because of the incomplete burn the pellets keep piling up, this in turn leads to the pellets in the chute to backup and smolder and for some to spill into the ash bin eventually the hooper can start smoldering as can the ash bin. The stove is sturdy enough to actually survive this happening and remarkably not normally start a house on fire. But if the hopper gets open all bets are off. The end results of this is usually a number of no longer working parts.
By the time this occurs it is also likely that additional locations in the stove have become packed with ash and perhaps creosote (a wood burners worst nightmare), when the stove is fixed if it isn't cleaned out there is a worse problem waiting for just the right conditions.
You need to make certain that all parts are operating, that the stove is totally clean, and there is no structural damage to the heat exchanger and fire box.
I am just waiting on now the help from the pros. Found a decent guy who does this for a living. He is going to take care of it and show me the in's and out's when to clean, what to look for and so on. I'm starting to think that it should have been gone over better than it was when i got it. live and learn i guess. no matter what i've learned alot so far and will get this figured out. Not giving up yet.
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