My flame height can vary from about an inch to ten or so depending on how the stove adjusts itself. Still don't get the soot-on-glass buildup as the OP described.Your flame height looks high.
Any horizontal section will fill with ash, its just the nature of things, here is mine after 40 bags........
How long of a run do u have. I have about 12" horizontal run and have burned about 40 bags and I'm going to clean my piping out soon
Unless of course you have a Harman.
LOL Back at you!I knew that was coming....... Happy New Year.
I don't know your stove but it sounds like not enough air at low burns. Mine regulates automatically but can't you lower flame and keep air high? Quality of the flame will tell you if you are doing well. You want blue to light yellow and short. Oh and as for igniters. I've replaced one in seven seasons running in room temp mode.I find I get this when I burn the stove on Medium Low or Low for an extended period. . I just think the stove does not burn hot enough at these settings to get a complete burn thus produces a thicker, black ash. I notice this also when I take the baffle off to clean. This also leads to this kind of ash in the exhaust.
The problem is when its warmer out if I burn at a higher heat output like Medium High, the stove is reaching temperature even if I am calling for it to be a couple of degrees higher than I actually want it. So, for me the trade off is a some black build up, which leads to extra cleaning vs that stove starting and stopping all the time which leads to replacing ignitors more frequently. You can try turning down the flame height, which will reduce the amount of fuel going in this might help some.
I have been running my MVAE on manual, with a one degree deadband, heat output medium to high (depending on weather) and flame height 3 to 5 (depending on weather). I am still on the same igniter.So, for me the trade off is a some black build up, which leads to extra cleaning vs that stove starting and stopping all the time which leads to replacing ignitors more frequently. You can try turning down the flame height, which will reduce the amount of fuel going in this might help some.
Oh, how did I forget that????/ today's posts > 'Harman Igniter', 'Harman Accentra troubleshooting help', 'Stove (Harman) just stopped out of nowhere', 'Harman 6 blink part-time problem', 'Harman P43 Problem'......... Yep, set and forget.....Unless of course you have a Harman.
Ain't it interesting that many of these problems turn out to be operator error? And that when there's a design problem Harman sends people to repair it no charge?Oh, how did I forget that????/ today's posts > 'Harman Igniter', 'Harman Accentra troubleshooting help', 'Stove (Harman) just stopped out of nowhere', 'Harman 6 blink part-time problem', 'Harman P43 Problem'......... Yep, set and forget.....
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I could say pretty much the same thing of my Mt. Vernon AE.My Harman just went five weeks between cleanings, in room temp, burning 24/7 and it could have gone more. Including the weekly glass cleanings and occasional firepot scrapes that total time breaks down to about 15 minutes maintenance a week. It eats every pellet I throw at it while adjusting itself to maintain 69 to 70 F in the room without me messing with dampers, draft adjustments and feed rates. No smoke in the room, no hopper fires, no drama, just one igniter replaced in seven heating seasons. When I clean it at season's end there are few fines in the fines box and little ash in the exhaust. If I put it back together per instructions I have no problems. As I said, reminds me of my refrigerator: It's there and it works.
X2I could say pretty much the same thing of my Mt. Vernon AE.
It seems that there are two classes of pellet stoves. Those with simple minded control systems, poorly thought out mechanisms and marginally designed combustion systems on the one hand. Then there are the stoves that do their jobs so consistently, and so well, that we forget the sophistication of the Engineering that went into them.
Buying quality is like buying oats. If you want nice, clean, fresh oats, you have to pay a premium price for them. Of course, if you are willing to put up with oats that have already been through the horse, they come cheaper.
I hope I haven't offended anybody with my opinions here. I'm not a snob, I recognize that the low end stoves have their place in the world, in fact I own one. I just appreciate the quality in design and construction of a quality product.
I have been running my MVAE on manual, with a one degree deadband, heat output medium to high (depending on weather) and flame height 3 to 5 (depending on weather). I am still on the same igniter.
I really believe that the concern over burning out igniters goes back to when the MVAE's had a higher Wattage igniter. With the lower Wattage igniter, I wouldn't sacrifice performance of the stove to safeguard the $29 igniter.
The differential or deadband is set to one degree. I was tempted to set it to 1/2 degree, but I am quite comfortable with the one degree setting, nothing to gain by it.You are correct, I do have the low wattage igniter now and have not burned through one yet. I would agree burning like you will produce a hot enough burn so you get a more complete burn and the stove does not get the black build. What are you using for room differential? The other question I have is do you burn more pellets burning this way vs burning longer on a lower setting?
Yeah. Somethings wrong there. Mine looked nothing like this after a ton. Nothing at all. I had a fine coating thats allAny horizontal section will fill with ash, its just the nature of things, here is mine after 40 bags........
Yeah, the bigger the delta T the better the heat exchanger works but I think that combustion may be sub optimal. I don't really know, but I see a lot of flame reaching for the vent. Makes me think that I'm putting a lot of heat out the vent.Actually the hotter the stove runs, I think efficiency is gained, because metals seem to transfer heat faster the more temperature rises, but I could be proven wrong.
Yeah. Somethings wrong there. Mine looked nothing like this after a ton. Nothing at all. I had a fine coating thats all
The hotter it runs doesn't necessarily mean you're transferring more heat more efficiently IMHO. You have to have sufficient air flow to REMOVE that extra heat by creating turbulent flow and eliminating laminar flow. Your blower is only going to go so fast and move so much air. If you put even more heat into the heat exchanger, you're overfiring the stove and stressing it above its design limits.Actually the hotter the stove runs, I think efficiency is gained, because metals seem to transfer heat faster the more temperature rises, but I could be proven wrong.
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