Burn problems

[rickpell]

I installed my Hudson River Davenport last March. Imediately had problems. Found a problem with the calking, fixed that,
Burn pot was filling with pellets, dealer gave me a new circuit board, didn't fix the problem. Installed new combustion blower
fixed the problem. Everything went good. In May took stove apart cleaned everything, including stove pipe. Started it out
this fall, went great. I'm usiing hi-low with thermostat. About 4 weeks ago, burn pot was getting about 1/3 + full. Did a quick
cleaning checking some areas and stove pipe. No excessive amount of ash. It would burn great for about 2-3 days to a week. I
clean out about every 3 days. Sometimes the next morning pellets building up, sometimes 24 hours later. Talked to dealer, still
too busy to stop by, gave me a new combustion blower. No change. Called the factory. They will call dealer, that was 4 days ago,
still no call back. I'm getting frustrated. It works fine then a problem. I'm using Athens pellets. Anyone got any ideas? I've been
reading the forum for about 6 weeks. I've done a bunch of things that I've found in the forum, nothing seems to work. Very
frustrated that I paid top price from local dealer thinking I could get service. Thanks for your help and a good forum.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Hmmmmmm

I share your pain.

Dealers can be a Problem if they are not dedicated to taking care of the customers and servicing the products.

Do some careful watching and try to see whats happening when the pellets start to pile up.

Unless there is an issue with the exhaust fan/draft then the pellets should be burning well and not piling up.

Pellets piling up is indicative of a low draft or poor draft condition.

This can be due to a faulty draft fan (you changed that) or an issue with power to the fan.

Do some checking and see if you can come up with some more info for us to chew on.


Snowy

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Can you post a picture of the burn pot and liner?

When you have cleaned the stove have you removed any ash trap panels, covers, baffles, or used a leaf blower in vacuum mode on the venting?

These stoves have ash traps which load up with fly ash. The method of cleaning demonstrated by a lot of installers doesn't include tell the new owner about theses hidden places.

The controller on that stove has trimming ability that allows the owner to adjust the burn to match the fuel it takes a bit of time to get familiar with making adjustments.

I'll download a copy of the manual and give it a read.

Please provide a detailed description of your venting size, lengths of all sections, degree of each elbow, and their orientation, starting at the stove adapter through and including the termination cap. Also do you have an OAK installed?

 

[rickpell]

I've got the damper open so that on low (setting 2) the flame is just barely coming out
of the burn pot. Any more draft and it will be too much. I've also adjusted pellet trim,
but by going down 1 setting on the trim, not enough pellets to feed when it goies to
low setting. I'm pretty sure I've got the draft high enough (maybe a tad too high). Still
has problems. What I keep scratching my head about is that it works fine for a week or
more than craps out.

 

[rickpell]

When cleaning last spring, I found all the places. Took the brick liner out per the manual. Took the stove pipe off
and cleaned it. Pipe comes straight out of stove thru wall 3 feet off the ground, 2 feet plus away from the house, with a 45 elbow with screen.
Everything is clear and clean.

 

[krooser]

think your stove is plugged with ash.... is there a way to clean out the ash from BEHIND the fire box?

 

[rickpell]

Stove is 3", but per dealer I used 4" pipe

 

[rickpell]

I did check behind firebox. There is a couple access covers. Not much ash buildup.
I have burned 1-1/4 tons this fall. I guess my next project this weekend is take
it completely apart and make double sure nothing is plugged.

 

[jtakeman]

rickpell, The Davenport is actually an Enviro cousin. Some of the burnpots had issues with higher ash fuels. Can you name the brand of fuel your burning?

Also if you have the part number to the burnpot liner? Should be an Enviro number and can be found in the manual. I think we could get one of the Enviro high ash pots to swap it out. I bet it burns for days berfore any issues. Friend has an EF3 and was very pellet picky. We swapped out the burnpot liner. Made a big difference for him. Much easier on pellet sellection!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

About the damper setting didn't the installer set that with a mag at the time of install? If not he should have and after that the trimming is done via the control panel. The trimming is done for flame color and activity. It would be rare on a Sherwood Industries stove that the damper once set needed to be changed.

Other things on the stove that can cause what you are seeing are burn pot air bypasses, these are air leaks into the firebox that don't pass through the burn pot.

Bad door gaskets, bad ash pan door gaskets, or doors not properly adjusted such that it appears the gaskets are bad, doors not properly latched (latches are sometimes known for loosening), if the burn pot (or liner) is not properly seated, where the base of the stove where the ash pan is not being securely fastened and sealed (bolts have been known to loosen). You didn't say what the base was on your unit there are two different ones.

Ash has also been known to get back into the air intake when cleaning under the liner.

You have no EVL issues with that vent arrangement.

Once you start seeing burn pot build ups it doesn't take long for the stoves air paths to become plugged with ash.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I did check behind firebox. There is a couple access covers. Not much ash buildup.
I have burned 1-1/4 tons this fall. I guess my next project this weekend is take
it completely apart and make double sure nothing is plugged.

At 1 ton you need to clean the interior air paths.

ETA: A leaf blower in vacuum mode from the outside should empty most of the ash from the ash traps.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

rickpell, The Davenport is actually an Enviro cousin. Some of the burnpots had issues with higher ash fuels. Can you name the brand of fuel your burning?

Also if you have the part number to the burnpot liner? Should be an Enviro number and can be found in the manual. I think we could get one of the Enviro high ash pots to swap it out. I bet it burns for days berfore any issues. Friend has an EF3 and was very pellet picky. We swapped out the burnpot liner. Made a big difference for him. Much easier on pellet sellection!

MWP

 

[jtakeman]

rickpell, The Davenport is actually an Enviro cousin. Some of the burnpot had issues with higher ash fuels. Can you name the brand of fuel your burning?

Also if you have the part number to the burnpot liner? Should be an Enviro number and can be found in the manual. I think we could get one of the Enviro high ash pots to swap it out. I bet it burns for days berfore any issues. Friend has an EF3 and was very pellet picky. We swapped out the burnpot liner. Made a big difference for him. Much easier on pellet sellection!

MWP

Not that bad a pellet IMHO. Athens(MWP) been doing fine with the standard burnpot liner in my friends EF3! But if all the free cleaning which should be done anyways. Doesn't seem to help. The burnpot liner should offer some relief.

 

[DexterDay]

I've got the damper open so that on low (setting 2) the flame is just barely coming out
of the burn pot. Any more draft and it will be too much. I've also adjusted pellet trim,
but by going down 1 setting on the trim, not enough pellets to feed when it goies to
low setting. I'm pretty sure I've got the draft high enough (maybe a tad too high). Still
has problems. What I keep scratching my head about is that it works fine for a week or
more than craps out.

If you have more room to open the damper, that will hinder the build-up?? Not enough air is the main reason for the piling of pellets. May be one of many reasons. Your stove may still be dirty/plugged, but increasing the air with the damper will cause a more complete combustion.

If the damper can be opened more and the pellets are building up, then damper needs opened/adjusted. Id still suggest the leafblower and a good cleaning.

 

[rickpell]

According to my manual, I have the High ash liner. I did the setup. Dealer was out
of town and had a 2/3 week backlog when he got back, when I bought the stove. After
all the problems in the beginning he did stop in and view the stove. He said I had
everything adjusted properly. I had to clean out the burn pot this morning and
this evening. Not as much in it this evening, but it was still building up pellets. Damper
is as wide open as possible. Otherwise it will go out when tstat stops calling for heat.

 

[livefreeordie]

I have the same problem, it turns out that some pellets create more ash than others. Useing Greene team pellets with my type of stove i only have to clean it once every week and a half, with the stove chow i have to clean it every three days. Some say to get a high ash burn pot which is around $60 for my stove, either way you still have to clean it offten depending on the amount of ash. Just my two cents

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Did the dealer put a mag on the stove?

Now that I've said that I have one more thing to say, clean the stove, use a leaf blower in vacuum mode attached to the vent on the outside of the house, keep it aimed away from anything you do not want buried in ash. Then come back here and tell us all about the ash cloud and how the stove burns.

 

[rickpell]

Dealer has not done anything but just look at the stove. After I fixed it
last spring. He has not come to view the unit this fall. I'm supposedly on the
list, but haven't heard anything from him. This weekend, complete tear down
and leaf vac trick on the outside pipe. I'll post with the results.

Thanks for all the comments. Keep them coming!

 

[rickpell]

Totally cleaned stove. Not much ash. Did the leaf blower/vac thing. Worked great. Again not much
ash. Tried playing with the feed trim. Dropped it 1 setting from factory. Had to adjust the air, worked
for a while,(24 hours) then pellet build up. Dropped it another setting, (2 down from factory) adjusted the air.
It's working so far. Heat output has been very good on this setting. Almost 0 deg last night, house
was 70 in living/dining room, 67 in kitchen. I'm satisfied with that, big, old house, some walls not
insulated, R40 in ceiling. Just got to run stove for a week for final test. Just don't know why stove
worked, then would get pellet buildup, sometimes 12 hrs, or 24 hrs or 48 hrs, it didn't have any
set length of time before pellet buildup. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Check for a loose door latch or loose ash pan door latch.

That can make a pileup start at different times, especially if you are opening the door to clean the glass or stir the pot.

But at one ton the air paths really need a good cleaning. Sometimes depending upon the amount of ash produced and its density things can get restricted inside the stove.

 

[BradH70]

According to my manual, I have the High ash liner. I did the setup. Dealer was out
of town and had a 2/3 week backlog when he got back, when I bought the stove. After
all the problems in the beginning he did stop in and view the stove. He said I had
everything adjusted properly. I had to clean out the burn pot this morning and
this evening. Not as much in it this evening, but it was still building up pellets. Damper
is as wide open as possible. Otherwise it will go out when tstat stops calling for heat.

The mag setting in this stove is important for a proper burn. If you have the damper wide open (and I take this as being completely open with the slide lever pulled out as far as possible) then one of two things are probably happening:
1. The pellets are burning up way to soon from all the combustion air and the next feed from the auger does not have a nice hot pellet base to land on.
2. The draft is so strong that you are actually starving the pellets of oxygen and they are not able to maintain a good burn.

And in both of these cases, the problem is going to be amplified by the increase of ash that accumulates in the burn pot.

Unfortunately the data sheet for your stove does not list the vacuum level of the burn chamber at which it should be adjusted to. I believe that if you adjusted the damper so that it is almost closed, your burn chamber vacuum will be dramatically decreased and you should get a much better burn. When I first installed my stove I had to make an adjustment to the damper to achieve the proper vacuum and burn. The vacuum started out at almost twice what it should have been and the flame was blow torch like in appearance. I had to close the damper quite a bit to get the proper vacuum level and once I was there, the flame steadied out looked like it should. I think that if I would have opened the damper farther, the pellets would have burned up very quickly and not left any thing to ignite the next bunch of pellets being fed by the auger.

I recommend you close the damper to 3/4 shut and see how the stove runs. If it makes an improvement, close it some more in small increments until no improvements are noticeable. Then go back to 3/4 closed and open it in very small increments and see if any improvements are gained. Find the best spot and leave it there. Also put a mark in the adjustment rod so that you know were the location of the rod should be for best performance. In my manual, it says to set the damper when the stove has been running on the highest heat level for 60 minutes. I would suspect that you would want to do the same with your stove since this is when the highest amount of air is going to be pulled through the burn chamber and creating the highest vacuum. Trying to adjust it at the low setting will not allow the stove to perform efficiently when it is at a higher heat setting and could be why you are filling up the burn pot with unburnt pellets.

 

[rickpell]

I've checked and triple check door, ashpan and gaskets. I think BradH70
has some good advice. I may have had too much air. I'm getting
better heat with the settings right now, damper is about 3/4 closed. I'll
just keep trying. Thanks again for the help, I'll keep posting my results.

 

[DexterDay]

I've checked and triple check door, ashpan and gaskets. I think BradH70
has some good advice. I may have had too much air. I'm getting
better heat with the settings right now, damper is about 3/4 closed. I'll
just keep trying. Thanks again for the help, I'll keep posting my results.

I dont think that pellets will "pile up" with to much air. It would be the opposite. Your Fire would almost die or die out all together. Pellet build up, is due to lack of burn air. Be it a Dirty stove, Damper not opened enough, leaking gaskets, etc.

Just my opinion. But Ive never seen a build up with to much air. Ive seen a Fire go out because of to much. . . . . .

 

[BradH70]

I've checked and triple check door, ashpan and gaskets. I think BradH70
has some good advice. I may have had too much air. I'm getting
better heat with the settings right now, damper is about 3/4 closed. I'll
just keep trying. Thanks again for the help, I'll keep posting my results.

I dont think that pellets will "pile up" with to much air. It would be the opposite. Your Fire would almost die or die out all together. Pellet build up, is due to lack of burn air. Be it a Dirty stove, Damper not opened enough, leaking gaskets, etc.

Just my opinion. But Ive never seen a build up with to much air. Ive seen a Fire go out because of to much. . . . . .

Yes, fire goes out, auger continues to feed pellets until the stove realized that something is wrong due to a temperature drop and shuts down. Now all those unburnt pellets are sitting in the burn pot.

 

[DexterDay]

According to my manual, I have the High ash liner. I did the setup. Dealer was out
of town and had a 2/3 week backlog when he got back, when I bought the stove. After
all the problems in the beginning he did stop in and view the stove. He said I had
everything adjusted properly. I had to clean out the burn pot this morning and
this evening. Not as much in it this evening, but it was still building up pellets. Damper
is as wide open as possible. Otherwise it will go out when tstat stops calling for heat.

As it reads. He states pellets are building up as the stove is "burning".

Yes. Pellets will build up, if fire goes out. But the problem he is stating (what it reads like) is that the pellets are piling up while the stove is running??

Which is a air loss problem. Many different reasons for this.