Changed from Wood & Sons to O'Kanagan Pellets - Bad Move?

[hobby8691]

England Stove 25PDV, I went from burning Wood & Sons for five years and decided to try O'Kanagan pellets that were on sale for the same price. I've burned two bags and the results were the same, almost totally blacked out glass, clinkers and my burn pot is full of ash. When I burned Wood & Son, the glass remained only slightly sooted, and the burn pot was almost free of ash. Nothing has changed when using the O'Kanagans but the results were 180 degrees from the Woods Pellets. Heat is good with both and with the O'Kanagans I do notice less ash in the bottom of the stove but the black glass has me concerned.
My settings: Normally I use the 2 setting with the blower set at 8. My Low Fuel Feed is at 4, the Low Burn Air is at 8, and the Air On Temp is set at 1.
Stove is cleaned and vacuumed daily. Smoke pipe is also cleaned weekly using leaf vac.

Any help would be appreciated,

David

 

[ericofmaine]

Have you done the burn pot mod? I ask because I get black-ish glass but the mod took away the glass airwash, not that it ever worked that great in my opinion.

I'm running VT's right now and minimal ash, great heat, but the glass gets ashed over. I' d rather have the heat than worrying about seeing the fire. It seems to me only running at "2" for your heat setting could be part of the problem? Your only, essentially, just above idle. I'm not at home to check my settings right now, but the first two of your "bottom 3" seem off to me.

Eric

 

[hobby8691]

Thanks Eric, I will try upping my heat setting from 2 to see if this helps. I did the burn pot mod lower right & left holes plugged with knockout covers a couple years ago, but I have not done the burn pot plate hole drilling.

 

[Ssyko]

 

[hobby8691]

Sskyo, What does this mod to the burn plate do as far as air flow? And is it recommended to purchase an extra plate for the mods or is this a proven working modification? I'm feeling like a newbie here since I've owned the stove for 18 years and never had any problems with black glass until I changed to O'Kanagans. I thought maybe the pellets were to blame. Thank You for the reply, I've dealt with Mike Holton years ago when I first purchased the stove and the service was top notch. Again I appreciate the response.

David

 

[Ssyko]

If it aint broke dont fix it. But i spent 2 seasons fine tuning my old 25pdvc and i had it burning on 2 for days and not sooting up the window. Plugging the holes do more than anything, but the lil diamond in the middle of the burn plate centered the flame and allowed air on each side to help burn everything. If you aquire a plate use the old one to modify. 😎