Finally fixing the M55 installation and some questions?

[cuznvin]

We will probably put them up off the ground and pray we never have a flood.

 

[vinny11950]

Sounds like a good strategy, Vin.

Owning a pellet stove is a constant mental exercise. You constantly have to imagine different ways of doing things that work for your situation and your stove. The slide idea is very imaginative. Good luck. And remember, we love pictures, especially of a nice big stash of pellets.

I now understand that JT likes to keep his pellets as close to him as possible, guess the bedroom was out of the question

 

[Centurion]

I store mine in the basement too. I have an aluminum ladder that I attach a long sheet of luan plywood too and slide that through a casement window. Luckily the window is right next to the driveway and I store them right next to the slide down stairs. Put 6 ton down there in about 3 hours with a friend's help. I have a PB-105 boiler down there. All set for the winter but hope it is not as bad as last winter. Way too much snow!

 

[jtakeman]

I now understand that JT likes to keep his pellets as close to him as possible, guess the bedroom was out of the question

When we needed a new couch and mattress, I though just stacking pellets in their place would be good enough! Comfy enough for me, But the wifey wouldn't have any of that! :cheese: Have you hugged your pellets today?

 

[vinny11950]

I now understand that JT likes to keep his pellets as close to him as possible, guess the bedroom was out of the question

When we needed a new couch and mattress, I though just stacking pellets in their place would be good enough! Comfy enough for me, But the wifey would have any of that! :cheese: Have you hugged your pellets today?

Ha, a true pellet pig!

 

[vinny11950]

Okay, I promised myself I would post pics after the install, so after 3 and a half months of delaying it, here they are.

Impressions:

1) ICC excel pipe is awesome. Easy to work with the gaskets and the actually work. Haven't smelled any smoke at any point. I just made sure to silicone the gap between the two adapter pipes. But that was it.

2) Before I had the duravent thimble with the OAK which managed to suck in some soot, as I saw in the OAK hose. So I made a separate hole on the adjacent wall and used a vent with a built in screen. Works really good.

3) The ability to detach the ICC pipes and reconnect with the gaskets will make maintenance much easier if ever I have to move the stove to replace parts, and not worry about smoke after putting it all back together. Happy about that.

4) Lastly, and stupidly, I build the hearth pad in the basement. Plywood, cement board and tumbled stone make a very, very heavy object when put together as one. It was a PITA getting it upstairs without damaging it, me, or the house!!

 

[vinny11950]

Also, I have been noticing the slow corrosion on one side of my fire grate, which wraps around the burn pot and burn pot liner.

It happens on the right side, so i figure it must be the fresh air, which comes out on that side, doing some type of reaction to the metal. Moisture maybe. Not sure. But here are some pics.

For two years of burning, everything else looks pretty good, especially the fire pot liner and the agitator rod.

 

[jtakeman]

My burnpot grate is corroding too. Also my agitator shaft is thinning. Heat and the corrosives on the ash are working on them. A fellow I know has an M55 steel and he only burns his on 2 heat setting. He has had his about a year less than me. But his looks new. I am guessing the hotter you burn the worse it gets.

How hot do you burn your M55?

Install looks nice. Much neater looking without all that goo on the pipes. ;-)

 

[vinny11950]

Thanks, J. It does look better, even though I had to patch my T1-11 siding to cover a gap in thimble sizes (I am a rookie carpenter).

As for running the stove, we run it on all settings, but in the middle of winter, mostly 3, 4 and occasionally 5. Weird though, how one side is affected and the other is not.

 

[jtakeman]

M55 seems to burn hotter on one side compared to my Omega. Do you see more flame on the side that has the most corrosion? The flame seems to favor the left side in your picture.

 

[vinny11950]

it does burn hotter on the left side. i can even see the larger flame on the left side. but the corrosion is on the right side. it has to be a combination of heat, pellet chemicals reacting to the fresh oxygen from the OAK.

I was ready to order the Omega, but when I made up my mind they had discontinued it. I always liked the look of them over the M55. but i have grown to like it now. and also how well built it is.

 

[Wachusett]

Vinny, Have you adjusted the damper using a Mag gauge? After I set mine with the gauge, the flame is more balanced.
My install looks identical to yours 45* at the stove, then straight out. I also have an OAK. My damper is almost 3/4 in.
After setting the stove with gauge, my vent pipe temp. went down 20*, burning less pellets, plus more heat in house. :coolsmile:
Hope this helps.

 

[flynfrfun]

I made a diverter and now my flame is much more even across the pot. It was very easy, cheap and removable and no drilling or mods to the stove. Makes watching the flame a lot more enjoyable. The stove drops more pellets to the left side of the burn pot which is why you see more fire on that side.

 

[vinny11950]

Wachussett, you are right, I need to get a mag and do it right. I played around with the damper a few time, and I had to close it a lot to slow down the flame some. I think this is because I am close the to sea (low elevation) and because of the OAK, both of which provide plenty of oxygen to the fire.

Flynfrfun, did you ever post a pic of the adjustment you made? I remember you discussing it, but I never saw what came of it.

 

[flynfrfun]

Vinny,
I'll get some pics of the diverter and post...

 

[flynfrfun]

Here is the simple and cheap diverter I made. It is cut out of a 26 gauge sheet I got from HD. Cut it in a square and then bend it in the shape of the drop chute. I then bend the left side vertical to deflect some of the pellets to the right. That is all that is needed. You can adjust the amount of deflection to get the fire much more even. If you go too far it will kick some pellets out of the burn pot. Works great. To keep it from sliding down, I open up the "U" shape that goes behind the liner. You can then bend it to get it to slide in behind the liner, but it will spring back out enough so that it won't fall down. It may look a little rough, but it works so I haven't tried making a new one a little nicer. Besides you can barely see it when the stove is running anyways.

 

[Wachusett]

Flynfrfun, I have a consistent problem with carbon/scale buildup right in the center of the pot on the tab in front of the ignitor.
I notice pellets pile up here with no air holes to feed the fire and the pellets smolder until stirred.
Did you ever notice or have any buildup here, and did this help.

 

[flynfrfun]

I do notice more carbon buildup in that spot, but only just a little. Nothing to worry about.

 

[jtakeman]

Carbon has a lot to do with the pellets your burning. I get little to none with softies and much more with some hardwoods. Seeing as flyn is burning one of the cleanest burning(doug fir) pellets. They'd spoil us New Englanders! ;-)

Wachusett, I burnt 30 bags of GT's and had lots of carbon by the igniter hole and also on the back side of the liner. I haven't burned any softies this season but last year burned 25 bags of okies and 4 bags of spruce pointes. Had jsut a tick of carbon by the igniter hole. None on the back of the liner. I also burned 20 plus bags of Turmans and had just a bit of carbon by the igniter hole. None on the back of the liner. When I switched to Stove chow I got the most carbon build up of any pellet I burnt. If I didn't scrape the pot once a week it sounded like a beach whale moaning. Surprisingly the grass pellets had no carbon scale at all, But loads of silicon like sand. With little stones about the size of a raisin.

Do you get the same amount from the GT's as the Barefoots? I haven't burned Barefoots in a few seasons. I can't afford their prices, So I bought Hamers and Cubex instead. I'll let you know what the Cubex does, I'll be burning them this week. Time for the cold weather stuff. ;-)

 

[flynfrfun]

J-
I get carbon buildup even with the Doug Fir. Maybe 1/16" in certain spots in the bottom of the burn pot liner. That's after 1wk of burning. It seems to vary from brand to brand. Don't think I've heard the whale call sound yet though. It would take a lot of carbon for that to happen.

 

[jtakeman]

flyn, I am talking 1/2 inch of build up from the hardwoods. Makes a heck of a racket. Broke one of the agitator ears off last season. I had to get it welded back on. Mine isn't the cast agitator, Its a welded unit the early stoves had.

Like to hear what you get if you burned a weeks worth of hardwoods if you could find any.

 

[Wachusett]

J-,

This season I burned a ton of NEWP, not a bad pellet IMHO. Carbon buildup was managable, scrape once midweek and at weekly cleanup.
Just burned a dozen bags of Stove Chow, they created the most build up. Green Teams have not been to bad, similar build up as NEWP.
I have not burned any Barefoots since last season, they got pig piled on and I have not got them......yet. :red: Will keep you posted.

Last year I was a real green horn, but IIRC they did produce a little buildup. Anxious to see how they burn since I got the stove dialed in.

Throwing is some Sprucies for the cold night. :coolsmile:

 

[Wachusett]

One reason I ask about the carbon buildup, last year I burned 2 tons of Dragon Mountain...........hot and clean.
I realize now they were a Super Premium pellet.

Burn'n & Learn'n

 

[jtakeman]

Burn'n & Learn'n

That's the fun part. ;-)

M55 treating you well so far?

 

[Wachusett]

M55 treating you well so far?

Real well, heating 2,400 s.f first floor 68-70. Second floor bedrooms 63-65. Moving air is the challenge.
A little more convection output would be nice, but I don't want to jump on the new blower and sacrifice the quietness of the stock blower.
Haven't had any overheat issues, (knock on wood) I think thats a benefit of the FS Steel.