Help identify this Napoleon - and is it any good?

[save$]

I will be honest but until watching the video that save$ posted I never knew about the little plates in both corners that you can remove and clean located in the fire compartment (I think they're called "exhaust port door" ?)

I just did some cleaning to my unit and man there was a lot of ash accumulated in there..!!

Thanks save$...

I also do a lot of tapping up the back wall of the burn chamber and esp. in the corners. I use the handle of a a plastic screw driver, gentle but enough to cause white flaking ash to fall. Stove performance is always improved with this cleaning. I also liked that video. I think most stove owners can gain some confidence and insight into stove cleaning when they watch it.

 

[movemaine]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I ripped the stove apart and gave it a decent clean. I'll need to go back in to really clean the motor bushings, oil, etc., but I've got it workign much better. I think I'll need to replace the door gasket too.

My next question is - how full should the burn pot be at any one time? (I have a harman, so I'm a bit spoiled)

 

[save$]

[quote="movemaine, post: 1114536, member: 20028"
My next question is - how full should the burn pot be at any one time? (I have a harman, so I'm a bit spoiled)[/quote]
Typically, In a clean burning pot, you will only have about one to two layers of pellets, maybe a half inch at most. Any deeper and your draft is wrong, the stove needs cleaning, or you have crappy pellets. . My Energex pellets will have a heavy ash that builds on the inner lip of the burn pot, they get heavy and fall back into the pot, then that is the start of a clinker, the fire gets lazy, combustion draf is impaired, the glass turn black, and the heat output is less. When things are right you should see burning pellets moving around in the pot as if they were jumping beans. The ash from MWP usually flies out of the pot so I don't have to shut the stove down daily for cleaning.
Good that you got stated on the cleaning.

 

[movemaine]

Next question -
The glass is consistently black. I think I've got everything running well for the stove - so I'm assuming there's no "air wash" on this stove, but is it normal for the glass to be black after a day of burning? I should say that the stove is currently having MWP run through it, which I know has a reputation for black glass - but is there something I should be checking for on the stove?

 

[save$]

That varies from pellet to pellet an ESP. at the temps you are running it at. I get dirty black glass, half way about every 3ed day on high heat with my MWP, but with Energex, it can be a daily chore at any temp. I have to replace the gasket so that may well be a factor for me to consider. Did you get much out with the leaf vac ?
Glass cleaning is easy for me. I just have a brush on the vac. and vac it right off. Once a week, I take a damp paper towel and wipe the haze off. Works good.
Hope you find a decent pellet to burn. I like MWP for both the heat and the lower cost. It comes from a local company and I get excellent delivery service. But like some flavors of ice cream, you could pass samples around and there will always be someone who will tell you they dislike it so much they wouldn't try them again even if it was free. Never know until you try!