How to burn wood pellets in 2006 Auburn corn burner

[rickwai]

Right now its still by passed.
I got to thinking about and wondered "well, what does that switch really do for me, except tell me I have airflow and some negative pressure?"
So I left it off.
I can redo it later today and see what happens.

It is a safety switch so it will stop the feed in the event that you loose air flow. It needs to be in place if you are running it and not monitoring it.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

It is a safety switch so it will stop the feed in the event that you loose air flow. It needs to be in place if you are running it and not monitoring it.

So I can run the stove at night if it's working??

I just hooked it up. It's working now!

 

[Rxwoman1961]

The vacuum switch is on. I finally managed to misplace a damn screw, so it just kind of hangs there.
I still have the old exhaust fan motor propped up and jury rigged up to fool the control board.
And Ive left the back panel off (Ssyko's advice) because I got tired of removing all those damn screws!
But...I have HEAT.

 

[rickwai]

Yes hook the exhaust fan up the way it is suppose to be. If the vac switch is hooked up and everything is wired back up like it should be you can run it at night I would say? Does it seem to be burning good? Looking at the picture it looks like you are getting a clean burn

 

[Ssyko]

The big motor has to stay plugged into the wall, it will smoke the control board

 

[rickwai]

The big motor has to stay plugged into the wall, it will smoke the control board

Good to know

 

[Lordtimothy200]

Just a few mins ago was looking at the Surplus Center and they had a combustion blower that looks just like the big one you sent her. Looks like the stock one pulls 1.7 amps and I the one I was looking at pulled 2.1 amps. Hmmmmm is that enough of a difference to burn up the board?

 

[FirepotPete]

I just want to chime in quickly, I've been following this thread since the beginning.

I think this is one of the best threads we've seen here in a long time.

Good job pelletheads and kernel burners!

Stay warm, we (upper mid west) are about to see days without going above 0°f and chills down around -40°f.

 

[Ssyko]

Just a few mins ago was looking at the Surplus Center and they had a combustion blower that looks just like the big one you sent her. Looks like the stock one pulls 1.7 amps and I the one I was looking at pulled 2.1 amps. Hmmmmm is that enough of a difference to burn up the board?

Yeah, unfortunately any that are made by APPCONEX ,I can guarantee they wont take more that 1.5amp a burst of 1.8 smoked one on my test bench. Most PCBs are constructed with 1 oz copper thickness. thats about 1.37 mill (thousands of an inch) and you can see how wide the traces are so yeah between the triacs and opto's they really are electrically fragile.
The motor i sent was for a Trane furnace, it is an inducer motor but not a standard 1/40- 1/70 hp it is a 1/15hp @ 3000 rpm. so driving a bigger squirrel cage does not drag it down like it would the lesser hp motors. I have frankenstoved my old breckwell to the point the fire wall looks like a washboard its so warped.lol

 

[Lordtimothy200]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge on the stoves. Like FirepotPete said, this is one of the most enjoyable threads.

 

[JbTech]

I just want to chime in quickly, I've been following this thread since the beginning.

I think this is one of the best threads we've seen here in a long time.

Good job pelletheads and kernel burners!

Stay warm, we (upper mid west) are about to see days without going above 0°f and chills down around -40°f.

Agreed! I don't know the 1st thing about burning pellets or corn, but helping someone in the same boat says a lot about the folks here!
Thanks to all that helped!

And yes....It looks like it's gonna be a cold week around here...Real cold.

 

[rickwai]

I just want to chime in quickly, I've been following this thread since the beginning.

I think this is one of the best threads we've seen here in a long time.

Good job pelletheads and kernel burners!

Stay warm, we (upper mid west) are about to see days without going above 0°f and chills down around -40°f.

I agree! I dont think there are many women on here. And when Rx joined and was willing to go elbow deep into this basket case stove it got our attention. I can barely get my wife to add pellets or corn if I am away and at that I have to have it set by the stoves . It is fun to help others, and this time of year there is not much else to do....

 

[SidecarFlip]

I agree! I dont think there are many women on here. And when Rx joined and was willing to go elbow deep into this basket case stove it got our attention. I can barely get my wife to add pellets or corn if I am away and at that I have to have it set by the stoves . It is fun to help others, and this time of year there is not much else to do....

In the same boat with mine. She basically won't touch it and then crabs when it's not producing sufficient heat to keep the cats toasty, but then I pay for all the heating supplies and the propane as well.

I do get her to add fuel in the AM, so ling as the fuel pail is next to the stove and has mix in it. No way is she going out on the deck and get any.

I suspect a bad (as in arctic cold0 weekend is coming up.. Ambient outside temp is visibly sliding down to the cellar. Probably have to notch up the stove a bit and kick on the central furnace as well.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

I agree! I dont think there are many women on here. And when Rx joined and was willing to go elbow deep into this basket case stove it got our attention. I can barely get my wife to add pellets or corn if I am away and at that I have to have it set by the stoves . It is fun to help others, and this time of year there is not much else to do....

Thank you guys. My dad is partly to blame. He was a shade tree mechanic and he insisted I know how to check and change my oil when I got my first car back in the late 70's.
Funny though, he never made my younger sister do the same. It occurs to me now that he must have figured she'd never need to know as men fall over themselves begging to do stuff for her since age 12 .
I think the stove is running even better now, no more pellets seem to be over filling the burn pot. I went and stocked up on more pellets yesterday as we are supposed to get brutal cold starting tomorrow. Yuck.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Already brutal cold here in SE Michigan. Got the tractor out (the one with the cab of course) and cleaned the drives out and in front of the mailbox, took the bucket off, put on the forks and replenished the 4 plastic garbage cans with corn pellet mix and my wife actually helped. She put in the pellets, I put in the corn. 3 scoops corn, 1 scoop pellets, rinse and repeat. Filled the last can and my fingers were numb and that is in the barn. It never ceases to amaze me, the corn I'm using (no treat seed corn) sells for 300 bucks a 50 pound sack and I suck it down, so basically, every day when it's cold out I'm burning 600 bucks worth of no treat GMO seed corn.

It's 18 here and very windy. Supposed to go below zero tonight. I imagine the central furnace will be on. No way can a 50K btu input stove keep up with that heat load. With the wind chill presently, it's -1. Besides, I don't need frozen pipes. Have the Plus 90 set at 60.

Nice to be back inside with a hot cup of cocoa.

 

[Lordtimothy200]

Temps are starting to drop here, just loaded up 25 bushels of corn in the hopper attached to the house and made sure all the temp sensors are working across the property. Ready as I will ever be.

Anytime it gets under 10 degree's (or 15 with a wind) the ole Auburn is steady at heat setting 4 of 5. 5 just scares me just a bit on how hot she gets. Also does not seem to put out that much more heat at 5 than it does at 4.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Like I said in another thread, running them balls out for an extended period will do nothing except warp the firebox. Never run my 6039 past 5 (out of 9 notches). I gain nothing, use more fuel and always run the risk of a high limit shutdown. I have over 20 years on this unit and other than having to straighten out the firebox above the loading door and adding a steel stiffener because I pushed it too hard too long, it's been a gem. You do not ever want to straighten out a warped from heat door frame or add a stiffener in a confined space. I'm a pretty good welder and it tested my mettle installing it.

They will only strip so much heat from the firebox no matter what. You are limited by the air passages and the CFM of the convection blower anyway.

 

[Ssyko]

Thank you guys. My dad is partly to blame. He was a shade tree mechanic and he insisted I know how to check and change my oil when I got my first car back in the late 70's.

As a father of 3, we always tryed to teach them right from wrong and to always stay true to your beliefs. all 3 were tought to wrench and work on their own vehicles so they are not dependant on others to do it for them. one (father of 2) is way up the food chain in the nuklear power in the northeast one is a school bus driver(mom of 3) and the other is a mom of 3 (married big money). My wife is spoiled but she can change her own oil and let me know when the check engine light comes on . the
willingness of RX to jump in this project is awesome and should be a lesson for stove owners that you think your stove is clean, and we just like to harp on folks for not doing their research. She took the suggestions we all gave her and ran with it. next year she will be cruzing the forums helping others how to clean their stoves.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Already brutal cold here in SE Michigan. Got the tractor out (the one with the cab of course) and cleaned the drives out and in front of the mailbox, took the bucket off, put on the forks and replenished the 4 plastic garbage cans with corn pellet mix and my wife actually helped. She put in the pellets, I put in the corn. 3 scoops corn, 1 scoop pellets, rinse and repeat. Filled the last can and my fingers were numb and that is in the barn. It never ceases to amaze me, the corn I'm using (no treat seed corn) sells for 300 bucks a 50 pound sack and I suck it down, so basically, every day when it's cold out I'm burning 600 bucks worth of no treat GMO seed corn.

It's 18 here and very windy. Supposed to go below zero tonight. I imagine the central furnace will be on. No way can a 50K btu input stove keep up with that heat load. With the wind chill presently, it's -1. Besides, I don't need frozen pipes. Have the Plus 90 set at 60.

Nice to be back inside with a hot cup of cocoa.

Holy crap! Why is that corn so expensive??
It's nice to have an other half to help with stuff. One of my favorite memories from about 2014, Arne had a 50 something inch projection tv in his apartment in San Diego (we weren't married yet) and it went on the fritz. We decided it must be a broken color wheel and ordered a replacement from ebay. I found a youtube video on how to pull the old one (that thing was waaaay inside the guts!) and install the new one. He and I spent the whole morning into afternoon taking that thing apart by following every step from the youtube video.
It doesnt sound like something enjoyable, but it was.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Holy crap! Why is that corn so expensive??
It's nice to have an other half to help with stuff. One of my favorite memories from about 2014, Arne had a 50 something inch projection tv in his apartment in San Diego (we weren't married yet) and it went on the fritz. We decided it must be a broken color wheel and ordered a replacement from ebay. I found a youtube video on how to pull the old one (that thing was waaaay inside the guts!) and install the new one. He and I spent the whole morning into afternoon taking that thing apart by following every step from the youtube video.
It doesnt sound like something enjoyable, but it was.

Certified seed corn is always expensive, 300 bucks per 50 pound sack is about average and some (if it's coated) is even more. Lots of growing technology in it plus it has to germinate at 95% or better to be sold. The stuff I get is last years and sometimes the previous year's seed corn and it won't meet the 95% germ rate so it's no longer marketable. If you were buying seed corn, you'd want the maximum germination rate for dollars spent. Most of what I get to burn is what they call 'refuge corn' which is basically silage corn for animal feed. My buddy typically sells out of the ultra hybrid stuff every year. It all roasts the same, the stove don't care one way or another.

My wife gets a kick out of telling her friends we have the most expensive biomass stove around here and I agree. At 600 bucks a day average, we wail through some serious bucks. really only 3 choices for it. I can burn it or it can be landfilled or direct burial, so I burn it and everyone (including us) are happy.

The only issue with really dry seed corn is the amount of ash it makes. I have to empty the ash pan every 3 days or it quickly gets out of hand.

Currently 7 here outside. Not nice out and the wind is howling. Central furnace is coming on about once every 1 1/2 hours which is fine with me anyway. keeps the pipes from freezing down in the dungeon.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

As a father of 3, we always tryed to teach them right from wrong and to always stay true to your beliefs. all 3 were tought to wrench and work on their own vehicles so they are not dependant on others to do it for them. one (father of 2) is way up the food chain in the nuklear power in the northeast one is a school bus driver(mom of 3) and the other is a mom of 3 (married big money). My wife is spoiled but she can change her own oil and let me know when the check engine light comes on . the
willingness of RX to jump in this project is awesome and should be a lesson for stove owners that you think your stove is clean, and we just like to harp on folks for not doing their research. She took the suggestions we all gave her and ran with it. next year she will be cruzing the forums helping others how to clean their stoves.

It's amazing what people can do when their alternative is to freeze their a$$es off.
Not a lot of people are willing to spend hours cyber tutoring someone step by step for weeks, especially when that someone is a total pellet stove newb who has to repeatedly ask dumb question like "what's this thingy and should it sound all squeaky?" Lol.
Thank you for having so much patience.

 

[Rxwoman1961]

Oh, hey! I have been wanting to ask everyone their opinion on Bixby stoves.
When I very first started looking around I saw several for sale and I really liked the look.

But after doing some home work and seeing so many scathing complaints I crossed them off my list.
However, Ive seen some guys have them.
I'm just curious. Do they ever function?
Why did he go out of biz?

 

[rickwai]

They have not been made in years and alot of parts are obsolete and not available from what I have heard.

 

[john sulllivan]

the green light will blink when the stove is in warm up mode, it has to pass vacuum test and prof of fire test before the convection fan comes on and green light stays solid. if it fails it will blink a code with the red lights 1 through 5. seeing the vacuum switch is bypassed it's probably going to blink a 2. remove the ash vent covers in the bottom of the stove. these go from the bottom to the top of the stove, need to be clear. use a wire, blow it out with a compressor, what ever you have and try it again. you can change the program to burn pellets on later stoves, find the manual and see

 

[Ssyko]

the green light will blink when the stove is in warm up mode, it has to pass vacuum test and prof of fire test before the convection fan comes on and green light stays solid. if it fails it will blink a code with the red lights 1 through 5. seeing the vacuum switch is bypassed it's probably going to blink a 2. remove the ash vent covers in the bottom of the stove. these go from the bottom to the top of the stove, need to be clear. use a wire, blow it out with a compressor, what ever you have and try it again. you can change the program to burn pellets on later stoves, find the manual and see

welcome to the forums John. You shold go back and check out the entire thread, we are wayyyy past the point at this time. But you post made me smile.