King 5510 Review

[newf27]

Agree with the temp rise after sealing the ash doors. What is going on (I believe) is that it enables you to lower the exhaust fan speed (because it is doing a better job of pulling air through the burn pot vs through the ash doors) resulting not only in a hotter burn (as evidenced by a number of us seeing less ash build up in the pot), but by turning down the exhaust speed for the same feed rate, you are actually pulling less heated air out of the room. I did not put a temp guage on my stove, but can sure feel the increase in temp. The thermometer I have in the room showed a 3 degree increase at a lower burn rate. My maximum heat I could achieve in my large house went from 67 Degrees to 69 degrees, using just the 5510 and now with no topping off using the propane furnace on a thermostat. So, I'm getting happier by the minute.
Still think USSC should figure all of this out for us, vs. us having to play Sherlock Holmes on how to run these things. But, great forum to help solve this. I was getting real disapointed after buying it until I stumbled onto this forum. Thanks for the info to all.

Newf27 in the cold Upper Penninsula of Michigan

PS: I'm going to go plow some snow with my new BOSS snowplow. Best plow on earth.

 

[markstantonsr]

im new here so im not sure how this works yet. just got my 5510 installed last thursday. love it so far, but do have a few questions. have tried 3 different type of pellets so far nd have found the somersets burn best. the main problems i have is the burn pot clogs up after about 10 hours of use nd then the glass in the viewing window gets covered in soot. is this a normal problem or do i need to have someone come in nd look at it. this is the first stove i have ever owned. i dont mind the cleaning but twice a day is a pain nd the soot in the glass looks crappy. i will take a few pics the next time before i clean it nd post them. any nd all help would be great thanks.

 

[urkiddin]

im new here so im not sure how this works yet. just got my 5510 installed last thursday. love it so far, but do have a few questions. have tried 3 different type of pellets so far nd have found the somersets burn best. the main problems i have is the burn pot clogs up after about 10 hours of use nd then the glass in the viewing window gets covered in soot. is this a normal problem or do i need to have someone come in nd look at it. this is the first stove i have ever owned. i dont mind the cleaning but twice a day is a pain nd the soot in the glass looks crappy. i will take a few pics the next time before i clean it nd post them. any nd all help would be great thanks.

i had the same problem.i've tweeked it with some of the ideas i read in this thread.i think the biggest difference came after i sealed the bottom ash slides.mines been burning all nite and this morning i could still see the holes in the bottom of the burnpot.in fact i had to turn it down to the 1 setting as it was 75 in the living room on 2.got up this morning and it's still 70.you really have to play with these things.this forum will get you started in the right direction for sure.

 

[ke5hde]

im new here so im not sure how this works yet. just got my 5510 installed last thursday. love it so far, but do have a few questions. have tried 3 different type of pellets so far nd have found the somersets burn best. the main problems i have is the burn pot clogs up after about 10 hours of use nd then the glass in the viewing window gets covered in soot. is this a normal problem or do i need to have someone come in nd look at it. this is the first stove i have ever owned. i dont mind the cleaning but twice a day is a pain nd the soot in the glass looks crappy. i will take a few pics the next time before i clean it nd post them. any nd all help would be great thanks.

You should definitely read this thread from beginning to end.
All of us have expirimented with the stove and so far sealing the ash pan slides seems to really help the most.
I have found that if you run it on the lower settings (1-2) the glass will get dirty fast. Running at higher temps. should help the glass.
Mine has been running non stop since Sun. am and will keep going till I clean it out Wed. pm.
This is how it runs every week.

Now if the darn ignitor would get here I would be happy

Chris

 

[urkiddin]

im new here so im not sure how this works yet. just got my 5510 installed last thursday. love it so far, but do have a few questions. have tried 3 different type of pellets so far nd have found the somersets burn best. the main problems i have is the burn pot clogs up after about 10 hours of use nd then the glass in the viewing window gets covered in soot. is this a normal problem or do i need to have someone come in nd look at it. this is the first stove i have ever owned. i dont mind the cleaning but twice a day is a pain nd the soot in the glass looks crappy. i will take a few pics the next time before i clean it nd post them. any nd all help would be great thanks.

You should definitely read this thread from beginning to end.
All of us have expirimented with the stove and so far sealing the ash pan slides seems to really help the most.
I have found that if you run it on the lower settings (1-2) the glass will get dirty fast. Running at higher temps. should help the glass.
Mine has been running non stop since Sun. am and will keep going till I clean it out Wed. pm.
This is how it runs every week.

Now if the darn ignitor would get here I would be happy

Chris

if i run mine any higher than i'll have to stand outside.just for giggles today i set it up on 3.the magnetic thermometer i have attached to it went up to 400 deg.had to leave the room.thought i'd need a fire suit to get near it to turn it down.right now i'm running mine on 2 and went back to factory setting for feed rate.the draft is set at 2 and room blower at 3.it's 72 in the living rm and the farthest room is at 68.man i love it.

 

[newf27]

Agree with the comments regarding best improvement came from sealing the ash door. I had exactly the same problems with the pot clogging with ash as early as 12 hours. I now get at least 3 days on the lower settings and have gone as long as 5. I routinely clean every 3 days which I can live with because it does improve burn quality and heat output. The higher heat settings indeed keep the window cleaner, and for those of us who use it to heat a larger space, it works.

Separately:
I'm of the opinion that we could learn more about the so called feed rate and exhaust fan speed when setting it manually. I'm not convinced it stays as set when you increase the heat setting separately up or down. For example, if I first manually set the feed rate to 1.7 lbs per hour, on @ #2 heat setting and set the exhaust at 240, it burns about 70 lbs per day. If I hold the feed rate and exhuast fan settings the same but move the heat rate buttom up to a #3 or #4, and then check the feed rate and exhaust fan speed to insure it has not changed and re-set it to insure it is locked in, it definently does feed more pellets and the heat goes up. So, there must be some sort of over ride in the control logic. Are we shure the # is reflecting pounds per hour? When I run the stove on a higher heat setting such as #4 with these same settings it chews up nearly 3 bags per day or about 110 lbs. So something else is still being influenced by the Heat Rate number where you lock in a manual feed rate or exhaust rate setting. Am I making sense? (I know, who cares if it is running better).

A quirk that I have not yet figured out.

 

[ke5hde]

When you change the min. feed rate it is the feed rate for the lowest setting of the stove.
When changing the max. feed rate you are setting the rate for the highest setting on the stove.
Mine is set for 1.75 min and 5.00 max.
According to the manual the stove has a feed of 2.0-6.0 lbs. a hr.
I bumped up my max to get the claimed 48000 btu.
Of course 48000 is in a perfect world and I just don't have that here.
Same goes for the draft fan. You are setting the max and min for the fan.
You'll have to do some math to figure it all out.

Got the new ignitor today. Good timing since it's cleaning day and I have to shut it down anyway.

Chris

 

[ddap1200]

have had king pellett 5510 for about a year,would like to know exactly how to set the exhaust fan at full on?read forum here,and no real clear way to do it.i know how to change pellet feed rate,not sure on that exhaust one.us stove not much help on problems with this stove,glad to see other people with same unit.on mine i drilled the burn pot holes only slightly larger,welded ash pan that it sits in closed where they put it together.new,they only weld corners to keep the box form.also,have tightened up ash slide drawers on bottom.these improvements made big differences,no more pellets building up so much!had to experiment on my own for these things.other than lack of real good help from company,we do like the stove,it helps heat our store front approx 1800 sq ft.thanks for any help or answers in advanced.

 

[ke5hde]

To change the draft max you have to press the upper draft and upper aux buttons.
Use the aux. button to change the setting.
Make sure to press ON to save your setting.

Chris

 

[newf27]

Thanks Chris: So if I got this right, we can manually change the upper and lower range for both feed rate and exhaust fan speed. Original factory setting range for example on feed rate is 2-6 lbs per hour. At each Heat Rating level, 1-5, the stove logic picks from a pre-set level within that range to deliver increased heat from each level. So, if we reduce both the lower and upper feed rate, such as (just an example) putting it from 1 - 4 lbs an hour, it would then select a lower feed rate at each Heat Range setting. Same true for exhaust fan speed.

That explains why I was still seeing a definite change in heat when I would bump up the Heat range even though I still saw no change in my settings.

Thanks, this makes a heck of a lot of sense. That gives me a whole new set of experiments to tune this thing in. Where did you learn this, from trial error or from the factory?

Newf27

 

[ke5hde]

Learned from trial and error....mine and others.

Got the new ignitor in and the stove is up and running.
Just finished doing the happy dance. :lol:

As soon as I pulled it out it was pretty obvious. We have heater elements at work on our branders and they get to looking
the same way. But when they go it's usually with alot of sparks and a bang. Not good in a sawmill. Ours are much bigger 1500 watts @ 477 volts!

You can see the ignitor is DEAD!

Burn pot after 4 days

 

[ddap1200]

hey,thanks for the info on the exh fan setting!! set it already,and running it now.will post later and share results.

 

[newf27]

That looks pretty good after 4 days Chris. Do you get a solid residue building up on the sides that sometimes actually has to be scrapped off? Mine lights up like a sparkler if I pull the pot while it is still hot and I start scrapping this stuff off. It is what plugs the pot. The fact you have so many holes still open on the bottom looks good.

Newf27 in the cold UP of Michigan

 

[ke5hde]

It's not really solid. I can get most of it with the vac. Have to do a little scrapping but not too much.
That pic was after burning a mix of pellets...NEWP, Greene Teams, Marth and Ligs.

ddap1200
Be careful turning the fan up too high or you will just blow all your heat right out the vent.
Good luck

Chris

 

[ad356]

awesome thread guys. some excellent information for anyone that owns one of these stoves. i have had similar problems with really bad clinkers. i closed off the ash pan drawers, performance is much much better now. i no longer get clinkers, as far as i can tell. stove has been running almost 12 hours, something i could never do before. it also seems to be producing more heat. at heat setting 3, room temp is 74 in the living room, 67 in the dining room, and at least 65 in the kitchen. outside temp isnt that cold tonight though, so i will see how it works when it gets cold again. i now notice that its burning the pellets completely and forcing the spent pellets out of the burnpot, which i believe is how these things are supposed to work. when the pellets gets really tiny it gets pushed out by the air stream. i think this is nice, high quality stove that works well when the ash pan is closed off. i think the ash pan is a poorly engineered item and they should have tested it better. they should redesign their ash pan doors and give their customers the redesigned ash pan doors free of charge. i wonder how many of these stoves exist that have this design flaw, and how many of their customers arent dissatified with their stoves for this reason. i could see their being allot of people upset with the performance of their stove, not knowing why. this forum is a blessing and im glad im not the only person that has one of these otherwise great stoves. they certainlly are hard to beat for the price, i could never in a million years buy a nice furance for the price of this stove. im going to keep her burning all night and i will give you guys an update.

my solution to the ash pan door issue was to remove the slides and bend them so the hold the doors extremely tightly to the inside of the firebox. doors are no imobile, and i dont care. i just wanted my stove to function properly. vaccuming it out once every 2-3 days doesnt bother me.

my neighbor has a 5500 stove, same stove but without ash pan. he has had zero problems with clinkers and it runs constantly. the ash pan is really the key to this stove's poor performance.

 

[urkiddin]

has anyone else with a 5510 noticed that the heat output is higher if you keep the hopper full? i'm thinking that the pellets help insulate the heat chamber.

 

[ddap1200]

well it seems to temporarily,as eventually it chokes due to the ash clogging the bottom and not being able to get pulled out the top from the exhaust fan .then it seems to burn slower and then overfill the pot.

 

[iceman_1227]

ok, i read threw this topic a few times. I tried manually reseting the heat range. You guys mentioned your default heat range was 1.75, mine is 4.5.

Can someone give me a example of there setting on 3.

What is your heat range set at.
Draft fan
room fan.

I would like a generic setting to try out, to get the maximum out of my pellet stove without cleaning all the time. Thanks all

 

[urkiddin]

well it seems to temporarily,as eventually it chokes due to the ash clogging the bottom and not being able to get pulled out the top from the exhaust fan .then it seems to burn slower and then overfill the pot.

since i closed up the bottom ash slides like ke5He suggested the burnpot never never clogs up.

 

[urkiddin]

ok, i read threw this topic a few times. I tried manually reseting the heat range. You guys mentioned your default heat range was 1.75, mine is 4.5.

Can someone give me a example of there setting on 3.

What is your heat range set at.
Draft fan
room fan.

I would like a generic setting to try out, to get the maximum out of my pellet stove without cleaning all the time. Thanks all

when i run mine on hr3 the room fan sets itself to 5.anything 3 or higher seems to keep the room fan 2 settings higher than the heat setting.anyway i usually keep my draft setting 1 or 2 settings higher than the heat setting when it is set at hr1 or hr2.i'm burning Ligs right now so that could maybe change with a different pellet.you could also try sealing your bottom ash slides like the previous posts.i did mine and it really made a difference in cleanouts.only have to clean once a week now.

 

[ke5hde]

ok, i read threw this topic a few times. I tried manually reseting the heat range. You guys mentioned your default heat range was 1.75, mine is 4.5.

Can someone give me a example of there setting on 3.

What is your heat range set at.
Draft fan
room fan.

I would like a generic setting to try out, to get the maximum out of my pellet stove without cleaning all the time. Thanks all

You wont really be adjusting the heat range. It will actually be the feed rate the pellets are delivered.
Default LOW setting is 1.75
Default HIGH setting is 4.5
To get to the low setting you need to press and hold the LOWER aux and heat buttons.
To change it use the up or down aux buttons and press ON to save.
My stove is set @ 1.45 low and 5.0 high

My draft and room are set to auto.
Lower limit on draft set @ 100 and upper limit set @ 335

You will have to experiment with these settings depending on pellet brand and your stove/vent setup.

Chris

 

[iceman_1227]

Thank you all for your help,

I will seal the bottom doors tommorow. The back doors you all left alone? What did you guys use to seal up the doors?



Funny, thing is my ignitor took a dive yesterday as well, i am manually lighting it. Called us stove and they are sending me a new one with no hassle. So far so good. I will let you guys know how all works out, once i find what to seal with. let me know

 

[urkiddin]

Thank you all for your help,

I will seal the bottom doors tommorow. The back doors you all left alone? What did you guys use to seal up the doors?



Funny, thing is my ignitor took a dive yesterday as well, i am manually lighting it. Called us stove and they are sending me a new one with no hassle. So far so good. I will let you guys know how all works out, once i find what to seal with. let me know

i used the stuff that i sealed my vent joints with .Rutland direct vent seal.i just gooped it on around the slide and smoothed it out with a finger.it's black so u hardly notice it.it remains soft so u can remove it if u want.

 

[mooselake]

I've had a 5510 for almost a year and a half, and am very happy with it. My neighbor has a breckwell, about 3x as expensive, and he thinks his is prettier but mine heats just as well.

I've called USSC a few times with questions, and gotten great response - including them replacing parts under warranty after I told them I broke them, it was my fault, and I'd pay for the replacements. They just don't want to take any more of my money...

The first igniter lasted just under a full heating season, USSC replaced it without any problems. They are supposedly good for about a year.

I have a cheap probe-type digital oven thermometer bag-tied in the middle of the output air vent, and get about 100 degree air out on HR1. The room air fan is always on 9, more noise but the extra air sucks a lot more heat out of the stove.

The door latch mechanism isn't very good. There's a lot of discussion about USSC multi-fuel stoves on iburncorn.com, which are pretty similar to the 5510. Several there have had good luck tightening the door by tapping on the latch casting. I managed to break it, even being careful. I shimmed under the top of the free replacement with some pieces of brass sheet, and got a 10 degree output air temp increase. I'll tighten up the ash slides and see if that helps, but mine was pretty tight out of the factory. I don't think the cleanout doors would make a big difference as long as they're closed properly - they block access to the heat exchanger, not draft air.

The stove is vented directly into a masonry chimney, not a good way to vent it. It's temporary while it's final home is finished. The 40' chimney builds up a fly ash layer inside, and gets cleaned every month or so, wirebrush up from the bottom.

With Marth and Badger pellets the burn pot got a hard lining and ash buildup. We soaked it in warm water followed by a quick screwdriver scrape of the leftovers. This year we got a good deal on Wood Fibers, Inc pellets (out of Niagara, WI). They aren't certified, have the same ash and heat output as the other two, but are softer and clump up pretty bad if they get even a bit damp. No ash or other buildup in the burnpot, either.

When you clean the stove it's important to pull the slides on the back wall and vacuum everything out well. Tapping on the back of the firebox helps loosen it up. I've got a cheap ($80) Northern Tool ash vac with some 1/2" clear plastic tubing duct taped on the hose that will get back into the heat exchanger (there's openings high up in the back, in both corners, where the metal bends back, one of those mirrors on a stick helps to find them). Ash is an insulator, so it really helps to get it cleaned out.

There are heat exchanger mods for the other USSC stoves to boost the air temp, but I haven't found one for the 5510. Look for chickendave on the other forum for info on one of them. I'm waiting for the warranty to run out before trying anything.

Glad to see somebody else has one of these!

 

[iceman_1227]

Pain in the butt liteing manually, hopefully that ignitor gets here soon. Sealing the bottom doors made a big diffrence. Thanks for all your help forum