Pellet Stoves Sweet Spot

[restorer]

The last few weeks have been unusual. Weather has been cold, highs in 20's lows single digit or teens. The last two days it's been highs of 30+. So, the last two days I have been fiddling with the air and feed rates. Last night I found the ultimate combination of air and pellets. I am getting more Btu's with a low moderate feed rate and a medium air than I can get on high. My overnight rate on above the minimum has really put out the heat. Does anyone else have a sweet spot on their stoves, or am I imagining the best rate, verses the stove manufacturer recommended best rate?

 

[begreen]

What stove Rich? Add it to your sig.

 

[restorer]

What stove Rich? Add it to your sig.

This stove is the Jamestown 1000. I think it is a 96 vintage. Back in the Hi Teck Stove vintage. Clean two owner, I have the original receipts. I'll add to the ID.

 

[hearthtools]

Most Pellets higher end stoves you dont have to fiddle with them unless you change Grades of pellets or have a lot of build up in the pipe or heat exchange for the Combustion blower speed will change with feed rate.
Some NEWER VERY HIGH END (IE the newer Austraflume) have air sensors that will adjust the air for the amount of draft it senses automaticly.
The JT as with other low end stoves will be finicky stove just the slight difference or build up in the heat exchange of fuel will throw it off.

 

[drizler]

If you have some form of slide grates or whatever to dump to the ash pan ( if you have one) by sliding one of them out to kill the draft some. That's the easiest way to knock down the draft on the older models. I don't think that the MFGS like to advertise these simple facts in their manuals for fear of upsetting people. Also don't be surprised if your stove has or lacks adjustments found on newer or older ones. They do change them all the time. Failure to note this simple fact can often drive you nuts trying to figure out how to adjust yours. There are often little secrets others have found out that you can capitalize on. You can also put some duct tape over part of the stoves air intake on the back to kill it somewhat. If that works for you and there is room you can buy small 2" dampers at True value or Lowes and stick one in to regulate it. Check out the specific stove section of the iburncorn.com website forum. Someone may have already addressed that specific problem or otherwise have had experience with that exact model.

 

[restorer]

Most Pellets higher end stoves you dont have to fiddle with them unless you change Grades of pellets or have a lot of build up in the pipe or heat exchange for the Combustion blower speed will change with feed rate.
Some NEWER VERY HIGH END (IE the newer Austraflume) have air sensors that will adjust the air for the amount of draft it senses automaticly.
The JT as with other low end stoves will be finicky stove just the slight difference or build up in the heat exchange of fuel will throw it off.

I've always been a tinkerer and do appreciate the pros and cons of stove ownership. If I could afford the ferrarri of pellet stoves, I'd probably own one, but I still think I'd have a manual unit to challenge me. I compare the stove of today with the autos we drive. A new car may have four or five computers controlling everything, for years I had a '47 Chevy Panel. Timing was set by ear, even a timing light was too advanced, for real fine tuning. But it burned clean, got decent gas mileage, and a lot of attention.

Today I worked the stove over. I disassembled the exhaust motor, cleaned the air intake and did a monthly maintenance. The exhaust motor assembly was a little daunting, the blower housing was custom made and a rather crude assembly. Caked carbon and a little extra caulk. When the motor was reinstalled it blew better and a whole lot quieter. The intake on this stove has a damper assembly. It, too, is a little crude and was casually assembled. Took apart the damper, brushed through to the burn pot, super vaccumed and reassembled with some caulking. Originally it was caulked, but was a little hit and miss, so air was leaking in from the joint after the damper. I now can control the air to almost a full shut-off.

I look at this as a functioning heat producer. It wasn't a low end stove when it was made, and has been a reliable stove for ten years. In comparison to some of the brand new stoves it could be called a dinasaur, put it still does the job, and efficiently.

I cringe at the thought that new refrigerators have computers in them. Does that make their cold better? When I have to buy a new tooth brush that is computer operated, I will take my Walk-About into the wilderness.

By the way, this was written on a PIII-600 Laptop, several hundred times faster than my first 386 desk top computer. Don't really need a state of the art unit.

 

[hearthtools]

I wasn’t ripping on your stove Rich or the need to adjust.

Even though you said it but I did not want to say it every JM stove I have worked on or pulled out of a house seemed that they were put together by the 8th grade shop class.

I was just pointing out to others that there is no need to find the sweet spot on most stoves. A lot of our services calls on newer stoves are because HOMEOWNERS are fiddling with the stove setting or Trim setting on the board and don’t set it correct then the stove builds up with crap from to little air.
Or keeps going out from too much air and they blame it on the stove.

I have people come in my store that I have been servicing there stove for 15 years and they ask if they need a new one.
I tell them NO as long as the stove looks good and we can get replacement parts why dump $3K- 4k into a new one when for under $600 we can replace almost every major part in the stove and make it new.