Ravelli Roma Combustion Issue

[TimU198]

I'm on my third season with my Ravelli Roma and I have consistently had issues with combustion. I will summarize below and attach pictures.

After a thorough cleaning the stove will start and run properly for an hour or two before carbon or creosote will start to build up on the glass. It will start in the center/upper portion of the glass and spread to the entire glass if no action is taken. If I pull the front handle a few times back and forth, the glass will eventually clear up and the stove will appear to run normally for another hour or two before I will need to do it again. I will need to do this at regular intervals for as long as I run the stove. If I leave the stove unattended, the glass would darken, and the firepot would eventually overflow and the fire would spread to the ash pan. This happened once during my first season with the stove.
The Pellet feed is set to -5 and the combustion blower is set to +5.

I'm including a photo of two fire pots. The top one is from this season (purchased with my first ton in Sept) and the bottom is the pot I bought at the beginning of last season. You can see the new one is developing a crack in exactly the same spot. I scrapped the pot from my first season but it cracked in exact same spot.

I use Mantra softwood pellets.

I'm getting a little desperate now. At this point I cannot run the stove unless I am able to attend to it every couple hours. Any help you folks can be would be greatly appreciated.

 

[johneh]

Sounds like it has a lack of combustion air
I do not know your stove or could find a manual
someone will come along and be able to help.
Welcome to the forum

 

[Rascus]

Like Johneh said, this sounds like lack of combustion air. Those settings you have shown only make a minimal amount of difference, used to fine tune a stove after it is set up. If I remember correctly, it only changes the tune 5% going max out either direction.

If you are looking to make a big change, you'll have to jump into settings and change them to match your configuration. Before doing this, I would HIGHLY suggest you again do a thorough clean of your stove including the exhaust fan and make sure your entire pipe is cleaned from stove to tip.

Set your pellet and flow back to 0 as a base state then do the following:

I'm not sure of your exact stove but try this: short press OK button, then press button 2 to position the cursor over factory settings, click okay and then code A9 should get you in. Let me know if this works and we can go a little deeper!

 

[Pelleting In NJ]

The burn-pot overflows because there is not enough airflow for the amount of pellets it is feeding. Probably due to a restrictive exhaust path (by poor design) or restricted by ash build-up. Describe the exhaust/flue construction (Diameter, length, # of bends/elbows..).

What is your "Recipe" setting set to?

Have you cleaned out the exhaust passages inside the stove, behind the firebox? There are typically two rectangular (approx 2 inches x 5 inches) clean-out ports ("Inspection Hatch") on back Sheetmetal of the firebox, accessible from behind the stove (not in the firebox). Two screws hold each cover on. Also a third clean-out hatch at the bottom of the Flue connector "T", at the back of the fireplace opening. See attached pic.

Have you cleaned out above the removable fire-trap, at the top inside of the fire-box?

Have you tried the "Leaf Blower" clean-out method?

Is the house very air-tight? Are there alot of exhaust blowers running (bathroom, kitchen stove hood...). If so, you may need an OAK (Outside Air Kit).

Could be super ashy pellets clogging things up real quick. Matra pellets are usually pretty low-ash.