Hello! I've been using my Master Forge pellet stove for about three months now. I am very diligent with the daily, weekly and monthly cleaning procedures. I've never had a problem with the stove until last night. My husband and I were asleep and he suddenly smelled smoke. We ran to check the stove and though there was no obvious emergency going on it definitely smelled smoky, which it never has before. We turned it off. Today, we emptied the clean out tee and did another deep clean of the inside of the stove, and noticed that last night there must have been a fire burning outside of the firepot, and that the braided seal around the door has really begun to deteriorate in the lower middle. The glass was black with soot when it is usually just a light grey before cleaning- it has never been black like this before, indicating to me that the fire was burning far more forcefully, and closer to the window. I'm wondering what may have caused the fire to start outside of the pot, and how to avoid this in the future. It was quite windy last night (we are under a high wind advisory)- is it possible that a gust of wind could have come down the chimney and caused this? Also, I'm concerned about the seal. Should we have it replaced immediately? Is it safe to use before we can order and install a replacement? I truly appreciate all your help! Attached are pictures of the evidence of out-of-pot fire, sooty window, and damaged seal. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. -TKD
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Seal deterioration?
- Thread starter elevenessee
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ericofmaine
Feeling the Heat
Just a guess, but was the burn pot full / overflowing? When was the last time the exhaust was cleaned, like REALLY cleaned? If you have one, a leaf blower on vacuum is the way to go (search on here or You Tube for good videos). Something like you're describing sounds like an airflow problem.
As for the gasket, does it pass the dollar bill test? Hard to tell the 3D-ness of it from the picture so I won't say definitively whether it is safe or not.
Eric
As for the gasket, does it pass the dollar bill test? Hard to tell the 3D-ness of it from the picture so I won't say definitively whether it is safe or not.
Eric
I second trying the dollar bill test for the gasket. Close the door on a dollar bill and try to pull the bill out. If it slides through easily, I wouldn't plan on using the stove much until replacement. Just glancing at the pictures, I would probably have no problem running the stove until a replacement came in, as long as the dollar bill test is okay.
I think the only way I've seen fire outside the pot was: over filling of the pot or a pellet or two had a weird bounce going into the pot and bounced out. As unlikely as the second one sounds, when I run the stove hard during very cold nights, I have seen it happen. I think its a combo of hard draft from the smoke fan combined with a weird bounce..
How did the firepot look when you cleaned? Any clinkers clogging holes that could cause bad airflow and overfilling of unburnt pellets? My glass starts to get black when I don't clean the pot for a day or two as clinkers form.
I think the only way I've seen fire outside the pot was: over filling of the pot or a pellet or two had a weird bounce going into the pot and bounced out. As unlikely as the second one sounds, when I run the stove hard during very cold nights, I have seen it happen. I think its a combo of hard draft from the smoke fan combined with a weird bounce..
How did the firepot look when you cleaned? Any clinkers clogging holes that could cause bad airflow and overfilling of unburnt pellets? My glass starts to get black when I don't clean the pot for a day or two as clinkers form.
Does that burn pot have holes in the bottom of it to, looks like they are all plugged up? I have a different stove with a similar style of burn bot with holes along the bottom and if they get plugged it forces more air through the other holes and blows pellets out of the pot. As far as the door gasket goes it is fire proof and really does not look damaged to me i have seen much worse and still be functional. I would think the wind may have had a little bit to do with it as well its hard to say
In most cases what happened is an ash-clogged stove or chimney
Lack of combustion air as indicated by the glass being black also
the air holes on the pot may need to be cleaned out.
The door seal looks OK just give it a cleaning with water and fluff it up
Lack of combustion air as indicated by the glass being black also
the air holes on the pot may need to be cleaned out.
The door seal looks OK just give it a cleaning with water and fluff it up
tbear853
Feeling the Heat
I recently had vaguely similar event happen, pretty sure was a too fast feed rate and these pellets. adjusted the feed rate back a little, did some more cleaning, and replaced the thermocouple. Runing great on 1992 door seal. A door not shut all the way will let air go in from outside instead of up through the burn pot, resulting in a lot of black burnt pellets and overwhelming a burn pot, spill over into ash pan, and a lot of smoke. Mine would choke to death before partly burnt pellets could bridge to the door seal.
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