Could this St Croix Self Locking Twist Pin cause this problem?

Hello
The burn pot is filling up with ash and lots of unburned pellets in the pot. Eventually stove cannot burn and shuts down.
The stove was cleaned and a new versa grate motor installed. Also a new exhaust blower installed.
The versa grate self locking pin that goes thru and holds the spacer in place on the shaker rod looks like it may be out of place and may catch on the bottom grid under the burn pot.
A couple of holes were plugged in the versa grate and the self locking pin was found in this position. Can this be the problem? See 1st pic

I heard St Croix on their newer stoves changed this old pigtail pin to a cotter pin???

Pic 1 - self locking twist pin
Pic 2 - diagram
Pic 3 - took out pin and re-inset it
Then hooked up test cord to versa motor and checked for proper operation.
Pic 4 & 5 - Versa grate and burn pot liner
Pic 6 - fire in stove

 

The bottom of my burn pot has been clogged much worse that that, and the burn was still good. I doubt that's your problem. I assume that the butterfly on the air intake is open enough, and that you've cleaned all of the infamous ash traps so you have a good airflow. It kinda sounds to me like you're not getting enough airflow through the pot to clear out the ash and fan the fire. I can't tell much from the picture - what heat level is the stove at in the photo?
Upon further thought - if the pooched pin was holding the ash "drain" open even a little bit, lots of air would bypass the burn pot and cause your symptoms. Maybe the pin was dragging the drain back and forth, and part of the time air was bypassing the pot.
Gotta go, dinner is ready - I'll check back later.

This is my stove on level 3. Note the sharp flame tips:

 

I like Heat Seekers theory. Also, on a long shot, maybe the versa grate is to low. It can be adjusted by the connection on the front of the stove. I actually had to lower mine because it was up too tight to the burn pot. It might not be clearing enough ash, and creating the dragging pin problem.

 

Yes the versa grate is tight to the burn pot.
Also should the ash cleanout rod be open or closed all the way when the stove is running?

 

Snapped close (inward) when running.

 

Mine is running othereise I'd check, but I'm quite certain my Prescott has a clevis pin, it never holds up ash removing rod assembly. If ash rod is pulled out even slightly air flow thru pot will be reduced, butn pot will fill up quickly with residue.

 

Mine has the self locking pin, and yes, the rod must be in all the way to prevent air bypassing the pot. My grate is set about 1/16" below the sides of the pot.

 

Rod should be all the way in while burning.

I know on the Hastings, when I first got it, there was a big, hard-packed cake of ash behind the front plate (and under the top plate) which cased the versa grate not to operate quite correctly. I had a heck of a time getting that thing out of there as I was working blind and using a very small screwdriver to try to break it up and pull out pieces of that cake. But, if you took it all apart, that probably isn't the issue.

 

My old Pepin has the lynch pin like shown... never had a problem with it. As mentioned the dump rod must be fully in and the area under the versa-plate cleaned if the dump wasn't used to get the ash outta there.

I wasn't aware that there is a height adjustment on the versa-grate plate... learn sumpin' new everyday.

 

Hello
Did anyone try drilling larger holes in the versa grate? The holes seem smaller than other burn pots without the versa grates. Enviro has a high ash burn pot linerand the only difference is larger holes in the bottom are larger! Maybe buying a new versa grate and drilling larger holes so you can always go back to the old one.

 

Holes look the same as the Hastings, so I would think the holes are fine.

I had to manually pull the rod, 1x/day to empty the ashes. Is that how you are working with that one? Then also, once a day I had to remove the clinker (was running FSU's). Clinkers weren't huge, but don't know what it would do if not removed.

Are you sure you got behind all 3 ash traps? Alright, some later models only had two, but the Hastings had a 3rd one behind the ash pan. Had to run a clothes hanger thru the two beside the pot.

It may be the angle of the view, but picture #4 looks like the plate cant tip to the left.

I also had to play quite a bit with the damper until it was just right - and that screw is very touch so you can't turn it hardly at all to make an adjustment. I will say that I never got the flames as crisp as my Harman's (or like Heat Seeker's), but it did fine and didn't overflow the pot with pellets, nor shut itself down.

 

Thanks for the tips
Where is your damper set? Do you have a pic?

 

Sorry, I no longer have that stove. IIRC, I set the damper using a #2 pencil then did slight adjustments from there. I know it shocked me at how closed it needed to be to run properly.

 

Hello
Went over the issue with St Croix this morning and for normal operation this is what we came up with.
1. The height of the burn pot should be adjusted so it is approx 1/16" above the versa grate. The versa grate needs that room to move properly.
2. The ash cleanout rod should be pulled in and out atleast 2 times per day to remove ash and clinkers.
3. Using an OAK in a region that has a lot of damp outside air such as New England may create more caked ash at times. Try without the OAK or try Selkirk DT venting.
4. Some st croix stoves have 2 holes on each side of the drop chute behind the fire brick that go back and take a right angle down to the exhaust housing. If these small channels are plugged it adds to the problem!

Does anyone have these holes and can you take a pic of them??
Thanks.

 

I know there is at least one hole behind the brick. I usually take the brick out, and give the steel plate a not so gentle tap with a wooden mallet. That seems to shake any ash stuck in there down to the cleanouts at the bottom. The stove is running right now, or I would send a pic. Next time I have it apart I will. The Blizzard is rolling in, so I'm taking all the heat I can get right now!

 

There are two holes behind the fake brick, to either side of the firepot and they are covered with flaps that have to be removed - there aren't any screws, just the position keeps them in place. I don't have pictures, but still have my old manual (which doesn't shoe it very clearly). Also, if it has a 3rd trap, the manual shows its location pretty clearly. the cover is attached with screws for that one By the way, using the scraper does not clean out the ash traps as suggested by the instructions. Have you downloaded the manual? They actually do a pretty good job telling you all you need to know. That is all I had to go by when I bought the used Hastings.

 

I have a Hastings, but I don't think I have that third ash trap.

 

I've heard that some of the newer one (or maybe older ones) don't and that is why I said "if it has the third trap". Mine was a 2008 model and I only found it as I was cleaning real good. I actually though that someone had put a piece of sheet metal over a rust hole or something; that 3rd trap cover is literally a sheet of metal with two screws holding it on. Then I looked in the manual, and lo and behold, I saw the light - and that I hadn't been cleaning as well as I should have been

 

I ordered another versa grate and I am going to drill some of the holes out to 1/4" in diameter to make a wood pellet only high ash versa grate. Then the old grate could still be used for the approved corn/pellet mix that we just very rarely do in this area of the country!
Do you think that will work a lot better??

 

I'm burning high ash pellets with a Prescott and stock burn pot. Hasn't been shut off in 2 months, just a weekly burn pot scrape, ash pan dump, ash rods cycled. Assume the burnpot holes aren't plugged too bad as she's still burning very well. Set up to cycle between #1 and #3 settings for lo/hi. If it gets near 0F I bump it up to #4 for a high point, but never on #5.

Maybe a corn mix would plug up burnpot with current hole size. Interested to find out your conclusion.