Pellet heads!! What's up today?

Stay persistent Birddoggy!! Hope the oil makes it up the hill for you.

Does that earn me a couple of bottles??

 

Sure as long as cash exchanges from you to me.

 

LOL

 

So I tell my kiddo to start the fire and again it shuts down. Blinking number two. Frustrating. I know its a vacuum issue or cleaning I cleaned the heck out of it Tuesday and it ran great till this am when I shut it off since we would not be home. Oil did not come.. rrrrrrrrrrrrr!.

 

Slow drip has worked for me (knock on wood)

 

yep whenever it gets into the teens its SOP for us to do that. they still freeze when in single digits sometimes though i have not yet figured out where the cold spot is

 

Where ever the ice is in the pipes Mike .

 

You have mail.

 

Be sure to be careful with that method. It has on occasion started house fires.

 

So I went home did the banging smashing, cleaning again hit start and fail. I do not have leaf vac or a good vac. (using wifes brand new shark, its a bit dirty but I think she will not kill me yet!) something I learned was to unplug the stove and let it reset. Boom she fired up, its 70 in the main living area and I am not going to shut her down again.
Lessons learned:
Wife manages at a babies r us- getting bottle cleaners
Getting a nice vac-need recommendations for one that gets into small areas*** does not need to be hot ash vac as I always clean out ice cold.
New crevices found thanks to members here and on other sites!!!

 

Birddog91 what happend to your hastings? I read back a few pages but couldn't find anything. I've been cleaning mine each weekend and "knock on wood" she's still burnin like a champ .

I took baby piney for her first pellet run today! My local tsc had more Big Heats in stock and they burned great in my stove. So i picked her up after work and off we went.

 

St. Croix's in general

Do you know about the hard to get to area directly behind the center of the stoves firebox. The two clean-outs do not really give a good shot at that area.

Removing any fake brick, fiber or steel and thumping on the fire box wall while running a flexible shaft up and down and around and around using an electric drill on slow speed only to basically whip the shaft around. Then the use of a high air flow device on the vent system in suction mode (leaf blower in vacuum mode).

Once you get that area clean you'll only have to use the suction device every ton to keep it clean.

That area goes all the way to the top of the firebox wall and the same on each side which also benefits from firebox wall thumping. Brass bore brushes to get the heat exchanger clean and the crud out of that area that also leads into the area behind the firebox wall on each side of the stove.

Xena always claimed she could get to the hard to clean area from the combustion blower cavity and then using a shop vacuum do the cleaning. That area needs to be cleaned after the heating season so the mess doesn't really stick to the walls.

Birddog91 replied and I sent back:

Yes through those two access ports or in through the combustion blower cavity, it takes a while before that area becomes packed solid but packed solid it gets and then the burn goes to hell and it never cleans up enough to go a long time between cleanings. You really need to get to that area and keep it clean (leaf blower every ton is excellent preventive maintenance) , now you'll have to play poke and prod and twist and turn and thump and vacuum repeat many times then use the high air flow suction device. The exhaust air path starts above the burn pot goes up and in and around and through the heat exchanger towards each side where it goes down behind the firebox wall takes a turn towards the center of the stove still behind that wall and then turns and exits towards the combustion blower cavity. The whole path really needs regular cleaning. Your stove will love you and reward you for keeping it clear by providing heat and no headaches.

 

I'm 6'4 and I have to stretch to dump a bag in the hopper. I have a small ladder next to the furnace in case my wife ever has to load it.

What sucks more than loading the extended hopper is unloading it when a clump of formerly wet pellets finds its way into the hopper and migrates down to the auger. Found that gem last week.

 

I don't recall this kind of cold for this many days in a row. Figured I'd look to see what the temp is in Pellston, MI. Pellston and Vanderbilt are usually two of the coldest towns in lower MI. It's a balmy -21f there, with an expected low of -26. It's only -12 here.

I dragged the trash can down to the driveway a bit ago and it hurt to breathe.

Come on over spring. You're welcome any time.

 

I'm guessing these were wet at some time. Must have been right at the corner of the bag. I haven't been paying very close attention when dumping bags in.

I used a gallon ice cream bucket to scoop the pellets out and refilled empty bags. Of course there were at least 4 bags in it when I got the flashy number 2 light.