10 cpm dirty burn

I'm having problems with a dirty burn and burn pot filling up on my CPM.

The door gasket fails the dollar bill test in multiple places along the top edge. It's not loose, but I can pull the dollar out. Could this be the cause? The gasket is only about a year old. I replaced it last winter.

I don't think I have a dirty stove. In the last week I have:

Cleaned the main part of the stove, including the top shelf area
Removed and cleaned around the cradle.
Pulled the plates off, beat on the back wall with a hammer, and ran a vacuum hose behind the wall
Pulled the combustion blower, cleaned out the chamber.
Ran a brush through the venting

I also replaced the combustion blower about a month ago.

I'm running on 2-5-1 normally, but have been cutting down to 1-5-1 to make it behave better, which seems to help. I'm burning Magic spark and Somersets. It seemed to run fine yesterday afternoon at 5-7, but overnight on 7-7 the burn pot got pretty full and the glass was pretty black this am.

Is that all from a bad gasket? We're supposed to have single digit weather Monday night through Thursday, and I am leery of getting a gasket locally. Does anyone know of any readily available gaskets in the chain stores that would work? We have a tractor supply, rural king, and lowes here locally. I'd rather buy from Englander, so I know it's the right thing, and to say thanks for all the tech help they give out for free, but I don't want to wait three or four days with the weather forecast like it is.

Last question. When I replace the gasket, can I fire the stove up right away, or do I need to wait a few hours? I forget.

Thanks.

 

If you have a bad door seal, the air could be coming through the stove from the door instead of through the burnpot. If bad enough, that could cause the full burnpot.

Are you sure the door latch is holding securely? I had to grind a small "notch" in mine right where it hit the latch bar on the stove to keep it "snug". Before, I'd latch it and come back later to find the door had loosened-up a smidge. The notch solved that permanently.

Did you use a factory gasket last year? (just making sure it was the right size) Tractor Supply sells pellet stoves and should have gaskets, and HD and Lowes should too. Just make sure it's the correct size....1/2" round.

Just curious....how much fuel was run through the stove before the cleaning? Can you do a leaf blower treatment on it?

Also, are you sure the ash pan is seated correctly? Check the gasket on that too.

Oh, btw, the 2-5-1 is where I run mine all the time, and even 2-6-1 with crappy pellets to get more heat.

 

The door stays tight, so I'm ok there.

It was an Englander gasket, although I can't completely rule out operator error in the install. Worked fine up until last week.

I'm around 110 bags for the year, but it's had two pretty big cleanings so far. Last month the auger motor went bad, so I cleaned it up while I had it apart, and then recently when it wasn't running right. Looking at my list, is there anywhere I missed on the cleaning?

I have a leaf blower and the adapters, but to be honest, I've never been impressed with the LBT. I never seem to get much ash out that way. By the time I get everything hooked up, a little ash cloud isn't worth the bother. It's nothing like the locomotive exhaust I've seen people get with their LBT.

Ash pan is fine, the gasket was replaced last year.

Thanks for the thoughts. Keep them coming.

What about gasket replacement? Do I need to leave the stove off for a few hours, or can I replace the gasket, close the door, and fire it up?

 

Double check the OAK inlet.....

 

Yep, forgot that one. A quick disconnect at the stove connection will verify if it's clogged or not.

 

One thing to be careful about when replacing the gasket is that you don't stretch it while installing it in the channel.

As for the amt. of time after install, I always give it at least 2-3 hours before even thinking about firing the stove. The longer you can wait, the better, IMO.

 

No local stove shops, although I picked up one at Tractor Supply today. Per Mike H's suggestion, I tightened the door latch and it seems to be helping.

Probably not going to attempt replacement this week, as it's not supposed to get about 20 degrees anytime soon. We'll see how it goes. Thanks.

 

If tightening the latch allowed the door to pass the dollar bill test, you should be good to go.

 

Before I tightened the latch, the gasket failed the dollar bill test across the top. After tightening the latch, the latch side of the gasket passed the test, but the hinge side still failed. Correspondingly, the stove did burn better overnight, but still not normal. I still need to check the OAK today, but I'm pretty sure it's the gasket. Now I have to decide if I want to shut the stove down for a few hours to replace it, or wait till weather is better. Might just have to limp along till the weekend. With single digit temps and a nasty windchill, I'm likely to be dipping into the propane even with a normally functioning stove, so I'll probably just wait.

Traps are closed.

I tried the burnpot gasket last year, and didn't like the way it raised the burnpot. I had troubles with the stirrer trying to lift the burn pot because it didn't line up right anymore. I forget which gasket material I used, but it was apparently too think, although it was the thinnest I could find. I probably need a new burnpot anyway. Mine has seen better days. Need to make sure it isn't warped I guess. The ash seems to pile evenly around it, but...

 

I'm running 2-7-1 as we speak.

Dex, I just sent him a pic of the door latch hole fix, and he can see the gasket mod in the background.