Explosive ignition on p43

My stoves usually get lots of smoke inside before lighting, then it clears as soon at the flame starts. I don't recall ever hearing a pop - but on the P61a I wouldn't since it is in the basement. However, I am pretty confident I have never had it cause smoke to leak out the door so I would look into the gasket and then the exhaust.

I would think the biggest clue is the creosote, which I believe points to some sort of air issue, as someone earlier mentioned.

 

Do you run the stove on low settings a lot? If so, could be the cause of the creosote, plus poor airflow.
2 months since last exhaust cleaning???? IMO, a month overdue.

I'll be interested to hear if the new comb. blower has any effect on the stove performance.

 

So, stove running fine until the other day, then, the pop followed by smoke escaping from anywhere it can in the stove (door, ash door, outlet pipe, etc)? That, my friend, is delayed ignition. The pellets feed into the pot, the igniter starts to pyrolize them, but there isn't quite enough heat to get them to light on the first go-around.....but there IS alot of smoke. Then, more pellets feed in, the igniter tries again, and is successful! Not only does the pellets light, but all the tars and combustibles in the smoke do as well, all at the same time. what this makes is a pressure wave in the stove, stressing all the gaskets, joints, etc. The smoke cant be pushed out fast enough, and the pressure wave creates momentary gaps where there normally isn't any, ergo, your temporary leaks. Really bad delayed ignition can cause glass failure and blow the pipe off the stove (for all you guys who dont positively attach the pipe to the stove....this is why foil tape stinks)...

The solution: your stove is dirty, clean it. I know, I know, everyone does a amazing job of cleaning! Ive dealt with a few of these (lol), and EVERY TIME, its a cleaning issue.

 

AMEN to that. As LW states, EVERYONE cleans their stove until it sparkles.....or so they claim. Veterans here know all too well of some of those stories, and then the person with the stove that won't run suddenly "remember" of all the places they "forgot" to clean. As Krooser always said, "80% of stove problems are due to a dirty stove"

 

Yeah I’m going to clean it again today. It’s only popped twice. It’s never happened before that. I’m gonna put that new fan in and maybe that will help. It does seem to run in maintenance burn a lot because I keep it in room temp. Maybe I’ll try putting the blazers in and see if that helps any. I mean the north county do burn really hot but i do notice a lot of ash.

 

Also last week when I cleaned it I took everything out and cleaned it. Took the fan off, igniter out, esp out, cleaned the fines box and took the board off and cleaned the connections like someone said on one of my other posts. Took a razor scraper and cleaned out all the creasote (well as much as I could scrape off).

 

That would be a BIG red flag for me......NEVER had any creosote in my stoves. All that was ever there was fly ash. Typically, a stove that has poor airflow, and burns at too low of a temp will have this problem. Veterans here used to recommend that stoves be run on high for an hour or so to burn that crap off. Just sayin'.

 

yeap...creosote IS a red flag.......something not right.

 

Hmmm ok. So maybe I’ll try mixing the blazers and north country? Think that could help out? Like a 50/50 blend?

 

Last time I had a problem with the burn pot situation I took and did a draft test and everything and my numbers were right on. So idk wtf is going on

 

Nope.Creosote points to a bigger problem.You should check your draft again.Unless you are burning wet pellets you should never get creosote.

 

I think what the people replying to this thread are trying to say is that we don't think it's your pellets. I burned some crappy pellets in my day, but never got creosote....just lots of ash.

And you never responded to my question on whether or not you burn for long periods on low heat setting, and if you ever "crank it up" to high to burn crap off inside.

 

I don’t know guys. I’ve had pellets cause creosote even in a perfectly clean stove. Okanagan Golds come to mind. I’m also not sure it’s reasonable to expect venting to be cleaned on a monthly basis. Everyone’s situation is different with respect to their venting setup, quantity and type of pellets burned, etc. Heck I used to clean the P68 venting once per season and even then, when I did clean it there was next to nothing in it. Oh, the good old days of burning only Vermonts. These days I generally clean it twice per season, once at the beginning and once around the new year and that’s plenty sufficient for this setup.

Having said all that D-Mac it’s supposed to be a generally nice day out so if you have time, why not do the full venting clean just to rule it out as a contributor to this current issue you are having?

 

Big +1 w/ everyone above, time to get cleaning.

(Something) is severely restricting airflow through the stove.

I'd be double-checking:

The intake screen(s) (if OAK'd), pipe, and connection / port on the stove,
The entire venting system, especially the termination vent cap & screen(s) if present,

And cleaning off the ESP probe w/ isopropyl alcohol - once it starts burning dirty,
that creosote builds up on the probe, acting as an insulator..

Same goes for the Combustion Blower, that creosote/soot will cause drag on the blades, and blower shaft.


* The North Country spruce pellets here burned clean - but were dusty / had more fines in the bag vs. the LGs we normally burn ..

Would also empty the Hopper and check the pellet feed path -> fines box and make sure everything is clean on the pellet feed side also.

If you can't access any part of the venting system due to height, etc. - I would treat it as "suspect", and not burn until that part of the venting can be properly inspected / cleaned. Wouldn't risk causing further issues or damage to the stove, flash-over due to low oxygen -will- damage the stove.

Hope you get the issue located & sorted out quickly there D-Mac0211 .

 

As you said, you can get away with less cleanings....with YOUR set-up.

That being said, I don't remember D-Mac0211 venting set-up. Maybe he can refresh our memories on how it's set-up, # of elbows, length, etc, etc.

 

I do not. I usually just leave it on room temp set at 70

 

Elbow out the back of the stove, 6’ piece to another elbow then out the thimble to a 8x8 block chimney which is only like 7’ high

 

No, it has nothing to do with the pellets you're using. Your stove's efficiency is being adversely effected by debris somewhere. You need to get in the nooks and crannies of your stove and clean it properly.

 

good that you did a draft test then, but it wont tell you everything. If there is a restriction after the burnpot, you will get decreased draft....things like a bird in the pipe, a dirty spark arrestor, heavy ash in the pipe, etc. If the restriction is on the intake side, then, you will see a INCREASED draft.....things like an intake screen clogged by an errant leaf, or your idiot brother in law snowblowing snow into the intake, stuck closed intake damper, etc.
Creosote accumulation usually happens when there is insufficient air for combustion, plain and simple. There are quite alot of ways this can happen....but it usually isnt the pellet quality. At least with a Harman, anyone blaming a stove failure on quality is just guessing, and dont know what they are talking about. Probably that same idiot brother in law.
Delayed ignition is usually ash sitting on the igniter....not always, but maybe 80% of the time. The stove wont even feed if the vacuum is inadequate, so, I am guessing its not on the exhaust side. I know you cleaned the igniter, but do this.....
1. take igniter cover off
2. stick your fingers in there, and using the "come hither" motion of your index finger, pull out all the ash you can
3. take a metal whapper, and hit the top of the burn pot decisively, a few times
4. do the come hither thing again under the igniter and see if you drag out even more ash
5. put cover back on
6. restart stove
7. come here and tell me how right I was