TSC stove...King I believe...need help

Hate to break you bubble but 3" ID pellet vent produces very negligible if any natural draft and my 4" venting isn't much better either because the appliance termination bung is 3" anyway and draft flow is determined by the smallest available diameter, not the diameter of the venting or the vertical run to the termination cap.

 

Do keep in mind that most bio mass stoves are limited to around 50,000 BTU input and 45K BTU output excepting the early Amazablaze corn stoves which made substantially more BTU output and of course add on pellet furnaces / boilers which can be well in the excess of 45K BTU output.

Having said that, 99% of the free standing multi fuel or pellet only appliances will be limited to 45K BTU output which is determined by maximum feed rate (PPH) and the physical size of the burn chamber.

It really don't matter what the physical size of a unit is, as it's output is governed in the first place and that is done for overheat prevention and possible property damage. Basically, what the high limit snap disc is for. it won't allow a unit to over temp. It will shut it down and all units will have an over temp control on them.

 

We will "agree to disagree" on this one. In the case of this stove - if there was no "air mix" in the venting, the manufacturer would require a very short venting length: vs. specifying a specific minimum vertical rise requirement, to allow for a natural Draft point in the venting: or specify a given EVL requirement (based on vent length/diameter) - as is the case with this (and many other) stoves. As you state, this is for efficient operation of the stove / stove & vent overheat protection / prevention of possible property damage.

For this stove, it is specified on page 6 in the manual, section titled: "Importance of Proper Draft".

 

Interesting. With mine, no venting length is stated other than outside with a clean out Tee.

I suggest you put a butane lighter in the vent and see in reality, how much natural draft it produces.

Basically, the little natural draft the dimmunitive 3" pellet venting produces is more about clearing any smoke from the firebox on a fail to start situation. Nothing more. Even my 4" don't make much and like I stated (and you probably glossed over), the appliance outlet on the majority of bio mass stoves is only 3" and that diameter is what determines the actual flow rate.

In the 25 odd years I've been doing this, I've yet to see any venting that will pull a sustaining draft. It's just not capable of it.= and when you add in the fly ash clinging on the inside of the venting, it's even less. Your venting inside probably stays clean through the first fire and after than the bore is coated with fly ash. How it works and why it's imperative to clean the venting regularly using a leaf blower or a round 3" or 4" vent cleaning brush. In my case I use a leaf blower mid tear and in the spring take apart all the venting and pressure wash it inside. You'll never find any of my joints sealed, they all have to come apart yearly and I use a straight run pipe from the appliance outlet to the outside clean out Tee as well. I don't buy into the short sections sold at box stores. I get all my venting in the longest applicable lengths for my install, in my case, the outside run is all in 6 foot long Dura Vent and my appliance to 3-4 cleanout Tee is through a 4 foot pipe. Have exactly 3 sections vertically to 18 feet.

Never seen your manual so I'll go on what you say.

 

Cord/wire...magazine/clip...chim-a-ney/chimley /chimney...key damper/pipe damper/manual pipe damper(mpd) ...dampener/damper...worsh /wash...dung/turd/crap/poop/chit. Usually people figure it out.

Cords and wires go on lots of things, not just thermostats.

Point well taken. It’s all good.

 

Larger stoves,perhaps all,have larger burn pots and larger fireboxes. These set the minimum feed rate,along with meeting efficiency and emissions. You will not get a larger stove to burn the same at low as,say one of the Italian stoves,or a Castle, unless you go outside what is recommended, and you usually have bad results. This is just fact. Poor information is usually worse than no information,try some research.

 

Stove size is a result of marketing, period. They are space heaters, and most people do not need or want a high output like a P68 Dell or Enviro omega or maxx, because it would be unreasonably hot in the room,area it is in, with oly poor choices to move the heat. Have been around P68's that would get so hot so quick,the stove would start and stop,and end up with a colder house. I move the thermostat to a different room in these cases.

 

I cannot afford a Harman anyway and I feel they are over priced to boot. They are pretty but I don't want or need a pretty face, I want and need a reliable unit.

We don't live in a 'Home and Gardens' home. It's a 3 bedroom 2 bath 2 story 130 year old farmhouse and my 'ugly' 6039 USSC keeps the whole place comfortable except on the coldest windy days. I'm good with that and it roasts anything I put in the hopper too. Fingers excluded.

Don't care about the size of any unit, the most you'll get out of them is 45K btu output without kicking the high temp high limit snap disc. if, and I say if, they are Warnock-Hershey approved and tested.

Myself, I do prefer American assembled over some foreign unit that most every one contains a percentage of sourced offshore parts, my 2 included and Harman as well.

Far as I'm concerned, the only thing Itallians and Germans can make good is farm equipment. Never been impressed with their cars, especially German cars. German's tend to over engineer their cars anyway and that makes them even more expensive to maintain, while Itallian cars just rust in place. Now that Fiat-Peugeot has purchased Dodge-Chrysler, they went to the bottom of my list of vehicles to buy or drive. Almost bought a new Jeep Renegade, had all the papers sitting in front of me to sign, everything approved and I glanced at the origin of the vehicle, got up and walked out.

 

Warnock Hershey is only one of several independent testing labs, they do not set standards or specifications. OMNI tests stoves also, and does Harmans. The P68 puts out 53,000 btus, at 78.5% efficiency. I don't care about your thoughts on stoves,cars,or how you live, this thread is about helping someone fix and understand their stove.Stay on topic. You can go start a "talking to yourself" thread

 

I had a US Stove 6041 insert years ago. My advice is to run it on HR 2 or 3 (factory default) until you folks can read the manual and get a working stat. You will stay warm and not run out of pellets.

Doggy

 

Good advice actually.

 

Because I'm pretty abrupt when dealing with people like you, what I want to post isn't permitted so I'll just say kiss off.

 

Hoytman, did you make any headway on Uncles stove ? By the way I shoot a Darton but have a Hoyt target bow.

Doggy

 

Well...it is still sort of iffy at this point I think. He says as long as he keeps the fire pot cleaned out it works fine, but he also tells me there seems to be an issue sometimes.

A couple nights ago it burned through 2 bags of pellets over night and near the end of the burn over filled the fire pot.

Last night it burned fine and through early afternoon until it ran out of pellets. His wife cleaned it out while I was there visiting with my uncle (I had no idea she had finished cleaning it out) and it seemed to fire up just fine. He has it set to burn .99lbs/hr and wants to try and set it lower if we can.

No way that .99lb/hr setting can be right because he is not getting 40 hrs out of a bag of pellets. In fact he’s burning about 2 bags per day. Too much in my mind, but the house is warm. Would help to close the unused upstairs off at bottom of steps with a curtain.

 

That might be due to the stove getting clogged up, due to inadequate venting.

Your uncle should seek help solving the issue: the folks that are NFI certified know what they are doing. Use the search feature to find a NFI certified pellet installer in his area.

Homeowner Resources – National Fireplace Institute (NFI)

There is also a # to call the manufacturer, in the stove manual. For installation questions. Your uncle won't call it, because he "knows" the "non-standard" thru-the-window install of the old pellet venting won't "pass muster". ... But, it's "ok" for a stove, w/ 2x the burn rate of the old unit. (No, it's not.)

* If you want to help your Uncle (and Aunt, since she resides in the same structure) - get a NFI certified installer out there, and get the stove installation reviewed & corrected. Before that carpet catches on fire.

 

Agree,time for professional help. To use that many pellets,the stove room should be unbearably hot,or the house is a leaky sieve,or the control board is not controlling the draft motor properly.And USSC gives out very little info on their products. you might even call them and see who they recommend in your area.

 

To put stove back in factory defualt, hit aux up and aux down simultaneously for 3 seconds than HR up to 2 or 3. If stove won't perform than call a pro. Maybe call a pro anyway ! Good luck !!

Schoondog

 

Actually....

- Reset to defaults -hold MODE and AUGER DELAY buttons for 3 seconds to reset all to defaults

You must press them at the same time exactly. No need to change the Heat Range button at all. When the stove resets to default parameters, the display will flash the revision number and the word 'BYE' will appear.

 

What does going up to HR 2 or 3 do?
Remember that at start up the pellets was over flowing the burn pot. We fixed that. He may want to lower the start up even more. I don’t know what his plan is.

I guess what I’m saying is that somehow I don’t think “going up” to HR 2 or 3 will help at start up. Maybe it’s another function.

EDIT:
I think I understood corncobs post.