Pellet Stove Maintenance Part 2

July 19, 2008 · Filed Under Pellet Stove Maintenance · Comment 

Below is a few more tips for helping maintain your pellet stoves best preformance:

Heat Exchange

Located within the combustion chamber is the heat exchanger which is designed to transfer the heat from burning pellet fuel into clean hot air for distribution into the home. This is usually done by a chamber or a series of tubes located in the firebox that the hot air and gases pass over, heating the outside of the chamber before exiting the pellet stove. Fresh air is then passed through the inside of the chamber drawing the heat out of the pellet stove and into the room.

For maximum efficiency and preformance the surface of the heat exchanger should be cleaned regularly. The frequency of these cleaning will again depend on the pellet stove design and may range from daily to monthly. Refer to your owner’s manual for cleaning instructions. On some pellet stoves, cleaning is simply a matter of moving a rod that scrapes the tubes inside the stove. Again other pellet stoves, however, may require professional servicing.

Ash traps

These are chambers that are located behind the fire chamber which prevent excess fly ash in the exhaust from exiting the pellet stove. In some designs they are easily accessed for ash removal by owners. Other designs require professional servicing again

Glass

Clean with glass cleaner when the glass has cooled down.

Hopper and auger

Check for accumulated sawdust materials (fines). The fuel in the hopper and auger tube should be run out occasionally to prevent auger blockage by fines.

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Pellet Stove Maintenance

July 16, 2008 · Filed Under Pellet Stove Maintenance · Comment 

Now you have completed your pellet stove installation, so next thing is too look at maintenance, it’s important to get into a regular routine of cleaning and upkeeping to ensure the best performance from your pellet stoves.

Below are a few general tips and areas to watch out for.

Burn pot

Regularly check the burn pot daily and clean it periodically to keep the air inlets open. How often you will need to clean the burn pot depends on the type and grade of fuel you will be using. Check your manual for details for more details.

The burn pot is the stove’s carburetor, mixing the air and the fuel to enable combustion. The correct adjustment of the air and fuel rates is crucial to getting top performance from your pellet stove appliance. When your pellet stove is running normally you should see a bright yellow or white flame. You may also notice a white or gray build up of ash on the glass on high burn and a darker fluffy ash on low burn: this is normal. But if the flame is orange and sooty or there’s a build up of a brown caramel-like substance, then you need to take some action because your stove isn’t burning efficiently.

Some pellet stoves are equipped with air dampers or adjustable feed openings that you can adjust yourself whereas others will require adjustment to the control board which may require a qualified technician.

Another problem to watch out for is a buildup of clinkers in the firebox. Clinkers are formed from ash that has melted and then hardened. If ash in the burn pot starts to melt, as it can easily do at the high temperatures reached in modern pellet stoves, then it can block the air holes of the incoming air and upset the mixture of air and fuel. Incorrect adjustment of the air to fuel ratio can greatly increase the likelihood of clinker formation. This is due to the stoves inability to adequately burn the excess fuel and remove the excess ash that is building up in the burn pot. Clinkers are easily removed by using the ash tool or rake that comes with your pellet stove.

Ash drawer

Empty the ash drawer before starting a new fire ,the frequaency for emptying the ash drawer will depend on the type of pellet stove design you have brought but typically once or twice a week.

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