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Dense ash is generated by excessive poking in the burn pot or if the fire is allowed
burn too low into the burn pot. Too much combustion air reduces the efficiency,
allows ash and carbon to collect at the bottom of feed elbow. The combustion air
damper sets the air to the natural draft of the stove. Once set, the Digital Controller
will adjust the combustion air to match the desired heat output and keep the
combustion in the proper region of the burn pot. This allows the ashes to be pushed
out the burn pot by solid pellets feeding in from below.
Creosote is going to be created by any biomass heater. The better the combustion
the less creosote produced. Better quality pellets obviously burn cleaner. To
further decrease the collection of creosote, the Upland 207 Pellet Stove uniquely
burns the pellets within a fresh bed of feeding pellets. Most of the creosote
producing products of combustion are kept away from the cast-iron burn pot. With
good pellets and proper operation, the Upland 207 Pellet Stove can generally go for
a month or more before a maintenance cleaning of the burn pot and feed elbow.
Quality Pellets also are consistent in their size and hardness. You should not be
able to crush pellets with your fingers. Crumbled pellets do not burn very well.
Punky pellets may turn into mush as they are pushed towards the burn pot. This
creates lots of resistance and may ultimately jam the auger. Beware of pellets that
may be damp or have gotten wet.
Overly long or larger diameter pellets may bridge in the hopper and stop feeding.
This would be indicated by the gear motor running with no resistance and probably
hanging downward. The fire will starting to recede down into the burn pot. A
prod with a yard stick down through pellets will collapse the bridge. You may
rotate the auger bushing 180° and pull it out ½" to open the throat to help feed the
oversized pellets. However, you should go back to the original position as soon as
you have used up the oversized pellets.
How to handle a jammed auger.
During Start-up - The auger may stop feeding during the initial starting of a fire.
The motor is designed to be able to stall without damage. Once the auger assembly
warms up and the fire works its way down lower into the burn pot, you should hear
the auger motor once again start feeding - slowly at first, gradually building up to
the mid range setting. During the warm-up the dry pellets sliding through the auger
may make groaning sounds. This is normal. Once the stove is up and running the
groaning disappears and the resistance on the auger motor drops substantially.
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