Flame change when hopper door unlatched or open

[Scott Fraser]

I have a question. When I open the hopper door or leave it unlatched my flame becomes very violent and swirls all over the burn chamber. This results in the corn starting to ignite in the auger tube. I have my draft plate in the fully closed position and cannot burn on level four without fire in the auger tube. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks - Scott

[lowcostheat]

If your combustion air damper (back of furnace, below exhaust) is fully closed I would think it is starving for air. Being the exhaust fan exerts a negative pressure (vacuum) on the burn chamber and with the combustion air damper closed it will be pulling air in from anywhere it can which will include the hopper via the fuel drop tube if the hopper is not sealed.

Fresh combustion air from outside and the damper open 1/2" plus would be my suggestion.
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Using corn for low cost heat!!
Dealer for FPI & Paromax DellPoint, Ecoteck, & Lennox Stoves, PSG wood and pellet furnaces. Traeger Pellet and Corn furnaces. Fahrenheit furnace.
FPI Sim-Tech training, 2006, 2007

[tallcorn]

How long have you had the stove running? Have you cleaned the exhaust? Sounds like the exhaust or inside of the stove is plugged. The flame shouldn't be drawn into the hopper. If the exhaust is plugged the fire will go where the least resistance is.
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Countryside 3500P (pedestal version) used 8-9 yrs, 24/7 during days requiring heat. All original motors. Burns moldy corn, and pellets equally well. Burn it if you got it.

[lowcostheat]

Scott, Tall may be right, you do need a clean vent system both in the furnace and vent pipe.

Tall, in a fuel rich/oxygen starved atmosphere the heated gases which are ready burn will ignite when the fuel/oxygen is right.

This is very common in gas stoves and fireplaces and will cause the flame to lift off the burner searching for oxygen so it can burn.

In a solid fuel appliance this could appear like the flames going into the drop tube, but it is possible that it is the fresh air/oxygen available when the hopper door is allowing more air to pass through.
_________________
Using corn for low cost heat!!
Dealer for FPI & Paromax DellPoint, Ecoteck, & Lennox Stoves, PSG wood and pellet furnaces. Traeger Pellet and Corn furnaces. Fahrenheit furnace.
FPI Sim-Tech training, 2006, 2007

[tallcorn]

lowcostheat, yes, if the exhaust is plugged what Scott Fraser describes as "very violent" flame is like a celestial plasma in space. It's a very strange appearing flame to say the least.
_________________
Countryside 3500P (pedestal version) used 8-9 yrs, 24/7 during days requiring heat. All original motors. Burns moldy corn, and pellets equally well. Burn it if you got it.

[byrn-e-stoves]

Sounds like to me he has a bad seal between the grainbin mount and the burnbox.
_________________
cornstoveheating.com
st croix
fahrenheit
Bixby
grainstoves inc.

[snapcrackpop]

I have experienced the exhaust one-way damper being stuck a couple of times.

Take a coat hanger wire or another stiff wire and stick it in the air intake and make sure the one-way damper is free. It should sound like a metal flapper.

[Mgraham]

This is normal. When the hopper lid is not closed or sealed, some air will come in and travel through the auger tube and come out where the fuel falls. This will make for an wavy erratic fire (you can sometimes actually see where the air is blowing in the middle and splitting the flame).
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Factory Support by:
Fahrenheit Technologies, Inc
www.fahrenheittech.com
616.392.7410

[snapcrackpop]

Missed this the first time round:

[cheapheat]

Easy way to find out is to pull the exhast fan assy apart and give a good cleaning along with the exhast ports behind the ash pan. If the flame is still acting funky start cleaning the vent pipes.
_________________
Fahrenheit 50f
Shur-kleen
130 bu gravity wagon

[snapcrackpop]

I just checked mine with the door open. You're right, the air comes in thru the auger tube and splits the flame.

Again, probably shouldn't have the draft in the "fully closed position" and a little cleaner corn (or mix in wood pellets or oyster shells).

[doug martin]

just cleaned my burner last night after 2 week burn. when i filled it the night before i could see a lazy flame coming on, so i knew it was time. i don't post here much, but i always read what others are talking about. this is my second year burning, and when i started the season i had the attitude i was just gonna light it and let it burn and not worry about it. my damper is at factory setting with fresh air hooked up directly ( made a very big difference ). my exhaust is 18' one 90 3". the only settings i changed were fuel setting dropped it to 2 per marks advice last year, and upped my auger trim to full 5 because i don't think it gets enough corn on the ramp to keep a sizable flame during the cleaning cycle. yes i have had 4-5 small overflows, but not as bad as last year. the overflows are more burnt than raw corn. this tells me that the burner is dirty and i need to clean it. after 2 weeks i can't complain and i need to get the lead out. mark love this unit, and after 2nd year it will have paid for itself FULLY! keep up the good AMERICAN WORK.