LL Pioneer - reduced heat

Floydman89 · Post by **Floydman89** » Thu. Feb. 07, 2019 2:18 pm

Hello. I have a LL Pioneer that in the last day or so has reduced the amount of heat it is putting out. Last summer I cleaned the unit out with a shop vac.. yet I did not take anything apart .- it has been running fine all winter .. .
I have increased my max setting because of how cold it's been out. . and yet in the last couple days it has warmed up. . the stove is not putting out the heat.- - I've steadily have increased the max .. all the way to 99 now. .and the shelf with hot coal is only 1/3 down .. I can not get it to push hot coals off. . . Temp set to 80degs. .and it's only 65degs in the house... Ideas?

crazy4coal · Post by **crazy4coal** » Thu. Feb. 07, 2019 5:14 pm

Sounds like it's due for a mid-winter cleaning. Vac under the grate and make sure the holes are all cleaned out (1/8 drill bit). Clean the pipes and check chimney base. What's the draft reading?

WNY · Post by **WNY** » Fri. Feb. 08, 2019 5:36 am

sounds like a good cleaning. Make sure all your blowers are working correctly, or blades need cleaned. Also, try plugging into power outlet directly to see if the coaltrol has any issues. if the blowers change speed or speed up, maybe a setting or something in controller changed.

Vbull · Post by **Vbull** » Fri. Feb. 08, 2019 8:07 am

I once had a very large chunk of coal get caught at the bottom of the hopper which restricted the rice coal getting onto the feeder. I dug the coal out of the hopper, removed the big piece and all was well again. Easy fix. You might want to check that first.

WNY · Post by **WNY** » Fri. Feb. 08, 2019 6:36 pm

could have fines under the slider plate not letting push coal correctly or a lot of fine under the grate reducing air flow

Floydman89 · Post by **Floydman89** » Wed. Feb. 13, 2019 2:59 pm

OK- Update: - I had no idea the grate came apart to clean underneath it!! this is my second year running the stove.. - I shut the stove down. .popped off the grate and it was full of ash.. I vacuumed it all out .. and also cleaned out a few holes in the grate that were plugged full. A few days went by. .and I still could not get coal beyond 1/3 down the grate.. - Solution: - the feeder motor came loose!!! . - I was able to remove the feeder motor while the stove was still running - 2- 7/16" nuts.. .. and tighten down the 2 screws that hold it to the plate .. re-installed and the stove has been running great!!!! Thanks for all the replies!!

McGiever · Post by **McGiever** » Wed. Feb. 13, 2019 3:29 pm

Good for you, and much appreciated for the follow up report.