So, I have a bixby 120? or 115? Not sure, I bought it off of Craigslist to experiment with. I am burning hardwood pellets for the past week. I have only had one problem besides an ignitor which failed and that is a huge amount of ash on top of the plate and hardly any ash in the ash pan. The top plate (?)which surrounds the top of the burn pot ends up being a mountain range of ash. Where do I start?

How long does it take for the mountain to form? What are your FR and EF settings? Sounds like you have to much exhaust fan.

A day or so and I have an inch of ash. I ran it for a full week and it was about 3 inches tall. My exhaust and feed are at 0 & 0. I tried playing with the knobs I reduced the exhaust to -3 and the fire went out within 15 minutes. I would love to try another type of pellets but my in-laws thought they would be nice and have 3 ton delivered to us. Sooooo... I am stuck with what I have and need to make do. Thanks in advance for your help!

Welcome to the IBC site. I doubt that there is a problem with a Bixby that hasn't been solved here. Most of the time it is a matter of showing a new owner how it works in layman terms so they understand the stove. my suggestion is think of the feed rates and exh fan speed as adjustments on a carb. It is a matter of fine-tuning so you have enough fuel going into the pot in order to build up enough ashes so when the stove dumps the clinker it shaves off the top part with the fire and it drops down onto the part with all the holes and continues to burn while the clinker drops into the ash bucket.
From the sound of it you have to much exh fan speed so I would back that off one number to -1 and try again. Next thing would be to increase the feed rate to +1. Make just one adjustment at a time and observe the change. I would use number 4 heat level and don't use a thermostat while doing this.
Be patient and don't be in a hurry. Observe the fire and note any changes. Keep in mind when you first start the stove it will have a very robust flame then as the stove warms up the flame will die down then pickup to whatever heat level you have it set at.
Did you get a manual with it? If not I can send you a link to the dealers manual.
Look at the stoves tag for a serial number and if it has a name such as 110,115, Maxfire or serial number would help.

if it only has 1 board it is a 120, if 2 115, don't run long with 1 igniter out ,will make the other one go soon. i have igniters

Welcome aboard, Newbie. I'm with Oldschool on this one. You have too much fan and are blowing your ash out of the pot. Try reducing the air gradually, a half point at a time, and wait and watch for a few hours until you find the sweet spot. Reduce the feed commensurately if needed to keep the fire going. There's info here in the WIKI on trim pot adjustment.
forum.iburncorn.com/wiki/index.php/Bixby...m_iburncorn_forum.29

Also, pardon the stupid question, but your fuel switch is set to wood, right?

Once you get the hang of it, you'll like your stove.

Um, I am pretty sure I just bought a pair of ignitors off of ebay from you...... Thanks!

I will be able to sit and watch on Thanksgiving. Am I doing any harm in the mean time?

Newbie wrote:


Nah, unless you're blowing live cinders out your vent. Take a look outside at night.

When babysitting the fire pot, watch the fuel level buildup to tell whether you're too lean or too rich. The WIKI explains.

need to know if 115 or 120, 120 has a knob to control ash dump
if you send me email i will send shop manual, (anyone else need one, give me email