OK - having a weird problem with my Harvester. It will no longer burn corn. We're in the middle of a bad wind storm (central Iowa), but I have my combustion air run outside, so that hasn't been a problem for a couple years. I've been burning this corn for about a month with no problems, so I don't think that's an issue. Burned good up until the wind came up. What happens is the flame gets smaller and smaller and then goes out. I've tried more air, less air, different heat settings (would really like 5!), and nothing works. Have also cleaned out the chimney (3' horizontal) - nothing helps. Had burned on level 5 for about 2 weeks straight up to this point. Any ideas?

Can you describe your termination? Is it exposed to the wind? Check out this page forum.iburncorn.com/wiki/index.php/BixbyFAQ#External_Factors .

Any chance that the wind is blowing your exhaust into your input air during these abnormal wind conditions?

Has anything else changed since it last burned well?

You cleaned the vent (good), but have you thoroughly cleaned your stove and ensured that you have no leaks?

How long does your stove burn from startup? If briefly, could it be that your stove is not detecting proof of fire and therefore stops feeding and shuts down?

Can you describe the fuel level in your firepot at shutdown and during the, say, 30 minutes preceeding?

You mentioned that it worked fine until the wind came up. As Corny mentioned you may want to try sheltering your cold air intake and vent somewhat. Maybe take some scrap lumber if you have any lying around and construct something. Shouldn't have to be too fancy. If you just layed a sheet of OSB around it, it would probably blow over. Or maybe pull your garbage can or something of the like (if it is not light enough to blow over)over near where your vent is. It may deflect the wind enough to help.

Look at the end of the auger to see if lots of corn is feeding. You may have something clogging the auger or lots of dust or fines at the auger throat that is keeping the corn from feeding into the auger. You may need to clean the hopper or remove the clog. You didn't say if the burn pot has lots of corn in it when the fire goes out.
Is something blocking the fresh air intake? Sometimes wind can cause problems because it can make your house pull a vaccum back through your air intake and that will cause your problem. With the outside air connection that shouldn't happen but stranger things have happened. You can try an elbow at the end of the air intake or anything to block the wind from blowing directly in the pipe. An elbow pointing downward is always recommended anyway.

I have a simple termination - I have a 36" piece of stainless pipe out the back of the stove and then one of these terminations:

cgi.ebay.com/EXHAUST-FLUE-VENT-CORN-PELL...567f433#ht_920wt_905

(not that whole kit - just that style of termination)

I think the wind has something to do with it, but I've burned with bad wind from the north/northwest before with out problems (except the first year before I ran my inlet air outside)

Nope - haven't changed anything - burned well up until Saturday evening when temp dropped and wind came up.

I will try cleaning it really well when it goes out in a few minutes. Found a post on the old forum about turning down the feed rate when it does this - that didn't work either. It burns for about 30 minutes - I let the pellets get really hot before starting up. Have tried many 'air' settings, but not having any luck. Corn is the same.

Nope - not the proof of fire thing - I'd know it from the error codes. The weird thing is it almost seems like it's a variation in the feed rate - it doesn't feed for awhile, the fire burns down, and then it overfeeds the fire with corn. I've watched the auger motor and that all seems fine, so maybe that's not it.

Yea, the roads are bad or I would have run and got a downturn for the 1 1/2" PVC pipe inlet. I've been burning with it straight out for 4 years though. Best description is it just slowly dies out - outlet air gets cooler and cooler. Seems like the cold air just puts the fire out. Don't know how that could be, but that's what it looks like.

This works for me. I'm having the same wind storm as you. The lower elbow is the end of the outside air intake pipe. The upper pipe is the exhaust. The elbow is to keep rain out. The exhaust works just as well without it.

I'll get something like that tomorrow. Will get a 45 and a 90 PVC and try each. Of course the wind is supposed to be gone by then too...

ScottInIowa wrote:


Listen to the auger. That "it doesn't feed for awhile" is a clue. If you can hear the auger run, can you see the end of the auger turning when you hear it running? You may need a flashlight to see the end of it through the flames. The auger drive could have a loose set screw or you have a gearmotor with a bad gear. If the auger is turning and not delivering corn then its time to empty the hopper and see what is in the bottom.

Of coarse the fire will go out with too much corn in the hopper if the auger didn't feed corn at a steady rate. Corn is darned fussy about getting a steady feed to the burn pot. It can burn on a meager but steady supply but if the fuel stops for just a little while the temperature of the burning fuel bed drops below what it needs to burn corn. Picky, picky, picky.

Yea, I'm nearly 100% sure the auger is turning correctly. I've watched it for about 30 minutes and it is turning just fine. I also cleaned out the hopper today - not much for fines present, but that's checked off the 'it's not that either' list too.