I've been using a St. Croix Auburn since the winter of 2006 and all problems have been my own fault. The stove was on 24/7 all winter without a problem until a few days ago when, after 6-8 hours, it would stop with a flashing 2 - meaning air was not circulating well. I could restart it, but 6 hours later it would stop again.

My solution was to do spring cleaning a little earlier than I intended, and the stove has been working perfectly for the last 24 hours.

Spring cleaning took about 5 hours of hard work. I removed the burn pot and "comb" thingy and let them soak in soapy water, along with the heat baffle that is located above the burn pot. After soaking them several hours, I used a metal brushes and a paint scraper to clear off all possible ash and buildup. The clinkers drop much more easily when the pot is cleaned this way.

I vacuumed out the inside of the stove, and concentrated on the heat tubes at the top of the stove. I used my metal bush to clean the parts I could reach. The tube cleaner that slides in and out was blocked from a full range of motion, so I kept cleaning and scraping until it could move easily from one end of the tubes to the other.

Then I removed the two square covers and the two round covers on the back wall and vacuumed out the ash. Then a got my wooden hammer handle and banged the wood all across the back of the stove area above the burn pot and vacuumed up even more ash. Finally I ran some stranded electrical wire up through the square vents until I could grab the wire at the top by the heating tubes. I then ran the wire back and forth across the back many times to dislodge any more ash and buildup. I did this for both sides of the stove. I used the wire brush to clean off the sliding bottom plate of the burn pot.

The next big job involved the blower motor. I removed the four nuts connecting the blower to the exhaust pipe. I removed the back plate from the stove that covers to blower area. Then I disconnected the brown wires at the sensor, and removed the four nuts holding the blower in place. There is just enough play in the connecting wire to move the blower to the side. I used my wire brush (imagine a toothbrush designed by the meanest dentist in the world) to clean off all the ash and build up on the fan and the housing. Then I worked on the air passage below the fan. I used the wire brush and screw driver to scrape as much build-up as I could reach. Some of the ash looks and acts like it is part of the metal housing, but it can be removed. Then I ran the vacuum cleaner hose as far in as possible to clean out the parts I could not reach directly.

Next I used a chimney brush on the chimney and tried to get as much ash loose as possible.

For the first time in five years, I replaced both gaskets on the blower. I was able to buy them them at Turnpike Power Equipment, 174 Western Turnpike (Rt. 20) Altamont, NY 12009, (518) 355-8823. This store is VERY small but stocks basic replacement parts. My original stove dealer in Middleberg, NY went out of business, so I was happy to find a good replacement.

I put everything back together, had no left over parts, and things have worked smoothly for a day, so I am hoping the cleaning fixed the problem.

This year I made an effort to drop the clinker every night. I push the "comb" thing in and add 1/3 cup of wood pellets. I let the corn build up on the burning wood while I refill the humidifier. (We have a Venta humidifier that sits just in front of the stove and we go through 2 gallons a day.) When the wood and added corn are burning above the comb, I drop the clinker (Sometimes I have to use a letter opener to encourage it to drop), and then drop the wood pellets and corn into the burn pot. This works on settings of 1 or 2 usually with no problem. On higher settings I have to turn things down until the fire is firmly established.

I still have problems with burning on 4 or 5, but usually 3 is more than enough to heat most of our old farm house. I have oil-hot water as backup. I go though about 5 tons of corn (50 pounds a day - a little more on cold days) and about 400 gallons of oil - we have radiant heating in a large kitchen which we enjoy. Before the corn stove, we burned an average of 950 gallons of oil per season. I've been paying $240 per ton in 50 pound bags from Frank Lacko in Middleburg, NY (518) 827-4433. We save some ($700 range), but really enjoy the heat from the corn stove.

One excellent addition was plugging the stove into an uninterruptable power supply (UPS) that I bought from the computer store. It won't keep the stove going long in a major blackout, but it does keep it going during those short 5-10 second power loses we have every so often out in the boondocks here in upstate NY.

This forum was very helpful when I first started burning corn. Hopefully sharing my experiences will repay indirectly those who helped me.

John Elberfeld ( JElberfeld@AOL.COM )

Hi:
Flashing 2 light on an Auburn means not enough air is being pulled through by the vent blower. (Or so it assumes by measuring the decrease in air pressure caused by the blower.)

My usual solution of carefully cleaning the entire stove - in particular the channel below the exhaust motor, didn't work this time. The chimney was clear, the stove was clean, but the light kept showing up - not always - but often enough to be a real concern.

SO... I finally realized the tube on the left side of the stove that goes up to the pressure sensor was blackened and cracking just where it connects to the stove. I had a tiny hose clamp on it, and the clamp was covering the cracks. I cut off the blackened part and reconected the tube. It's always risky to claim a complete cure, but no flashing 2s for three weeks.

I've been burning wood because of the price of corn. It does not give off nearly as much heat as the corn. but this fall I was happy to have a steady, low level source of heat. Often corn, even on the lowest setting, gives off too much heat. If we hit a cold snap I'll go for corn.

Since the winter of 2006, the stove has worked perfectly, except when I failed to clean it sufficiently. I only replaced the gaskets and got a new burn pot for wood pellets - and replaced a rusted out chimney twice. The stove itself is still going strong and keeping me warm as I write this.

John Elberfeld

JElberfeld wrote:


Dad, a farmer who grows his own corn, also switched to wood pellets due to $7 corn. Last week we returned a pallet and a half of pellets and he went back to corn. He has a Countryside Magnum and the helpful gentleman on the phone knew exactly what dad's problem was. Bad pellets. sure enough, burning corn again fixed all his woes...too many to mention here. Just curious if you've had any issues with the Auburn and wood pellets. I see you mentioned a different burn pot. Tell me more.

The new burn pot has a removable upper edge of about an inch that can make the burn pot deeper for corn, or not so deep for wood pellets. I believe it is a safety feature to keep the wood pellets from stacking up so a backup of pellets would NOT send flames up the auger.
In all honesty, I use the pot with the edge on no matter what I am burning with no ill effects. Often it is a mix of wood and corn.

I find wood pellets give off much less heat than corn on the same setting. This is great in the spring and fall when corn on the lowest setting gives off way too much heat, but we need some heat in the house. On the cold days we burn just corn to get the heat we need for the house.

We get our wood pellets from our local Agway. I buy the middle price brand, what ever that happens to be. For an extra $20 they will deliver and stack a ton of pellets. ($265 for pellets, $20 for stacking.) I'm getting older every year, so this delivery option is becoming more important. Corn out here near Albany, NY is $300 a ton in 50 pound bags ($7.50 a bag) - you pick up. Still better that the price of oil for the BTU content.

We have also dealt with bad corn - when we first got the stove, we tried corn from several sources. Some bags did not burn well, or gave off lots of smoke and soot. Finally we found Frank Lacko in Middleburgh, NY who grows and processes his corn and have had no trouble for five years.

Hope this answers your question:
John ELberfeld