Hearth and Home Technologies EL42, EL36 owner manual Troubleshooting Guide

4Troubleshooting Guide

Start Fire Problems	Possible Cause	Solution
Can’t get fire started	Not enough kindling/paper or no	Use dry kindling, more paper. Arrange kindling &
Excessive smoke or spillage	kindling/paper	wood for air movement.
Burns too slowly
	Not enough air for fire to ignite	Check for restricted cap/shroud.
Smolders, sizzles
		Check for flue blockage.
		Pre-warm flue before starting fire
		Check for adequate vent height (refer to chimney
		assembly section).
	Wood condition is too wet, too	Use dry, seasoned wood
	large
	Bed of coals not established	Start with paper & kindling to establish bed of
	before adding wood	coals (refer to starting fire section).
	Flue blockage such as birds’ nests	Have chimney inspected for creosote and cleaned
	or leaves in termination cap	by a certified chimney sweep.
Fire burns too fast	Extremely dry or soft wood	Mix in hardwood.
		Mix in less seasoned wood after fire is established
		(refer to wood fuel section).
	No glass doors	Add glass doors to slow down air flow.

Overdrafting	Check for correct vent height; too much vertical
	height creates overdrafting.
	Check location of vent termination (refer to
	chimney assembly section).

Heatilator • EL36/EL42 • 4044-132 • Rev AD• 7/12 13