Coal burns too high on grate

I just fired up my Pioneer BV about a week ago and ever since it started the fire seems to be too high up on the burn grate. When it picks up in the morning after the evening setback, it burns frighteningly close to the hopper. There is a good 5-6 inches of ash on the the grate below the fire. Is there any way to force the fire down lower?

Thanks.
Ian

This was covered in another thread, but post a picture.
That way, members can see the location of the fire.
It may be that your grate is not seated tight up against
the combustion box end, or the gasket is out of place.

Tom

Or you have poor draft.

I would recommend shutting the stove down and verifying that the grate is seated properly and has the gasket in place at the back with no air gaps. Sounds to me like you have an air leak at that location. Of course without seeing the fire a diagnosis is harder to do accurately.

As Freddy suggested draft can also affect fire location, check your hopper lid, if it is sweating on the inside and the coal is wet even though it went in dry you have low draft and need to check your chimney and pipe/barometric damper.

Of course all the standard warnings apply: Make sure you have at least two working CO detectors in the house, make sure the stove is installed per the manual, and last but not least make sure your barometric damper is adjusted so that the weight location matches orientation (left side for horizontal and right side for vertical) and make sure the weight is lined up with the .04" WC line on the scale.

Keep us posted and of course as has been suggested, pictures are the best, a few good ones of your installation would be very helpful.

I've been checking the hopper lid regularly but there is no moisture. The damper is also set at .04 and is swinging slightly open. This is my second season and the stove has not been moved in any way so I would be surprised if the feed gasket had become loose. I'm attaching a photo. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Ian
Millinocket, Maine

By the looks of your photo the position of the fir in relationship to the back end of the grate looks fine. THe top edge of the fire should be relatively even with the upper set of holes in the grate.

Yep, looks like the burn on my LL top vent, seems normal.

Looks fine to me also!!!
Nothing to worry about. Enjoy the heat.
Have you actually checked your draft with a manometer? With the damper set on "4" I think your draft might be a touch on the high side.

Looks about right for such a slow burn rate .

On Idle, it will burn pretty far back, almost touching the back of the stove. My hyfire burns about the same position....on idle.