Hopper Gasket

Hmmm. Never really thought of that. What's yours made of? If it's foam rubber, I'd be hesitant to do it for fear of damaging the foam or adhesive in any way. Hopefully others will chime in.

Go for it. Depending on your lid design, it may be tough to not tear the bill as you won't be pulling it straight out....if that makes sense.

With the stove running, can you notice any change in the burn if you push down on the hopper lid? If not, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just my $.02

P38X2 said:

Hmmm. Never really thought of that......

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I didn't think of it either. I don't think it's a big deal, but you could always give Mike H. a call or send a PM and ask.

RightSeatCessna said:

I called Englander at 3 and they told me it is not a big deal. They told me to tighten it down the best I could because if there was ever a blockage, a fire could start in the hopper if not properly sealed.

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That's what I thought....more of a fire preventer than anything else.

Mine's magnetic strip and seals the thing tight. Glad it does, because with the lid open and even with a full load of pellets in the hopper, I can see the air draw down through the pellets and the auger chute into the combustion chamber - not good for the burn characteristics at all if it leaked.

Yup. Works great too.

Well I don't know your stove design but, yes, I would watch and see what happens when you open the lid during operation. It seems like they're all pretty much negative pressure boxes. That's why air-wash systems work; there's enough suction to draw air in around the gaps at the bottom of the glass - there's usually a deflector to shoot that air up along the face of the windows to keep the flame off. Seems like anything that lets air into that space that shouldn't is going to mess with the pressures, especially the airflow through the burn pot, and screw up the burn. That's why some newer stoves have a switch on the hopper lid that cuts the auger when it's open - you could have reduced air flow to the fire, slower burn and a pellet buildup leading to hopper fire if the thing got stuck open. Kind of like your combustion blower going south and the auger still feeding. FWIW, mine's a simple top-drop, air up through the burn pot holes thing - pretty traditional design.

RightSeatCessna said:

I always figured the auger stopped so you would not lose a finger......

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It does, but the fire will continue as normal long enough to see if the flame changes.