Enviro Empress FPI - Start up Issues

Take a look at the auger motor. Mine was working, but running really slow since the bearings were gummed up. It would run the proper amount of time, but since it ran slowly, it didn't deliver the proper amount of pellets. Took me a while to find the problem, but once the motor ran at full speed, all was good again. Perhaps the auger itself is binding, too, slowing things down. Have you noticed that the fire is smaller than it used to be?

Even though you said it's all cleaned out, have you made sure that the proof of fire snap disc is cleaned off? This complaint seem to be common and it's always that sensor has just enough ash on it to hinder it sensing heat.
Another rarer issue is that the ignitor hole can get bunged up and not allow heat to pass through it as when new. I tend to run a drill bit through holes in the burnpot every couple years to make sure their clean.
It could be a auger motor issue, but those issue never get better once a stove gets warm, always in my experience they get worse.

both responses are possible causesthe Empress does have a brass bushing at the top of the auger shaft that can wear out over timeI would also check to see how badly that is worn out. skin and bones is most likely correct though

My St Croix works this way: during startup, it ignores the POF switch, since the stove is not up to temp. After a while (10 or 15 minutes, I guess) it then starts looking at the POF switch. If the switch is satisfied, the stove goes into normal burn mode. If not, the stove will try a relight, and if no joy, shuts down with a #3 error. If the auger were running too slow, the fire would be too small, and the POF switch would not be made in time to satisfy the control.

Your stove may work quite differently, but I would imagine it's somewhat similar.

This doesn't really explain why the auger motor is acting odd, though. My next step would be to monitor the actual voltage going to the motor. If the voltage is there, and the motor doesn't run properly, the control is okay and the problem is in the auger itself, or the motor. If the voltage is low, or funky, the control or its inputs are bad.

your proof of fire switch is on the exhaust blower housing. You have to take the left hand side panel off to get to it. It has 2 brown wires going to it.