M55 Insert Out of Fuel - Want to be prepared

RickNH said:

Hi,

This is my first season with the M55 FPI. So far I really like the adjust-ability of this stove and it's performance both on low and high settings. As I saw sitting in front of it last night I began to wonder what I would happen if I let it run out of pellets?

1) How would it tell me that is was out of fuel?
2) Is there some kind of restart procedure?

Thanks!
Rick

Click to expand...

The unit will shut down if it's out of fuel. This is from the manual.

"INITIAL START-UP:
Press the ON / OFF button.
The stove will turn on. The Auger Feed Rate is pre-
programmed during start-up. The Heat Level Indicator will show the Heat Level that the stove will run at after
start-up.
If this is the first time the unit has been started or the unit has run out of fuel, the auger may need to be
primed. If there is no fuel in the burn pot after two (2) minutes
the liner can be primed with a handful of
pellets
. The agitator will not operate for the first five (5) minutes after the ON button has been pressed. After
the five (5) minutes it will pulse at the same interval as the feed auger.
When the start-up sequence is complete the unit will ramp up
in two (2) minute intervals until it has reached
the designated heat setting.
Once a fire has been established, the convection blower will turn on after ten
(10) minutes."

I have the FS M55 and find that the fire goes down a while before it actually runs out of pellets. Someone here let me know that they M55 requires some weight/pressure for the pellets to keep flowing in.

It will shut down, and blink one of the heat level lights (level 3 or 4 I think).

AbbyCha,I believe your correct, that the M55 does need x amount of pellets to get them in to the auger. In deliberately getting the stove to run out to adjust the auger cover or to wax the bin, I use a long wooden spoon to try to get the last handfull of pellets into the auger....Rick, you don't have to prime the stove with a handfull of pellets, it just takes an extra minute plus for the pellets to work there way up the auger( if it's empty), don't want to wait.....drop a small handfull into the burn pot. One last thing to look for is that the stove may start up and stay in Heat level 1 or the bottom red light, and stay there until you move it higher. Once it's cold out, I keep my Heat level at 3 all the time.
Enjoy, Bill