Enviro Pellet Stove Trouble!!!

x96mnn · Nov 30, 2007

In September I bought a new home, last home was heated by a Nep1400 wood stove but this time being in a sub division and not really having the room to chop the wood I installed two Enviro pellet stoves (Hate being cold)

Up stairs I installed EF3Bi with nickel trim door kit...heats up to 2000sq ft so heating the top floor which is 1120 is no problem. Stove works very well and on the level I run it can get a little over 2 complete days from a bag.

Problem is with the new Enviro Maxx that I installed down stairs, it heats up to 2700 sq feet holds three bags of pellets. This thing gives off heat like you would not believe. The burn bucket is the problem, cakes up and I feel is a fire hazard. I bought this stove for multi day burns with its big dumper but was shocked to come home after a 36hr period away to find a full blaze in the ash bucket that took almost 2 complete days to burn out. The pellets kept dumping into a caked up burn bucket and flowed out over into the ash bucket then I would assume due to the little mountain shaped pile of coals in the burn bucket hot pellets dropped in as well starting the fire.

I have tried many different burn modes, the top mode burns a little better as the cake up is not as high( will easily burn 3 bags a day on high and heat you out of 2500 Sq feet when it is -2 outside) but still needs to be cleaned out to use again.

The stove was installed by WETT certified professional who also is experiencing the same problem on the same model stove in their show room. Pellets can not be the issue, work fine in the stove upstairs as well as all the other stoves in the show room.

Needless to say the stove I bought for when I am away that also has the option of a thermostat with auto relight cannot be trusted to function at this time. Enviro has not responded to the complaint and no fix is in sight.

If anyone else is experiancing simular issues let me know..I will keep the post updated as I get more info.

hearthtools · Nov 30, 2007

I have the OMEGA
same stove but 60K BTU and has the self cleaning burn pot.

Are you running it on a stat?
if so are you running it on ON/ off mode or Hi low?

If you are using the ON off mode the burn pot might be building up with clinkers in the shut down mode and every time it relights the burn pot keeps building up.

with The non self cleaning pot the HI low mode works better.

Has the Air been adjusted using a Magnahelic?
I know my stove with 12 feet of vertical pipe I had to have the air control out almost half way to get the correct reading.

Make sure all the ash traps are closed.
Make sure the little flapper (If the maxx has this) in the front bottom of the door frame are closing
One of mine was stuck open.

Do you have vertical rise in your pipe or are you just direct venting?

I will email Al at Enviro and have him look at this post.

x96mnn · Dec 1, 2007

hearthtools said:
I have the OMEGA
same stove but 60K BTU and has the self cleaning burn pot.

Are you running it on a stat? Yes
if so are you running it on ON/ off mode or Hi low? Running on Hi/Lo mode

If you are using the ON off mode the burn pot might be building up with clinkers in the shut down mode and every time it relights the burn pot keeps building up.

with The non self cleaning pot the HI low mode works better.

Has the Air been adjusted using a Magnahelic? Yes
I know my stove with 12 feet of vertical pipe I had to have the air control out almost half way to get the correct reading. I have 5 feet up then about 2 feet to the outside

Make sure all the ash traps are closed. Not sure what those are
Make sure the little flapper (If the maxx has this) in the front bottom of the door frame are closing do not see any
One of mine was stuck open.

Do you have vertical rise in your pipe or are you just direct venting? Verticle 5ft then a 90 and 2 ft out

I will email Al at Enviro and have him look at this post.

Any help would be really appriciated

x96mnn · Dec 4, 2007

Hearthtools

Has Enviro replied to your enquiry. Not receiving much support from them on this end.

Options I have been given so far is
1) Add two steel brackets to elevate the burn pot.
2) Decrease it's out put to 60000 BTU's

I would need to go with 2 as my Insurance company will not cover the stove( Cannot modify unless its a kit from the company). The insurance compnay currently is reviwing the stoves safty!

hearthtools · Dec 4, 2007

I talked to Al at Enviro
He said there is a problem and they are working on it.
I did not go into it what the problem was (Not much time)
Just give them time and keep in touch with your dealer
or go to www.enviro.com and email them so you are kept in the loop.

x96mnn · Dec 28, 2007

Just to keep everyone posted...The Maxx is still not working right. Pot needs to be cleaned out after each burn in order to relight while Enviro "MAY" be working on something they are not doing anything to make me feel they are.

The store I purchased it from will exchange my stove out for a Napoleon stove with the extention to hold more pellets.

hearthtools · Dec 28, 2007

x96mnn said:
Just to keep everyone posted...The Maxx is still not working right. Pot needs to be cleaned out after each burn in order to relight while Enviro "MAY" be working on something they are not doing anything to make me feel they are.

The store I purchased it from will exchange my stove out for a Napoleon stove with the extention to hold more pellets.

Dont go backwords
Get a Omega

Highbeam · Dec 28, 2007

x96mnn said:
Just to keep everyone posted...The Maxx is still not working right. Pot needs to be cleaned out after each burn in order to relight while Enviro "MAY" be working on something they are not doing anything to make me feel they are.

The store I purchased it from will exchange my stove out for a Napoleon stove with the extention to hold more pellets.

That dealer is providing great service if the units are eqial in price or a credit is given. He is pretty much taking it in the shorts on Enviro's behalf. Was any repair effort made?

I had been keenly interested in the Omega but the manufacturer's support of their products looks quite poor here. At least they could put out a service bulletin noting the problem so that the customers can be aware.

x96mnn · Dec 28, 2007

I am pleased with the service the store is giving. The Napoleon stove defiantly looks a lot nicer and the extension to the hopper will allow me to leave for a few days and still have heat. I was hoping to hook the Maxx up to the thermostat which would regulate the stove and heat but this will not work with the stove due to the burn pot needs to be manually emptied in order for the stove to relight.

The store has two potential fixes which include a stronger blower and placing two steel brackets below the burn pot to increase the flow of air on the current blower.

In order to implement one of these fixes Enviro would have to release an upgrade approving the modification of the stove in order for the insurance company to cover issues that may occur.

Enviro is not getting back to the store in a timely manner and I have not received response to my emails.

Omega is not an option where I live it seems...no one stocks them

Enviro Design · Jan 1, 2008

I hope I can shed some light onto this situation. Enviro has been working on this issue but, unfortunately we have not had a hard and fast answer to this sporadic problem as information was hard to get and to translate into a problem we could re-create. until the past 2 weeks. We did not want to be sending out interim possible solutions, we needed ones that will work. This was proven 2 weeks ago by a technical trip to several dealers in North Central BC to verify a problem that was hard to diagnose in the lab. We were then able to solve the problem, on site, to the dealers satisfaction. We will be releasing a full technical bulletin to our Distributors and Dealers on Wednesday morning. Any parts that may be required will be made available as soon as possible. Your Dealer should be able to help you with our support to get your unit up and running the way it was designed. The issue involves tolerances in the ignitor tube mounting (If you can see the holes in the front of the liner between the Burn Pot and the Liner - this may be your problem) and a missing grinding procedure on the Ash Pan Door opening that will cause a mis-alignment of the Ash Pan Door. I hope you will allow us to fix these issues on your stove. Please allow the dealers time to digest the tech notice and us to get parts out to them to correct the issue if it is present on your stove.

Thanks,

P.s. If you are planning on operating your Maxx unattended for long periods of time I would suggest an Omega with the Agitor in the burner as it is designed to burn just about any thing. Top feed units can be at the mercy of the fuel building up or with ash if not checked occasionally.

x96mnn · Jan 1, 2008

Thank you for the responce!

I talked with the dealer on Friday setting a date for January 31st for having the stove work properly at which time it will be returned if not.

With the information you provided my hope is that a solution is near as I do like the Maxx and its heat output.

x96mnn · Jan 5, 2008

I talked with the dealer Thursday and he confirmed Enviro released a bulletin on the Enviro Maxx. He stated there are three parts he ordered for the stove and he will come out and install them as soon as the parts arrive.

Good News !!!

Highbeam · Jan 5, 2008

Great news. Welcome, E Designs, I hope you can stay around.

x96mnn · Feb 7, 2008

Just wanted to give a quick update.

The dealer received the parts last week and is going to install the new parts which should correct the problem this week.

I will let you know the results.

hearthtools · Feb 7, 2008

x96mnn said:
Just wanted to give a quick update.

The dealer received the parts last week and is going to install the new parts which should correct the problem this week.

I will let you know the results.

Photo of the part if you can

x96mnn · Feb 10, 2008

I will try and grab a couple of photos when he shows. I have seen them at the store and they consist of a new door for the ash bucket, new dore gasget, new burne pot and spacers to go under the burn pot.

enviro max sucker · Feb 15, 2008

x96mnn said:
So in September I bought a new home, last home was heated by a Nep1400 wood stove but this time being in a sub division and not really having the room to chop the wood I installed two Enviro pellet stoves (Hate being cold)

Up stairs I installed EF3Bi with nickel trim door kit...heats up to 2000sq ft so heating the top floor which is 1120 is no problem. Stove works very well and on the level I run it can get a little over 2 complete days from a bag.

Problem is with the new Enviro Maxx that I installed down stairs, it heats up to 2700 sq feet holds three bags of pellets. This thing gives off heat like you would not believe. The burn bucket is the problem, cakes up and I feel is a fire hazard. I bought this stove for multi day burns with its big dumper but was shocked to come home after a 36hr period away to find a full blaze in the ash bucket that took almost 2 complete days to burn out. The pellets kept dumping into a caked up burn bucket and flowed out over into the ash bucket then I would assume due to the little mountain shaped pile of coals in the burn bucket hot pellets dropped in as well starting the fire.

I have tried many different burn modes, the top mode burns a little better as the cake up is not as high( will easily burn 3 bags a day on high and heat you out of 2500 Sq feet when it is -2 outside) but still needs to be cleaned out to use again.

The stove was installed by WETT certified professional who also is experiencing the same problem on the same model stove in their show room. Pellets can not be the issue, work fine in the stove upstairs as well as all the other stoves in the show room.

Needless to say the stove I bought for when I am away that also has the option of a thermostat with auto relight cannot be trusted to function at this time. Enviro has not responded to the complaint and no fix is in sight.

If anyone else is experiancing simular issues let me know..I will keep the post updated as I get more info.

I just joined this forum.
I also have a Maxx and am having the same problems as you. My dealer told me that the ashpan door is the cause of the problem and that Sherwood is replacing the door (when is anybodys guess).
My Maxx first wouldn't shut off and I had to shut the powerbar off to get the thing to stop burning. That was the first problem I had with it, 3 days after I had it installed.
Dealer replaced the main board 2 weeks later.
After the board was replaced, the stove loaded up the burn pot liner and unbeknownst to me when I shut it off that night some pelletts (About 6 good handfulls of them) were in the ashpan along with some hot coals. I got up in the morning to a house full of smoke.
So my major questions to Sherwood are; 1. Is this thing going to burn my house down? and 2. Am I gonna die from smoke inhalation or from the fire?
I think neither. I think this stove is gonna be going back to Sherwood. Goodby and good riddance to a bad product.

x96mnn · Feb 16, 2008

I understand your frustration and I am still waiting for the reppair to take place although I know the parts have arrived.

I too experianced fire in the ash pan and feel there is smoke damage in my home because of it. It was my hope it would clear with time which has not taken place, have put up gyp rock and will paint the main room (it needed to be done but I wanted to wait a year) in order to clear the smell.

enviro max sucker · Feb 16, 2008

I guess in a way I was lucky. I got up in the morning, immediately smelled the smoke and threw open the doors and windows ( oil tank took a beating, furnace ran steady 'til I closed the house up again) and went downstairs and got the ashpan out of the house. 8 hours later it was still smoldering away, but outside.
The whole idea in going to pellets from wood was to get away from relying on someone else to deliver the wood and the mess. Wood is filthy and buggy, too. I never had any problems like that with wood, but I've only been burning wood in two stoves for about 15 years.
I cleaned the stove out thoroughly this morning and will try to keep a fire going all day tomorrow and Sunday. For no other reason but to use up the pellets in the hopper. the rest of the ton of pellets I got will probably go into the compost bin.

x96mnn · Feb 17, 2008

Wood was my previous source of heat as well and had no issues with he Nap stove I had but will never switch back due tot he conviance of the pellets.

I understand your want to abandon Pellets all together but I have heated my home so cheaply this year it is impossible for me to walk away!!
Total cost for heating at this time is around $632 taxes in. My stoves go 24/7 other then the odd coold down for a few hours to clean them every two days (the max is shut down daily so it does not over flow) I do not use the electic heat at all, the breakers are turned off at the box..

YOu have the chiminey installed, i would work with the dealer to replace the Max with anoher modle or wait and have the max repaired.

enviro max sucker · Feb 17, 2008

The maxx is out of here on Wednesday. The only other stove that Sherwood offers that is close to my requirements is the omega, (60,000 BTU's and a 130 lb hopper), if they don't want to go that route on an even trade then I'll be looking for my money back and I will invest it in oil for the rest of this winter. The chimney will be no problem to remove after the winter is over.
So far this winter, including the cost of the stove and pellets and oil (to keep us from freezing up when the pellet stove didn't work) I have spent 3,100.$ for the stove and chimney, + 550.$ for pellets, + 1,000.$ for furnace oil. = 4,650.$ to heat my house. NOT an acceptable number.
I still have about 400.$ worth of pellets left. They are going to make expensive compost in the spring.
Oh well, live and learn.

x96mnn · Mar 25, 2008

Repairs were made to the stove today, (yes it took too long), and I am sad to report it did not resolve the problem entirely! Made it definitely better but there is no way this stove will be capable of being hooked up to a thermostat and shut down and relight without the burn pot being cleaned out.

I started the burn around 11:00 today and when I came home around 7:00 the pot was about half full in the middle and clear around the sides which I thought not bad, it’s still burning and not over flowing with the side bottoms being seen. Impressed to this point I tried a shutdown which to my dismay at the end the pot in the middle has about a half inch of what looks to be well burnt pellets.

What next? Not what I expect from a $2000 machine!

hearthtools · Mar 26, 2008

x96mnn said:
Repairs were made to the stove today, (yes it took too long), and I am sad to report it did not resolve the problem entirely! Made it definitely better but there is no way this stove will be capable of being hooked up to a thermostat and shut down and relight without the burn pot being cleaned out.

I started the burn around 11:00 today and when I came home around 7:00 the pot was about half full in the middle and clear around the sides which I thought not bad, it’s still burning and not over flowing with the side bottoms being seen. Impressed to this point I tried a shutdown which to my dismay at the end the pot in the middle has about a half inch of what looks to be well burnt pellets.

What next? Not what I expect from a $2000 machine!

You got a good deal at 2K
the list price $2200
Plus around $398 for large glass door
or $300 for small glass door

Most standard pellet stove are over 2K
the Omega list price is $4200

x96mnn · Mar 26, 2008

You got a good deal at 2K
the list price $2200
Plus around $398 for large glass door
or $300 for small glass door

Most standard pellet stove are over 2K
the Omega list price is $4200[/quote]

I actually got it for $1899 plus tax with the large glass door. (I think the larger door was an error on the dealers part because I understood a smaller door)

I spent close to 7500 on two stove and everything needed to install them including labour and hearth pads which I do feel would be a great deal on two working stoves.

Really I feel I paid 7500 for one stove at this time.

x96mnn · Apr 4, 2008

What Next?

The answer to this point is Enviro had the main door gasket replaced which marginally improved the ash that is in the bottom of the ash pot but in order to relight the stove after a biurn it must stillbe hand cleaned.

I am waiting a responce from Enviro to "What is Next" at this time.

Enviro Pellet Stove Trouble!!!

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