Greenfire Europa 75

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The dealer gave me a paper (not included with the owner's manual) that has the "Mini-Helic Gauge Settings." So, these are: Heat Setting 1 should read between 0.10 and 0.15. Setting 2, 0.12 to 0.17. Setting 3, 0.15 to 0.20. Setting 4, 0.20 to 0.26. And Setting 5, 0.24 to 0.30. You're probably coming close to this by keeping the gauge reading in the middle. The instructions, laconic as they are, say to adjust the combustion air flow to get the right gauge reading. I think part of my stove's problems though might very well have to do with an auger rate that's too fast. Not burning things up before sweeping them away. The fuses kind of look like auto fuses. Little glass cylinders with a strip of metal through it. I'm going to pry them out - not super easy to get to - and take them with me tomorrow.
 
BennyLee said:
The dealer gave me a paper (not included with the owner's manual) that has the "Mini-Helic Gauge Settings." So, these are: Heat Setting 1 should read between 0.10 and 0.15. Setting 2, 0.12 to 0.17. Setting 3, 0.15 to 0.20. Setting 4, 0.20 to 0.26. And Setting 5, 0.24 to 0.30. You're probably coming close to this by keeping the gauge reading in the middle. The instructions, laconic as they are, say to adjust the combustion air flow to get the right gauge reading. I think part of my stove's problems though might very well have to do with an auger rate that's too fast. Not burning things up before sweeping them away. The fuses kind of look like auto fuses. Little glass cylinders with a strip of metal through it. I'm going to pry them out - not super easy to get to - and take them with me tomorrow.

Most of my "Black Rice" occurs at start up and shut down, now. In between the the stuff is very minor.


Just to see if I am doing a lot different from you, I will describe my process.


At start up, I add the measure of pellets recommended in manual to the burn pot. I add a palm full of treated starter pellets to light. I load the pellets first, when I have no clean up chores. Prime the pellet auger and then throw in a wooden match to light the starter pellets. Once those pellets have gone alight, I close the door and press the pellet icon button.


Once the stove gets out of the Start Up Cycle, I reduce the ash auger and adjust the combustion air. 10 might work, but lately it seems 12 to 13 is working better. 10 for the ash auger definitely seems too aggressive. This seems to be it for the week,except for refilling the hopper.

When clean up time happens, I let the hopper completely empty. As soon as the stove starts the Shut Down Cycle I vacuum out the fines in the hopper and then reload it. When the stove completely shuts down, I vacuum out the burn compartment, including the bottom of the burn pot. I put my hand in there to be sure there is nothing hot in there. I then remove the ash pan and begin to clean the door glass with a balled up wad of newspaper dipped into water and then dipped into the white ash. Just to be picky, I then use a window cleaner and paper towels to get the streaks. I take the ashes out to the metal can (I plan to spread them with my fertilizer spreader onto the grass).


Then I move to the lighting process again. This seems to work. Last time, I looked for your ash fouling on the augers. I have a thin coating. It does not seem excessive.

Jerry
 
BennyLee said:
I think part of my stove's problems though might very well have to do with an auger rate that's too fast. Not burning things up before sweeping them away.

Benny, I am unsure of this dingy ash issue. I just switched over to AWF hardwood pellets. I was burning Canadian Spruce. The AWF pellets seem to be cleaning out my burn pot. All the dingy white ash is burning off now. And some of it was thickly coated. I will be looking hard at the auger next weekend.

Maybe there is something to this pellet quality thing? I am like you, I think you may have a number of issues fogging up the whole thing. None of my ash was "cement hard".

Jerry
 
Just did my first clean up after switching over to AWF pellets. Very, VERY little unburned pellets. Ash volume was reduced, too. I think I have a handle on this. Wish there was more feed back from other people. Ash auger was at 1, combustion air at 12, heat setting was 3

BennyLee, my ash auger was cleaned off nicely. Very little ash on it and it was soft.

Jerry
 
Just about to finish my second ton of pellets. All in all, I am pleased with this pellet stove. I am disconcerted over the other two users, who seem to have disappeared. I would have liked to have heard more from them, pro, or con. Other than the few issues I posted, this has been a good experience. It surely beats scrounging up normal firewood and then feeding the beast. And I have been there and done that. With one shutdown (unexplained), this stove has been running 24/7 as described, excepting the normal clean outs.

Had I found the stove I put so much money into been a waste of time, I would be here screaming it to the World! This must be one of those connectivity issues the Web is so famous for. Users come, some stay, some lose connections in one form, or another.

Jerry
 
Hey guy's, new to the forum. I had a Whitfield Advantge 2 pellet stove for 11 years and decided it was time for an upgrade.
The Europa 75 is a much more efficient and cleaner burning unit. As far as pellets are concerned, I have found Lignetics
hardwood pellets to be the most consistent with both stoves. The Europa seems to run the best at settings 3 or 4, 4
for ash extraction, and 8-12 for the blower settings. The stove heats my 1650 sq. ft. ranch (except the basement) very
well. The fuel oil furnace only runs if my wife or I actually cycle it. At those settings we use approx. 30 lbs. of pellets
over a 24 hour period. Also, to ease the problem with cleaning the burn pot and augers, (should be done weekly), soak
them in water and dish washing liquid for about 60 minutes. This will soften the mineral deposits left behind, then most of
them can be scraped or wire brushed away. Any deposits that remain will cause a "popping" effect in the stove when
it is re-lit due to moisture in the deposits. This will not effect stove operation in any way. The auger, housing and
burn pot are stainless steel, so no worries there. I will post more as time allows. Forgot to say that the stove has been
up and running since Mid October and we have used 78 bags of pellets out of the 2 tons that were purchased. Hope this helps with some of your questions.
 
FastFire57; Nice to hear from you. You actually take your stove apart on weekly clean up? This is supposed to be more of an annual chore by the manual. I vacuum out the burn chamber and wire bush the pot about weekly. The ash pan seems generally oversized, unless you get an incomplete burn. I went too low of combustion air feed once. The manual needs a decent rewrite, IMO.

Do you use the gauge to set your combustion air feed? Do you get much soot on the glass?

Jerry
 
Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Yeah, I pull the burn pot weekly to monitor the hieghth of the mineral residue.
It helps to give a better idea of where the actual fuel bed is from the augers up while burning. Cooler burning pellets
or partially burned, have a tendency to be nearer the bottom and leave more deposits behind. Sometimes allowing the
fuel bed to burn at a lower level produces less ash and more heat because the unit will run "leaner" due to higher air
flow through the negative air pressure generated from the combustion blower.(Quote from my dealer). I tried it, and for
the most part, it seems to be true. It also reduces the soot on the glass, and creates a finer ash in the pan. I also heard from another dealer in Kidron Ohio that Dell-Point was bought out by Regency Heating Systems in Chicago. Will do some research
on that one.
 
This is interesting news. Perhaps very good news. The documentation surely needs improving. Hopefully parts and service will be improved upon. We will need to keep an eye on this aspect.

Still, all in all, I really have no other negative comments upon the Europa 75. Mine has been much more trouble free than I expected. I am well into my third ton of pellets. If you run across any links related to this buy out, post them here.

Jerry
 
Europa Burners:
Have been burning one since November 2006.
Mine says "Fireplace International" (FPI) on the info tag.
Have burned mostly corn, 250 Bu, so far.
I'm one of those owners that has had problems.
I tried to keep my ash bed at the correct level but it fluctuated up or down.
The wind would change speed or direction and the fun would begin again.
When the ash bed gets too low, unburned corn sticks to the red hot ash augers, coating them, (Rock Hard!) eventually binding.
Blows the ash auger fuse, sets a code.
Or if it does not bind (often happened to me) no ash gets extracted and it builds a big clinker.
All my troubles were caused by vacuum leaks.
Got them all stopped and the stove running right February of last year.
Moved the stove and the troubles started again.
Added the small restrictor plate and found another vacuum leak.
Mostly runs on 4 and 5 now.

A 60 inch exhaust lift instead of straight out was my main problem
My dealer didn't have a clue what was wrong (outta business now).
Parts replaced include: fuses, control panel, top burn tube ring, center ash auger.

The manual does need to be rewritten.
Burning a mix of 25% corn 75% pellets right now to stretch the corn.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/15026/
 
Haven't found anything to support the alleged buy-out yet. I agree the manual does not give a lot of useful info., it does need
to be tweaked to meet the end user as far as troubleshooting and some owner oriented maintainance procedures are
concerned. But it is a far more efficient and reliable unit than the Whitfield that was here for 10+ years. Got the oppurtunity
to try Somerset Premium Pellets instead of Lignetics. Very comparable for heat output and burn rate, but with a higher
"fly ash" output.( Lots of white powdery residue in the stove and on the glass.) Don't know where you are located, but a local
dealer has Lignetics, Country Boy White Lightning, and Green Team pellets @ $189.00/ton plus tax. Thinking about laying
in about 4 Tons at that price. If you want info., and are close to Youngstown, Ohio, let me know. (They are pickup only).
I have also come up with a handy little tool for cleaning the burn pot that removes about 95% of the mineral deposits in less
than 1 minute. 5 or 6 taps with a hammer and you are virtually done, with almost NO scraping or wire brushing. I will try to
stay on top of the Regency thing and let you know.


Don
 
FastFire57 said:
Haven't found anything to support the alleged buy-out yet.
Don

I have seen no info on a buy out. regency did license Greenfire tech, tho. Licensing is not a buy out.

Jerry
 
Pook said:
i recently called dealer about europa & discovered that the multifuel burners were discontinued & new models were pellets only. tried to sell me floor demo at a discount but after further research i am under the impression that the discontinued multi fuel burners were problematic.

Once again pook, They're not discontinued. In fact two new models are being released this year by Regency under license.There are too many possible alternative fuels to abandon multi-fuel stoves. I burn wood pellets, but I am not turning down the possibles of burning corn, wheat and other forms of bio-mass.

Jerry
 
I was getting nowhere with warranty coverage so I googled all the FPI/Regency folks that I could.
I got assistance from 3 ways. And quickly.
Fireplace International was not to blame for the lack of support.
Normally, if you have a warranty issue, you go to the dealer.
If that fails customer service is there.
All I could find was a dealer request form.
And that failed me.
Now it's gone.
So I did what I could......



So Sorry for the Mass E-Mail, but I am not getting a response.


I am the owner of a Dell-Point Europa heating appliance.
S/N 2860-----
The selling dealer,
Country Side Corn Stoves
10320 Lincoln Lake Rd. NE
Greenville, MI 48838-8315
will not answer their phone and has stopped returning my calls. Are they out of business?
I have contacted Fireplace International 2 times in an effort to resolve warranty issues. After using the contact form at the Dell-Point website (now removed) I was contacted by a Dell-Point dealer, Tim Ball at Fred Bouma Company, 1444 Lake Drive, Grand Rapids, MI.
I explained what I needed to repair my stove. My understanding was that he would order parts and then contact me. This never happened. My calls to his voicemail are not returned. The second time I used this contact form, I was sent an E-Mail by Roxanne Lapointe. I respond to this and exchanged E-Mails with Claude Lapointe about my stove issues but never was directed to a local dealer to repair my stove. After looking at the Dell-Point website http://www.pelletstove.com/
today, I see that "Pellet Stoves North America" now redirects to Regency Fireplace Products.
http://www.regency-fire.com/Pellet/
This website does not include the GF75 Stove.
Has it been discontinued?
Please inform me of the status of my warranty coverage for this stove.

What follows is from an out of state dealer, who knew that I was having trouble getting warranty parts.
This was sent 2-10-2008.
In answer to your question, we have not heard of any changes to the GF75 availability or warranty etc.

We do know that they have a new line of pellet stoves that they are introducing at the HPBA show in Atlanta at the end of the month.

The Regency website never did have the GF75 info on it that I am aware of.
If you would like I will try to help you.

KK
 
From reading iburncorn.com, I picked up on my failure in start up procedures. The factory docs say little on the amount of pellets to pre-load into the pot. I saw 4 cups on iburncorn. I used this amount to start up today and got a beautiful swirling mass of blue flames at the end of start up. So far, no soot at all on glass.

Jerry
 
Installed the larger restriction plate this weekend. Temp on door went up 50 degrees. Temps on vent still about the same, maybe 10 degrees less. Accessing the parts to switch restrictions is easy. I found an 11 mm wrench fits best on the bolts and nuts. Do these gaskets seem amenable to reuse? Or, are they a one use item?

Using less combustion air. About 3 settings lower, so there should be a detectable amount of electric use decrease. This would means something in an off-the-grid set up.

Will move to smallest restriction plate on next 45 to 50 degree day. I only got two plates with my stove. I am still pleased with the Europa 75. The only downside is the learning curve, IMO.

Jerry
 
Looks like I'm a year late getting on board here. Purchased a used Europa 75 in October 08. Been running it since. This is a perplexing unit. Runs great and so far no major problems. The manual as stated above STINKS!. I have been trying many combinations of the settings but seem to get no where. The ash extraction seems to make no difference setting on 1 or 10. Cannot seem to maintain a good ash bed. Sooting of the glass seems to be a regular occurrence. Especially at low feed rates. Its 17 degrees out tonight and my fuel oil furnace has yet to be needed at all. This stove is doing far and above what i expected of it. Now if I can only figure out what it is I'm trying to adjust for. Any Help would be appreciated.
 
Setting of 4 and the house was at 83 degrees when I came home. Real toasty. Turning it back to 3 for the night. Still can't build an ash bed to save my soul. This concerns me because I want to switch to corn soon aand have been told a good ash bed is essential our you will burn out the ss clean out augers. This has been a great investment!
One thing I did discover and that's PA has no sales tax on pellets whereas Ohio does.
 
I have found out through trial and error...and trips to the auto parts store, electrical supply store and hardware store, the two kids of fuses that the Dell Point Europa needs. I have their numbers all written down and I will post that info on another post. At present, I have too big of a headache.
I was stunned that the Dell Point Europa instruction manual didn't even list what kind of fuse this stove needs. What help is a "troubleshooting" page, telling the owner that a fuse needs replacement, if there is no information on what kind of fuse and where it goes?
Also, opening up the control panel is very tricky. I felt like I was damaging it when I opened it to replace fuses, because the wires are so tightly wound. The FPI office in DeKalb Illinois sent me fuses before Christmas, I replaced the one needed to power the augur motor, the stove worked for 4 more days, then cut off with a "power interruption" reading on the control panel. I was then wasting time charging the battery and checking my power source, and when I finally got two people from the dealer to come out to my house.
They told me that the problem had been a jam in the lower ash extraction augurs. I don't recall getting directions to clean these lower augurs in the owner's manual. I have been repeatedly frustrated with this stove and I am so disappointed. I had such high hopes for it and now I feel so ripped off.
 
Page 21 of the Manual - Maintenance of the Ash-extraction System. I agree that the worst part of this stove is the manual. I have yet to encounter any electrical problems. In this morning at -12 F the stove alone on a setting of 4 had my house at 72 F.
 
I appreciate your answer. Thanks! The technicians from the dealer who came to fix the stove today also gave me spoken instructions (over the phone after they left) which correspond to "Maintenance of the Ash Extraction System." In my owner's manual, that is page 21. Okay, it's true. I have not removed the ash extraction system to clean it yet. But I have two questions: 1.) If the problem was the ash extraction augurs, why did the control panel read: "E5" (power interruption)? That suggested that the problem was with the power source. Also, 2.) How could the ash extraction augurs have become that clogged after not even 3 weeks of use? This is a new stove. FPI replaced my old one because it also had repeated technical and mechanical failures.

The control panel technology of this stove seems flawed if the readings do not guide the owner to effective troubleshooting. Also, why did none of the technicians tell me by phone to clean the ash extraction system? One told me to clean the convection fan and a technician in California even told me that (really, I'm not lying) it is not necessary to clean the Dell Point Europa.

Everyone I talk to about this stove seems to have a different story. I am hoping to use this website to gain more expertise from well informed owners who actually use this product, because I really need a "shot in the arm" at this point. My investment is not paying off.
 
Just one more thing. My house is 2 story, 2000 square feet...and very drafty. It's an old farmhouse and the hallways are narrow. Maybe that's why...even at its best, this stove only provides heat to the main room of my house. The heat does not travel down the hall to the bedroom and it definitely does not go upstairs. My house has 9 ft ceilings...is that why?

The dealer originally told me about setting up a system with fans in order to push the stove's heat around the house...I experimented unsuccessfully with this idea, and then, it ultimately became so time consuming and frustrating just to get the stove to light and stay turned on...that I really haven't been thinking about how to spread out the heat. The shutoffs with F5 and F6 readings have been chronic, to the point where I got very little actual use out of the stove last year. That's why FPI installed a new one. It doesn't seem to be any better. Sawdust clogging the augur seems to be a serious technical flaw of this product.

But thanks for listening anyway. I guess I am glad this stove works for someone out there.
 
What type of central heating system do you have? If the air returns are in the same room as the Pellet stove you may be able to use the fan and duct work to move warm air around.
Your 9' ceiling would diffentally cause warm air to gather above your head.

I let my stove run out of pellets every 2 weeks and go thru its own shut down. Then with a vacuum and a small metal prod clean out the feed auger at the bottom of the bin. Then vacuum out the chamber, drop the ash augers with a 9/16 socket wash in hot water the augers and burn pot. Open the panels around the inside and vacuum them out. Use a small metal brush to clean the combustion fan baldes and a hand brush to clean the heat tubes at the top inside of the chamber. Put it back together after a little more vacuuming. (Make sure the ash augers are connected to the motor shaft) And fire it back up. This whole process takes me about 15 minutes and I'm back up and running.

Oh yea clean the glass with a dry towel and then a damp cloth.
 
Hello Redntall74 Firestarter.

Thank you for the info. It is helpful. I have a boiler in my basement and a "hot water heating" system with the big old style radiators. The main room of my house has two radiators. My house doesn't have much of a venting system because I guess the hot water heating is transmitted through pipes to the radiators as opposed to blowing into the air through heat ducts. (Excuse me if my terminology is wrong). I had a heating guy look at my house to see about maybe trying to add more venting...he did not appear to think that would be effective. For example, opening up a vent between the first floor and the second.
But again, the repeated problems I have had with the Dell Point Europa have taken over any concern about how the heat circulates. When it's working, I just use this stove as a fireplace and sit near it when I'm really cold. Your suggestions about the every two week cleaning are helpful. I think I will probably need to tune into this website again if I am going to take the screws out of the burn pot and remove the ash extraction system. I know that for people who do it all the time, it is probably easy. But I have never done it, I don't find the manual helpful and I don't want to make some kind of drastic mistake.
So again, I'll re-read your cleaning instructions and then next shut down I will try to do a better job of cleaning out the ash extraction system (below the burn pot).
 
It is real easy. Two 9/16" bolts hold it. Bolt heads are underneath. Remove the ash pan and they are right there.

With a boiler system moving air within the house will be hard. Why didn't you buy a pellet boiler system to add on to your present system? It would have done a much better job in your situation for about the same cost. Would have involved some plumbing conections but well worth it.

http://www.woodboilers.com/ Try here for a start

Just a thought.
 
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