Exhaust fan on Napoleon NPI-40 making a noise.

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Thanks, I just checked the receipt again and trucking paperwork, but no serial # :( How can you sell a stove without the serial # on it? It has to be there somewhere.The only thing that makes since is that is has to be that NPI # ( 5 digits I think - mostly 0's) on the right panel with the schematics. Does your serial begin with NPI? Obviousy the model does, but I'm hoping the serial does too. My husband will flip of he has to take this thing apart again before he gets the replacement part in.
 
WIth regard to my electric bill. May wife and I have no kids and work long hours. The truth of the matter is it didn't take much to double our bill, but it wass still a shock. It cost more to run this stove than the AC in the summer. wasn't expecting that i figured these for pretty low draw appliances, but will admit I didn't really check. I am most irraitated that I have to have the TV volume blasting to hear it over the grinding fan across the room that was replaced a week ago. Between the problems with Athens pellets the problems with this stove, and my dealer going out of business I am about worn out dealing with the whole mess. All that keeps me fighting it is the amount of money I have wrapped up in it.
 
Cavedweller said:
Dear Stove doctor, I actually did purchase my stove locally from a napoleon dealer, my question is this, is napoleon advising there dealers of these problems.. I feel like I am the only one with this problem because they say they have not had complaints from the other stoves they sold at least not about the fans which i find hard to believe since i am now on my fourth (4) fan since oct. the dealer has been helpful as far as replacing them however its getting a little old specially when i see the amount of complaints on the internet. does napoleon take returns on these stoves? do they do recall notices on there defective products.. i did speak to one women at napoleon and she did acknowledge several complaints and problems with the fans. how long does it take for any action to finally get things done... again i say this is ridiculous.....
Click to expand...

Hello Cavedweller, I do understand your line of thought and will respond by saying that I have not received any feedback from Napoleon regarding fan issues, but do believe there is a problem, what else could cause these troubles? As far as a return issue, my first course of action (as a dealer who sold such a product) would be to consult my area rep and advise of customers issues and then let that course of action follow through. Yes, it does take a little time and patience. Anytime a customer sees the dealer several times for the same problem certainly would warrant customer dissatisfaction. That is precisely why I took it upon myself to try the "other" Fasco motor to try and determine if the problem still exists or has it been remedied. To date, I have not heard another complaint on those units that I stepped in and repaired. That tells me that something is up with their lot of blowers.
 
thank you stove doctor for your quick response, can you explain what you mean when you speak of replacing the blower with another manufactures fasco blower motor. is fasco not the manufacturer, also do you have the make and model so i could perhaps pass it along to my stove dealer should he be inclined to listen to me or perhaps i could put you i contact with him... thanks again
 
I agree. Stove Doctor-Is the 0027 the correct replacement part? I'd like to get this right the first time. Thanks.
 
i checked lastnight, i have a fasco. ill have to check the part# tonight. i never thought to check the model each time it was changed...
 
Well, I submitted my warranty request today. Now I guess I just wait and see. In the meantime, my husband cleaned the stove thoroughly last night when he had it apart. It seems to be running a bit better, though you still can hear that it has a bearing problem. We're uising it in the meantime. It's supposed to be cold here in the Northeast tonight and it is currently snowing.

Happy New Year everyone!
 
Hi, Add us to the growing list of unhappy Napoleon stove owners. We are scheduled to have our 2nd replacement fan installed. Adding to the frustration of the loud fan noise... is our dealer making us wait 4 weeks each time for service. As other people mentioned, at Napoleon's head quarters (wolf steel) they do not respond to any questions about the issue, other than to make you go to your dealer. Has anyone isolated the proper replacement fasco part number? Has Napoleon actually provided CORRECTED replacement fans? Or are dealers simply installing the same broken fan over and over again? Do us consumers need to unite and ALL write the attorney generals office at the same time? If we got some answers from Napoleon perhaps we might have some confidence that this problem will be corrected. We are going to continue to email and call wolf steel for answers. E&C;
 
Been cold here in the northeast .Been running my stove on#5 setting for the auger speed.Seems to be better.Still a little loud but not too bad. when the stove is hotter it seems to run better.I did turn the stove down for a short time yesterday to #3 and the convection blower started getting real noisy again.
 
There has been a new development in the Napoleon Warranty issue for me. Maybe Stove Doctor can help me out on this one...

My dealer went out of busniess. I have mentioned this several times posting on this board. He still owes me a few parts that are not critical for the stoves operation and he has become a ghost. I am going down the AG track to try and find him. In the meantime I have used another dealer to provide my warranty service. To this point that includes changing both fans and they were supposed to have ordered a new fan speed control as well. The new fan starting making noise within hours of being installed. I called this morning to start the process of replacement and was abruptly informed that they could no longer provide warranty service on my stove becuase Napoleon would not reimburse them for service on a stove they didn't sell. huh? They are a dealer the stove has serial numbers that have been submitted I dont see why there should be a problem. I will contact Napoleon myself regarding this monday morning when they reopen, but I am very concerned that because I had the misfortune of buying from a dealer that folded I am stuck with a lemon stove that i cant get service for. The napoleon website touts their great warranty saying you dont even need to register the product they will take care of stuff, and yet the local dealer is telling me they cant get paid. Something doesn't add up here.
 
Just sent an email off the Wolf Steel.Don't know if they will return email or not .Also sent link. Maybe they will take the time to read???


There have been a lot of problems with the blowers on your Napoleon pellet stoves and I am one of them. I have contacted you by phone and never received a return call. Their are other people that seem to get the same service. I thought that you are a manufacture that will stand behind there products?
People have replaced the blowers 3and 4 time with the SAME PROBLEMS.I have contacted the company that I bought my stove from and I hope that they will continue to help me .I do have concern with your lack of follow up with theses problems. I do like the stove over all but don't know if you will live up to your warranty promises. Here is the web site that you can read the complaints that we have been having. I hope to hear from you .I would like to tell people that you are a company that takes care of their customers.https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/30356/
 
Awesome posts guys. I am so happy to hear that someone else is also pursuing and following up on this issue. Here I thought I was the only one with issues.
 
Oh PS I still don't even know if I will be reimbursed for my warranty parts. Zoobler's policy is that you buy the replacement parts and then you have to ship back the defiective within 15 days for testing and credit, if the manufacturer determines that there is actually a problem. It seems to me that they would be hard pressed to deny that there was a problem.
 
sorry to hear all you guys are having problems with the exhaust blowers being noisy. ive been running the nps40 for almost 2 seasons now and can tell you that hell yea it is a noisy stove at times. i feel that the stove is a piece of crap and that is including customer service from nepoleon and from the people who sell the stoves. last year i did a post on this stove and people were quick to jump on me about the installation being the problem for the noise and the crappy heat output. well we cant all be wrong can we? there were other issues with customert service that im not going to get into. i just hope all you guys get your stoves straightened out. this will be the last season with this stove and then its going to the curb cause i wouldnt feel right selling it to someone. good luck everyone jeff
 
I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT!!!!!! I HAD MY FOURTH (4) BLOWER PUT IN LAST WEEK. I HAVE ONLY HAD THE STOVE IN SINCE OCTOBER,2008 AND THE THING STARTED SCREECHING AGAIN TODAY. I'M ALMOST AT A LOST FOR WORDS... I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO ORDER MY FIFTH(5) ONE. ANY SUGGESTIONS ....ANYONE?????
 
Thought you gentlemen might be interested in the response I finally received from Napoleon today which seems to be blaming it's customers for not taking care of their units properly as the cause of all the problems. I've already given my stove a thorough cleaning and we've only been through 1 - 1/4 ton of pellets. Give me a break.


We are sorry to hear of the difficulties you're encountering with this
product. What you've described is certainly not what is considered normal
for the unit. With regards to a handling of the issue, we respond to any and
all issues that our dealers & distributors file with us under warranty. If
we hear of one instance of a specific issue, several departments are
immediately contacted to investigate if there's anything being done, or
missed, that could be contributing to it. If we hear of more than one
instance of a specific issue, product in the range described is quarantined
and examined. If possible, any identified problems are fixed in house. When
not possible, a replacement part, or retrofit kit is created, or a recall is
generated.
Thus far, when we have been receiving the 'defective' product back, we've
not seen anything to indicate defects at all. The majority of what we're
encountering has been terrible lack of maintenance, installation related
issues, or a simple lack of education on the product -- with some fans that
customers claimed as 'noisy' not producing any sound, when returned &
tested.
This year especially, we had an entire quarter of the North American
continent jumping on the pellet-stove bandwagon, driving the wood-pellet
industry into extreme shortage. Dealers were selling the product without
having the stock to fill orders, and not even needing to spend time
educating the customers on the proper installation, use and maintenance of
the product, because they were in such high demand. Customers weren't even
reading their owners manuals for operating instructions, resulting in floods
of needless calls to dealers, distributers and even the manufacturer, on
basic operating information. While we do not suggest this is the case with
yourself, we are stating that these other customers you described could
easily fall into one of these other categories -- as they may not have known
what to expect with their purchase.
Until we identify otherwise, we will continue to handle all such issues on a
case-by-case basis, examining each product returned to us for any
correlation and always informing our dealers of the results of the
investigation. If any part we receive back is legitimately defective, we
always provide replacement parts as per the terms of our warranty.

Take care & thank you for your purchase,
-Wolf Steel Technical Dept.


Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 1:26 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Consumer Question from Website

Question: Hi, Been having alot of problems with our exhaust blower on our
new NPI-40. We only have been using the unit a few months. We are going to
submit for a new replacement unit, but I have heard that this is a
widespread problem. I'm not exactly happy that I have to buy the unit from
Zoobler and then wait for refund once tested. Just thought you might be
interested in seeing how other customers as well are upset that Napoleon
does not appear to be properly handling the issue. It sounds like some
people have had to have the unit replaced several times. Has this problem
been fixed on new replacements? It is really beginning to hurt your customer
sat. Thanks.
 
Oh man. That's a really bad way to talk about your customers. Napoleon may never again need to worry about extreme shortages due to too many orders to fill once prospective buyers of their $2,000 products start reading that message.

And I am (so far) a very satisfied NPS 40 owner -- unlike (so far) all of you uneducated bandwagon jumpers who keep sending your perfectly silent fans back to the factory. Now I dread ever having to contact the company if my unit starts acting up.
 
Hi we got a response today also, again Napoloen is trying to tell everyone that they have not heard of any other problems... what kind of fools do they think we all are? I sent back a link to this site for them to read. Here is the email we got back:

Good morning, Cheryl;

Firstly, while we can appreciate your frustration in this matter (as the
difficulties you've encountered seem numerous and agitating), we kindly ask
to please not threaten us. It doesn't loan to any sort of positive
communication and won't hasten our ability to resolve any conflict, or help
you.
We must also apologize for any lack of reply you may have received to this
correspondence -- we unfortunately can not account for it, as this is the
first this department has personally received from you. May we ask whom, or
what number you were calling, so we can identify where the lack of reply is
coming from and hopefully address it right away?
If it is also not too much trouble, could you possibly provide the
dealership name you purchased this product from, and a contact name at that
location? The pellet insert is a new product and it is possible that perhaps
the dealer requires more assistance with resolving this issue. A lot of
dealers just started selling this product in the tail end of 2008, which
could be contributing to some of the delay you're encountering.
Lastly; there is no problem currently being experienced by the fans in any
of our products that we are aware of. If the dealer would like to file for
warranty on the fans you've replaced, they can return these products to us
so we can examine them & test them, to determine what may have contributed
to their premature failure. On that note we must add that this is not normal
performance of this product, and it should not continue indefinitely.

Thank you in advance,
-Wolf Steel Technical Dept.



Question: We have a Napoleon Pellet Stove Insert. NPI-40. We have the
problem fan (severe grinding noise). It was replaced once already (waited 4
weeks for service to be available to come out) and after one week, the same
thing is happening. Now service is making us wait another 4 weeks to repair
the repair. This puts us at 8 weeks of inability to use the brand new
stove! My brother bought a Lennox at the same time, he's been up and
running 24x7 with no problems and it's completely quiet. Why can't Napoloen
authorized repair service technician's repair this properly? Has the
problem with the fans been fixed? I would appreciate a response from
someone at Napoloen, an explanation as to what is going on with these fans.
I plan to start filling out all the web reviews I can on this stove and I'd
like to report that Napoleon took care of the problem and we had good
communication with them. However, sadly I must report until now that is not
the case as we have called and written a few times with no repsonse.

Please foward this to management.

submit: Submit Question
 
Hi, We received an actual phone call today from a Napoleon sales representative. He was quite interested in our problem regarding the fan noise but again did not outright admit there are problems with the fans. He actually indicated that perhaps the fans are taking in ashes from the chimney's which are uncleaned and that is making the fan fail. He stated that some fans which came back to the company have had debris in them. I mean, is this for real? We installed a brand new stove insert, into a fireplace that was never used and the problem could be the fact that the fan is sucking in soot and ash from a dirty chimney? First of all, it would then subsequently blow all that debris into my living room, wouldn't it? Second of all, as I understand it, these fans are supposed to be sealed aren't they? I've been reading complaints online about fan noise from other manufacturers now too like Harman and even the same complaints about the fan being replaced with the noise only to return. I sure hope something is worked out soon. E&C;
 
I spoke with a rep at Napoleon Monday afternoon regarding my fan noise and the local dealers unwillingness to work with me on the issue because according to the dealer Napoleon would not reimburse them for work on a stove they didn't sell. The rep informed me that because the stove was not installed by a authorized napoleon dealer my warranty was no good. I told him the stove was installed by the guy recomended by the dealer because the dealer did not do installs. The rep revised his statement saying they would not cover labor, but I could still get parts. Of course the deal with parts is a dealer must provide them and then reimbursement will be made to the dealer from Napoleon. I then told the rep that given the way my local dealer treated me I didn't see them working with me in this manner. he gave me a Napoleon Sales reps number and said I should go through him. This guy is in eastern Canada, an hour ahead of me, and I haven't been able to get home in time to call the guy all week. I should be able to try him tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.

On a side note my stove ordered in May delivered in October is about a year and a half old according to the serial number. I wonder where it had been? The rep told me that early stoves had problems with loud fans, but these problems had been resolved. I figure that accounts for the first bad fan but not the second.
 
Hi, this is the latest email from Napoleon tech. They seem unwilling to admit the part might be defective and are blaming the problem on dirty chimneys. Can this be for real? Why won't they admit something is wrong with the fans. Wouldn't the fans be blowing ash into the room if this was the case?

Hello again;

What has been the condition of the fans when they're being replaced? Do they appear damaged? Dirty? We've received some convection fans back from dealers with similar issues, and they've been congested with ash. We suspect that the existing fireplace cavities are not being cleaned as we specify in the manual and that there is residual ash that is congesting the convection blower and shortening their longevity. Has your dealer sent any of the blowers back to us for examination? Was your existing fireplace cavity thoroughly cleaned by a qualified chimney sweep prior to installing the insert? Has the dealer checked to make sure that the chimney liner is completely sealed, and hasn't been torn, or damaged during install? For the fans to be repeatedly failing after so short a time period insinuates that there's conditions in place in your installation that are contributing to this failure. We certainly do not have a bad batch of fans and the product has been thoroughly tested & certified for this type of application.

Thank you in advance,
-Wolf Steel Technical Dept.
 
Dear Stove Doctor, You as an authorized dealer of the NAPOLEON product line have seen the complaints in this forum as well as experienced this problem first hand, yet you can now clearly see NAPOLEON responses to the issues at hand. I was wondering if you yourself have spoken with any reps and have been satisfied with their answers. What suggestions do you have for us the consumer to do at least to get some open minded responses from NAPOLEON or our respective dealers?
 
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