I purchased an eviro Empress FS Pellet Stove In August before labor day. It was installed in Sept. Would not feed pellets after burn cycle. Bay stove in edgewater came out replace mother board. Did not work.. They came out again, replace vacuum sensor, did not work. Came out again replaced Fan motor did not work. It was smoking up the house they thought weld joint was bad, replaced stove. New stove did not work. Same intial problem. They came out 5 more times replacing parts again. Still did not work. Eviro rebuilt my original stove in Baltimore with all new parts. They sent out Frankenstove (2006 frame, 2008 fan, 2009 motherboard, and various other parts) after running it at factory for two days, did not work again. Then the dealer sent a brand new 2009 model and Bay stove installed it and it went out before the tech left the driveway. Eviro and Baystoves came out 2 more times and figured that the 3" vent to the roof was too much back pressure. It's been a month and I am waiting for them to install a 4" flue liner. I hope that works. They have been to may house 15 times and my stove was not working for Thanksgiving, lets hope Christmas is a charm.... ( I should just give Baystoves a key so we don't have to stay home every week)
Pellet Stove Nightmare....
- Thread starter bill in MD
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webbie
Seasoned Moderator
Wow, I have heard of many problems before, but yours takes the cake!
It does sound like something external to the stove.....my first thought was weird power (electric), but it could be the venting......however, that should be evident as to whether it is within specs or close to it.
It does sound like something external to the stove.....my first thought was weird power (electric), but it could be the venting......however, that should be evident as to whether it is within specs or close to it.
Wouldn`t they eventually have brought out a magnehelic ?
Or at some point late in the game at least move the stove outside and give it a whirl ?
It sounds like no one knew what they were doing and basic troubleshooting techniques weren`t followed.
Or at some point late in the game at least move the stove outside and give it a whirl ?
It sounds like no one knew what they were doing and basic troubleshooting techniques weren`t followed.
hearthtools
Moderator Emeritus
Sounds like a bunch of clowns that dont know what they are doing.
Pellet stoves are not rocket science if it is not a Fabricated welded part of a stove all pellet stoves can be fixed on site. and throwing parts at it is not the way to fix it.
a Magnahilic to test draft and simple multie meter and or jumping limit and pressure switches will tell you what is wrong.
can you be more descriptive or photos of your venting.
I have installed and over 100 and burn for 4 years in my own home the Enviro windsor/empress pellet stoves and if they are vented correctly they are just plug and play.
Pellet stoves are not rocket science if it is not a Fabricated welded part of a stove all pellet stoves can be fixed on site. and throwing parts at it is not the way to fix it.
a Magnahilic to test draft and simple multie meter and or jumping limit and pressure switches will tell you what is wrong.
can you be more descriptive or photos of your venting.
I have installed and over 100 and burn for 4 years in my own home the Enviro windsor/empress pellet stoves and if they are vented correctly they are just plug and play.
I have a prefab fireplace that Bay Stove ripped out. They ran a 3" liner trough my existing liner up the chimney 30 to 35 ft to the roof. I bypassed the jumper on the vacuum switch and it would burn out of control. Thanks for your reply. This may help many other people.
hearthtools
Moderator Emeritus
littlesmokey
Minister of Fire
I agree with Ron, but I would also check the electrical supply. Some appliances and lights can run on irregular power, but a stove won't. Try using a heavy duty extension cord and plugging the stove in another outlet on a different circuit (breaker). Worked on a house and could not get my equipment to run on the owners outlets. I am not an electrician, but I tested the circuits. The long and the short is a remodeler had mixed a 220 supply and 110 supply and criss-crossed positives and neutrals all over the place. The owner ended up rewiring the addition to the house completely.
Not saying it's that bad, but a mixed hot may not provide enough power for the control board to operate.
Not saying it's that bad, but a mixed hot may not provide enough power for the control board to operate.
Hey Smokey,
It's a new house, I am a local 26 electrican, I checked the polarity, voltage (121 volts ), even put a 1500 watt heater on the outlet, checked with a amp probe, and no neutral or other problems. Also put it on a different circuit with a 12 guage extenstion cord, still did not work. Thanks
It's a new house, I am a local 26 electrican, I checked the polarity, voltage (121 volts ), even put a 1500 watt heater on the outlet, checked with a amp probe, and no neutral or other problems. Also put it on a different circuit with a 12 guage extenstion cord, still did not work. Thanks
littlesmokey
Minister of Fire
bill in MD said:
Well, that takes care of the electrical supply :red: Yet, I still don't understand the failure of so many stoves.
Bill, I agree with what Gio suggested. just to make sure it's not the stove, move it outdoors w/o any pipe, and fire it up. if it runs out there, you'll know for sure that the flue pipe set-up is NG.
That even more evident... Eviro burned one for 2 days without 30ft of flue, bay stoves burned one for 1 day then sent it out. Bay Stoves says they have been arguing with eviro on the specs for 3" line for 30 feet.... Bay stoves says they install this model all the time with 3" flue and it just doesnt work at my house.... I think they are fighting over money on who pays for replacing my flue....
hearthtools
Moderator Emeritus
macman said:
we know what the problem is the 30+ feet of 3" vent. and who knows if they have any downward bends in the vent after it is connected to the stove.
it also could be a negative air problem with the home. if the home is VERY air tight and or if they are sealing around the serround pannel the stove might be starving for combustion air in combination with the banana in the tail pipe problem.
They read the manual too.... Had both windows open and the slider open. No 90's on the piping, Just the flex straight down from the chimney...
Defiant
Vermont Castings Geek
hearthtools
Moderator Emeritus
I have seen were installers did not pull up the slack in the flex and there was a down ward curve in the pipe.bill in MD said:
webbie
Seasoned Moderator
There is very little doubt that most of the problems relate to the chimney liner. The Enviro manual didn't seem to have a guide....at least the one I saw did not - but just for comparison, some other pellet stoves suggest NO liners over 20 feet tall. Others suggest anything over 15 ft use 4" pipe. Any way you look at it, 33 feet or so seems to be pushing it way too far.....with the only exception being if you specifically see this detailed as being allowed in the manual.
Again, as HT says, it make you wonder why the manufacturer didn't ask about this before they did all that work.
Of course, just because the dealer installs it "all the time" in a certain way (to save themselves a few dollars) does not mean it will not catch up with them sometime...in this case, in your installation.
Again, as HT says, it make you wonder why the manufacturer didn't ask about this before they did all that work.
Of course, just because the dealer installs it "all the time" in a certain way (to save themselves a few dollars) does not mean it will not catch up with them sometime...in this case, in your installation.
drizler
Minister of Fire
[quote author="macman" date="1259478143"]Bill, I agree with what Gio suggested. just to make sure it's not the stove, move it outdoors w/o any pipe, and fire it up. if it runs out there, you'll know for sure that the flue pipe set-up is NG.[/quote
That's the first thing I would do about now. Elimnate the flue from the equation straight off. Not a very techie solution but certainly better than tossing parts at it. Carry it over to the doorway and stick a few lenghts of pipe put the door and fire away. Ghetto but good enough for a test.
That's the first thing I would do about now. Elimnate the flue from the equation straight off. Not a very techie solution but certainly better than tossing parts at it. Carry it over to the doorway and stick a few lenghts of pipe put the door and fire away. Ghetto but good enough for a test.
Oh this is an easy one. As others have said, it's the 3-inch liner, not the stove. As flue gas rises, it cools and expands. More than likely there is a bad-@$$ backpressure problem. I'd suggest going 4-inches all the way from the stove up to the cap. FYI, 30 feet sounds like an awful lot of vent for a pellet stove, even with 4-inch pipe.
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
Joe Buck said:
Naw, I won't go there. 30' of vertical is at the limit and with the bend to get it to the stove the total EVL is over the limit for 3" pipe, unless of course they have a Godzilla powered puffer in the stove for an exhaust fan.
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
As it cools water actually contracts, however as it crystallizes into ice it expands water is a funny thing.
Its fixed.... They replaced the flue to 4" Inch and it works fine..... Thanks for all the advice....
hearthtools
Moderator Emeritus
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