Hamers just overheated my stove.

Kevin C said:

I just bought 20 bags of Hamer's Hot Ones for $3.74 a bag. I set the stove for 3 and was very impressed with the heat they were putting out, until the stove overheated (flashing 4 on the display). I have the feed trim at 1 and combustion air at 5. Is there such a thing as a pellet that is too hot? It's not like I had the stove on the highest setting. I think the stove should be able to handle the heat that these pellets put out. What should I do? Should I call the dealer for service?

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Any time the stove produces more heat than the convection system removes it will eventually over heat.

You have several possibilities,

1. The over limit sensor is defective.
2. The convection blower is failing.
3. The over limit sensor is not properly positioned or shielded and is actually telling the control system a lie.

You should always check with the dealer for any updates that address this problem.

Then you start looking for failing or under performing parts.

Kevin C said:

I just bought 20 bags of Hamer's Hot Ones for $3.74 a bag. I set the stove for 3 and was very impressed with the heat they were putting out, until the stove overheated (flashing 4 on the display). I have the feed trim at 1 and combustion air at 5. Is there such a thing as a pellet that is too hot? It's not like I had the stove on the highest setting. I think the stove should be able to handle the heat that these pellets put out. What should I do? Should I call the dealer for service?

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Hi Kevin, Where did you buy the hammers at tractor supply in sussex? Is that a enviro empress unit? Thanks A

Hey Kevin,

I remember another member with a M55 cast insert had a similar problem. The dealer adjusted the location of the tin cover on the auger. It was to reduce the amount of pellets feed into the stove. Might want to call the local dealer and see if this applies to the M55 cast FS?

They don't call them Hot Ones for nothing. They are sized to give max feed into the stove for extra heat. Only draw back is you burn thru more if you don't drop the feed level.

j-takeman said:

Hey Kevin,

I remember another member with a M55 cast insert had a similar problem. The dealer adjusted the location of the tin cover on the auger. It was to reduce the amount of pellets feed into the stove. Might want to call the local dealer and see if this applies to the M55 cast FS?

They don't call them Hot Ones for nothing. They are sized to give max feed into the stove for extra heat. Only draw back is you burn thru more if you don't drop the feed level.

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In another case there was an addition of a metal plate to shield the sensor. I can't remember if this was a M55 or not.

That is why you check with the dealer first on an overheat shut down.

Kevin C said:

Jay,

I see what you mean about the sizing because I hear more pellets dropping into the pot than the other brand. I see the shield that adjusts the feed rate. I still feel that the convection blower should be putting out more cfms.

Andy,

I bought them from TSC in Flanders and my stove is an M55 cast fs

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Those blowers get set based upon certain tests.

That stove's blower can put out more airflow unless it is on full, it just isn't set to do so based upon the tests done.

I always run my blower on high, but even doing that it is possible to cause the high limit to trip.

Get an extremely dense pellet that is at the lower end of the size specifications and we are off to the races.

That is why some stove manufactures provide fuel gates, feed trims, and a recommended flame height.

Changing pellet brands or first fire means adjusting the stove so the flame remains at or under a certain height.

Kevin C said:

Jay,

I see what you mean about the sizing because I hear more pellets dropping into the pot than the other brand. I see the shield that adjusts the feed rate. I still feel that the convection blower should be putting out more cfms.

Andy,

I bought them from TSC in Flanders and my stove is an M55 cast fs

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I agree with the low CFM's. Same reason I upped my CFM's from 200 to 455. Your stove is still under warranty, SO I woundn't recommend touching that. But you could carefully add a relay and a rheastat to give you control of the blower. Do you have some electrical skills?

Kevin C said:

Bear,

I understand. So then it seems to make sense to lower the feed baffle that Jay was talking about. Less feed = smaller flame. Then I can raise the setting to 3 or 4 and in turn it raises the CFMs. Does that sound accurate?

Jay,

I am comfortable with wiring. I haven't really done much with soldering though.

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Kevin,

Yes, it is a balancing act.

But first please contact your dealer, there are changes made to stoves based upon customer feedback, if no one growls (or oinks) loud enough nothing gets resolved.

You may discover they have a modification or two that should be installed on your stove.

I've also seen cases where an incorrect high limit snap disc was used resulting in a very low high limit.

No soldering. Just a simple relay and a few wires. You could use a SPDT relay and take control of the blower. A lamp cord and some quick connect connectors. It will just plug right in.

I'm probably gonna get scolded for suggesting mods. But in a bind this works. Simple and the stove can be brought back to spec within a few minutes.

Should I continue?

Kevin C said:

Bear,

Funny thing is I called the dealer and told him about the overheating issue. They asked where I purchased the pellets and suggested that Hamer's are too hot for the stove and I should stop in and purchase some of their pellets. What a riot!

Jay,

Please do, you have a captive audience.

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I strongly suggest that you contact the manufacturer state the problem and tell them about the lack of concern on the part of one of their dealers and ask if there have been any changes made to the stove for this issue.

The manufacturer would be daft if they didn't chew out that dealer.

Kevin C said:

Jay,

Please do, you have a captive audience.

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It might be best to contact Enviro. Maybe they have a sure fix. If not this "suggestion" could be used as a patch. I should not post this in public. Contact Enviro. If they can't help. I'll send a tidbit by PM only.

Kevin,
I purchased a ton of Hammers at Tractor supply and I am currently burning them in my enviro empress FS with no over heating issues... have u checked your draft reading? My combustion blower and feed rate are set to number 2 and I adjusted the flue with a magnehelic gauge set to .10 on low burn. I've been getting 29 hours on a bag of pellets.

Jay,
Boy that sounds good... It would be nice to take control of the blower. If I had full control my house would be hotter.... ahahahahah I'm in!!

would the control board give an error if you disconnect the blower only, not the sensor before it.

Andy40 said:

would the control board give an error if you disconnect the blower only, not the sensor before it.

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The control doesn't monitor the convection fan. It just turns it on and controls the voltage to it. Hooking the relay coil to where the convection blower is what I did before I upped the CFM's on the fan fan in my stove. Stove ran fine and at full power still had great heat coming off the heat exchanger. The relay just turns the blower off when the stove goes cold. Pretty simple really and done with basic wiring skills.

I got a few scolding PM's so I will not post the info in plain site. I was warned some users may not be able to handle this mod. If done incorrectly you could damage the stove or control. This could also void the warranty and would not be recommended by the manufacturer by any means.

Jay, Shoot me a PM please... Thanks A

Kevin, Thanks for the info... Did you check your draft settings??

Just a thought: Can you reduce your air intake ? I had a similar issue on my BOSCA because I had the air intake too much open and lots of heat got sucked into the Stove rather than stay at the heat exchanger tubes - hence triggering the high limit switch. Correcting the air intake did care of it (and increased the heatoutput). My idea of burning stuff clean with lots of air backfired also in terms of dust, I had much more dust/chips/flakes when too much air.

Not an issue really, but in the beginning (have the stove for about 1.5 tons by now) it turned off every here and then and when I searched for the cause I found that the hopper with pellets actually got quite warm. Also after install the air intake setting was almost completly open, I have a lever I have to pull out or in, not a knob setting. So I made a wood stick and tested different length by hand checking temperature of the air output. Turned out less air was better heat output, also less ash (?) and the hopper is now cold to the touch. So IMO I had way too much draft going on and the heat exchange would not take out as much heat. I have had no tripping ever since.

Adjusting air is probably just a fine tune, you are better served if you can reduce the feed rate I guess.