Best pellets for Engalnder 55-SHPEPL stove

[GustyWinds]

OK, how I got here:
My heat pump cost me $515 last month heating my 93 year old farm house. I pretty much knew pellets were the way to go to fix that. The model I got should be too overkill for my house but better too much than too little.

So, I get the stove, had some help getting it in the door and then installed it this weekend. Very thankful the manual had the item number for the installation kit and even more thankful the wood stove outlet in Monroe VA had it on sale! Made life so easy. Things been going gangbusters since Friday night. Sunday morning it stopped working. Took out the pellets and cleaned around the auger as best I could. Seems like the auger tried to turn but just didn't. It looked pretty jammed even thought I got it clean. thank God for the maintenance DVD! I took the motor and auger out and saw the dust from the pellets looked wet and really caked on around the base of the shaft in the motor. I got that all cleaned up, put back together and it's running again.

The pellets I bought were from Lowes and were Southern yellow pine. I just bought a couple of bags to try out but I'm thinking maybe better quality is in order to help fix this problem.

What can I do (or what sort of pellets should I use) to prevent this jamming problem?

 

[Panhandler]

It all depends on what is available in your area. I would think Somersets should be, as they are made in Kentucky. Englander recommends hardwoods (?). Just try some different brands. It sounds like your pellets could have gotten wet before you bought them.

 

[GustyWinds]

Thanks! I couldn't tell if they were wet but that gunk sure was. I'm checking out some local suppliers. I'll tell them about it before I buy so hopefully they'll make sure I get dryer stuff.

 

[bd911]

I have that stove. I've tried everything from lowes and HD, maybe 12 different brands. Ended up ordering a couple tons of lignetics blend from west Virginia. Ligs burn the best, stove chow is good, and sommerset not bad either. Potomacs are miserable! I have made one modification to my stove that pretty much allows me to burn anything now. Prior to this mod the stove would need attention(burnpot cleaned) up to 3 times daily. Now it burns 24 hours at a time without any intervention from me. It could probably go for a week without cleaning but I'm to mental to even go a day without fiddling. Anyway I noticed my LBA adjustments did nothing. My stove is clean and venting is proper but noticed the pot overflowing no matter what pellets or how much air I tried to add. I found that after the stove heats up the burnpot distorts. When it does this it doesn't sit flat on the cradle. This effectively causes a leak and combustion air was being sucked out from between the cradle and the pot, with less than adequate air traveling through the burning pellets. So I added a gasket to the underside of the pot. Now ANY pellets burn without clinkers or overflow. The weight of the pot lying on said gasket provides a seal and air is forced through the small holes in the bottom of the pot. Now the pellets dance, and I can burn anything! I can send you pics but I'm on business trip right now.

 

[G-Hoppa603]

I'm having the same problem with my Englander 55TRPEP, I think its the same stove as yours, just a different model name. Can you tell me what kind of gasket you used to put under the burn pot? And how long can you burn before cleaning out the burn pot? I have tried everything from what the manufacture's suggestions from replacing the gasket behind the cradle to swapping out the exhaust blower. I have burned through five different brand of pellets and they all resulted the same in regards to the clumping in the burn pot. Thanks for your help.

 

[imacman]

....I have burned through five different brand of pellets and they all resulted the same in regards to the clumping in the burn pot. Thanks for your help.

The OP didn't have problems with the pellets clumping in the burn pot....his problem was with wet pellets jamming the auger:

"Seems like the auger tried to turn but just didn’t. It looked pretty jammed even thought I got it clean. .......I took the motor and auger out and saw the dust from the pellets looked wet and really caked on around the base of the shaft in the motor."

If you have pellets building-up in your burn pot, that usually indicates a lack of enough airflow through the stove. Either a weak blower or a dirty stove.

 

[G-Hoppa603]

Thanks for your response imac. I clean the stove thoroughly at each cleaning: took off the fake fireboard and bang on the metal plate wall behind it. Take out the baffle and clean it. Brush each and every heat exchanger tubes. Vacuum everything thing out including the two ash collection ports to the left and right of the cradle pot. Chisel out all build ups in the burn pot. Clean out the ash pan. Wipe down glass window. Like you, they have diagnosed this problem as my stove is lacking air. Since talking to the technicians at Englander stoves, they had me try changing the gasket behind the cradle and swapp out the exhaust blower. Have given these method a try for 18 days now and there is only a slight improvement. Before change, it would last 36-38 hrs before the burn pot clumps up. Now it is 40-43 hrs. To me it is just an inadequate design. Will have to call them back. In the mean time, do you have any suggestions? Thanks for your help.