Had a recent problem/problematic season with our Empress (installed Oct 2008 in our family room). Ran like a dream season 2008-09. Shut it down in the spring, had annual cleaning & service performed by our contractor/installer. Once we started running the stove again in October 2009, a very strong smoke odor and visible smoke in the room. Service call--sealant applied to exhaust pipe, smoke seemed better. After a few days, intermittent use we realized it was still smoking, although less. Return service call, where the installer fiddled with the fresh air intake and exhaust pipes--tried to tell us that the fresh air inlet was too close to the exhaust and we were bringing smoky air back into the stove. Common sense dictates otherwise, given that we had no smoke at all the entire 1st season, and that the stove is sealed & shouldn't be leaking smoke into the house. Unfortunately, my husband was there for that service call, and he bought it. Service guy even went so far as to advise my husband to tape the fresh air inlet closed, and provided tape for my husband to use, to cover the fresh air intake should the smoke continue! 
hh: me--I'm thinkin something got re-assembled incorrectly, or a part got broken during the annual cleaning. But hey, I'm a girl, what do I know!
Most recent problem--a noisy Auger, which stopped working altogether. Service call for above resulted in no mechanical problem detected, service tech vacumed out some pellet dust and declared the stove to be ok. A day and a half later we heard the auger making a grinding/clunking noise again. We assumed something was wrong & turned off the stove, & called the service guy. A few minutes later we smelled smoke/strong woodsy pellet smell. Turns out, the stove had caught on FIRE. :bug: Yup, a big 'ol fire in the pellet hopper. Thank God we were at home to clean the pellets out, and put out the fire before any smoke damage occured. We had full on flames in the pellet bin. How does that happen?! Thought there was a heat sensor in the hopper to shut things down if the hopper got too hot?
We are dealing with Enviro reps now to determine the cause--& have to say we are NOT impressed with customer service thus far. They hauled the stove (and 2 bags of our pellets) back to the factory to test the stove, supposedly to investigate the cause of the fire. Said we would hear back within the week. Over a week, and NO call! When we called Enviro today, our contact person was "out for meetings thru the week", but her assistant talked with us had the nerve to infer that the fire may be blamed on (1) inferior pellets--which by the way are working GREAT in our Harmon insert in the living room--no clinkers or ash build up at all in the Harmon (2) Failure to clean vents (part of annual cleaning that was in fact completed by our installer/service guy back in the fall prior to starting up for the season), the excuses went on and on. I am not hopeful at this point...I just cannot believe after 1 season of use, with all the recommended cleaning and maintenance done, that a stove can just catch on fire like that. Not sure I want a replacement stove, even if they offer it. What if we had been upstairs sleeping when the fire started?
BTW, our pellets are Corinth premium and are working wonderfully --no problems w/ clinkers or excessive ash in our Harmon Insert.
Would love to hear from others, insights on (1) possible cause and (2) how to deal with Enviro co.?
Thanks!
hh: me--I'm thinkin something got re-assembled incorrectly, or a part got broken during the annual cleaning. But hey, I'm a girl, what do I know! Most recent problem--a noisy Auger, which stopped working altogether. Service call for above resulted in no mechanical problem detected, service tech vacumed out some pellet dust and declared the stove to be ok. A day and a half later we heard the auger making a grinding/clunking noise again. We assumed something was wrong & turned off the stove, & called the service guy. A few minutes later we smelled smoke/strong woodsy pellet smell. Turns out, the stove had caught on FIRE. :bug: Yup, a big 'ol fire in the pellet hopper. Thank God we were at home to clean the pellets out, and put out the fire before any smoke damage occured. We had full on flames in the pellet bin. How does that happen?! Thought there was a heat sensor in the hopper to shut things down if the hopper got too hot?
We are dealing with Enviro reps now to determine the cause--& have to say we are NOT impressed with customer service thus far. They hauled the stove (and 2 bags of our pellets) back to the factory to test the stove, supposedly to investigate the cause of the fire. Said we would hear back within the week. Over a week, and NO call! When we called Enviro today, our contact person was "out for meetings thru the week", but her assistant talked with us had the nerve to infer that the fire may be blamed on (1) inferior pellets--which by the way are working GREAT in our Harmon insert in the living room--no clinkers or ash build up at all in the Harmon (2) Failure to clean vents (part of annual cleaning that was in fact completed by our installer/service guy back in the fall prior to starting up for the season), the excuses went on and on. I am not hopeful at this point...I just cannot believe after 1 season of use, with all the recommended cleaning and maintenance done, that a stove can just catch on fire like that. Not sure I want a replacement stove, even if they offer it. What if we had been upstairs sleeping when the fire started?
BTW, our pellets are Corinth premium and are working wonderfully --no problems w/ clinkers or excessive ash in our Harmon Insert.
Would love to hear from others, insights on (1) possible cause and (2) how to deal with Enviro co.?
Thanks!
