enviro empress woes

[mnoack]

We installed an Enviro Empress a little over three weeks ago. I love the stove in terms of heating. We have a two story 1900 sq ft home & the furnace has barely come on for heat since we installed the stove. However...

The blower fan has become very loud (a whining buzz). I read in another post that this is unusual with this unit & that it is likely that a replacement will cure this. I'm interested in any comments on this that other owners might have.

I am getting build up of pellets in the burn pot fairly quickly. I have tried PA pellets (sam's club - hardwood - high ash, lots of sparks but little buildup), Penningtons & energex. (these two have much lower ash but tend to build up unless the damper is pulled way out.) If you are burning the stove frequently on high, is it normal to have to clean the burn pot every 36 to 48 hours (say 3 bags of pellets)?

& finally - I went with a "Professional" dealer install because I wanted to make sure everything was right. The installer who came had never seen this stove before & didn't read much of the manual. Then the manager of the store came to swap the fan for me & said the wrong screws were used to mount the fan & he could get it out. It was fairly clear that he'd never taken a fan out of one of these units. He is planning on coming back to try again. I am wondering whether my pellet buildup issues may be the result of a bad install. I read in the manual that the exhaust outlet must terminate.

above the outside air inlet. My exhaust outlet has a 45 degree termination that comes out lower than the air intake. Could this cause my burn issues? I am also seeing occasional small embers coming out of the exhaust pipe. Is this normal?

Finally, on enviro's web site & in the manual, it says if you have any problems contact your dealer. I'm not sure my dealer knows what he is doing. Does anyone know how to get hold of enviro tech support?

Sorry for the long post


Regards,

Mark

 

[hearthtools]

We have been experiencing some Fan Noise problems in a FEW empress Freestanding unit.

Cleaning the burn pot out every 3 bags of pellets is fairly normal with Hard wood pellets.
but make sure you dont have any air leaks and the ash pan Locked down.

Sparks out the chimney
The only way to cure this is to install it Correctly with vertical rise.
this will also help the stove burn better.
See my post about his in the Yellow sticky post at the top of the Pellet room.
here is a direct link https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/13419/
but it is a good ideal to read all my post that are listed at the top of the pellet room.

 

[Philip]

I am getting build up of pellets in the burn pot fairly quickly. I have tried PA pellets (sam’s club - hardwood - high ash, lots of sparks but little buildup), Penningtons & energex. (these two have much lower ash but tend to build up unless the damper is pulled way out.) If you are burning the stove frequently on high, is it normal to have to clean the burn pot every 36 to 48 hours (say 3 bags of pellets)?

I burn my Empress on heat level 2 most of the time and I have to clean out the burn pot and liner evry three days (4 bags). I cleaned it out on Wednesday evening and intended to clean it out again yesterday but I had to replace a leaky water heater (that I bought and installed in 1981) so I didn't get to it until today. The ashes in the burn pot liner were almost to the top of the burn pot and the glass was beginning to get dirty. The stove appeared to be burning as well as it does immediately after I clean it out so one day I may let it go 5 days before cleaning it out.

When I went to take the side panel off the stove I was surprised to see the screws were not Phillips head screws. They are T2 head screws. Your dealer should have known that, I think. My dealer is in the process of getting a replacement convection blower for my stove. It's possible that Enviro got a bad batch of blowers. My stove was made in September 2007.

 

[hearthtools]

Enviro has been using T20 head screws in all their stove for the past 15 years

 

[bilder]

Mark,
I am on my third season with an Enviro Empress stove. Last year(season two) I had problems with a noisy convection fan that was replaced under warranty. I was told by the dealer that there were a lot of defective fans that the manufacturer replaced( even though mine was out of warranty.) I notice sparks occasionally exiting the stove exhaust pipe, but was told it is normal. The amount of buildup in the burn pot sounds normal, about what I am used to. I am using pellets from Narragansett Pellet in Rumford Rhode Island with excellent results. They are an 80/20 mix (80% hardwood/20 % softwood) with minimal ash buildup and very easy cleaning of the burn pot.