M55C Heat Exchange Blower Update

[BradH70]

There have a been a few conversations about the new M55 heat exchanger motor/blower and some stove owners have updated too the new one by use of their warranty. Out of curiosity I called the dealer that I purchased my stove from to see what they though. Well, since mine is working fine, it would not be replaced under warranty and the price is $235. The dealer did not think that the difference between the old blower and new blower is not worth replacing for $235. That is about the same price as a ton of pellets and we both agreed that the new blower would not produce enough extra hot air to "save" a ton of pellets over the heating season. So I think that I will stick with what I got.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

There have a been a few conversations about the new M55 heat exchanger motor/blower and some stove owners have updated too the new one by use of their warranty. Out of curiosity I called the dealer that I purchased my stove from to see what they though. Well, since mine is working fine, it would not be replaced under warranty and the price is $235. The dealer did not think that the difference between the old blower and new blower is not worth replacing for $235. That is about the same price as a ton of pellets and we both agreed that the new blower would not produce enough extra hot air to "save" a ton of pellets over the heating season. So I think that I will stick with what I got.

Trot your hind end back to that dealer and ask him why the larger blower even exists just to cover all of the bases.

ISTR it was the actual forever fix for the high temperature trips. But who knows.

One ton over a heating season wouldn't be the thing to compare it too, at least I wouldn't.

 

[kykel]

They changed that blower because they were having issues with the insert overheating. I would think it should be replaced under warranty. I would push the issue. I wouldnt be happy if I had to worry about my stove overheating when there is a fix out there.

 

[BradH70]

We did talk about that. They changed the blower design because the motor in the old design was failing due to the high heat in that area and when the motor failed, the high limit switch would be tripped shortly after that. The new design resolves this issue and as a result, it pushes a bit more air. The dealer did not think that it was a significant amount of air though. He also stated that he has lots of units in the field with the old design that are running just fine and have never had this issue come up.

 

[jtakeman]

Brad, One thing a larger blower does is turn the house are over quicker. So your rooms will take less time to get warm. With the heat coming off these stoves we can afford to reduce them some and at the same time cycle the house quicker. But will extra noise be an issue for your location?

Are you sure your original isn't getting louder? ;-)

 

[BradH70]

I don't believe that the blower is any larger, but the design was changed to include a new motor and how it is attached to the squirrel cage and It's possible that the motor has a higher RPM resulting in more air flow. Unless I could get some side by side, charted and graphed comparisons showing the BTU output of each design, I'm hesitant to plunk down $235 for it. Mine is still as quite as when it was new, trust me, I really pay attention to how much noise my stove is making because it is in the same room as were we watch TV in the evening. The stove in it's current state is no problem to have running and still be able to hear the TV. I think that we have to have it up only 1 or 2 notches from were it is when the stove is not running. I also do not have an OAK installed yet, still in the planning phase, and would want to have this installed first. For this season I will use the $235 against a ton of pellets. I'm contemplating on getting some Lauzon Northern HW for $269/ton.

I may see if I can get any technical info from Enviro on this matter. If I have any luck I will most certainly post it.

 

[PJPellet]

I may see if I can get any technical info from Enviro on this matter. If I have any luck I will most certainly post it.

That's what I would do. I think it's a good idea, maybe you will even get a free warranty upgrade, y'never know.

 

[DexterDay]

................
Are you sure your original isn't getting loader? ;-)

More CFM's and they did redesign it for a reason. I would want it. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I think I can hear you blower getting loader from here in Ohio. Im with the others. Push the issue. If your make of car was known to overheat and they did a recall for the water pump? Would you not take it in to have it repaired, just because it never overheated "yet"?? Its a fix for a problem and should be covered under warranty.

Especially if the owner started having problems.... Wink... Wink... ;-P

 

[BradH70]

Careful Dexter, big brother is watching!! We don't want to give away all of our secrets!

I think that I will pursue the issue with Enviro and see were it goes. The dealer was not to keen on trying to pass it off as a warranty issue since he would have to return a blower that is perfectly fine. Probably would not give them a good rep with Enviro.

 

[DexterDay]

Yes. It would be perfectly fine. But so are the other units that were pulled from stoves that were overheating. It was put in as a standard operating piece of equipment, to fix a known problem. Even though the other blower worked. It didnt work well enough to cool the unit. Your unit may be fine for the rest of its Long Life. But I would look into it. Others here have gotten the new one as a replacement. Also. Models on the showroom floor were probably replaced due to the replacement.

Your call and Big brother is watching. But they know about the problem and made the fix for it.

Love the M-55. You have a heck of a unit and love that Kid-co gate (thanks again for the info last season). You have a beautiful set-up and just hope you get what you deserve.

 

[humpin iron]

Dexter is the word your looking for "Louder" not loader?

 

[BIGISLANDHIKERS]

Don't the dealers make a bit of labor when they do warranty work? Why wouldn't he replace it if thats the case?

BIH

 

[smoke show]

Don't the dealers make a bit of labor when they do warranty work? Why wouldn't he replace it if thats the case?

BIH

Honesty.

 

[kykel]

I knew of this issue and told my dealer that I wanted the upgraded blower when I ordered in oct. The stove came in and on the box was a big sticker saying NEW BLOWER. I think your dealer just doesnt want to be bothered. I had questions at my dealer and they called enviro rep while I was there. Your dealer could at least make a call and inquire about warranty replacement. My dealer has the m55 freestanding on the showroom floor and it has the old blower. He said he was going to replace it with the new one. Im stopping by there tomorrow and Ill ask them if they would replace an old fan with a new one under warranty and see what they say.

The new convection blower is a bit louder than the old one but throws more air.

 

[flynfrfun]

Brad,
IMHO, keep the old blower if noise is an issue. I doubt it will last the whole 2 year warranty period anyways. I went thru 2 of them each of which only lasted a few months before they started squealing. On the second one, I shut the stove down (takes about 30min for the cooldown). Pulled the stove out (10 more minutes...maybe more) and the motor was still so hot that it burned me. So, it must be extremely hot when in operation. Wait until it starts squealing...you've got 2 years, then you won't have to pay for the new blower.

It's going to be hard to pin Enviro down on this one. They are not admitting (to my knowledge) that the new blower is a "fix" to the overheating issue. Their official stance is that the adjustable auger plate cover is the fix to the overheating issue. Anyone with common sense knows that the adjustable auger plate just reduces the amount of pellets that get fed into the stove which of course reduces the stove temp. Band-aid fix if I ever saw one. But, truly the old blower as quiet as it is...was not near enough to keep the stove cool since it didn't put out enough air. It's like blocking the radiator in your car in the summer...it's going to overheat. So, even though they won't admit it, the real fix is the new blower which keeps the stove cool enough to where it will not overheat. I burn some of the hottest pellets (Doug Fir) and w/out the adjustable auger plate, my stove doesn't trip the high limit swich even with 1hr+ burns at heat level 5.

 

[jtakeman]

Don't the dealers make a bit of labor when they do warranty work? Why wouldn't he replace it if thats the case?

BIH

Honesty.

Most don't Its included in the money fetched from the sale! They might get enough to cover the techs time is about it!

 

[DexterDay]

Dexter is the word your looking for "Louder" not loader?

Loader - Louder

Patato - Potato

My mistake. Damn Phone! ;-P

 

[jtakeman]

Dexter is the word your looking for "Louder" not loader?

Loader - Louder

Patato - Potato

My mistake. Damn Phone! ;-P

I did it too! I was working on a spring loader at work. Kind of stuck on it. Typed 4 emails back and forth about the problem. Yeah, When I meet the chap in person I was very LOUD! ;-)

 

[Wachusett]

I will know the difference soon enough. My blower developed a constant ticking sound from the non-motor end of the blower.
Took it to the dealer and bench tested it, still ticking away. New one on the way under warranty! Dealer was great.
Will report back when the new one arrives.

 

[flynfrfun]

I will know the difference soon enough. My blower developed a constant ticking sound from the non-motor end of the blower.
Took it to the dealer and bench tested it, still ticking away. New one on the way under warranty! Dealer was great.
Will report back when the new one arrives.

That is where both of mine started squealing...the non-motor end. I lubed it with oil temporarily, but it would start up again eventually.

 

[BradH70]

I will know the difference soon enough. My blower developed a constant ticking sound from the non-motor end of the blower.
Took it to the dealer and bench tested it, still ticking away. New one on the way under warranty! Dealer was great.
Will report back when the new one arrives.

Definitely keep us posted on how the new blower feels compared to the old one. I'm going contact enviro and see how far I get with them. Until then I will continue to let the current blow spin happily along, wait, what's that noise? It's like a little high pitch squeak. ;-)

 

[Wachusett]

That is where both of mine started squealing...the non-motor end. I lubed it with oil temporarily, but it would start up again eventually.

After I got home from the shop I took the that end of blower apart, and lubed it good. Not alot of parts there, a rubber boot and a
plastic cup/bearing the blower shaft/axle fits into. I did not see anything resembling "bearings". The plastic cup appears to have no
moving parts. Put it back together and it was quiet for a few days but not anymore, loud as before. I may try graphite rather than oil.

 

[BradH70]

I sent a message to Enviro asking about the new convection blower design and if I could get mine replaced under warranty. I will update this thread when/if I hear back from them. I'm really interested to hear what Wachusett has to say about the performance of the new blower.

 

[pfmaloney]

The main reason I did not choose the M55 insert last year was the
enclosure I would have needed to build since my fireplace is a prefab.

Do you think this requirement was due to the overheating issue?

 

[flynfrfun]

Pat,
Good question. I don't know much about how they test for clearances to combustibles. But, I would think any change like this would have an impact on those clearances. It would be nice if Enviro would revisit the testing with the new blower. Of course, I'm sure it cost a lot of money, so I won't hold my breath. However, the stove is getting popular enough to where I would think it would be in their best interest to try to get away from the box that has to be built in pre-fab fireplace situations.

Even with my stove running on hi, I'm amazed at how little heat is radiated on the sides, top and back behind. Seems like their box design is extreme overkill which is a good thing, but if it's not needed, they are losing sales from people like you.