New Enviro M55

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Just an update:
I finally had the dealer come to look at the stove (my scheduling issues, not his) and he confirmed what tech support suspected, that the auger motor needs to be replaced. He ordered a new motor from Enviro. Hopefully this will quiet things down.
 
Kevin,
Got my M55 cast insert installed and I'm having the same problem you are...noisy auger >:-( . Everything else about this stove is very quiet. I called my dealer and he is talking to the factory. He said not to worry that they would take care of it if it needed a new auger motor. I'll be curious to find out if the new motor fixes your problem? Maybe they got a bad batch of motors because I listened to two different M55's at two different stores and they were very very quiet. My agitator was making a little noise, but after I loosened up the chain, it is now very quiet.
Flynfrfun
 

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Wow!!!! Looks nice!!!! I want one!!! :)

I'm still wanting someone to compare the heat output with a Quad CB1200i. Also someone please post a photo of the strange "three" sided ashpan.

Stay Warm,

AR
 
flynfrfun said:
Kevin,
Got my M55 cast insert installed and I'm having the same problem you are...noisy auger >:-( . Everything else about this stove is very quiet. I called my dealer and he is talking to the factory. He said not to worry that they would take care of it if it needed a new auger motor. I'll be curious to find out if the new motor fixes your problem? Maybe they got a bad batch of motors because I listened to two different M55's at two different stores and they were very very quiet. My agitator was making a little noise, but after I loosened up the chain, it is now very quiet.
Flynfrfun

Flynfrfun.....

Looks great. I'm not sure how loud the auger is, but just so you know I can hear mine too. I don't think its an issue though, at least with mine. I just think that the stove is so quiet that its only natural that you're going to hear the auger, especially if the TV is off and there is no other noise in the room. If there is some background noise then its hardly noticeable. It was a little odd or even annoying to me at first when comparing it to my Quad. With the Quad you don't hear anything because the stove is 4 times as loud! Anyhow, just my thoughts on it.
 
ARGlock said:
Wow!!!! Looks nice!!!! I want one!!! :)

I'm still wanting someone to compare the heat output with a Quad CB1200i. Also someone please post a photo of the strange "three" sided ashpan.

Stay Warm,

AR

AR,

Here it is. Won't be a problem if you empty your pan all the time, but if you let it go for any length of time you may be dumping ash on your hearth when you go to remove it. It just seems really silly to me. Its the only thing I don't like about the stove so far.
 

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Flynfrfun.....

Looks great. I'm not sure how loud the auger is, but just so you know I can hear mine too. I don't think its an issue though, at least with mine. I just think that the stove is so quiet that its only natural that you're going to hear the auger, especially if the TV is off and there is no other noise in the room. If there is some background noise then its hardly noticeable. It was a little odd or even annoying to me at first when comparing it to my Quad. With the Quad you don't hear anything because the stove is 4 times as loud! Anyhow, just my thoughts on it.

I can hear mine even with the TV going. I can hear it clearly from 30' away in the kitchen. It would be silly for them to advertise that this is one of the quietest stoves on the market only to have an auger this noisy. Yes, the blowers and agitator are quiet, but if I have to hear the auger turn on/off every few seconds, it gets annoying. I still think something is wrong because the M55's I listened to in the stores were not anywhere near this noisy. As a matter of fact, I couldn't hear the auger at all...and the store didn't have much background noise either. Granted, those M55's were the steel freestanding ones, but I believe the cast shares the same auger motor. I did A LOT of comparison shopping and research and I would not have purchased this unit if I thought the auger was going to be this noisy.
Flynfrfun
 
Flynfrfun,

Very nice looking install!
I sent an email to Enviro tech support and they called me back not long after. The senior support tech told me that when they say the stove is whisper quiet they mean it's whisper quiet. He said you should not be able to hear the motor. He said sometimes it could actually be the one of the two bushings around the auger. I can hear the auger on the other side of my house.
 
Kevin C said:
Flynfrfun,

Very nice looking install!
I sent an email to Enviro tech support and they called me back not long after. The senior support tech told me that when they say the stove is whisper quiet they mean it's whisper quiet. He said you should not be able to hear the motor. He said sometimes it could actually be the one of the two bushings around the auger. I can hear the auger on the other side of my house.

Kevin,
Thanks for the information as that makes me feel better. A lot better than them saying it's normal and "you will get used to it". I'm going to run mine until the pellets are gone, then remove the auger motor. After it is removed, I will be able to spin the auger by hand to see if it is binding in the bushings. If it is free, then I'd have to say it's the motor. If it is binding, then I'm sure the motor would make noise trying to overcome the resistance. Of course it could be both.

I turned mine to heat level 5 last night for about 40 minutes. WOW, there was a lot of heat coming out! We had the living room to 80F real quick (outside temps were about 38F). Other than the noisy auger, I love this stove!

And thanks to everyone that commented on my stove. It took me about a week to tear out the old stove, build the concrete board box and rebuild the hearth with metal studs. It was a lot of work, but I saved a bunch of money doing it myself.
Flynfrfun
 
I turned my M55 back on last night & I can barely hear the auger. I don't know what to compare it to but you really have to listen for it to hear it. Hopefully you get yours fixed. It really does blow a lot of heat.
 
Brianm58 said:
I turned my M55 back on last night & I can barely hear the auger. I don't know what to compare it to but you really have to listen for it to hear it. Hopefully you get yours fixed. It really does blow a lot of heat.

Thanks Brianm...mine is not hard to hear at all. If yours had the problem you'd for sure hear it easily.

My dealer is coming over tomorrow evening with 2 tons of Clean Burn pellets and we are going to take a look at the auger together. He's been great so far.
Flynfrfun
 
NPCoot said:
ARGlock said:
Wow!!!! Looks nice!!!! I want one!!! :)

I'm still wanting someone to compare the heat output with a Quad CB1200i. Also someone please post a photo of the strange "three" sided ashpan.

Stay Warm,

AR

AR,

Here it is. Won't be a problem if you empty your pan all the time, but if you let it go for any length of time you may be dumping ash on your hearth when you go to remove it. It just seems really silly to me. Its the only thing I don't like about the stove so far.

I wonder if you have to specify the four sided Ash Pan as an option. :) Dang Economy!!!! Their cutting everywhere they can. Somebody needs to call Enviro and ask "Why" :)

AR
 
Actually, the reason it is 3 sided is because the burn pot assembly hangs down into the ashpan. So, in order to slide it past the burnpot, the one side can't have a lip. It seems plenty big to me so I don't think losing ashes is going to be a problem. If you do spill some ashes, you could easily vacuum out the area.
Flynfrfun
 
flynfrfun said:
Actually, the reason it is 3 sided is because the burn pot assembly hangs down into the ashpan. So, in order to slide it past the burnpot, the one side can't have a lip. It seems plenty big to me so I don't think losing ashes is going to be a problem. If you do spill some ashes, you could easily vacuum out the area.
Flynfrfun

Now I understand why it has only three sides. I knew there must be a reason. Sure looks like a small ash pan though. Probably about as big as my 1200i Quad.

Keep us upadated as to how the M55 Insert is working for you. I'm still hoping someone with a Quad 1200i that has acess to a M55 insert will report on how they compare on heat output, quality, etc..


Stay Warm,

AR
 
ARGlock said:
flynfrfun said:
Actually, the reason it is 3 sided is because the burn pot assembly hangs down into the ashpan. So, in order to slide it past the burnpot, the one side can't have a lip. It seems plenty big to me so I don't think losing ashes is going to be a problem. If you do spill some ashes, you could easily vacuum out the area.
Flynfrfun

Now I understand why it has only three sides. I knew there must be a reason. Sure looks like a small ash pan though. Probably about as big as my 1200i Quad.

Keep us upadated as to how the M55 Insert is working for you. I'm still hoping someone with a Quad 1200i that has acess to a M55 insert will report on how they compare on heat output, quality, etc..


Stay Warm,

AR
When I was comparing stoves, I seem to remember the 1200i's ashpan was a lot smaller than the M55's. It had 4 sides but had smaller dimensions. When I listened to the 1200i in action, the blowers were much noisier than the M55. The fire was like a blowtorch and barely left the firepot unless you turned it up to high and then it only came out 4-6" or so. Hard to say on heat output as I couldn't compare side by side (they were in different stores), but the M55 cast insert looks a lot better in all regards than the 1200i...the fire is nicer too. The 1200i is now made in China and like so many things sent over there, there are likely to be some problems with QC until they get all the bugs worked out. Not saying that they will have problems, but I didn't want to be one of the first to find out in case they do. I liked the 1200i except I couldn't get over how "blank" and ugly the inside of the stove is. I mean you are looking at a big flat piece of steel as a backdrop. At least the M55 has a nice "fluted" steel backdrop that looks a little better. Overall the M55 is in another class as far as build quality IMHO. Of course, my M55 obviously has a problem with the auger, but this is not normal and should be fixed soon.

There are lots of happy 1200i owners though. These were just my personal observations from my own perspective.
Flynfrfun
 
flynfrfun said:
Actually, the reason it is 3 sided is because the burn pot assembly hangs down into the ashpan. So, in order to slide it past the burnpot, the one side can't have a lip. It seems plenty big to me so I don't think losing ashes is going to be a problem. If you do spill some ashes, you could easily vacuum out the area.
Flynfrfun

I didn't realize that. Guess I should have looked at that further. In any event, if that's the biggest "negative" I have so far with the stove, I can certainly live with it.

By the way, the picture really doesn't show it's scale. It's pretty good size, at least 3-4x larger than my Quad Castille has.
 
NPCoot is right, the ashpan is pretty big for an insert. My stove is running right now so I can't get an actual measurement, but I know it is at least 18" wide and 12" or more long. I have only put two bags thru my stove so far, so time will tell how long I can go before needing to empty the ashpan. I suspect I will end up on a once a week cleaning of the stove where I empty the ashpan at the same time.
Flynfrfun

Edit: Looking at NPCoot's pic of the ashpan, it looks like the ashes are going to pile up towards the front of the tray. Maybe they made the tray long enough so that even with that side open, no ashes will collect back there anyways. If so, when removing the ashpan, no ashes should fall out. If they do, we might be able to make a 1/4" or so lip just to keep the ashes from sliding off the tray.
 
Just emptied the ashpan for the first time. It is so long that the ashes don't pile up back where the open side of the ashpan is. As long as you don't tip the ashpan down and let the ashes fall out, it shouldn't be a problem. FYI, I ran 4 bags thru it and I figure the ashpan could go a lot longer between cleanings.
Flynfrfun
 
flynfrfun said:
When I was comparing stoves, I seem to remember the 1200i's ashpan was a lot smaller than the M55's. It had 4 sides but had smaller dimensions. When I listened to the 1200i in action, the blowers were much noisier than the M55. The fire was like a blowtorch and barely left the firepot unless you turned it up to high and then it only came out 4-6" or so. Hard to say on heat output as I couldn't compare side by side (they were in different stores), but the M55 cast insert looks a lot better in all regards than the 1200i...the fire is nicer too. The 1200i is now made in China and like so many things sent over there, there are likely to be some problems with QC until they get all the bugs worked out. Not saying that they will have problems, but I didn't want to be one of the first to find out in case they do. I liked the 1200i except I couldn't get over how "blank" and ugly the inside of the stove is. I mean you are looking at a big flat piece of steel as a backdrop. At least the M55 has a nice "fluted" steel backdrop that looks a little better. Overall the M55 is in another class as far as build quality IMHO. Of course, my M55 obviously has a problem with the auger, but this is not normal and should be fixed soon.

There are lots of happy 1200i owners though. These were just my personal observations from my own perspective.
Flynfrfun

Looking at both the specs and the styling, I think the M55 insert is a direct competitor to the Mt Vernon AE more than the CB 1200. The Mt Vernon AE is also extremely quiet and multi-fuel capable. I'm still happy with my Quad, but the M55 insert looks like a nice unit too. Choices are a good thing.
 
Just looked at the Enviro website and they upgraded the efficiency of the M55 Cast to 83.5%. I sent an email to their distributor to find out what changed? I've gotta say, it does give me the "warm fuzzies" as I was a little disappointed that they only claimed 76.5% efficiency when I was shopping for my stove.
Flynfrfun
 
I finally got the dealer out to replace the auger motor. Unfortunately, it did not solve the humming noise. I think it may in the tube that holds the auger. Enviro said I should check the bushings on each end of the auger and to look for welds that may be rubbing against the auger. Does anyone know if it is tough to get at and expose the auger?
 
Kevin C said:
I finally got the dealer out to replace the auger motor. Unfortunately, it did not solve the humming noise. I think it may in the tube that holds the auger. Enviro said I should check the bushings on each end of the auger and to look for welds that may be rubbing against the auger. Does anyone know if it is tough to get at and expose the auger?

Kevin,
Yes, it is easy to get to the auger. Just remove the screws that hold the auger cover on. It has a slight amount of RTV silicone to seal the top, but it should be pretty easy to pry off. As you know I have been having the same problem you have...noisy auger. Mine is a M55 cast insert. I listened to your video and my auger sounds the same. My dealer even replaced my auger motor and still same problem. They had me check my auger and bushings and there was no problem. You want to vacuum all the pellets out, disconnect the auger motor and see if the auger spins free. If it doesn't then you have a problem with one or the other bushings. They said it is possible that the top bushing might not be fully seated causing binding just so you know what to look for. I will attach a few pics so you can see what it looks like.

I have been in communication with the Enviro distributor for the Western US and they sent my old auger motor back to the factory so the factory could take it apart and see what is wrong. So, I'm in a holding pattern until the factory gets back to us. I know the noise is coming from the auger motor and is traveling thru the auger and using the hopper and stove frame as an amplifier. I have an idea that would fix this assuming Enviro doesn't step up to the plate. My ideas is to isolate the auger motor from the shaft via a flexible coupling. The parts shouldn't cost more than $20 and be pretty easy to do. This is worst case scenario if Enviro chooses to ignore this problem. I've already told them nobody is going to buy this stove with this noisy of an auger, so they better figure this out quick. I'm perplexed because this is the same motor that has gotten great reviews from people on this list in the past. It is a Gleason Avery model 902 with a ball bearing supported electric motor shaft. I'm thinking Gleason Avery has changed something in their design or materials.
Flynfrfun
 

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Flynfrfun,

Great photos. Did you take apart the housing on the auger? Does it need to be resealed once apart?
Did you spin the auger with the motor detached? Was there a noise?
My stove doesn't seem to be as loud since they changed the motor but it is still very noticeable.

Thanks,
Kevin
 
I removed the auger completely, if that's what you mean by removing the housing. The auger did not make any noise once I disconnected the auger motor and spun the auger. It spun very freeley. I re-applied RTV only in the spots where the factory put the RTV, which was around the top of the auger cover and down about 2" on each side. Mine did not have RTV all the way down the cover. I see no need for that anyways.
Flynfrfun
 
Kevin,
Mine was quieter after they replaced the motor, but has progressively gotten louder, until now it is as loud if not louder than the original one. I suspect a gear mesh problem. On my RC planes, if you run the gear mesh too tight or loose, you can get that gear whine. Either that or their motor is just a noisy motor.
Flynfrfun
 
I don't know how they can say that the stove is whisper quiet when it makes this hum that progressively gets worse.
I guess if I pop the motor off and spin the auger I shouldn't hear anything. If I do I can take apart the housing. It sounds like I will have to get used to the sound, but I am sure as time goes on it will get louder.
 
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