New here, is my experience with ESW poor quality what I should continue to expect?

[gonzrich]

I bought a home with and Englander Stove Works model 25-PDVE/55-SHP22E installed. It has never worked properly, the upper auger continually jams. I have disassembled and unjammed the upper auger several times, and the stove will work for a short while (less than 1 hour) before it jams up again.

I finally removed the lower auger to make sure I got the jam fully cleared out. The lower auger was packed with pellets and crushed pellets. When I got it out, I discovered the cause of the problem - the lower auger is defective . One section of the auger screw is missing, so it cannot feed the pellets out. There is no sign that the auger cracked or broke (no pieces of the auger were in the jam). It appears that it was defective from day one (the sellers of the house had not used the stove for a long time since it did not work well for them either - they never serviced it or had it serviced). [Edit - this gap was by design 2002-2006]

I emailed ESW customer support on Nov. 26, and have never received any response. I finally called to order a replacement part. It came today, totally covered in rust. The packaging showed no evidence of moisture.

The way I see it, whoever assembled this stove could obviously see that the auger was defective, but used it anyway. Whoever packaged the new auger for shipment could obviously see it was covered in rust, but sent it anyway.

Is this what I should continue to expect in dealing with Englander?

Richard

 

[imacman]

WOW...that's amazing. Hard to believe that the stove worked at all with the original auger, and yes, VERY hard to understand how that could have gotten assembled like that. And I really can't figure out how the person who packed the replacement could just send it like that.

This is not what most of us on this forum have to come to expect from Englander....their tech support and parts shipping has been very good as far as I've read here, and also in my own situation. They replaced a control board and a brick panel for my 10-cpm and both items were packed very well and worked flawlessly after installation.

Again, I have NO explanation for the original, but I think a call back to Englander about the rusty "new" one is in order....I'm sure they'll make it right.

While you're on the phone with them, you might want to see if they can connect you with Mike Holton in the tech dept about all the problems with auger jams. He is their Senior Tech, and a "regular" here on the forum.....his forum name is "stoveguy2esw" and is one of the best parts of owning an Englander stove....he is here often to answer questions. Make sure you have the Serial # handy when you call.

BTW, since you have the augers out, I hope you're doing a thorough cleaning, since you mentioned the previous owners never did any.

 

[livefreeordie]

New guy hear, i have been learking and reading some posts and found that the pellet stove industry breads poor customer service. If i got a part like that in the mail i would send it back and ask for a new one. Just my two cents.

 

[gonzrich]

I was able to clean the rust off the new part using a wire brush wheel, so it is functional. I did not want to have to pay for return shipping, or spend even more time not being able to use the stove. I have reassembled the stove and it has been working for several hours now.

I was just shocked that ESW would ship it in that condition, and shocked that the defect in the original was never caught. So far this is my first experience with a pellet stove, that is why I am asking what I should expect in the future.

Richard

 

[livefreeordie]

I understand, this is our first stove and am impressed with its performance. The dealer on the other hand is totaly useless. Are you anywhere near Pine, CO?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I was able to clean the rust off the new part using a wire brush wheel, so it is functional. I did not want to have to pay for return shipping, or spend even more time not being able to use the stove. I have reassembled the stove and it has been working for several hours now.

I was just shocked that ESW would ship it in that condition, and shocked that the defect in the original was never caught. So far this is my first experience with a pellet stove, that is why I am asking what I should expect in the future.

Richard

Was the part in an opaque bag inside of a box?

I'm sure that Mike Holton will see this post, in fact I'll likely refer it to him via a PM within the next day if he doesn't pop in on his own.

 

[gonzrich]

The part was not in an opaque bag. The bag you see was wrapped around it, but it was not in a bag. Whoever packed it could not miss the fact that the part was rusty. It was well packed with foam.

 

[Ro3bert]

BalloonEngineer

"...tubular latex pressure vessel configuration engineer."

Is this a convoluted way to say you are a condom designer ;-), something like a sanitation engineer being a garbage collector?

 

[Doocrew]

BalloonEngineer

"...tubular latex pressure vessel configuration engineer."

Is this a convoluted way to say you are a concom designer ;-), something like a sanitation engineer being a garbage collector?

I was thinking it may be a politically correct name for a proctologist. :lol:

 

[Hot_h20]

Well, let's put it this way....

If this were a Harman, your contact with the company would be zero, for a stove that costs 1 1/2 to twice as much. The only way you would've gotten that part you needed was to find it online or from a local dealer. Secondly, this is an unknown stove that, from the sounds of it was in the house when you purchased it? So, for all you know the previous owners thought that a wood pellet stove meant that you can through chunks of wood into the hopper and the stove magically turned it into pellets. Based on those two items, I think you are doing fairly well. The rust is disconcerting, but it looked like surface rust at most, some wire brush time like you did, a little Pam and a bag or two of pellets going through and that auger will look brand new.

 

[richkorn]

I'm sure that Mike Holton will see this post, in fact I'll likely refer it to him via a PM within the next day if he doesn't pop in on his own.

You are the the man! It's great how people around here help out. I'm sure M. Holton won't be happy to read this thread.

 

[gonzrich]

BalloonEngineer

"...tubular latex pressure vessel configuration engineer."

Is this a convoluted way to say you are a condom designer ;-), something like a sanitation engineer being a garbage collector?

No, just a few things for the kids at church

(Do have a degree in engineering though!)

 

[Ro3bert]

Double post, sorry. Corrected below.

 

[Ro3bert]

BalloonEngineer

"...tubular latex pressure vessel configuration engineer."

Is this a convoluted way to say you are a condom designer ;-), something like a sanitation engineer being a garbage collector?

No, just a few things for the kids at church

(Do have a degree in engineering though!)

Well if that is an example of your baloon blowing up artisianship, you are better than I've seen others do. Quite the “...tubular latex pressure vessel configuration engineer.†artist you are. I'm impressed and I'll bet the kids are too.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Robert

 

[gonzrich]

Mystery solved.

Mike Holton gave me a call this morning (enough of my invoice was visible under the auger for him to find my order). The original auger with a gap in it was by design from 2002-2006 (my stove was made in 2004). So that was not a quality issue. The rust on the new one may have occurred because at this time of year they pre-pack common repair parts, and Virginia can be humid even at this time of year, so it may not have had the surface rust when packed.

This gives me hope that things may not be as bad as I feared. This is what I was hoping to find out by my original post. Looks like the original problem was due to the stove being unused for a long time, and the pellets forming into clump.

The stove is working well now, and I am learning.

Thanks Mike!

Richard

 

[BIGISLANDHIKERS]

If I was in the pellet stove market again I would buy an Englander without question. The customer service is top rate!

BIH

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I knew he'd see the post and that you would get an answer.

 

[smalltown]

If I was in the pellet stove market again I would buy an Englander without question. The customer service is top rate!

BIH

It really makes a good impression that Mike is on here, and more than willing to help people out with their stove issues.

Kudos to you Mike!

 

[mike56]

There is nothing like Englander tech support, in my opinion it is the best you can get, i love that little stove it is keeping my house nice and toasty, I'm glad you were able to resolve your problem.MERRY CHRISTMAS

 

[Stihl029]

I would say buying a home with a stove pre-installed says nothing to the quality of the stove and how it was treated or mistreated in the past. I've had nothing but great luck with my Englander stove and have been on this site for some time to realize that the customer service at Englander is second to none. Read more posts about other brands and you'll soon see that its next to impossible to get in contact with many of the other major brands of stoves customer service. Englander not only gives you free videos to repair and troubleshoot their stoves but they are are more then accessible to call and get professional help. I'm so glad I bought an Englander at home depot, as compared to a dealer of another major brand where you pay top dollar for a pretty stove, but when something goes wrong, no one wants to hear from you. Give your stove and Englander time, you'll be impressed!

 

[imacman]

I would say buying a home with a stove pre-installed says nothing to the quality of the stove and how it was treated or mistreated in the past. I've had nothing but great luck with my Englander stove and have been on this site for some time to realize that the customer service at Englander is second to none. Read more posts about other brands and you'll soon see that its next to impossible to get in contact with many of the other major brands of stoves customer service. Englander not only gives you free videos to repair and troubleshoot their stoves but they are are more then accessible to call and get get professional help. I'm so glad I bought an Englander at home depot, as compared to a dealer of another major brand where you pay top dollar for a pretty stove, but when something goes wrong, no one wants to hear from you. Give your stove and Englander time, you'll be impressed!

Ditto......Mike & his crew are #1 with me!