Problems with feeding in my new Englander 25-epi

[Birdman86]

Newbie here. Picked up a Englander insert to supplement the heat pump. I am having issues with the pellets not feeding into the hopper. The ones in the middle and above the auger feed fine, however, the ones along the walls refuse to flow by gravity, and form a donut. I have tried lining some of the hopper with teflon tape to reduce the friction coefficient but that didn't seem to make a difference. The unit is level, and the humidity int he room is less than 40%.

I am using "Nations Choice" from home depot and now understand that they are not very good. My wife's aunt has given me two bags of Turmans to try and see if they flow correctly.

Thoughts?

 

[wolfie770]

I have the same issue with mine. I have tried silicon paint, waxing, sanding. Nothing has worked. I burn Hamer's Hot Ones, which are a great pellet, but they hang up just like the rest. I just be sure to fill the hopper full in the morning and evening. Good luck. I do like the stove, but the hopper walls could be just a little steeper in my opinion.

 

[Birdman86]

Well that's a serious problem as I bought this to heat the house while I am away at work for 10-12+ hours. The hopper is only "40 lbs" which is generous as you have to stuff it to the brim under the top plate. It "runs out" in less than 3 hours on max heat. There has to be a solution, or a different pellet that will meter correctly.

 

[wolfie770]

Do you have a thermostat connected? I leave mine on high (9) all the time. When the thermostat set at 70 drops to 69 it kicks the flame up to the (9) setting which simply adds pellets at a faster rate. When it reaches 70 degrees it automatically drops to low (1) setting, low flame adding pellets at a much slower rate. Make sure the stove is set to the thermostat high/low setting. I believe it comes from the factory set to off/on under the thermostat settings. The manual tells you how to switch it. I fill the hopper at 4am before work and refill it around 6pm and there are still 1/3 of the pellets still in the hopper. The thermostat will keep the temperature much more consistent and use less pellets. It stays between 69 and 71 in here at all times.

 

[slvrblkk]

If you have paint overspray inside the hopper, you'll need to sand that down with fine emery cloth or steel wool. My stove was a refurb from AMFM and had the overspray. I applied a coat of moly lube afterwards and it works great. Some people also use aluminum tape too on the inside.

 

[bugman31964]

I have a summers heat free standing stove and have the same issue, not as bad as you describe. Letting it run out of pellets today and plan on sanding the hopper box smooth. Forgot to grab moly lube at Harbor Freight when I was there.

 

[Birdman86]

Using the turman pellets greatly improved the performance. There was only about 1-3 lb left in the hopper the next morning, rather than the 25-30 lb of Nations Choice. I think I can live with that, now to see if home depot will accept them as a return

 

[Birdman86]

If you have paint overspray inside the hopper, you'll need to sand that down with fine emery cloth or steel wool...

No overspray that i can see, but I have lined the bottom third of the hopper with teflon tape. I may line the rest as well