Regency 55 pellet stove vacuum issue

[LRRifleman]

Hello. I have a Regency GF55 pellet stove that has been giving me pproblems for a few years. The shop that sold me the stove has recently hired a tech that allegedly has a wealth of pellet stove experience. Last Friday he "educated" me with a significant amount of information that is not available from Regency. He also diagnosed my stove as having a vacuum issue, since it was throwing a code 2 and smoke was escaping through the latice mesh near the heat exchanger tubes. Here is the rub.

The tech claimed that I needed to replace the door seal (job price estimated at $50). He came out today and completed the repairs (billed $160). Prior to testing the stove, he had difficulty closing the door due to the new seal. I was advised closing the door would become easier in about 4-5 days. Tonight, prior to starting the stove, i cleaned the fire pot of ash build up. Upon closing the door, I found that the door lever had been bent, and the door required more effort than ever before to close. I am the original owner of this stove, and I never had difficulty closing the door. To close the door now, I have to apply my full body weight (about 240#) to close the door.

My questions:
a) should the seal on the door be replaced every few years as recommended by the tech, or was I being mislead because I couldn't diagnose the problem myself?
b) should I have difficulty closing and securing the door once the seal is replaced?
c) are pellet stoves generally labor intensive to maintain, requiring annual and semi-annual replacement of parts, or is it that my local merchant is either poorly trained on pellet stoves or they are creating planned maintenance that is neither required or recommended?

If anyone can shed some light on this issue, I would be extremely grateful!

Ed

 

[Lake Girl]

How old is the stove? I have seen the comment that about every 5 years for door seal ... not sure if that is dependent on the type of gasket. Call the dealer about the door handle though...

Hopefully others will chime in on the code 2 in the morning (too late tonight for me to go looking but I'll check tomorrow). Not good to have smoke out near the heat exchangers though... hope CO detector is in place at your house!

 

[Lake Girl]

Found a manual but it doesn't give any information on troubleshooting and/or codes. The reason you were getting smoke through the lattice was the door gasket as the lattice is just above that gasket. Was the ashpan gasket replaced as well? Any idea what size gasket he used?

What parts was the tech indicating needed replacing besides the gasket? Parts can fail but it sounds like you have had pretty good performance so far. Appropriate and timely cleaning keep it running well. What is your cleaning routine? Do you have the dealer service at burn season end or do you do it yourself?

 

[ohbix]

I am assuming that stove is the same as the enviro M55. Blinking two is vacuum. First, be sure the entire exhaust pathway and air intake paths are clear - no restrictions. This includes cleaning the venting as well as removing the lower firewall around the igniter and cleaning there and through the damper opening to the exhaust fan. Second, is the wind blowing toward your vent? I had a blinking 2 a week ago when we had 40 mph winds that kept shifting slightly. When it hit just right, the vac switch would make a tiny click and the 2 light would blink. W/in 10 secs, all back to normal. This continued for several hrs, until the wind shifted. If it isn't windy, and your paths are clear, you could jump across the vac switch. If that resolves the issue, then you need a new vac switch. Lake Girl has posted the link previously to the enviro pellet stove maintenance manual. It explains how to jump across the switch. Good luck. fyi You can buy and replace door gaskets easily.

 

[Lake Girl]

Different beast ohbix but good thought! More similar in looks to the Quadrafire classic bay but not sure about the inner workings. The OM is very scarce on information.

 

[skinanbones]

All regency stove are made by sherwood intdustries, which is the parent company that makes Enviro and Vista Flame stoves. The GF55 is a Enviro Meridian. What ohbix said holds true for the meridian as well.
As for a door gasket problem that was letting smoke out, the gasket would have to be fallen out of the track and you would still need a blockage within the stove somewhere before visable smoke would come out of the door. If it takes the amount of force you say to close the door, it has the wrong size gasket in it now.
Stoves that are looked after and kept clean usally go for 5-6 years before having parts fail

 

[Overfired]

All regency stove are made by sherwood intdustries

Well, all Regency *pellet* stoves are made by Sherwood Industries. You're absolutely right, treat the GF55 as an Enviro Meridian.
http://enviro.com/products/catalogue/product/?prod=EFMFS-A

Blinking two is vacuum. First, be sure the entire exhaust pathway and air intake paths are clear - no restrictions. This includes cleaning the venting as well as removing the lower firewall around the igniter and cleaning there and through the damper opening to the exhaust fan. Second, is the wind blowing toward your vent? I had a blinking 2 a week ago when we had 40 mph winds that kept shifting slightly. When it hit just right, the vac switch would make a tiny click and the 2 light would blink. W/in 10 secs, all back to normal. This continued for several hrs, until the wind shifted. If it isn't windy, and your paths are clear, you could jump across the vac switch. If that resolves the issue, then you need a new vac switch.

Ohbix is on the right track. Also see page 29 in this technical manual:
http://enviro.com/custom_content/do...tion Meridian-A Domestic Technical Manual.pdf

A manometer or Magnehelic can also be useful to diagnose this type of problem as well as get your vacuum pressure into the most efficient range (around 0.10" WC for this model.)

Lastly, here is a link to Enviro's extensive pellet service manual:
http://enviro.com/custom_content/docs/manuals/C-12145 Instruction PELLET Service Manual.pdf

 

[stovelark]

Hi LL, Yes Env makes stoves for many other companies. The GF55 is the sister to Meridian as all have said. Number 2 is vacuum issue. In most cases, a lack of airflow is the problem, haven't seen many door gaskets cause the problem. I'd be cleaning the exhaust path, the exh blower and housing and the top baffle/air tubes area. The vacuum switch hose or nipple on the stove could be blocked as well. The easiest check is with a pressure gauge at the vacuum switch (bypass vac sw to allow stove to operate). Your technician should have done that. Sounds like he put too big a gasket on if the door is that tight. Good luck