EF 2 Envirofire Stove

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charger1966

charger1966

Member
Nov 21, 2008
107
UpState New York
Hello again, OK I have a question about the Air restrictor plate on my EF 2 stove. I have noticed that the flame doesn't change anymore like it use to when it was new. I thought that maybe it was the door seal so I just replaced it this afternoon. I fired up the stove,let it heat up 15 minutes or so and tried to adjust the trap door for the restrictor. Still NO change in the flame at all. My question is this,,, Is there a seal for that trap sliding door? If so how do you change it? Thanks for reading and I hope that someone out there has experienced the same problem.
 
Do you have an OAK. If so is it clear of obstructions? Has the stove been thoroughly cleaned? Do you have a good flame or is it lazy? Are there any other seals, ash door or hopper lid?
 
No obstructions, New Gaskets on both the glass door and ash tray, Stove has been thoroughly cleaned.Full flame not lazy at all. I can pull the damper all the way out or leave it in or any where in between with very little or no change to the flame. I am very puzzled.
 
charger1966 said:
No obstructions, New Gaskets on both the glass door and ash tray, Stove has been thoroughly cleaned.Full flame not lazy at all. I can pull the damper all the way out or leave it in or any where in between with very little or no change to the flame. I am very puzzled.
Click to expand...

Maybe the damper rod came off the trap door inside. If you have a Torx T-15 or T-20 driver you can remove the side door bolts. Then swing open the side door and see what is going on. Then let us know.
 
If the exhaust plenum is bolted too tightly to the fire box the slide damper can get hung up. This prevents the damper from being able to close properly.
backing off the plenum bolts 1/4 turn should free them up enough for full operation.
Good Luck,
----Nailer---
 
well thanks for the info but nothing has been said to help me. I need someone that has experienced this and to have them tell me what causes it and how to fix it. Thanks Lance
 
charger1966 said:
The rod to the door is in place and I can operate the door and see it move in and out.
Click to expand...

What door are you operating?

ETA:Is there anything blocking your air intake or exhaust because once you get those somewhat constricted you can vary your draft setting by a large amount and have little effect on the flame however this usually results in a poor flame on all settings of the damper.
 
I just went through the parts list on the EF2 and there are 2 mentions of door gaskets one is 5/8" and the other is 1/2" there is also an ash pan and pedestal gasket. I did not see any mention of a burn pot gasket or anything around the damper nor would I expect to see any gasket around a damper.

Now for the big question did you test the gasket job you did?
 
The door I am operating is the damper door. Yes I tested all the gaskets and they all passed the dollar bill test. As I said before the flame is strong and doesn't change at all with the damper door in any position.The exhaust and the air intakes are both unrestricted.
 
Does the damper open and close all the way, nailer who has burned that stove more than a bit has a valid point.

And have you done anything about the gasket that holds the door glass in place?
 
On my old stove the damper would slide in an out just fine but only close down to about the1/2 way point until I loosened the mounting bolts holding the exhaust plenum from the rear of the fire box. Not real loose just a bit backed off.
Then the damper would close all the way down.
Made a huge difference.

---Nailer---
 
OK Guys, I pulled the side door open and loosened the bolts 1/4 turn each, the damper doesn't move any further in or out. Again no change on the flame. Any other thoughts?
 
OK, I have a theory. See if this makes sense to you all. If the flame doesn't change at all with the sliding of the damper door in or out and it does move by looking at it maybe the damper door has been compromised. If the door has been burned through in an area of it that doesn't show when the door is opened all the way then when it is closed the flame wouldn't know if the door was open or not. Hense the flame doesn't change. This is just me thinking out loud. What do you guys think of this? Have any of you know of this happening at all? The stove is 8 years old and is the primary heat source for my house. When it starts running in late October it runs 24/7 till the end of April. Thanks, Lance
 
Your theory can be checked by looking and there should not be anything there that can get hot enough to burn through.

The same non responsiveness can occur if the door isn't in one of its sliding slots or if your door gaskets are shot ( and a number of other things) but one would normally expect a lazy flame.

My bet is that the rod that controls the damper isn't properly tied to the damper and when the rod gets moved the damper doesn't always move.
 
The damper "door" on this stove is a piece of sheet metal approx. playing card size that slides side to side to cover or open the plenum opening at the exit for the firebox/heat exchanger. There is a flange on the side of the control rod formed by a 90* bend at the edge of the plate. The flange portion has a small hole for attaching the damper control rod.

You can see it in action from the rear of the stove.

I have a similar stove and the range of the damper travel between full closed and full open is 1" to 3-3/4", measured from the side of the stove to the center of the ball handle.
 
The damper is on the exhaust side of the firebox. Not the air intake.
Sticking the air intake pipe wont tell you anything except that it is clear.
If you remove the firebrick and firebox liner you can see the damper in action.
It is like chamas said, a playing card sized plate with flange attached to the damper rod.
Mine used to get hung up sliding in so that it wouldn't close all the way if the mounting bolts were too tight.
it is sandwiched between the rear of the firebox and the exhaust plenum before the exhaust blower housing.

You should get some kind of flame response by moving the damper in and out. It should be fairly obvious.

If the damper is not doing anything I would suspect other factors.
Air intake blocked?
Exhaust path blocked down?
The exhaust/combustion blower not fully operational?
When was the last time you cleaned the vanes of the exhaust blower?
Is the blower running at full speed?
Is there caked on soot/crud in the exhaust plenum?
Is the vent path completely clean all the way to the weather head?

About it as far as I can think of.
Good Luck,
---Nailer---
 
Owww, what was I thinking? Thanks for the clarification nailer, I will now attempt to correct my previous post.
 
Ok I think you all are missing the point that I am trying to convey here. The flame DOESN'T change at all from a STRONG flame when the damper is moved. If the ports were blocked at all the flame would be weak, Right? My flame is very strong no matter where the damper is positioned. Maybe this weekend I'll take the damper door out and inspect it. Hey it can't hurt to look.
 
charger1966 said:
Hello again, OK I have a question about the Air restrictor plate on my EF 2 stove. I have noticed that the flame doesn't change anymore like it use to when it was new. I thought that maybe it was the door seal so I just replaced it this afternoon. I fired up the stove,let it heat up 15 minutes or so and tried to adjust the trap door for the restrictor. Still NO change in the flame at all. My question is this,,, Is there a seal for that trap sliding door? If so how do you change it? Thanks for reading and I hope that someone out there has experienced the same problem.
Click to expand...

I ran into that problem last year with my 5 year old Enviro Evolution. Found out it was bad pellets or so I thought at the time, burning cubix hardwood pellets. Sliding plate in and out made very little difference, called supplier and they admitted they got a bad batch of pellets in, had a lot of complaints about them. Not so sure now it was the pellets, went to start the stove this year and it won't start so going to post for some help myself. Sounds like my stove has same setup as yours for restrictor plate. When new 5 years ago it would make a difference in pellet burn, user manual explains how to use it and easy to use and see effects on flame. Have a feeling I am either missing cleaning something or needs a new stronger blower. If you don't have a user manual and need one I can send you a copy of the one for my Evolution. From what I see on their website my stove is not sold now but there is an EF3 stove.
 
Hey Terry, I have the manuals thanks. As for the pellets, Maybe they are the problem. Let me know how you make out and I'll try a different brand in a few weeks when I get paid again. Good luck.
 
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