Olympic Wood Stove with Blower help.

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vinnyqua

New Member
Oct 22, 2011
28
NY
I have a Olympic wood stove with the front blower but don't feel any air blowing. What part of the stove is the air from the blower supposed to come from...? The blower does come on.

Vinny
 
Is this an Avalon Olympic Insert ???....if so, I believe it's the same as my Ranier. The Blower mounts to the front....it blows under the stove, and the hot air should be coming from the top, and two sides. If your chimney is not blocked off, meaning you look at your stove, and cannot see the inside of your fireplace, just a panel where your pipe goes up the flue, you may be losing it up the chimney.
 
Its a freestanding sitting in the fireplace. I also stuffed unfaced insulation up the chimney. I've noticed the left fan motor is not working, just the right one. Could this be the reason why I don't feel any air blowing? But shouldn't I feel some air blowing just from one blower working?
 
I'm not sure on how it would work on a freestanding version, I would imagine even with one fan you should feel some air movement somewhere around the stove.....hopefully someone with more expertise will chime in....I'm sure they will, this place flies later in the day, and the wealth of info is incredible
 
If your imaging standing in front of the stove being able to feel a massive amount of heat being blown at you I don't think that is the way most are designed to work. They are designed to move just enough heat off the stove without cooling it. I would also imagine that if one blower is not working that your getting 1/2 the air you should. Sprinkle a bit of ash at the point where air exits and turn on your blower. If it moves your fans are working. I think my insert has a 130 cfm blower and it moves just enough to get the heated air off the stove from there a ceiling fan takes over and stirs things up in the room.
 
rwhite said:
If your imaging standing in front of the stove being able to feel a massive amount of heat being blown at you I don't think that is the way most are designed to work. They are designed to move just enough heat off the stove without cooling it. I would also imagine that if one blower is not working that your getting 1/2 the air you should. Sprinkle a bit of ash at the point where air exits and turn on your blower. If it moves your fans are working. I think my insert has a 130 cfm blower and it moves just enough to get the heated air off the stove from there a ceiling fan takes over and stirs things up in the room.

100% wrong. that is a big stove! When you get that stove nice and hot and crank the blower, it should blow a ton of hot air. You seem to have issues:

1 - If one fan is not working on that blower [left and right fans] then something is obviously wrong. Get that figured out.

2 - the heat comes out across the top front of the stove on the left and right. That is also how the stove naturally convects the warm air when the blower is off.

3 - Is your stove even that hot? I say this because folks burning less than seasoned wood in that stove, or many others, just wont get the heat they are expecting.

4 -Is the stove new?

That stove is a beast! i am going on my 7th year burning mine and i bought it used. If you use good wood and get used to burning that stove, with the blower working properly, that thing can cook you out of your house. Mine is in a 500 sq ft room and there is always plenty of heat moving upstairs as the cold air crawls down. I can cook me out of there even in the dead of winter...and i have carpet on slab and crappy insulation down there.
 
Not saying that it's not a big stove or can't crank out some heat. What I'm saying is that most blowers are not going to blow your hair back like a big fan, but I'm not familiar with that stove either so I can only speak to the ones I have used.
 
rwhite said:
Not saying that it's not a big stove or can't crank out some heat. What I'm saying is that most blowers are not going to blow your hair back like a big fan, but I'm not familiar with that stove either so I can only speak to the ones I have used.

That blower will blow your hair back. Many of the blowers blow pretty aggressively on high as far as i have seen - as opposed to passively as you seem to have experienced
 
I say I say boy that blower will move more air than a politician on meth. My impression (poor) of foghorn leghorn who I love.
 
I got the blower issue fixed. My dealer swapped it so I got another new one and both fans work fine. Unfortunately I still really don't feel that much air blowing. My blower on my pellet stove at home definitely blows better and I can feel it standing in front of it. Right now I have a couch setup in front of the wood stove about 5-6ft away and if I sit on the couch I don't feel any air from the blower. Any suggestions?

Vinny
 
VinnyM said:
I got the blower issue fixed. My dealer swapped it so I got another new one and both fans work fine. Unfortunately I still really don't feel that much air blowing. My blower on my pellet stove at home definitely blows better and I can feel it standing in front of it. Right now I have a couch setup in front of the wood stove about 5-6ft away and if I sit on the couch I don't feel any air from the blower. Any suggestions?

Vinny
I just took a step in front of my Ranier......seems that at about 6 ft. I don't FEEL the hot air moving....but I know it's working. We had the stove for 2 years before adding the blower, and believe me, we noticed a difference, it's moving air
 
ok, i thought the blower would be alot powerful than what it is now. When I stand in front of my pellet stove in my house i feel a great heat blowing on me but not in front of this wood stove, which is more btu's than the pellet stove.
 
I just installed the front blower fan for my Avalon wood burning insert. The fan will come on for about 20 seconds, then it turns off for about 10 minutes. The snap disk doesn't exactly "touch" the assembly because I can't get it to touch. Any suggestions on the fan staying on?
 
Bend the clip that holds the snapdisc against the stove body so that it makes better contact.
 
Thanks begreen! I had tried a few times with just my hands (prior to optimum heat!), but used a couple pliersand a long screwdriver. It's been on for a couple minutes. Looks like we are good, but will be back as this seems to be a great resource site!

If it continues the back and forth, then I will try the penny. Thanks both of you!

Bottom line: I'm hoping to increase the heat in my home, which is about 2,200 sq ft. Our winter has just had a really cold week and the heater kept coming on. $$$ in my part of the country.
 
You're welcome. The best insurance you can have for a warm house is seal up leaks and insulate as best as possible. The next best is to get 2-3 years ahead on your wood supply. Dry wood makes all the difference in an EPA stove.
 
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Yes. Learning MORE and MORE about seasoned wood. I will definitely buy/chop a season ahead from now on. I don't know/trust a dealer around my area. I've tried two and each has had their own issues with a cord or two.
 
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