Buying a refurb, need help

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stillersnut

Member
Sep 14, 2009
217
south central pa.
Looking at buying a refurbished 55-TRPAH from am fm energy(England stove works). Price seems decent at $999.00. Comes w factory warranty. Anyone ever buy a refurb from them??? Anyone know much about this particular model???
 
Yes, many of us have. I think I was one of the first on the forum. Bought a 10-cpm, and couldn't be happier with it, or the service i got from Andy and Mike at Englander after the purchase.

Not much on looks, but has the single auger newer design, large 120 Lb. hopper, and can be run on stat.

You really can't go wrong with a refurb from Englander....full warranty, plus Englander's cust. service is the best in the business.
 
Bought one from AM/FM...LOVE my stove as do a bunch of other people here that bought from Andy...plus you have the best customer service support right here on this board with Mike...As for the model you want to buy, can say much about it because I bought an EP stove but I highly doubt that you can go wrong with it. If you give Mike the serial number of the stove you think you're going to purchase, he can look it up and see why it was returned.
 
Thanks guys. I have heard great things about Englander customer service. This particular model seems to be a new one,I checked it out at Lowes this winter. The controls were simply a single knob that you turn clockwise for more heat. I also saw this stove made with the more typical Englander control buttons. Any thoughts or info? Thanks again for your help
 
The PAH has an all digital control panel. They have not had a rotary dial (analog) on there stoves in over a decade.

As for AMFMENERGY. I bought a CPM from them. Was a pleasure. Mine was sold at the same refurb price, but was actually a brand new stove. It was a factory 2nd. Which meant it had a Blemish of sorts. There was a small spot on the front corner that was hit with a grinder (from 5 ft, you can't see it) and the handle was slightly crooked (again, you couldn't tell). Andy and Mike H were great to work with and was a pleasure.

The PAH has a Huge hopper compared to your Thelin. Are you replacing the Thelin with the PAH? Or adding a second stove? If replacing? How did the Thelin do? The PAH may not be much larger in the BTU dept?
 
Thanks guys. I have heard great things about Englander customer service. This particular model seems to be a new one,I checked it out at Lowes this winter. The controls were simply a single knob that you turn clockwise for more heat. I also saw this stove made with the more typical Englander control buttons. Any thoughts or info? Thanks again for your help
The one you saw wasn't the PAH....it may have been a US stove model that looks very similar. The Englander stoves all have the electronic controls only, as Dexter mentioned above.
 
Thelin gets very high marks for looks, and I only had to replace fan one time & board once. However, I want a stove that holds more pellets than 26lbs. And a stove that holds more ash. As money is a issue,I thought am fm energy might work for me. I don't need a bunch of btus. Only heating 1000 sq ft cabin. Thelin Gnome did that ok. I may put the Gnome on Craigslist?? Help defray cost of a refurb.
 
FWIW I (meaning me personally) did the refurb on it. so for the record if you dont like it, feel free to beat on me in public, (you wont need to) im that confident in the units Andy is selling. you wont find a better deal and you will have my customer service department backing it(factory warranty) , AND if you look at my sig line , a direct contact method to me and my 20 years of experience in our products.
 
Thanks guys. I have heard great things about Englander customer service. This particular model seems to be a new one,I checked it out at Lowes this winter. The controls were simply a single knob that you turn clockwise for more heat. I also saw this stove made with the more typical Englander control buttons. Any thoughts or info? Thanks again for your help


ok, if it has a knob its not my product if you saw it in a store if you saw it at Lowes i'd LOVE to know what it was especially if you had a photo. i can flat GUARANTEE no lowes store has a stove made by us which has a knob control on it.

not doubting you , just curious what they are selling other than my products. we haven't built a knob controlled stove since 1997 i'd have to look but im thinking we picked up lowes later than that so they simply shouldn't have anything that old of mine which means its someone elses and i'd love to know who's that is
 
This stove was identical in looks to the PAH, but honestly had a single knob on upper right hand side. I looked closely because I'd never seen such a control. Turn knob clockwise to increase the heat. I guess it was not a England Stove Works product, however, I kick myself in ass for not looking at tag closer! I will be placing my order on a refurb TRPAH soon. I now have all the confidence I need on the product. Anything else I need to know before I order would be appreciated. I've owned my Thelin for 10 yrs, but I now know looks aren't everything! Thanks for all the info
 
This stove was identical in looks to the PAH, but honestly had a single knob on upper right hand side. I looked closely because I'd never seen such a control. Turn knob clockwise to increase the heat. I guess it was not a England Stove Works product, however, I kick myself in ass for not looking at tag closer! I will be placing my order on a refurb TRPAH soon. I now have all the confidence I need on the product. Anything else I need to know before I order would be appreciated. I've owned my Thelin for 10 yrs, but I now know looks aren't everything! Thanks for all the info



no biggie, was just curious. as for the PAH, been heating with one myself since 09. as for t-stat, you will want one with a "swing temp" at least 2 degrees F our remote has that , the wall mount does not, if you want to go that route and dont want to drop the 185 bucks on the remote, look in the aftermarket for a wall mount. OAK is important it does better with one installed especially in a smaller home we include a kit for that with the stove so you will get one.

what kind of install will it be? wall or chimney? its set up stock for a wall install with a vent kit, chimney installs sometimes need a bit of fine tuning to get it dialed in perfectly. if going with a chimney mount let me know and we'll discuss what it does early on and i'll walk ya through a few steps to dial it in if needed
 
It will be wall hook up. I plan to simply hook up to my existing pipe that I've used for my Thelin. They line up almost identical, & I'm currently using a OAK. I plan on splurging on wireless thermo. My pipe runs out up 3 feet 90 out wall, to clean out, then 6 feet vertical run. Hope PAH likes this much rise? I can always shorten vertical rise a bit, but my picky Thelin did ok w it.
 
It will be wall hook up. I plan to simply hook up to my existing pipe that I've used for my Thelin. They line up almost identical, & I'm currently using a OAK. I plan on splurging on wireless thermo. My pipe runs out up 3 feet 90 out wall, to clean out, then 6 feet vertical run. Hope PAH likes this much rise? I can always shorten vertical rise a bit, but my picky Thelin did ok w it.



naaah the rise wont be a problem, besides if needed we can drop the air a bit if needed electronically to compensate if it starts drafting out heat on ya, easy peasy. besides i like the vert in case of power failure to draft the stove clear.
 
Thanks again Mike, you just sold me a stove! I used to talk to Jay Thelin on the phone, but he sold co. & there support sucks now. Knowing you lurk around on this forum gives me confidence that if I need help w my new(refurb) stove, you'll be there. Thanks again, damn hard in this day & age to get service on most products on the market
 
Thanks again Mike, you just sold me a stove! I used to talk to Jay Thelin on the phone, but he sold co. & there support sucks now. Knowing you lurk around on this forum gives me confidence that if I need help w my new(refurb) stove, you'll be there. Thanks again, damn hard in this day & age to get service on most products on the market


no problem stillers, i appreciate the interest in my products. as for support, i can honestly say i will put my service department up against anyone in the industry and come out on top (of course im biased, but what the hell he challenge stands) as for me hanging out in here, its not a selling point, i get a kick out of it. i enjoy kibitzing about stoves both mine and others, its fun, i learn,(a lot) and can offer he occasional tip or pointer that may help someone out

as for the PAH, its a solid heater, not long on looks though. keep it cleaned out and it will be a solid unit for years. one thing if i had to say i wish i could figure out is the hopper has a tendency to build up fines, so about twice to 3 times a season you will want to run it as empty as possible and clear the fines from the hopper or it will start to bridge.

what i do is use a strainer (basic colander) run her as empty as possible then scoop out the pellets left over and pour em in the colander over the hopper so the fines drop into the hopper. once i have removed the bulk of the usable pellets, i simply vac out the fines from the hopper clean out the front end (burn chamber) and reload and refire. no big deal but i haven't figured out a way to avoid it short of straining the pellets prior to loading which is too time consuming. its not a big issue but its there and it bugs me cause i haven't found a cure yet
 
I'm curious to know the calculated EVL on stillersnut's vent configuration.
 
Yes, am using 3" dura vent. I know it's pushing the envelope for 4", so I've been told by Jay Thelin of Thelin stoves
 
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I get closer to 20+ on the evl....i'd be using 4" if it were me, but if Mike says it's OK, then I'd have to listen.
 
Thought about switching to 4",but $$ is an issue. I may shorten the verticals rise a bit. But if Mike thinks we can do it,then I'm all in. In wont cost $ to shorten the rise by 4". Any thoughts?? My thelin handled it ok for 10 years. Damn thing is, I had it "professionally" installed, ya right.
 
No, I did not order yet. But plan on doing so within the next couple of weeks. Am looking forward to having a new stove, one that holds more than 3/4 bag of pellet fuel!
 
No, I did not order yet. But plan on doing so within the next couple of weeks. Am looking forward to having a new stove, one that holds more than 3/4 bag of pellet fuel!



ok no biggie , andy had sent an order through for a PAH and a 3 inch vent kit i know you had been discussing EVL and that you were looking to order soon was trying to make sure that if it was you and if so wasnt the order for a 4 inch vent kit.

but was another customer i guess, i just thought it would have been odd for you to order a 3 inch kit already having a 3 inch system installed already. this is why i was questioning.

no rush on ordering i just reworked 4 of the PAH units this weekend, my finish guy will get them painted and such crated and all sometime this week. i'll be on vacation starting next saturday (outer banks) but i can still monitor the hearth on my cell should you have any questions feel free to PM me. even if its while im away (i have no problem answering a post between beers ;) other than spelling maybe <chuckle>)
 
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