25-PDV Hotter to touch than normal and burning plastic/metal smell

[tophertaylor13]

My englander 25pdv started smelling like burning plastic or metal similar to the first time it ever fired up. Yes it is clean and the vent pipe is clear. I am using a different brand of pellets this year so perhaps they burn hotter than previous pellets and therefore the stove is reaching a higher temp? Inside the hopper seems to be hotter than normal as well. It hasn't shut itself down yet but I am nervous to leave it unattended or leave my wife and son home alone. It is also noticeably warmer on the left side if you are looking at it. Am I over thinking?

Edit:

I just looked where the exhaust comes from the burn pot to the vent pipe and it seems that the insulation has fallen away from the vent pipe a little bit. Would this cause the extra heat?

@stoveguy2esw

 

[Lake Girl]

How old is the stove? Have you tried contacting Mike direct? [email protected]

 

[tophertaylor13]

How old is the stove? Have you tried contacting Mike direct? [email protected]

It is only my second season. The smell has gone away now but the stove still seems warmer than usual but maybe I just never noticed how hot it really gets.

 

[kofkorn]

Let me put it this way, when my PDV is running on high, there is no "hotter to the touch". It's an uncomfortable warm touch when on low, but on high, I wouldn't put my hand on it.

Another question to answer, is this the first run of the season? Burning the dust off of the hot parts will give you a smell each year.

And pellet brand can make a big difference. On high with Nation's Choice / Inferno's, I typically see 180-190F. With some of the softwoods I had one year, I saw as high as 260F.

Keep an eye on it, but if your stove isn't shutting down due to an overtemp situation, just enjoy the heat.

Good luck!

 

[tophertaylor13]

Let me put it this way, when my PDV is running on high, there is no "hotter to the touch". It's an uncomfortable warm touch when on low, but on high, I wouldn't put my hand on it.

Another question to answer, is this the first run of the season? Burning the dust off of the hot parts will give you a smell each year.

And pellet brand can make a big difference. On high with Nation's Choice / Inferno's, I typically see 180-190F. With some of the softwoods I had one year, I saw as high as 260F.

Keep an eye on it, but if your stove isn't shutting down due to an overtemp situation, just enjoy the heat.

Good luck!

It's not my first burn of the season and that's why I was so concerned. Maybe it's just a variation in the pellets and they are burning hotter. Not a bad thing! It ran all night on low last night and never shut itself down and the stove disn't melt so I guess I'm ok for now. Thanks for the help!

 

[kofkorn]

One other thing to check, did you clean out your room blower? On mine, the mesh over the intake will collect dust and start to impede flow. I will brush it off about once a month when I'm in the heating season, and I pull the blower off and clean the blades at least once a season. If that has too much dust, or if the fan blades have collected dust or hair, the reduced air flow will cause a much higher heat coming off of the stove.

 

[johnboy89]

One other thing to check, did you clean out your room blower? On mine, the mesh over the intake will collect dust and start to impede flow. I will brush it off about once a month when I'm in the heating season, and I pull the blower off and clean the blades at least once a season. If that has too much dust, or if the fan blades have collected dust or hair, the reduced air flow will cause a much higher heat coming off of the stove.

I was actually typing the same answer for this. I'm new to stoves, but my blower screen was full of dust. After cleaning the flowrate went way up and stove appears to be running cooler.

 

[tophertaylor13]

I have not done that. Does that require taking the back of the stove off or can I use a vacuum to suck through the mesh?

 

[kofkorn]

Yes, you will need to remove the cover on the back of the stove. The mesh I was speaking about is right on the intake of the blower. Honestly, my back panel came off my stove about 6 years ago and has never been replaced. I don't have any clearance issues, as the back of my stove is about 2-3 ft away from the wall. So for me, it simply requires running a vacuum attachment with the brush over the intake mesh. .

 

[tophertaylor13]

Yes, you will need to remove the cover on the back of the stove. The mesh I was speaking about is right on the intake of the blower. Honestly, my back panel came off my stove about 6 years ago and has never been replaced. I don't have any clearance issues, as the back of my stove is about 2-3 ft away from the wall. So for me, it simply requires running a vacuum attachment with the brush over the intake mesh. .

I don't have the clearance that you do. I did some thinking and decides to try and take the faux vent cover off of the front and was able to gain access with a vacuum attachment and cleaned the dust from the blower. We will see what happens! Thank you so much. It's nice to have a community online to go to with questions and concerns.

 

[kofkorn]

I was just writing a reply that I thought that you were crazy thinking that you could access the intake of the blower from the front vents. Then I went and did a quick search to find a picture to show you where the intake was located, and surprise!, Englander must have changed the room blower design.

This is what my room blower looks like:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img02225-20120326-1106-jpg.64095/

and this must be what your blower looks like:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/complocation-jpg.64981/

Consider yourself lucky! For mine, I have to snake a vacuum into the back of the stove, toward the center.

Hopefully you see some improvement!

 

[Lake Girl]

Glad to hear you got some useful info from fellow Englander owners!

 

[Stihl029]

I've been running an Englander since 2008, Sounds to me its just you have a better quality of pellet this year, that burns hotter. I've used some pellets that i can't turn the stove up past 7 or the stove will shutdown due to overheat.

 

[Lake Girl]

I just looked where the exhaust comes from the burn pot to the vent pipe and it seems that the insulation has fallen away from the vent pipe a little bit. Would this cause the extra heat [/USER]

Is the loose insulation a problem?

 

[tophertaylor13]

Is the loose insulation a problem?

The glue gave out and the metallic paper around the insulation came apart. I taped it back together and it seems fine.

 

[Dhosh]

kofcorn ... where do you read your temps ... and what do you use? A flue thermometer??
Getting temp readings with various settings would be a good comparison rather than the 'touchy-feeling' thing... ;-)
Thanks

 

[kofkorn]

I use a digital meat thermometer and I stick it into the left hand hole from the blower exhaust. I had a clip-on thermometer from a turkey fryer that I used to use as well. That was nice, as I mangled the clip so it would stay in place without having to hold it. Just make sure the probe doesn't touch the top of the heat exchanger, as that will give a very high reading. Some people use a magnetic thermometer on the door instead. I prefer measuring the blower exhaust as it gives a true indication of what is getting to the room.

It's hard to compare temps between different users as the install can play a part too. Different exhaust pipe lengths will cause different burning conditions. Whatever works for you