Anyone out there have an Avalon Astoria?

[mike141]

Wondering if anyone out there has an Avalon Astoria pellet stove and what your opinion/experience is with it. Thanks

 

[Rocket]

I dont have an Avalon, I have a Lopi, Yankee, is is the exact same thing. They are both made by Travis industries.

I had some issues with some pellets at first, I got that figured out and it has been awesome since.

 

[mike141]

What kind of issues do you mean?? I have burnt New England Brand, Future Fuel, and Wood Pellet Co. All have been good except for New England Brand has been probably the least desireable..Thanks

 

[Shane]

I have a Yankee too. I like it. The only issue I had with it was vibrating blower. I un-installed & re-installed it and that seemed ot take care of the problem. We sell a ton of Astorias and they grow in popularity every year due to word of mouth from our customers.

 

[Rocket]

It ended up being a pellet issue, I had some Energex pelletts that wouldnt burn in my stove, it ended up not just being my stove. The place where I got the pelletts had some other issues with the same batch of pellets.(Same truck load) Do you like your Astoria?

 

[Streetwise]

We just purchased the Avalon Astoria this summer, along with two tons of Energex pellets. Within 24 hours, the glass on the stove is so caked with soot and creosote, that you can hardly see the decorative log inside the stove (so don't by the log - waste of $$). We have to clean the stove every 5 days, based on a bag a day of fuel.

Contrast that information with a Harmon pellet stove that my Mom got a year ago. Same BTU output, NO soot or creosote buildup, and the best part: empty the ash pan once a month... If I had it to do over again, I'd definitely go for the Harmon. Not as pretty, but more functional, less maintenance.

Since the creosote and excessive ash issues, I've contacted the dealer numerous times. It's obvious that they don't know their product very well and are always at a loss for what it could be. The most recent conversation was something like this: Owner - "I'll tell you exactly what it is. It's those pellets! Energex was new to us this year and I don't like them either. Try burning some of our other pellets and I think you'll see a big difference". Okay then. So what am I supposed to do with the ton and a half of Energex sitting on my deck that you sold me?

The latest thing I tried was to borrow 6 bags of Pinnacle Pin pellets from my Mom who has had none of the issues as I have. As of this am (after one bag) there is a slight build up of creosote, but nothing like with Energex. Still though, it shouldn't be there in my opinion and I bet it will get worse over the next couple of days.

The last two things that I'm going to try: Burn the Astoria without the decorative log (It may be redirecting the air path towards the glass causing the buildup. Secondly, give my Mom some bags of Energex to try in her Harmon.

To conclude:

Avalon Astoria
PROS:
- Large Hopper (80lbs)
- Remote Thermostat w/ on off operation of stove
- Large Glass panels
CONS:
- frequent cleaning
- excessive soot and creosote buildup
- Clinker sound sound of pellets, lots of sparks
- Flame tends to come and go (top feed)
- Hard to pull stove out to cleen

Harmon Pellet Insert
PROS:
- Steady Flame (bottom feed)
- Low maintenance
- No Soot or Creosote buildup
- Stove on rail system - easy to pull out to clean
CONS:
- Manual on/off operation
- Single Bag hopper as on most stoves
- Smaller glass area

Good Luck. My Avalon might be up for sale soon.

 

[Shane]

Sounds like you have a fine stove, and an usupportive dealer. Let me ask you some questions about your Avalon.
Does it have a single or double door latch?
Does it have an orange rubber seal on the hopper lid?
Is the log placed correctly, improper placement can cause issues. (I do agree that an log set in pellet stoves serves better as an ash trap than anything)
Give me your ser# & I can tell if it is a stove that needs the airwash upgrade kit. Basically what happened is they re-desinged the air wash and it was drawing in too much air through the wash and not enough under the pot. It caused dirty burning and had to clean stoves very often.
Also explain your venting scenario. I have alot of faith in Avalon, I'd set one next to a Harmon anyday. In fact I've pulled Harmons out of houses replaced them with my Avalon and had happy customers.
As a for instance I ran the Avalon in my showroom for 2.5 weeks without doing anything to it except loading the hopper. All said it was a total of around 20 bags. I finally cleaned it out because I was embarrased at the amount of ash that was building up not because it quit running. In fact I haven't cleaned my Yankee for 1.5 weeks and I've run about 15 bags through it and I can still see through the window.
There is definately some thing contributing to your troubles and I would be more than happy to help find a solution.

 

[hearthtools]

DITTO TO SHANE

The difference from the lopi Yankee and Avalon Astoria is size
the avalon has a larger Hopper and is Larger in size.

Im going to get in truble again with Travis people but I DO NOT RECOMEND THE SMALLER UNITS
Lopi pioner or the avalon Newport.

The Large Travis stoves HAD a lot of design flaws in them.
BUT they hav made a few Upgrade kits for past stoves

a Convection Blower kit to help with the vibration.

a Door air wash kit.

On the production stoves they made a lot of changes.

Double door latch
New control board
Better blower mounts
Heat sheilds.
Baffles.
and a few little hidden fixes.


I will not Show my customers LOG sets. I dont want the complaints about dirty glass or having to pull it out and getting ash everywere when they clean the stove every week.

 

[Rocket]

I have a Lopi Yankee. I did have some problems with some Energex pelletts, I switched brands and things are going well now! My dealer replaced the Energex with a brand called American Fiber! I do have to clean it a little more than I would like, but i believe this is from operator error.(I havent completely figured out the air adjustment) The batch of pellets I reveived was bad. I have burned Energex since my problems and they have burned fine. My window does get dirty, I thought this was normal. Overall we love our stove, cranks out alot of heat. I havent turned on the natural gas at all! That makes me happy!

 

[Streetwise]

Sounds like you have a fine stove, and an usupportive dealer. Let me ask you some questions about your Avalon.
Does it have a single or double door latch?
Does it have an orange rubber seal on the hopper lid?

Yes, it has a double door latch and orange rubber seal on the lid. The door latches were fairly loose when I got it, so I've tighened them down as much as I can and still be able to get the door to open

Is the log placed correctly, improper placement can cause issues. (I do agree that an log set in pellet stoves serves better as an ash trap than anything)

I assume so. My experience is that if it's not seated properly, it can easily tip over. There's really only one way that it will sit securely that I've found. I haven't used it in the past month anyway and probably won't.

Give me your ser# & I can tell if it is a stove that needs the airwash upgrade kit. Basically what happened is they re-desinged the air wash and it was drawing in too much air through the wash and not enough under the pot. It caused dirty burning and had to clean stoves very often.
Also explain your venting scenario. I have alot of faith in Avalon, I'd set one next to a Harmon anyday. In fact I've pulled Harmons out of houses replaced them with my Avalon and had happy customers.
As a for instance I ran the Avalon in my showroom for 2.5 weeks without doing anything to it except loading the hopper. All said it was a total of around 20 bags. I finally cleaned it out because I was embarrased at the amount of ash that was building up not because it quit running. In fact I haven't cleaned my Yankee for 1.5 weeks and I've run about 15 bags through it and I can still see through the window.
There is definately some thing contributing to your troubles and I would be more than happy to help find a solution.

My venting scenario is that the stove is connected to about a 3' flexible pipe that runs up the chimney, just past the flu. Supposedly, there is insulation that is stuffed in around it at the point of the flu. The top of the chimney is about 28' above the burn pot, so the draft seems pretty good. Most of the time, I run it on the "#2" heat setting with the vent stop pulled out to about 3.5. After about 3-4 days, I have to pull the stop out to 4.5 or so. At about 5 days, I have to shut it down to clean it with a shop vac.

Here are my main issues:
- So much ash in 5 days that when I open the door, it falls out on the floor
- A great deal of maintenance involved every week to clean it all out
- On occasion, stove goes out for no apparent reason (auger fault light blinks)
- Glass becomes so opaque with creosote that it's hard to tell how full the ash pan is (2-days with Energex, 5-days with Pinnacle Fir)

I suppose that I wouldn't be too unhappy if I never knew about my Mom's experiences with her Harmon. She just emptied the ash pan on Jan 18th all the way from Dec 23. This is from burning one bag per day on medium heat, glass windows as clean as can be. It's just frustrating I guess.

I'll try to find my serial number. Not sure where to look.

Thanks for your input.

Dave

 

[hearthtools]

Sounds like you have a fine stove, and an usupportive dealer. Let me ask you some questions about your Avalon.
Does it have a single or double door latch?
Does it have an orange rubber seal on the hopper lid?

Yes, it has a double door latch and orange rubber seal on the lid. The door latches were fairly loose when I got it, so I've tighened them down as much as I can and still be able to get the door to open

Is the log placed correctly, improper placement can cause issues. (I do agree that an log set in pellet stoves serves better as an ash trap than anything)

I assume so. My experience is that if it's not seated properly, it can easily tip over. There's really only one way that it will sit securely that I've found. I haven't used it in the past month anyway and probably won't.

Give me your ser# & I can tell if it is a stove that needs the airwash upgrade kit. Basically what happened is they re-desinged the air wash and it was drawing in too much air through the wash and not enough under the pot. It caused dirty burning and had to clean stoves very often.
Also explain your venting scenario. I have alot of faith in Avalon, I'd set one next to a Harmon anyday. In fact I've pulled Harmons out of houses replaced them with my Avalon and had happy customers.
As a for instance I ran the Avalon in my showroom for 2.5 weeks without doing anything to it except loading the hopper. All said it was a total of around 20 bags. I finally cleaned it out because I was embarrased at the amount of ash that was building up not because it quit running. In fact I haven't cleaned my Yankee for 1.5 weeks and I've run about 15 bags through it and I can still see through the window.
There is definately some thing contributing to your troubles and I would be more than happy to help find a solution.

My venting scenario is that the stove is connected to about a 3' flexible pipe that runs up the chimney, just past the flu. Supposedly, there is insulation that is stuffed in around it at the point of the flu. The top of the chimney is about 28' above the burn pot, so the draft seems pretty good. Most of the time, I run it on the "#2" heat setting with the vent stop pulled out to about 3.5. After about 3-4 days, I have to pull the stop out to 4.5 or so. At about 5 days, I have to shut it down to clean it with a shop vac.

Here are my main issues:
- So much ash in 5 days that when I open the door, it falls out on the floor
- A great deal of maintenance involved every week to clean it all out
- On occasion, stove goes out for no apparent reason (auger fault light blinks)
- Glass becomes so opaque with creosote that it's hard to tell how full the ash pan is (2-days with Energex, 5-days with Pinnacle Fir)

I suppose that I wouldn't be too unhappy if I never knew about my Mom's experiences with her Harmon. She just emptied the ash pan on Jan 18th all the way from Dec 23. This is from burning one bag per day on medium heat, glass windows as clean as can be. It's just frustrating I guess.

I'll try to find my serial number. Not sure where to look.

Thanks for your input.

Dave

Im sure your problem is the stove is not Set correctly or you have a venting problem.
Have your dealer put a Magnahelic on the stove to check draft.

I hope you have 4" vent because that is what the Large Travis stove use NOT 3"
would be best if that pipe went from the stove OUT THE TOP of your chimeny.

Where are you getting Pinnacle Fir?
I am only able to get Pine this year.