Avalon Arbor Fuel Gate Question

[wishyu2]

Hello, we recently purchased an Avalon Arbor Pellet Stove and for the first few times that we tried using it we have had some problems with it. It appears that the fuel gate is not allowing the pellets to drop and causing a backup of pellets and the fault light goes on. Has anyone ever experienced this before? I removed the fuel gate and the stove works fine, however I am unsure if running the stove this way is safe. Is the fuel gate in the drop tube necessary for use and/or safety reasons?
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Thanks in advance for your help/advice, sean

 

[DiggerJim]

Someone else just had the same problem only a couple of weeks ago. The gate is a new addition to the stove for this year. So, on one hand, if all of their old stoves are okay without it then yours should be too. On the other hand, they probably added it to reduce the chance of a burnback into the hopper. I'd expect if that was a big problem they'd be retrofitting all the old stoves and they're not. So...

(me, I'd take it out)

 

[imacman]

Sean,

I have an '05 Avalon Astoria, and don't have the fuel gate. I saw the thread that Digger mentioned from a person a while back that had problems w/ her new Astoria, and it all came down to the fuel gate on the new stoves....it was causing the pellets to jam in the drop tube.

So I called Travis Ind. Customer Service, and ask if they installed the gate because they were worried about a burnback, and also asked if I should get one retro-fitted to my stove. The tech rep pretty much told me to not worry about it.

If I had your stove, I'd be leaving the gate off permanently. Like Digger said, if they were THAT worried about it, they'd have a "recall" to retrofit all the stoves, but they haven't.

 

[wishyu2]

DiggerJim and Macman,

Thanks for your quick reply and your insight, I appreciate it. I let the stove run last night without the fuel gate and it ran beautifully, thanks again, sean

 

[DiggerJim]

DiggerJim and Macman,

Thanks for your quick reply and your insight, I appreciate it. I let the stove run last night without the fuel gate and it ran beautifully, thanks again, sean

Glad it worked. Gonna be cold tonight (20s)! This is the only one with a fuel gate I know of and new this year so 99+% of the stoves out there with the same basic design don't have them - that points to the "looking for a problem to fit a solution" syndrome of engineers...can't leave well enough alone

(BTW, I'm an engineer so I get to make comments like that ;-) )

 

[imacman]

....This is the only one with a fuel gate I know of and new this year so 99+% of the stoves out there with the same basic design don't have them - that points to the "looking for a problem to fit a solution" syndrome of engineers...can't leave well enough alone

(BTW, I'm an engineer so I get to make comments like that ;-) )

I agree with you Digger.....you guys just love to tinker with stuff that already works fine.

On the other hand, what came to mind for me was that maybe Travis Ind. got hit w/ a lawsuit for a stove that caught fire, and maybe caused damage (house burned down, loss of life, etc). I don't know, just a thought.

 

[DiggerJim]

I agree with you Digger.....you guys just love to tinker with stuff that already works fine.

On the other hand, what came to mind for me was that maybe Travis Ind. got hit w/ a lawsuit for a stove that caught fire, and maybe caused damage (house burned down, loss of life, etc). I don't know, just a thought.

But sometimes we really can make it better

I would expect a lawsuit driven change to be replicated with other manufacturers as none of them would want to be caught in a similar one - especially after the fix became "industry knowledge" which would represent the new level of care they'd need to exhibit. The first guy with a problem usually gets something of a pass - all the others are expected to learn from them or get hammered hard. The second lawsuit would argue that the defect existed and that the company knew about it (due to the Travis lawsuit) and willfully did nothing about it to preserve profits even though fixing it was relatively easy as proven by Travis. That gets juries mad and could actually result in prison time (vs. just a fine) for senior corporate officials.

 

[JBlank912]

I have the Lopi Yankee (also Travis) and the installer came back 2 days ago to finish a few items. He made the vent look better and added the OAK. I had my wife ask if the stove was set properly and burning OK and venting OK. I had noticed that the flame would go way up (to the heat exchanger) and then just to embers as the unit ran. I noticed after he was there that the flame seemed to even out and although I thought it was odd, I figured maybe the OAk helped that much. Well I just realized today, he removed the Fuel Gate. This explains alot. What I think was happening is the pellets would drop but would get stuck behind the gate until their were enough to open it and then drop a bunch into the fire. Now no matter how few come out the auger they go right into the fire pot. I think this is why it burns more evenly. Also less flying embers - smaller amount of pellets dropping into the fire at a time. Lastly, it seems the flame does not lean as much toward the back, perhaps that is because of the way the pellets don't pile up as much since the drops are lower/more even.

 

[dman]

firestarter---I just bought the same stove....Out of 8 to 10 bags of pellets, i've had to remove the auger cover & unplug the auger 7 times so far. It was suggested I remove the fuel gate.
I will try that tonite---yet I will keep the flame low.

 

[dman]

I removed the fuel gate--& it became pretty obvious why it plugged up. The bracket that holds the fuel gate bends down in the back blocking 1" of the fuel shoot. The stove ran great all weekend.

 

[richkorn]

So, beyond speculation, does anyone really know why they added the fuel gate?

I have the Leyden and mine clogged up 2x because of bad pellets but also stopped once with some good pellets; it backed up right at that gate. I'll keep an eye on it and maybe remove that gate also.

 

[dman]

The rep I bought the stove from is getting paperwork from the manufacturer which states that the fuel gate can be remove & not void the warrantee. If you want to keep the fuel gate on, I suggest you remove the gate (only one screw) & cut off or grind off the tab which blocks part of the fuel shoot then re-install it. The philips screw head may strip easily so be careful.

 

[imacman]

I spoke with a Tech from Travis about 3-4 weeks ago on this fuel gate issue. He basically said if you don't have one on the stove, don't worry about it, and he also didn't seem too worried about people removing it. My '05 Astoria dosn't have it ('08 models do), and has never jammed yet.

I'm not telling people what to do, but if I was having problems w/ it, I'd remove it, or try grinding the tab as DMan suggested.

 

[hearthtools]

see this post
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/27973/

 

[richkorn]

Lopi Leyden backed up at that gate 2x in last 24 hours (Not crappy pellets, these are Lignetics and not really any long ones either). Removed fuel gate today. Hopefully this is the end of that...

 

[dman]

Richkorn---My fuel gate has been out for a month now--no problems. Apparently when they tested this stove with the fuel gate they used Bear Mountain pellets. They said it ran 2000 hrs with no stoppage.

 

[imacman]

...... Apparently when they tested this stove with the fuel gate they used Bear Mountain pellets. They said it ran 2000 hrs with no stoppage.

Whats unique about those pellets? Are they the size of peas, so theres no way they could jam? :lol: