Hello all, newby here with problems. I did a search and didnt see exactly what I'm experiencing. I own a Harman Invincible insert that heated my house for 10 years reliably, couldn't have been happier with it. I just moved a few weeks ago and do not have a fireplace I can insert it in. There is however a chimney with woodstove setup. I tried to use the Harman, but it was a nightmare to try to adapt it to work, and I was going to have a metal shop fab me a metal box for the back, but my stove dealer told me not to, said it's not a good idea and not up to code. So I took him at his word and found a cheap used freestanding unit by Avalon. I have no idea what model or year it is, but it looks old. It lit up and worked so I brought it home. I had installed my first couple pellet stoves but this was going to be a pain, so I had a stove company install it for me. They basically just had to make all the vent hookups, which they did.
This stove was packed full of soot and ash, looked as though no one had ever cleaned it right. I vacced it all out with the shopvac, oiled the blower motor that was slow and squeaky, and all was well for a week. Ran great. Then the auger motor quit, so had my stove guy come replace it. First thing that happened was the new auger motor bent the stop out of the way and spun around and got the wiring wrapped all around it. He came and fixed that, said the new motors are so much more powerful it bends the old stop. Suggested I drill a hole in the bottom and run a threaded rod up as a stop. havent done that yet, but I had a wooden block under it as a stop, which worked temporarily.
Next problem is that I had been using up the last of some pellet fuel I got from Tractor Supply Co, I think it was called Instant Heat or Insta Heat. Nice looking, big pellets, worked good in the Harman. Well I switched to a couple bags of the Maines Choice from Lowes because it is cheap and very close by. Pellets are broken into little pieces, but not smashed or full of dust. Stove guy said the bigger pieces are what was jamming the auger and causing the motor to spin and bend the stop. So, the little pieces started overfeeding, at first I thought it was because of the size, but it isn't, it is the auger feeding far too fast. I kept turning it down and down, but it still fed too fast even all the way down. And the feed knob does work, turning it up speeds it even more. So what was happening was the pellets were piling up on the fire, then backing up into the drop chute and completely packing it. I was afraid the fire would climb up the chute and get to the hopper.
I have cleaned it out several times, still can't get it to run reliably. I then switched back to my last bag of the Insta Heat pellets, and guess what, the big pellets are doing he same thing, overfeeding. So it wasn't the little pieces after all.
Lastly, I just went out in the kitchen to look at it, it went out this morning so I was going to let it cool off and try to thoroughly clean it yet again. Then I noticed that the new auger motor has again bent the stop, knocked my little block aside, and spun around again. This time it didn't wrap all the wires because apparently one wire came unplugged and stopped everything. But I can't get the motor to turn back by hand so I can fix the stop.
I think I can fix the stop problem with a threaded rod, but does anyone have any idea about the overfeeding??
Sorry for the long long post. I so appreciate any help you can give me, I am at the end of my rope with this POS. 10 years of hassle free service out of the Harman, and I can't even get 2 weeks out of this Avalon. I only bought it because I thought it was supposed to be a good name, not a cheapy tin big box store unit.
This stove was packed full of soot and ash, looked as though no one had ever cleaned it right. I vacced it all out with the shopvac, oiled the blower motor that was slow and squeaky, and all was well for a week. Ran great. Then the auger motor quit, so had my stove guy come replace it. First thing that happened was the new auger motor bent the stop out of the way and spun around and got the wiring wrapped all around it. He came and fixed that, said the new motors are so much more powerful it bends the old stop. Suggested I drill a hole in the bottom and run a threaded rod up as a stop. havent done that yet, but I had a wooden block under it as a stop, which worked temporarily.
Next problem is that I had been using up the last of some pellet fuel I got from Tractor Supply Co, I think it was called Instant Heat or Insta Heat. Nice looking, big pellets, worked good in the Harman. Well I switched to a couple bags of the Maines Choice from Lowes because it is cheap and very close by. Pellets are broken into little pieces, but not smashed or full of dust. Stove guy said the bigger pieces are what was jamming the auger and causing the motor to spin and bend the stop. So, the little pieces started overfeeding, at first I thought it was because of the size, but it isn't, it is the auger feeding far too fast. I kept turning it down and down, but it still fed too fast even all the way down. And the feed knob does work, turning it up speeds it even more. So what was happening was the pellets were piling up on the fire, then backing up into the drop chute and completely packing it. I was afraid the fire would climb up the chute and get to the hopper.
I have cleaned it out several times, still can't get it to run reliably. I then switched back to my last bag of the Insta Heat pellets, and guess what, the big pellets are doing he same thing, overfeeding. So it wasn't the little pieces after all.
Lastly, I just went out in the kitchen to look at it, it went out this morning so I was going to let it cool off and try to thoroughly clean it yet again. Then I noticed that the new auger motor has again bent the stop, knocked my little block aside, and spun around again. This time it didn't wrap all the wires because apparently one wire came unplugged and stopped everything. But I can't get the motor to turn back by hand so I can fix the stop.
I think I can fix the stop problem with a threaded rod, but does anyone have any idea about the overfeeding??
Sorry for the long long post. I so appreciate any help you can give me, I am at the end of my rope with this POS. 10 years of hassle free service out of the Harman, and I can't even get 2 weeks out of this Avalon. I only bought it because I thought it was supposed to be a good name, not a cheapy tin big box store unit.
