Do you open the hopper with the unit on?

[strangemainer]

I believe the manual for my englander says not to, but I was wondering.....why?
any advise would be great, Thanks!

 

[MSmith66]

With the hopper lid left open, The fire in the burn pot can follow the air up into both augers and create a hopper fire. You should be latching both latches down.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

ok, here's the official poop on this;

you can open the hopper to check the level of the existing fuel.

you can open the hopper to add fuel as long as you ensure that the hopper lid gasket is kept clear of debris before reclosing.

you should not leave the hopper unlatched and walk off.

you should not overfill the hopper so that the hopper lid cannot be latched to achieve a good seal.

the hopper is sealed for good reason , if the hopper is not sealed and a power outage or other "immediate shutdown" occurs the sealed hopper prevents the flow of smoke back through the feed system into the hopper and possibly into the home as the unit smoulders out. anyone who has seen what the burn chamber looks like when the stove shuts down would understand , smouldering pellets can make a heavy dense smoke quickly when they are going out without a forced draft, . leaving a hopper unlatched creates a path for this , and the opening would be above the smoking pile of pellets , almost like a chimney.you dont want this in your home.

 

[wastings]

dose this include all pellet stoves from englander ? my 25-pdv dose not have gasket, nerver has. so if this is the case mike could you send me one ? its only been 15 years this way

 

[j00fek]

if you have to fill it @2am, do you shut it off?

i never have, just open it up and fill fast then shut. only thing i have ever done

 

[BubbRubb]

I see a slight difference in the flame when I open the hopper lid to fill the stove, but nothing that would make me feel the need to shut it down just to fill. Any kind of maintenance, cleaning out fines that accumulate at the bottom, etc. would warrant doing so, though.

 

[lessoil]

I asked about this during our install.
Harmon has a "trap door" that closes after it drops pellets onto the auger.
This door and seals around the auger should prevent fire from getting into the hopper.

 

[BubbRubb]

I asked about this during our install.
Harmon has a "trap door" that closes after it drops pellets onto the auger.
This door and seals around the auger should prevent fire from getting into the hopper.

I've noticed that. Pretty neat design, but not certain if it would 100% prevent fire as the flame does get smaller when opening the hopper lid indicating that it isn't a complete seal.

 

[GVA]

I asked about this during our install.
Harmon has a "trap door" that closes after it drops pellets onto the auger.
This door and seals around the auger should prevent fire from getting into the hopper.

not really a sealed system... The slide plate is more there for metering pellets into the auger

 

[stoveguy2esw]

dose this include all pellet stoves from englander ? my 25-pdv dose not have gasket, nerver has. so if this is the case mike could you send me one ? its only been 15 years this way

you might want to call my office and get one on order , the earliest pellet stoves we did didnt have a seal but one would be an added layer of protection against smokeback number is 800-245-6489 mon-fri 8-5 eastern

 

[strangemainer]

ok, here's the official poop on this;

you can open the hopper to check the level of the existing fuel.

you can open the hopper to add fuel as long as you ensure that the hopper lid gasket is kept clear of debris before reclosing.

you should not leave the hopper unlatched and walk off.

you should not overfill the hopper so that the hopper lid cannot be latched to achieve a good seal.

the hopper is sealed for good reason , if the hopper is not sealed and a power outage or other "immediate shutdown" occurs the sealed hopper prevents the flow of smoke back through the feed system into the hopper and possibly into the home as the unit smoulders out. anyone who has seen what the burn chamber looks like when the stove shuts down would understand , smouldering pellets can make a heavy dense smoke quickly when they are going out without a forced draft, . leaving a hopper unlatched creates a path for this , and the opening would be above the smoking pile of pellets , almost like a chimney.you dont want this in your home.

THANK YOU MIKE HOLTON! You answered my question. I just wanted to know if I could "refuel" the unit without shutting in down.
I would never leave it open for an extended period of time.
..and thankyou Mike for making such a user friendly DVD for me to have come service time!!

 

[woodsman23]

My stove does not have any latches it simply has a hopper lid with a 1/2" gasket around it. It is fine to open it and fill it not even an issue. Who in their right mind is going to shut down the stove to fill it up..........

 

[BubbRubb]

It is fine to open it and fill it not even an issue. Who in their right mind is going to shut down the stove to fill it up..........

I spotted a few candidates while waiting on my wife last night in the WalMart parking lot

 

[imacman]

if you have to fill it @2am, do you shut it off?

Why would you be having to fill it at 2am???? The idea of these stoves is that they hold enough to run all night, plus a lot more (and was the main reason I bought it in the first place).
Fill it during the evening, and you're good to go until at least the next day.

 

[woodsman23]

It is fine to open it and fill it not even an issue. Who in their right mind is going to shut down the stove to fill it up..........

I spotted a few candidates while waiting on my wife last night in the WalMart parking lot

Very true, My bad lol

 

[moralleper]

I can open mine with no issues. I have a quad and the hopper is not a sealed area, just a cast iron lid that sits on a couple of rubber buttons. The handle to open it is actually just a formed hole into the hopper.