Drolet Eco45 pellet stove overheats

[merr]

Hello,
Only been on a few times. I was wondering if anyone would have any idea why my pellet stove over heats on any setting but the lowest? This is my primary heat source and I live in western rural maine. The rooms on the second floor and furthest from the stove (all the bedrooms) only get to 50 degrees or so when it's real cold. This problem started at the end of last winter. I would like to figure it out before we really get into heating season this year. We had the stove professionally cleaned because we were hoping that would solve the issue, but I am not sure they did a great job. O have cleaned it myself, but don't really know that i am doing it right. I would invest the money in a better stove, but I am out of work right now so not an option. I do know how to reset the overheat switches, but of course it does shut down the stove and takes a while to reset and get going again. This stove has given me nothing but problems since I bought it three years ago. Already replaced some pretty expensive parts on it. Thanks for any help.
Meredith

 

[Tim M.]

I have a Flame FP - 45, like your Drolet it's a brand manufactured by SBI. I had the same issue with my FP-45 last year and I think these are similar stoves.

At the end of the day it just needed a very thorough cleaning ..... are you cleaning the stove yourself or having it proffesionally done? I found that mine was so clogged up with ash the heat wasnt being pushed out of the stove like it should have been and it was causing the L250 sensors to trigger hence shutting the stove down due to an overheat. I had almost the exact same issue, I coulsnt event turn it up to 2 last year at one point without it overheating and eventually it started overheating on the lowest setting. My issue was compunded by the fact I was using a terrible low quality pellet last year that produced so much ash I was cleaning the stove 2 - 3 times a week, not a thorough cleaning but cleaning and emptying the burnpot and vacuming out the inside of the stove.

I think it likely just needs to be cleaned very very good.

 

[hyfire]

Is your chimney long in length, is it clean?

 

[merr]

Hi,
Thanks for you replies. I clean the stove daily by shutting down and vacuuming out the interior and taking the burn pot out making sure it is not blocked. I had it cleaned professionally once last year. However I don't think they did a great job, as after they left we were still having problems so we took it apart again ourselves and there was still quite a bit of ash in side panel and behind baffle. The baffle in this stove is the roof of the inside of the fire box, and if you don't put it back just right it falls down in the middle of a burn. So anyway, I was able to contact the company and get the maintenance manual. I am going to go through and clean it all again. We do usually use home depot pellets, which are probably not the best. Also my chimney is a direct vent out the side wall of house, straight out. I have since learned that is not a great way the install, but it was installed professionally, and we did not know any better at the time. Not sure if I should or can try to fix. I attempted to use it on low last night because it was cold and rainy here, and the house smelled so strongly of smoke we shut it down.

 

[Tim M.]

I think you just need a real thorough cleaning.

 

[imacman]

....I clean the stove daily by shutting down and vacuuming out the interior and taking the burn pot out making sure it is not blocked. I had it cleaned professionally once last year......

The cleaning you're doing just isn't enough. It sounds like it's still dirty inside, which is holding the heat in the stove.

The stove sounds needs a deep cleaning, which is best done outdoors. You need to take the stove apart....that means all of the panels, ash trap doors, blowers, etc, etc, etc.

Once outdoors, it will need high pressure air blown through every nook & cranny until nothing else comes out. If the back wall of the firebox is made of steel, banging on that with a mallet or small hammer will help dislodge hidden, stuck on crud.

Once that is done, the combustion blower needs to be cleaned/scraped and re-installed w/ a new gasket. Same for the convection blower. Even though you have a straight out exhaust, make sure that it's perfectly clean too....(btw, how long is it?).

After it's all reassembled outdoors, the final touch is a leaf blower treatment before re-installing.

 

[merr]

Hi,
I could not get this stove out of the house if you paid me a lot of money . It's heavy and awkward. I do plan on removing all the panels and giving it a thorough cleaning today. Also about the blower, that died last year, which is why we had professionals come in. They replaced it with a new combex blower. I would hope they replaced the gasket too. Are you supposed to replace the gaskets every year? My parents have there stove cleaned at the start of each season, so we have been doing the same. I thought that was enough. But guess not

 

[merr]

Oh and my stove vent is only maybe 1 .5 to 2 feet

 

[merr]

I was just 're-reading the manual and it sounds like I was not supposed to end my vent with a horizontal run. It is supposed to have at least three feet of vertical rise. So sounds like I need to fix the chimney first.

 

[Bioburner]

The vertical rise is to help the venting in case of power out so natural convection can help pull out the smoke, probably not the issue.

 

[briansol]

gat in there with a stove vac. shake the pipe, scrub it with a wire brush dryer vent clearer, read the manual to see if you need to or can get into the flu passages.

 

[imacman]

The vertical rise is to help the venting in case of power out so natural convection can help pull out the smoke, probably not the issue.

Agreed....the most likely cause is a very dirty stove.

 

[merr]

Thank you...what is the best way to get in the stove without taking it outdoors? I was planning on using my ash vac in the house and taking apart all the traps, doors etc. Looking at the maintenance manual which I was just able to get emailed to me, looks like the things I have been doing once a year, are supposed to be done once a month, which is a whole lot of maintenance, but is probably why it's acting up. Will clean and see what happens. Thanks again.
Meredith

 

[briansol]

Don't un-install it..... that's crazy. just put a drop cloth down and try to keep the dust down.

 

[FyreBug]

Hey Merr, I'll PM you some documents that shows you step by step cleaning.

Just checking on a couple things with you... You are using 4" vent right? How many elbows and Ft or Horizontal total. Pic of your install also helps.

 

[imacman]

..... How many elbows and Ft or Horizontal total.....

It's a straight out direct vent.

 

[pete324rocket]

Did you take off the panel - inside the stove that covers the left far corner. There is a passage behind it that is where the exhaust and lots of ash go. The panel is just plain difficult to take off for even the handiest person as the screw heads will probably break or strip, but in the end, only half the screws are needed to hold it on. Replace the screws with hex head self tappers as you will need to revisit this area.
Sorry about the stove problems. I have found out eco-45 to be pretty decent,although being handy helps. I have rebuild and given new life to the auger motor and lately the blower fan that was eternally noisy and squealing-thought it was toast but the rotor in the motor was binding a bit and now is quieter than since new. I have also modified the air adjustment metal half moon. It was so sloppy-now mine will shut the air off completely.
I find it strange that the stove would shut off from high heat, unless it was truly smoking hot. So that would indicate that all is not right in that department.

 

[sweets]

I have a code"0" overheat code only when turned up all the way,
Any suggestings 'the exhaust it thoroughly cleaned.
Droulet "eco-45"

 

[stoveguy13]

I have a code"0" overheat code only when turned up all the way,
Any suggestings 'the exhaust it thoroughly cleaned.
Droulet "eco-45"

did you use the filters if so make sure they are clean also check that convection blower is clean, next take the baffle down and give it a good cleaning

 

[sweets]

I don't have filters and the baffles don't come out?

 

[stoveguy13]

check you owners manual they should

 

[sweets]

It was the fan metal filters were not pushing enough air,they were clogged
With soot cleaned them and flipped them around and put them back with
Only 2 top screws so I can to them easier.