Englander 25 EP update.

[Jason Knapp]

As the burning season winds down, I finally nailed the combo to make my stove burn like a champ, with very little to NO cleaning every day. I blocked off a portion of my airwash with a couple of pieces of fiberglass rope. The airwash is still functioning, but I cut down on the size of the hole by about 66%. Needless to say, I now have plenty of air getting to the burn pot, my temps are around 210 to 220 degrees of convection air. Now I'm very happy with this stove

 

[imacman]

IMO, blocking off the air wash obviously will increase the airflow through the pot, but I think you should try sealing the burn pot to accomplish that, and the airwash alone.

Dexter and I sealed the burnpots with the flat ashcan gasket, and it made a nice improvement. The pic below is courtesy of Dexter, but mine looked almost identical.

The advantage you have is that you can seal completely around the cradle, since you don't have a stirrer cutout to deal with.

 

[DexterDay]

Yeah. I prefer to seal the pot also.

My buddy has a Baby Countryside that had to block some air wash. But it also needed a burn pot mod (plugging some top row holes). But that stove has a history of bad airflow and other problems.

The EP is had by many here, with little to no problems?

I would be looking for a leak, but if all is well? Then??

 

[Jason Knapp]

I started out by straightening, then sealing the pot to the cradle. This did make a marked improvement, however, I was still cleaning the burn pot every 2 days. The clinkers were huge. I modified the burn pot by welding the top row of holes, I saw a little improvement. I went to Barefoot pellets and I saw a small difference. At this point I figured it was worth a shot restricting the airwash slightly. Now the stove runs flawlessly. I don't touch the burnpot for days. Ash is being blown into the ashtray like it never did before. I checked for gasket leaks before I did the mod. I had one small leak by the handle. Once the season is through, I will be replacing all of the gaskets and the blower motors.

 

[scajjr2]

We're thinking about getting the 55-TRPEP (refurb'd 25-EP) and am wondering if we do should I go ahead and do these mods beforehand or see how it runs first?

Sam

 

[Lousyweather]

We're thinking about getting the 55-TRPEP (refurb'd 25-EP) and am wondering if we do should I go ahead and do these mods beforehand or see how it runs first?

Sam

my money is on see how it runs before you go thru the trouble of modification

 

[slvrblkk]

I haven't modded anything....my stove runs good.......

 

[Jason Knapp]

You can't go wrong by getting a baseline. Run it as is and see how it goes. I needed to do mods to mine and knew it only after running a top quality pellet through it.

 

[newbie 25 EP]

As the burning season winds down, I finally nailed the combo to make my stove burn like a champ, with very little to NO cleaning every day. I blocked off a portion of my airwash with a couple of pieces of fiberglass rope. The airwash is still functioning, but I cut down on the size of the hole by about 66%. Needless to say, I now have plenty of air getting to the burn pot, my temps are around 210 to 220 degrees of convection air. Now I'm very happy with this stove

I am new to the pellet stove world, I have the 25-EP I would like to know more details about cutting down the "airwash?". I have to clean my burn pot often.

 

[Jason Knapp]

I should have updated again. Over the summer I bought all new gaskets and blower motors. After the rebuild, my stove burns even hotter and I opened my airwash back up. My settings are 1, 4, 1 and I only vacuum the ash once per week. I certainly had some air leaks which was why my burnpot was getting dirty.

 

[newbie 25 EP]

Thank you for the update, I imagine the 1,4,1 settings are the three buttons at the bottom of the control board. Excuse my ignorance I have been a wood stove burner for years, just trying to get the hang of this pellet stove stuff. I enjoy the warmth of a burning stove just not spending my weekends hauling wood.

 

[Jason Knapp]

Thank you for the update, I imagine the 1,4,1 settings are the three buttons at the bottom of the control board. Excuse my ignorance I have been a wood stove burner for years, just trying to get the hang of this pellet stove stuff. I enjoy the warmth of a burning stove just not spending my weekends hauling wood.

You are not ignorant! I had the same questions when I got started. Pellet stoves are great, and Englander really stands behind their product.
Just a few tips, burn a good quality pellet, and make sure your pellet piping is the correct size for the length of your exhaust run.
Other things I found with my stove...... check all of your sealing surfaces using the "dollar bill" method or trace around your gaskets with a grill lighter while its running. I had significant issues around my cleanout tray.
I also had a large gap on the right side of my pellet hopper.
If you have questions, I will certainly try to help. The other members on this site are also an amazing resource for info. Everyone on this forum has been very good to me.

 

[newbie 25 EP]

You are not ignorant! I had the same questions when I got started. Pellet stoves are great, and Englander really stands behind their product.
Just a few tips, burn a good quality pellet, and make sure your pellet piping is the correct size for the length of your exhaust run.
Other things I found with my stove...... check all of your sealing surfaces using the "dollar bill" method or trace around your gaskets with a grill lighter while its running. I had significant issues around my cleanout tray.
I also had a large gap on the right side of my pellet hopper.
If you have questions, I will certainly try to help. The other members on this site are also an amazing resource for info. Everyone on this forum has been very good to me.

Thank you very much.

 

[newbie 25 EP]

How do you know what to set the low fuel feed, low burn air, air on temp. I also purchased my 25 EP used, it came with a manual but those buttons are not explained in there.

 

[Jason Knapp]

By pressing each of the buttons, you can see what the current settings are. To change them, press the blower speed and heat buttons simultaneously. then you can adjust by using the up and down arrows on the blower speed. For a while I was running my stove at 2, 8,1 in order to force more air through the burn pot. The middle number, (low burn air) the first number(low fuel feed) and I cant remeber what the last one is but I was advised to never adjust that setting.
Adjusting the low burn air as high as I did just put a lot of heat up the exhaust. I can send you pics of the mods I did to correct my air leaks. Also consider Brushing the baffle behind the ash tray. There are 2 plates that get removed. Get a long flexible brush and clean it really well. That seems to make a big difference. I bought my stove used too. The previous owner never really cleaned it and it didnt run well at first. Now its great.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

We're thinking about getting the 55-TRPEP (refurb'd 25-EP) and am wondering if we do should I go ahead and do these mods beforehand or see how it runs first?

Sam

hi sam,

if you get a refurb from amfm i will be the one doing the refurb, run it just as it comes out of the box, it'll work fine. if not let me know and i'll make sure we get it to do so quickly

 

[stoveguy2esw]

How do you know what to set the low fuel feed, low burn air, air on temp. I also purchased my 25 EP used, it came with a manual but those buttons are not explained in there.

are you having to clean out the pot daily? is it "baking a brownie" in the bottom of the pot inside a day's time?

i see its a used unit, have you done a "plates off" cleaning on it yet? do we know if the original owner did?

 

[newbie 25 EP]

By pressing each of the buttons, you can see what the current settings are. To change them, press the blower speed and heat buttons simultaneously. then you can adjust by using the up and down arrows on the blower speed. For a while I was running my stove at 2, 8,1 in order to force more air through the burn pot. The middle number, (low burn air) the first number(low fuel feed) and I cant remeber what the last one is but I was advised to never adjust that setting.
Adjusting the low burn air as high as I did just put a lot of heat up the exhaust. I can send you pics of the mods I did to correct my air leaks. Also consider Brushing the baffle behind the ash tray. There are 2 plates that get removed. Get a long flexible brush and clean it really well. That seems to make a big difference. I bought my stove used too. The previous owner never really cleaned it and it didnt run well at first. Now its great.

Thank you I will give that a try.

 

[newbie 25 EP]

are you having to clean out the pot daily? is it "baking a brownie" in the bottom of the pot inside a day's time?

i see its a used unit, have you done a "plates off" cleaning on it yet? do we know if the original owner did?

Sounds like it needs a good cleaning, Thank you

 

[slvrblkk]

Thank you I will give that a try.

Don't change too many things at one time, it'll be way harder to troubleshoot the problem.

 

[Jason Knapp]

In the end my settings are 1, 4, 1. My stove just needed new seals. Since I redid everything and fixed my ash tray sealing issue, this pellet stove is wonderful.

 

[Stihl029]

Might be a silly question, but what is "Airwash"? I have an Englander PDV that I've been running for 5 years. Love the stove, but I do have and always have had a lot of "clinkers" in the burn pot if I run it on high numbers for extended periods of time. Almost like the pellets didn't completely burn. I use a good quality pellet, and while some seen to be better then others, have had this issue for years. Annually I clean the stove out thoroughly using the leaf blower trick along with other means of completely cleaning the stove. I even e-mailed Englander on this issue and they said I might have a weak/older combustion blower, so I got a new one, but still have the same issues. Could this airwash you refer to be an issue for me? I also read about the burn pot and making sure the gasket is good, and I'm going to make one like you did and try that. But the Airwash, could this help me? I also always wondered if there was a way to get the combustion blower to work a little harder and pull more air into the stove. Any ideas? I do have an OAK and was even contemplating going to a bigger one, but Englander said it would not make a difference. As the pictuire shows I do have it in the basement of a raised ranch, so it has to get the air up and out a bit. Also note i did change all seals and gaskets last fall. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[BrotherBart]

If the PDV is like the PDVC, and it probably is, there are two holes in the bottom of the front of the stove body that let air in that is routed up and then down over the door glass to keep it clean. That is the airwash.

 

[Stihl029]

Wow, thank you for that fast reply. I do see the two holes in the front of the stove. These holes draw air directly into the stove? Would having an AOK effect how these holes work? Being as air is drawn from outside? And if I plug these holes, will that allow for better air flow in the burnpot?

 

[BrotherBart]

They draw air from the room the stove is in. Don't mess with them. You will screw up the air balance in the stove. And the glass will go black in a heartbeat.