Hello all, I am new to the forum and new to pellet stoves. I live in north eastern Maryland and for the most part our winters are relatively mild. This week will be in the teens during the day and near zero at night. Prior to installing this stove I ran a wood stove that my uncle built from old CSX rail road track blades. It is a beast but I got tired of cutting, splitting, stacking, hauling, carrying wood. I bought a used Englander on a whim off of Craigslist. I paid $500 for it. It was made in 2004. I brought it home, tore it apart and cleaned it, lubed what had grease fittings (the upper auger motor) and put it all back together.
Read this forum extensively to learn what I could and lit it off. It seemed to work fine but was going out after about 2-3 hours. I talked to a tech at Englander and got some advice. Nothing seemed to work. It wasn't the mystery hole that gives people issues with Englanders. I took the exhaust blower out and cleaned the exhaust area extensively. When I put it back together I accidentally pushed the insulation off to the side and the wires to the exhaust blower melted and caused a short. I didn't catch it and thought I just blew a fuse. Looked everything over and replaced the fuse and plugged the stove back in. All was well, until I dropped the hopper lid and it blew the fuse with a pretty impressive flash. Fried the blower motor and the control panel. Now I am in to this stove for about $850. Ordered a new exhaust motor and new control panel and installed these items. Paid VERY close attention to the wiring and made sure I wouldn't melt anything else. Fired it up and it ran fine. For about 2 hours. I was running Turman hardwood pellets. Checked everything I could and figured I may have a dud. I
have noticed the Englanders don't get a lot of love on this forum and if I had it to do over with again I would have bought a Harman but it is what it is. Went to my pellet supply place and they told me to try a different brand of pellet. I bought 2 bags of Ultra white pine pellets and this stove hasnt missed a beat. Runs great. Now, my question after running on like I have is this: The stove is clean, running well and stays lit....how is the best way to know the best settings for fuel feed and blower speed? I understand it is trial and error but is there a theory on what is best? Increase fan speed or increase fuel feed or do both at once? Any Englander owners have any input? BTW, the reason the stove was shutting off with the Turmans is because they were too long and were blocking the hopper hole to the top auger. The Ultras are about half the length of the Turmans.
Read this forum extensively to learn what I could and lit it off. It seemed to work fine but was going out after about 2-3 hours. I talked to a tech at Englander and got some advice. Nothing seemed to work. It wasn't the mystery hole that gives people issues with Englanders. I took the exhaust blower out and cleaned the exhaust area extensively. When I put it back together I accidentally pushed the insulation off to the side and the wires to the exhaust blower melted and caused a short. I didn't catch it and thought I just blew a fuse. Looked everything over and replaced the fuse and plugged the stove back in. All was well, until I dropped the hopper lid and it blew the fuse with a pretty impressive flash. Fried the blower motor and the control panel. Now I am in to this stove for about $850. Ordered a new exhaust motor and new control panel and installed these items. Paid VERY close attention to the wiring and made sure I wouldn't melt anything else. Fired it up and it ran fine. For about 2 hours. I was running Turman hardwood pellets. Checked everything I could and figured I may have a dud. I
have noticed the Englanders don't get a lot of love on this forum and if I had it to do over with again I would have bought a Harman but it is what it is. Went to my pellet supply place and they told me to try a different brand of pellet. I bought 2 bags of Ultra white pine pellets and this stove hasnt missed a beat. Runs great. Now, my question after running on like I have is this: The stove is clean, running well and stays lit....how is the best way to know the best settings for fuel feed and blower speed? I understand it is trial and error but is there a theory on what is best? Increase fan speed or increase fuel feed or do both at once? Any Englander owners have any input? BTW, the reason the stove was shutting off with the Turmans is because they were too long and were blocking the hopper hole to the top auger. The Ultras are about half the length of the Turmans.
