Englander burn problem

[adman]

Hi!

I have read many of the comments here. We have had an Englander pellet stove for 2 years...it is the 25-PDV model build date of 11/05. We had it installed 2/06.

Anyway,,,,here is my question.........

I smelled a smoldering smell and checked the stove. The fire was out but the blower motor was still on. I opened up the lid. The pellets were low but there were still some covering the auger. I put more pellets in the stove and pressed the on button. The fire started back up and ran for a couple of minutes and then went back out. I haven't started it up again. Upon inspection I found burnt pellets in the pellet hopper (the big one up top). After looking further, the gaskets were melted for both augers, one was binding up. We emptied the hopper and cleaned the stove out. We then did the electrical diagnostic test. All the numbers came back okay on the screen however, when visually looking at the lower auger motor it didn't start, then did okay, then slowed down, then stopped???

What do you think caused the pellets to burn up in the hopper? The paint is burnt off the metal in the hopper a few inches above the upper feed auger. The pellets that were burnt are still hard but like charcoal all the way through.

Leary of reusing the stove........How can this be fixed????? I don't want to burn the house down while we are gone for the day or while the wife is home alone with the kids.

Thanks in advance!

 

[begreen]

Don't run the stove. As an extra safety measure, scoop out all the pellets from the hopper to be sure there is no fuel.

Give Englander a call on Monday morning and ask for Mike.

 

[jtp10181]

Had you fully cleaned the stove (per mfg instructions) previous to this incident? Most hopper fires are caused by lack of maintenance.

 

[adman]

Yes, we had it cleaned prior to starting fires this season.

 

[jtp10181]

Unfortunately many people out there clean pellet stoves and don't really know what they are doing, FYI. Not saying that's the cause, but just because someone else cleaned doesn't mean it was really cleaned properly.

Was the chimney swept and/or checked for blockage?

 

[adman]

Yes, it was swept clean and all vents and parts checked and cleaned. so we don't think it was a problem with cleanliness.

 

[Xena]

Like Begreen said. Call Englander today and ask for Mike.
He will help.

 

[begreen]

adman (or adwoman). Please be sure let us know what Englander had to say. What is the problem and resolution?

 

[stoveguy2esw]

sorry i managed to miss this post , but looking at the other post i see that you have been in contact with my office already. please let me know if i may assist in any way.

 

[begreen]

Mike, can you ask Lenny what was the problem? It may help others who visit this thread.

 

[adman]

When I talked with Lenny yesterday, he asked a bunch of questions, put me on hold, asked some more, checked things out and talked things over. Then he said he wasn't sure what caused it. They are going to replace the stove under warranty and ship us a new stove and we will ship the old stove back to them so they can see what happened.

I really appreciate that they didn't just try to bandage the situation and took the saftey factor into the equation. Lenny didn't act like he or anyone else knew exactly what caused it or made me buy a ton of parts first.

Like in my other post, I think Englander is great. I didn't know about this site prior to our purchasing this stove but for those that check it out I wanted them to know they are a reputable company that believes in their product.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

Mike, can you ask Lenny what was the problem? It may help others who visit this thread.

i could ask when i see him, he splits duty in here and out on the assembly line working QC, but i'll check. i might be involved with the "pathology" on the unit as well, unsure at this time what was up.