Enviro EF2 and EF3 help, please

[Cranbrook Hill]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and pellet stoves - I have a few questions on Enviro EF2 and EF3 stoves. I bought booth stoves used from a good friends dad, he's getting to old and weak to fill them up with pellets and converted to electric heat.
I installed the Enviro EF3 in my shop (about 900sqft and well insulated) and am not happy with the heat output of the unit. So I pulled it away tonight and hooked up the EF2 and I'm still not convinced that it has enough capacity to keep the shop warm. What am I doing wrong? Currently it's about freezing temp outside and it feels as if a hair dryer would have more output then one of these units. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.
Martin

 

[nailed_nailer]

EF2 and 3 are similar units. IIRC about 35K BTU rated.
I heated a 900 sq foot converted cottage for 5 years with an EF-2.

Not seeing the heater(s) you have, my best guess for your problem would be cleaning, bad pellets, or venting.

Best way to get them clean is to remove them and pull it apart. And go at them with compressed air.
Areas that need the most attention are;
The combustion blower. Once removed use a scraper and a toothbrush with carbon remover to clean the impeller.
The convection blower. Once removed I use an electronic cleaner to clean the blades.
The exhaust plenum. Compressed air, Vacuum, and stiff brushes.
Vent Pipe. Run a proper diameter brush up and down to clean.

Been a while but the Back wall of the EF-2 is removable. Bunch of areas to clean behind it.

Also on an EF-2 the burn pot liner needs to sit into the burn pot squarely. Mine would warp along the front edge and allow a combustion air leak around the liner.

Your best friend will be the Manufacturer manuals for both proper install and maintenance.

http://enviro.com/media/manuals/

For deep technical stuff, this one is really handy Pellet Stove Service Manual

http://enviro.com/custom_content/docs/manuals/C-12145 Instruction PELLET Service Manual.pdf

Good Luck,
---Nailer---

 

[johneh]

I use an ef3 in my home and 1100 sq. ft. shop
The shop is fairly well sealed and the stove will
blow you out of it with heat .
Keep it clean remove inner panels and give that
area a good cleaning . Do not be afraid of turning
up the feed rate the higher the rate the hotter the
stove gets . If you are trying to conserve pellets by
running the feed rate low the air only gets warm .
Warm up the room on high then turn down to maintain
the warmth

 

[Cranbrook Hill]

I use an ef3 in my home and 1100 sq. ft. shop
The shop is fairly well sealed and the stove will
blow you out of it with heat .
Keep it clean remove inner panels and give that
area a good cleaning . Do not be afraid of turning
up the feed rate the higher the rate the hotter the
stove gets . If you are trying to conserve pellets by
running the feed rate low the air only gets warm .
Warm up the room on high then turn down to maintain
the warmth

Even with the feed rate set to max the heat output is disappointing. I guess I'll pull the EF3 apart today and give her a good cleaning and hook it up to see if it makes a difference. Once I notice a difference in heat output the EF2 will be next for a cleaning job.
The exhaust venting is all new (meaning clean) and goes straight out the sidewall of the building, 3 feet vertical up and has a 90 elbow with a termination cap.

 

[nailed_nailer]

On a used stove you have to make sure all the sealing surfaces are good. Do the dollar bill test. Search this site for info.
When cool. Open the door. Place a dollar bill all along the gasket areas (Front Door, Ash Pan, and Hopper lid). Close and latch door and then pull out the dollar bill. You want to not be able to pull it out or feel some good resistance. If it pulled out easily, the gaskets need to be replaced or repaired.

If your Shop is sealed real tight you may have a combustion air source problem and an Outside Air Kit (OAK) might help. The stove needs oxygen to have a good burn.

All the stove setup info is in the manuals.

And finally, you might have lousy pellets. Try a decent pellet in your area. Try a few bags of something in the $300 a ton range and see if you get better results. Pellets vary wildly in quality. Big Box store pellets are at best Mid Grade unless you get real lucky. I'm not sure whats available in your area.

Depending on your shop you might not be able to heat it from frozen in a short amount of time. But either stove should eventually be able to get the room comfortable once you have heat soaked the thermal mass of the area. Concrete takes a lot of BTU's to heat up.

---Nailer---

 

[johneh]

What kind of output temp do you expect ?

 

[Cranbrook Hill]

I switched the EF2 out to the EF3 this afternoon after a detailed cleaning job on It (EF3 is installed now). It makes a hell of a difference in heat output. I still have to learn more and experiment with the damper settings and certain auger settings. Its a bit of a learning curve but I'm sure I'm on the right track now.

 

[stovelark]

A clean stove Is an efficient/effective stove. What does the flame look like? On Enviros, during startup, the flame gets pushed over to the left as you face it, air comes in through the right pipe in back of the burnpot liner (again as u face it). Where is the damper set? Most enviros run best when its about an inch of silver rod showing, altho its not too critical. I find my EF3 (which the EF2 and 3 both are workhorses) likes the dial a fire about noon setting for a good heat output, about 1 to 2 oclock for huge heat output. You got two great heaters there, I agree with nailer to try other pellets. A good pellet will always help. Btu ratings for those stoves were 35K btu for the ef2, 40K for the EF3.

 

[nailed_nailer]

Cleaning is the key to Pellet stoves.
They need quick clean out about once a week.
And a full tear down about every ton of pellets (Although most folks just do it 2x a year).
It makes a huge difference.
Don't forget to pull the heat exchanger cleaning rod about once a day when cool.

Rough setting the damper is shown in the manual but to do it right you should use a Magnehelic gauge. It not critical but it will give you a better feeling for how to run your stove for maximum efficiency. Connections shown in the manual.
I use a Dwyer MKII Model 25 Gauge. It goes form 0-3 Inches of water column. They are about $30.00

Good Luck,
---Nailer---