Enviro m55 feed problem

[mikestod]

i am having a feed problem on my Enviro m55 insert. This is the second time in a couple months. The stove feeds pellets fine during startup but one up to temp the feed slows to nearly off, regardless of what level it is set to, for instance 4 or 5. It is barely feeding enough pellets to remain lit, it seems like it stays running on lowest level of the high/low mode, even after I have changed it to manual mode. It also doesn't matter if I am running it in thermostat mode or manual mode, it doesn't seem to change. I do have a SkyTech wireless thermostat and I have tried that on thermostat and constant on modes to no effect.

The last time this happened I assumed it was a pellet jam or too many fines in the auger assembly. I then emptied the hopper, finding no jam at the auger cover, removed the auger cover and found no build up of fines. I did open the auger cover an extra hole in case it was a pellet jam. When I put everything together and fire the stove back up it worked normally again. Now I'm wondering what the cause might be? I don't want to take the stove apart again just to find nothing.

I have tried shutting the stove down, unplugging it to reset everything and re-firing but it still does the same thing.

Any gurusout there who wouldn't mind helping me figure this out?

 

[Lake Girl]

I have seen instances where the wireless has been the source of the problem ... replace batteries and check connection to base attached to stove to see if that changes things?

 

[ohbix]

If the above doesn't work, might disconnect the thermostat, insert the jumper wire (I am assuming your board is like my fs m55), and run in manual.

 

[mikestod]

I will try that with the thermostat. I have kept trying to change settings. It will run at whatever heat level it is set to on manual mode. In high/lo, which is what I normally run it on, it is stuck on low fire mode. So it may be thermostat or board issue. It feeds pellets and all motors are working. So it seems to be control related.

 

[Bill L]

Sounds a lot like the problem I had with the hopper lid switch magnet rubbing on the thermostat switch when I closed the lid, pushing it from manual to hi/lo or on/off without me knowing it. I didn't have the stat installed for the first week, so it was dropping to lo and driving me nuts. You do have the stat, so may not be your issue unless it is not calling for heat when you think it is in manual, or the stat has lost communication with the receiver. You can check for the switch interference by putting it in manual and closing the lid normally. Then lift up on the lid slightly and slide open and check to see if the thermostat switch is still in manual position. If you don't lift up, it would drag the switch back to manual and you would not know that it had been moved

 

[Lake Girl]

Thanks Bill, forgot about that...

 

[Bill L]

One way you can check the thermostat remote communication with the receiver is to scroll through the modes on the remote, you should be able to hear a low beep from the receiver when you scroll to "on" and the "off" positions. If you don't hear this, it mAy not be communicating

 

[BKSinAZ]

i am having a feed problem on my Enviro m55 insert. This is the second time in a couple months. The stove feeds pellets fine during startup but one up to temp the feed slows to nearly off, regardless of what level it is set to, for instance 4 or 5. It is barely feeding enough pellets to remain lit, it seems like it stays running on lowest level of the high/low mode, even after I have changed it to manual mode. It also doesn't matter if I am running it in thermostat mode or manual mode, it doesn't seem to change. I do have a SkyTech wireless thermostat and I have tried that on thermostat and constant on modes to no effect.

The last time this happened I assumed it was a pellet jam or too many fines in the auger assembly. I then emptied the hopper, finding no jam at the auger cover, removed the auger cover and found no build up of fines. I did open the auger cover an extra hole in case it was a pellet jam. When I put everything together and fire the stove back up it worked normally again. Now I'm wondering what the cause might be? I don't want to take the stove apart again just to find nothing.

I have tried shutting the stove down, unplugging it to reset everything and re-firing but it still does the same thing.

Any gurusout there who wouldn't mind helping me figure this out?

It is problems such as these that I am unsure about purchasing a brand new Enviro M55 Cast Free standing.

 

[mikestod]

Sounds a lot like the problem I had with the hopper lid switch magnet rubbing on the thermostat switch when I closed the lid, pushing it from manual to hi/lo or on/off without me knowing it. I didn't have the stat installed for the first week, so it was dropping to lo and driving me nuts. You do have the stat, so may not be your issue unless it is not calling for heat when you think it is in manual, or the stat has lost communication with the receiver. You can check for the switch interference by putting it in manual and closing the lid normally. Then lift up on the lid slightly and slide open and check to see if the thermostat switch is still in manual position. If you don't lift up, it would drag the switch back to manual and you would not know that it had been moved

Now that I am back from vacation...

I had that same problem with the lid switch when I first got the stove. The dealer installed small washers between the lid and slide brackets to fix it. It wasn't that issue.

Over the weekend I did a full breakdown and cleaning of the stove. There were alot of fines in the bottom of the hopper from my crappy Heatr's pellets (I don't like these but am stuck with them, still a ton and a half to burn through). The auger wasn't jammed, but I don't think the pellets were being fed due to the fines. Cleaned them out, disconnected the auger and applied power directly to clear it and after that pellets were dropping better. So in part, I blame this on crappy pellets with lots of sticky fines.

I think communication was part of the problem. Even after a full cleaning and fixing the feed problem, the stove still did not seem to get off of low fire. I tried new batteries in the remote thermostat, which seemed to help. But then I move the remote tstat right beside the stove and it made a big difference. Because my sender was too far into the firebox beside the stove, the remote tstat seems to have had some communications issues... Bill, thanks for the tip on listening for the beep. I'll use that to confirm proper operation of the wireless tstat if I ever run into this problem again.