Flashing #4 on M55

[jumpink]

Flynfrfun,

Green with envy.
How loud is your agitator? Like you said it's not too bad because it comes on infrequently.

 

[flynfrfun]

Flynfrfun,

Green with envy.
How loud is your agitator? Like you said it's not too bad because it comes on infrequently.

Hard to say...it makes a different kind of noise than the auger motor. But, i would say it is actually louder than the auger. I'm going to put some WD-40 on the chain and make sure the agitator rod is lubed up and see what happens. But again...it is definitely livable since it comes on for 1 minute, then shuts off. The auger cycling every few seconds was about to drive me crazy! :cheese:
Flynfrfun

 

[jumpink]

I agree, the auger noise is not something that one would get used to.
I remember talking about the agitator chain and it possibly being too tight. Did you ever try and loosen it up?

 

[flynfrfun]

I agree, the auger noise is not something that one would get used to.
I remember talking about the agitator chain and it possibly being too tight. Did you ever try and loosen it up?

Yes, I've loosened it a hair. I think I could loosen it some more. While the stove was running this evening I switched it to multi-fuel mode so the agitator would turn with each shot of pellets. What I found was the agitator noise increased considerably when I pinched the chain so that it had more tension. What appears to happen is the agitator motor noise is transmitted thru the (tight) chain and into the agitator rod which acts like a tuning fork and magnifies the noise. When I let go of the chain the noise decreased considerably. I then lubed the chain with some WD-40 (don't think it really needed it though). Now the agitator is quite a bit quieter than before because I think I may have just slightly stretched the chain (I squeezed with moderately high pressure...I don't recommend doing this). I'm going to loosen the chain a hair more and see what happens. I would have to say the agitator is now pretty darn quiet. I pretty much only hear a slight hum when it cycles on/off... totally acceptable. When you consider the added mechanics of the agitator, this stove is actually pretty quiet. Other stoves I looked at in the stores were very simple, but much noisier that this one. I have to say I'm very happy.

Has anyone heard anything back from Enviro or Gleason Avery about the auger motor noise issue? Even though this is not an issue for me anymore, I want to stay on top of it because some day I might need an auger motor and don't want another noisy one.

J-takeman...if you are listening, can you send me the details on wiring up the convection blower with a manual adjustment? I'll take a look at what all is involved and then decide if it's something I want to try before the warranty expires. Thanks!
Flynfrfun

 

[ARGlock]

Looks like you guys are really learning about your new units! The only thing that I'm concerned about from reading your posts is the low convection fan output. I'm needing a high capacity insert to heat 3,000 + square feet. By the way, what is the hopper capacity on the M55 insert?

Stay Warm Folks!!

AR

 

[jtakeman]

J-takeman...if you are listening, can you send me the details on wiring up the convection blower with a manual adjustment? I'll take a look at what all is involved and then decide if it's something I want to try before the warranty expires. Thanks!
Flynfrfun

If you purchase a 120v relay(coil rated at 2 amp minimum) and a rheostat. Send me the the relay info and I will draw you a sketch for the wiring diagram.

If you need help with the relay, I can link some for you. May be some time before I can get to it as I am swamped!

 

[flynfrfun]

Looks like you guys are really learning about your new units! The only thing that I'm concerned about from reading your posts is the low convection fan output. I'm needing a high capacity insert to heat 3,000 + square feet. By the way, what is the hopper capacity on the M55 insert?

Stay Warm Folks!!

AR

AR,
Contrary to Enviro's specs, I can just barely get one 40lb bag into the hopper. I don't think this stove has the ability to heat 3000 square feet except in the most ideal of circumstances. You really want to size the stove to get one big enough so it can run in the medium heat settings for your application. You don't want to have it running on high all the time as it seems they are not really designed to do this full time. I know there are higher BTU output stoves out there. Are you looking to use the pellet stove for the primary heat source, or supplemental? I could probably use mine as primary, but one thing I have realized is it is a challenge to heat evenly with any type of stove pellet or wood.

After having my pellet stove for about a month, my take is that they are great for heating small areas like living rooms. I have a natural gas furnace, but I hear some parts of the country you can save a lot of money using pellets vs heating oil. In my case, I'm spending about the same amount of $ as before, but now my living room is 77-80F and the furnace doesn't come on at all. However, the rest of the house is much cooler and you can feel it as soon as you get out of the living room. Eventually, I plan on moving my furnace thermostat upstairs and then running my stove on a programmable thermostat downstairs. This way the furnace comes on and keeps the rest of the house warmer and the pellet stove can cycle med/low to keep the living room the way we like it @ 77F. It should drop my pellet usage and still keep my natural gas bills low.

But, the stove is working as I had planned. We only wanted supplemental heat to our furnace. I'm pleasantly surprised at how much heat the stove puts out. If my living room was a little more contained and not so open to the rest of the house, we could run the stove at lower settings.
Flynfrfun

 

[pelletdude]

Looks like you guys are really learning about your new units! The only thing that I'm concerned about from reading your posts is the low convection fan output. I'm needing a high capacity insert to heat 3,000 + square feet. By the way, what is the hopper capacity on the M55 insert?

Stay Warm Folks!!

AR

The hopper capacity is slightly more than 40 lbs. As for the blower - I sold an insert to a guy with a house over 3000 sq ft. he is very happy with the output. It is not the speed of the air that makes the heat it is the volume. This stove puts out lots of volume - the Heat exchange tubes are 1" rigid conduit welded to the exchanger. This is one of the reasons this is such a quiet stove.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Looks like you guys are really learning about your new units! The only thing that I'm concerned about from reading your posts is the low convection fan output. I'm needing a high capacity insert to heat 3,000 + square feet. By the way, what is the hopper capacity on the M55 insert?

Stay Warm Folks!!

AR

It is not likely that you will find such an insert.

Using some average sizing information for 3,000 square feet you'd need about 105,000 BTUs. (remember this is using unrealistic information for any one particular case).

In a single unit you are in pellet furnace/boiler land.

Now if you have excellent insulation, minimum air exchange rates, excellent windows and doors, live in a fairly warm winter time climate, you have a better chance of finding a single unit that can put out the BTUs, as for large volume air movement to even things out not so sure.

 

[Brianm58]

I also have a 3000sq ft open floor plan & I find the stove has a hard time getting up past 70 when it's really cold outside. Been in the teens here at night & not above 30 during the day. During the day when no one is home I'm running the heat level @ #3, Auger feed on #1, Convection Blower on #3 & it's about 67. When I get home I turn the heat level to #4, leave the rest alone & gets to 70. With it this cold I don't think I can expect much more. I'm thinking about experimenting with having the oil heat bring the house to 70, which wouldn't take long, & let the M55 take it from there. Kind of defeating the purpose of the stove, but can't expect it to heat the whole house by itself in this weather.

 

[flynfrfun]

I also have a 3000sq ft open floor plan & I find the stove has a hard time getting up past 70 when it's really cold outside. Been in the teens here at night & not above 30 during the day. During the day when no one is home I'm running the heat level @ #3, Auger feed on #1, Convection Blower on #3 & it's about 67. When I get home I turn the heat level to #4, leave the rest alone & gets to 70. With it this cold I don't think I can expect much more. I'm thinking about experimenting with having the oil heat bring the house to 70, which wouldn't take long, & let the M55 take it from there. Kind of defeating the purpose of the stove, but can't expect it to heat the whole house by itself in this weather.

Brian,
I find using the furnace to heat the house to whatever temp I like, then letting the stove take over works very well. The stove has a lot easier time maintaining temp than bringing everything up to temp.

I've done some rough gauging and mine seems to be burning about a bag every 12hrs on heat level 3 feed trim 1. Is that about what you are getting?
Flynfrfun

 

[Brianm58]

Flynfrfun,
Maybe a little bit more. I put about 1/2 to 3/4 bag in the morning before I leave for work & another 1/2 when I get home & top it of before I go to bed. So maybe 1 1/2bags. Also, my dealer came out Monday & adjusted the plate covering the auger. Moved it down so less pellets would drop & keep the "heat sensor" from tripping. I quess Enviro made the plate adjustable on some of the newer stoves. Seems to have helped.

 

[slick]

Brianm58

Your situation sounds actually like mine. I'm heating an open floor concept. THe coldest the weather has been up here is around -4C, I'm having a hard time getting the house to 22C which is almost 72F. We have a wood furnace for back-up, and have been thinking the same thing, maybe making a little fire and then letting the pellet stove take over. Still waiting for a ceiling fan, hoping that will circulate the heat better. THe wife and I turn the stove on around 5:00pm and we pretty well leave it on # 5 setting for most the night, we find anything lower then setting #3 you might as well turn it off, it just doesn't blow the heat around on the low settings.

 

[pelletdude]

Brianm58

Your situation sounds actually like mine. I'm heating an open floor concept. THe coldest the weather has been up here is around -4C, I'm having a hard time getting the house to 22C which is almost 72F. We have a wood furnace for back-up, and have been thinking the same thing, maybe making a little fire and then letting the pellet stove take over. Still waiting for a ceiling fan, hoping that will circulate the heat better. THe wife and I turn the stove on around 5:00pm and we pretty well leave it on # 5 setting for most the night, we find anything lower then setting #3 you might as well turn it off, it just doesn't blow the heat around on the low settings.

Why do you turn the stove off, if you leave it running and everything stays tempered it will have to work less to get temp up when you get home at 5:00. We turn our stove down while at work and put it on setting 3 when we get home around 5 or 6. Then drop it down to 2 for the night.

 

[slick]

WE tried it one evening on #2, the house was freezing when we got home, so i just decided to leave it off and not waste the pellets. I may be wrong.

 

[jumpink]

Slick,
Do you use a thermostat? I listened to Jay and bought a programmable one and believe me it makes a difference. I have it set to 67 when we leave for work and 72 before we get home. On cold nights, I put it on high/low and let the thermostat regulate the heat. I have to say it keeps the heat pretty consistent.

 

[ARGlock]

Looks like you guys are really learning about your new units! The only thing that I'm concerned about from reading your posts is the low convection fan output. I'm needing a high capacity insert to heat 3,000 + square feet. By the way, what is the hopper capacity on the M55 insert?

Stay Warm Folks!!

AR

The hopper capacity is slightly more than 40 lbs. As for the blower - I sold an insert to a guy with a house over 3000 sq ft. he is very happy with the output. It is not the speed of the air that makes the heat it is the volume. This stove puts out lots of volume - the Heat exchange tubes are 1" rigid conduit welded to the exchanger. This is one of the reasons this is such a quiet stove.

We are in the south so this unit will probably work well for us most winter days. Is there a way to put a hopper extension on the M55 Insert? Probably not.

Thanks,

AR

 

[flynfrfun]

Well, after 3 days with the new auger motor, the stove is as quiet as can be. We are really enjoying this stove now! This is what I expected after doing all the research prior to buying....
Flynfrfun

Update: It is now late Feb and my auger motor is still so quiet, I can't hear it. My dealer used my old noisy auger motor in his showroom M55 for a while. Then he ordered a new auger motor and it is silent. So, it appears the noisy auger motors are just a matter of "getting a bad one". If you have a noisy auger motor, I would recommend requesting replacements until you get a quiet one. The original one and a new replacement were noisy on my stove. It took a 3rd from my dealer before I got a good one. Just thought I would pass this info on...
Flynfrfun

 

[JimmyJ]

Can you hear the auger turn? I can hear mine turn for sure and drop pellets in. It is a low moan then you hear the pellets clinking.

 

[flynfrfun]

Can you hear the auger turn? I can hear mine turn for sure and drop pellets in. It is a low moan then you hear the pellets clinking.

With a good auger motor, you will not be able to hear the motor unless you really, really get close and listen very carefully. The only thing I can hear is the pellets dropping in, not the auger motor when I'm in the same room as the stove. My bad auger motors sounded like a geartrain kind of whine. Here is a video of what mine sounded like...

http://www.vimeo.com/17527157

Flynfrfun

 

[jtakeman]

All this bragging about my stove and the auger started to whine a bit. Not bad for almost 3 seasons. I might try to repack it with high temp grease before I give up on it. The noise isn't such a big deal with a basement stove. I opnly hear it when I am near it. I still might pick up a spare jic!

 

[JimmyJ]

I checked out your video Flynfrfun.....my auger is similar. They second video you have is of the auger and agitator....is that before you had the auger motor replaced? I talked to my dealer yesterday and he is going to order a new auger motor for my m55 F/s.....hope it helps.

He is also going to put on a OAK. Hope I am making the right decision there. I am thinking if it helps push the smoke out in a power loss it should be a good thing. Cross my fingers that the stove will be as good or better.

 

[flynfrfun]

JimmyJ,
Yes, the second video with both the agitator and auger is before I got a good auger motor. Since then I have adjusted my agitator chain tension and lubed the chain and it is much quieter. And with the good auger motor, I can't hear it at all. I can still hear the agitator when it cycles on, but it is very quiet now, but not silent like the auger. I hope your new auger motor is quiet. Keep us posted.

Yeah, you definitely want an OAK with this stove. It really sucks some air. However it won't help keep smoke out of the house in a power failure. To help that situation, you need to have 3-5' of vertical exhaust on the outside of the house. This creates a draft as the heated air rises in the pipe and sucks out the smoke if the power fails.
Flynfrfun

 

[JimmyJ]

Thanks for the reply,

I just realized you said that you lubed the chain for the agitator.....I never did that. I took your suggestion and sanded it down on the end and lubed the end of the agitator but never lubed the chain. I can definately hear it cycle but not the high pitch whistle it had before I sanded it down.

As for the OAK, I thought I read that it helped the exhaust of the smoke in a power failure. I do have about 4 feet or so of vertical on the outside of the house. So you think performance wise the stove will work more effeciently with an OAK?

 

[flynfrfun]

Thanks for the reply,

I just realized you said that you lubed the chain for the agitator.....I never did that. I took your suggestion and sanded it down on the end and lubed the end of the agitator but never lubed the chain. I can definately hear it cycle but not the high pitch whistle it had before I sanded it down.

As for the OAK, I thought I read that it helped the exhaust of the smoke in a power failure. I do have about 4 feet or so of vertical on the outside of the house. So you think performance wise the stove will work more effeciently with an OAK?

Yes, the OAK will make it more efficient. Without an OAK, the stove sucks air from inside the house to burn and then expels it out the exhaust. The house will end up with a vacuum and suck cold air in thru any crack it can which is usually around windows, doors and etc. So the stove has to overcome all that cold air being sucked into the house as well as heat the house on top of it. The OAK pulls the air from outside and then the stove burns it and puts it back outside. This way the air the stove burns comes from outside and is then exhausted outside. No negative pressure in the house this way. If anything you want a positive pressure in the house, so hot air is forced out instead of sucking cold air in. I hope this makes sense. Enviro highly recommends using an OAK with this stove. I personally wouldn't run mine without it.
Flynfrfun