Our new stove is driving me nuts! We bought the Hampton GC160 pellet stove less than 1 month ago and cannot get it to heat consistently... Do we need to install the air intake? Our setting is on hi/lo stove is on 5 per the instructions from the professional installer and it's barely 70 in the room the stove is in. Other times at the same setting it's 85! We have already used 1 ton of soft pellets in about a 3 1/2 week time. I have to turn my oil heat to 68 so I do not wake up to a freezing house. I am at the point that I think we may have purchased the wrong stove... I have placed several calls to the installer and they were finally going to install the air intake today in the hopes the stove would work for us but... They forgot to mention we needed to turn the stove off for an hour before they arrived to cool...call me crazy but I did not know this and they would no wait while the stove cooled. Please help as I am so frustrated with this stove and if you have ANY advice it would be much appreciated.
GC160 hampton pellet insert...help please! ;-(
- Thread starter Amy-C
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
- Status
handymanCT
Member
Amy I have this exact stove. On setting 5 I can't be in the house it gets that hot! First off, how many square feet are you trying to heat with this thing? Second when the "professional installer" installed this did they use a gauge to set the pressure or did they eyeball it? So when the thing heats your place to 85 is it warmer outside then when it can't get it above 70?
Also, hi/low will only work with a thermostat. What type are you using?
Does the stove crank heat in manual?
Let me know and I'll try to help
Also, hi/low will only work with a thermostat. What type are you using?
Does the stove crank heat in manual?
Let me know and I'll try to help
Last edited:
sounds like a t-stat issue to me too.if you do not have the stove connected to a t-stat then hi/lo and on/off will not function.make sure the jumper wire is in place and let her rip on manual until you do get a stat hooked up.i have the vf55 freestanding which is pretty much the same stove.easily heats 1500sqft on 1st floor.seldom does it run on heat level 4 or 5.youve got a heating machine ther.hope you gey it figured out.peace
Burnbaby
Member
I agree with what others have said. Level 5 on mine would put my family on slow cook, not to mention that the stove looks it's going crazy. I run my on manual, it not a big deal for me to to raise or lower it depending on what temp the house is. Up until yesterday I never had a problem. I do not have a outside air kit, I've played with damper a little bit but it doesn't seem to make a huge difference to my stove. My damper is about 3/4 of the way open. This stove will burn through a lot of pellets. Get used to that. It also heats well. Hope it work out. It sure is a nice looking stove.
Thank you all for your advice! ;-) my stove has been on 5 and on manual about 18 hours now and the temp is 74 with my oil heat assising to maintain at least 68 in the case the stove has a repeat of Friday and Saturday when I woke up to 63 degrees ! I think it may be time to call another company to check the settings as well as the pressure and thermo. I am unsure about the thermostat as we were told to use the wireless and it actually is off right now so the stove is not using a thermostat. We are new to pellet stoves and calling the original installer has become an issue as they rarely call back without us placing several calls or stopping at the shop.... It may just be something as simple as he thermo as you mentioned.
what are you burning for pellets?get yourself a few bags of some good stuff and see if that makes a difference .what are the other settings on your stove?start at heat level 3,feed trim 3 and air trim at 3 and play with you damper a bit.is it set to burn in premium mode?with the settings i just listed you should have a roaring fire going.if not then my guess is your damper is open too much and needs to be pushed in some.describe what your flame looks like
If the stove needs the thermostat to function properly, and your wireless has a thermostat, and it's off? Shouldn't you try leaving the wireless remote on, so that the stove can get a reading from the thermostat?
did your dealer just install and leave or did he show you how the stove functions.you have lots of play in that stove but first you need to get the draft set correctly.i cant imagine you will see much of an improvement with green supremes.average pellet at best.you need to learn the ins and outs of your stove.do you know how to gain access to the slider damper to adjust it
He spent about 5 minutes showing us how to run the stove. I recorded it so we could go back for reference but he only says to leave it on hi/lo put the stove on 3 and set the thermo to the temp we needed. Said it was that simple....guess not. We just turned the wireless thermo off yesterday when a post said put stove on manual(no need for the thermostat to be on correct?). It's on 5 with the air combust on 4 and the trim on 3. Should they all be on 5? Just figured out where the damper is.
I have read the manual about 7 times now and some of it I understand and some I don't. It says they strongly recommend air intake for newer homes. He originally said we did not need it. There is also a note in the manual to put the stove on 5, let it run for 1 hour, then check the pressure is set at the recommendations in the manual. He did not do this. As I said he put the stove on 3, stayed about 15 minutes to make sure the stove caught fire and go over the minimal instructions then left.
when he comes back to do the oak i would have them go thru the stove innards with you.if that doesnt happen then you will be calling them for every little thing about the stove.more often than not most issues with stove are cleaning related.have them show you what needs to come out of the stove in order to clean it.burn pot,pot stirrer inside walls etc.this will expose the exhaust passages that need to be cleaned at least after every ton.the manual will show you all this but best to have installer show you.take advantage of that cold stove they want you to have ready for them.
the stove needs to run on high setting of 5,feed 3 and air trim 3 in order to set the draft with a magna gauge.its right there in the manual.you can get it pretty close visually but best to be done with a gauge.im surprised dealer doesnt use one.mark where the damper is set now.you can make adjustments to it and if your not happy with the burn you can always move damper back to original position.if you close the damper all the way you will end up with a tall lazy orange flame.open damper a little at a time from the closed position till you get a flame that is yellow with an orange tinge to it with no black tips on flame.adjustments should be made 1/4" at a time and allow stove to burn for at least 15 mins after each adjustment
the stove needs to run on high setting of 5,feed 3 and air trim 3 in order to set the draft with a magna gauge.its right there in the manual.you can get it pretty close visually but best to be done with a gauge.im surprised dealer doesnt use one.mark where the damper is set now.you can make adjustments to it and if your not happy with the burn you can always move damper back to original position.if you close the damper all the way you will end up with a tall lazy orange flame.open damper a little at a time from the closed position till you get a flame that is yellow with an orange tinge to it with no black tips on flame.adjustments should be made 1/4" at a time and allow stove to burn for at least 15 mins after each adjustment
- Status
Similar threads
