Golden Eagle 5520

[Vindii]

I just purchased my first pellet stove for my garage. I don't know a lot about them other than what reading I did recently before this purchase. The stove is used. The seller said it was 2 years old. It appears to be in decent shape. I paid $400 for it with all the venting.

I cleaned it out yesterday. Opened up the back and found a lot of pellet dust laying on the bottom. Piled up an inch deep in one spot. Vac'ed it out good. Should I be sealing the hopper better to prevent dust come out or is that just part of these stoves?

The ash pan latches are crap. The guy I bought it from used a second gasket not glued on just to try to keep a tight seal. I think I will just get rid of the crapped latches and put something beefier on it and a new thicker gasket. Shouldn't be a big deal to fix.

I read about a window air wash fix and a gasket for behind the burn pot. Anyone know more about those? Contact Golden Eagle?

I'd like to get everything ready to install it this weekend. Any advise for first time install?

How about pellets. I know nothing about them. Good or bad advice for pellets?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Vindii]

Here's a few pictures.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

The stove is made by Breckwell. You have to use good pellets that do not have any fines or the auger might jam. It is similar to the Big E but the old Big E was a bit heavier made.

 

[krooser]

Can't help with the stove… I'd avoid the Marth hardwood pellets… lots of ash and fines. The Marth softwoods are a bit better and should be available at your local Farm & Fleet. Not sure of any other brands but softwoods generally are a little cleaner burning and a little hotter. If you can find Uncle Jeds you'll be good to go.

 

[Vindii]

Got the stove up and running yesterday. I noticed that if I run it on the higher settings (3-5) the burn pot slowly fills with pellets faster than it can burn them. That's with the damper all the way open. Is it due to the brand of pellets or just how this stove works?

I have it in my uninsulated garage and it was only able to keep it about 60 with outside temps around 20. Garage is a 2+ car garage. Obviously insulation will help but does this sound normal? I had hope it would keep it warmer.

 

[zrtmatos]

Those are disappointing results for a stove like that. I would have expected better. How long did you have it running? There is probably an adjustment needed for the burn at higher settings. Anyone have a Breckwell manual that can help?

 

[Vindii]

I let it run for about 9 hours. I have the manual it came with. Not a lot of info in it. I dont see any way to make it burn the pellets faster? I only see a way to make them feed less to control the pot overflow.
The latches on the ash pan are terrible. I put a new gasket on it but its likely not tight. Once I have a new latches installed I'll see if I can crank it up. Would a air leak by the ash pan cause the burn pot to overflow? Is so why?

I'm new to pellet stoves so forgive my ignorance.

 

[Vindii]

I welded up the top of the ash pan latch and put a couple weld beads on the bottom of it to make it a little tighter fit up and down. Latch can be tighten up now and seals off the pan well. I was able to run it on 5 (highest setting) for an hour last night without the burn pot overflowing. It was kicking out some heat. Took the garage from 42 to 60 in an hour.

What am I looking for when adjusting the damper? Anything specific or does it just control how fast it burns the pellets?

 

[Vindii]

Been using the stove on and off. I'm a little disappointed that it doesn't get hotter. Maybe my expectation were too high but I thought it would heat the garage. Even without it insulated. It gets it around 60 which is ok to work in but hotter would be nice. Guess I'll be insulating soon!

 

[akboom]

how big is your garage? and what kind of temps outside? with no insulation it's gonna be hard to keep and hold heat you will burn threw the pellets and your wallet. if you can find some one an get some prices spray foam is the way to go imho. once your insulated I think you will be more then happy with the pellet stove.

 

[Bioburner]

New member said he bought the same stove and gave up on it after a year and bought a used Harman.

 

[Bioburner]

You can go to Menards and buy a foam kit. Relation of mine doing a remodel loved the results at almost 1/3 the cost of a pro.

 

[Vindii]

The garage is a 2.5 car. Like I said I realize insulation will make a huge difference. But that's not in the plans for this winter. I have friends that have heated there uninsulated garages with wood stoves over the years and they get plenty hot. I guess that was what I expected. I probably just expected too much from a pellet stove. It get it warm enough to work so it will get the job done for this year.

I had to up to 71 last night but the outside temp was in the 40's.. Interesting to see what it does when its 10 outside.

So does a harman put out more heat?

 

[Don2222]

So does a harman put out more heat?

The sides and top of a Harman P series pellet stoves get hot like a wood stove. It radiates heat and blows it out. Yes, it does heat better. I had an experience with that stove where there was alot of fines in the bag of pellets. The auger jammed and the auger motor ripped the hitch pin out of the auger and the motor was lying on the bottom of the stove when I got there to fix it. I had to put in a new auger, motor and hitch pin and clean the fines out of the jammed auger chute. Because the auger is removed from the hopper, I had to grind the ruff edges down on the base of the auger where it was sheared off with grinding stones in order to remove the auger and install a new one! It did break again and the customer gave up on the stove, but he never sifted out the sawdust so he was asking for more trouble. You may want to screen your pellets or get a more rugged stove.

 

[Bioburner]

The garage is a 2.5 car. Like I said I realize insulation will make a huge difference. But that's not in the plans for this winter. I have friends that have heated there uninsulated garages with wood stoves over the years and they get plenty hot. I guess that was what I expected. I probably just expected too much from a pellet stove. It get it warm enough to work so it will get the job done for this year.

I had to up to 71 last night but the outside temp was in the 40's.. Interesting to see what it does when its 10 outside.

So does a harman put out more heat?

Harman p series put out some radiant heat like a wood stove but he gave up on trying to keep the Eagle flying. I've the feeling the next flight may be to CL or scrap yard

 

[Vindii]

I put a fan blowing across the side of the stove to get some of the radiant heat off it. The sides get pretty hot!

It actually runs great with the new gaskets and the latch fixed up. I can run it on setting 5 without issues. I think it just all the heat its got. How long it last who know?

People really sift pellets before using them? Sounds crazy!

 

[Don2222]

People really sift pellets before using them? Sounds crazy!

Yes, here are the plans!
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/to-build-or-not-pellet-sifter-q.118745/

 

[Bioburner]

Had to sift corn for fines for the Bixby, as the fines would just blowout and muck up the stove. Horse and chickens loved the cracked corn. Cheap stoves or some of the fancy Italians blow the fines all over making for a dirty stove too. Clean stove a happy stove. Clean a bit first or a lot later.

 

[bob huehne]

New member said he bought the same stove and gave up on it after a year and bought a used Harman.

Actually I used it two weeks and gave up. Bought it brand new in October and it is sitting in my basement unhooked right now. Here is my story on it

Hooked it up and at first tried to run in manual mode, ran first night on number 3 had a cold snap last month down to about 8 or 9 for lows and in the morning pot full of pellets spilled over with unburnt and burning pellets in the ash pan. Figured it was just damper setting at wrong place since these stoves are noted to be fussy to get set right. So I experimented I could run on setting one all night without the pot filling and then setting 2 so I thought I was getting somewhere. Hooked it on a thermostat and had it jumping from setting 1 for the low to 3 for the high which they recommend you go no higher then 3 on thermostat mode. Day after day wake up with a pot full of pellets, tried every damper setting imaginable and couldn't get it so I installed outside air thinking fresh air would help. It helped some I could get through the night but time I got home from work next day I would have a pot full spilled over.

Finally contacted the company they recommended the dollar bill test, the glass door was fine but the ash pan hell I could stick a dollar bill in the gaps in that. The latches are crap too you can hardly get it latched so they sent me a new pan, came with a nice fat rope and some crappy latches with longer steel pieces on the end that did grab a bit better, now I can burn all night and almost till I get home from work the next day with the ash pan sealed up better so I am up to about 24 hour burn at best before I got a full pot.

They were also to send me a gasket repair kit, I wait and wait getting more frustrated each day it don't come and having to shut the stove down each day for cleaning which BTW they suck to clean. Hard to clean under the burn pot. Finally UPS arrives, big old box again and I open it going don't tell me these morons sent me another ash pan, it's heavy and same size box the last one came in. Well of course, ash pan #2 comes, so now I have 3 ash pans. So I contact them again and he says the gasket kit is going out today.

Day after day I wait no kit comes, finally I just shut it down and flip the electric heaters on and figure I will leave the stove off until I get it. In the meantime I start searching for Harman stoves as my local tavern has one and it works great and I am thinking that is what I need a stove that you can run for days on end without doing anything other then adding pellets. So I find a used pc45 used one heating season for $1250 and went bought it. Monday as I am installing the Harman UPS comes with my gasket kit for the Golden Eagle. It was already disconnected and off to the side so I have not tried it with the kit installed.

Here are my thoughts on that stove to sum it up, it would probably work ok if you put the gasket kit in, I heave read others that posted saying it fixed their problem, maybe you can run 4-5 days before shutting it down for cleaning, 2 if you ran a good high quality pellet with low ash woudl surely help, I was running cheapo indek from Menards so between the gasket leaks and cheap pellets & running in thermostat mode is likely what caused so much grief for me. I am not sure it would ever work very good in thermostat mode as I am not sure you could never damper it to jump from setting 1 to 3 successfully. With a high quality pellet and the gasket kit installed it may make a decent garage stove if you get the damper set right and run it manual mode but I doubt I would ever trust it in my house unless you are always around to keep an eye on it. that was my biggest reason for going after the Harman now I can leave for a snowmobile trip for days or even a week or what not and not worry about my family controlling that troublesome stove, long as they can dump pellets in they can run the Harman trouble free.

 

[Vindii]

I'd agree with everything you said. I would not want to heat my home with this stove. While I seem to have it running good I only use it 5 hours a day and then it gets shut off. Not sure how long it would run if I left it going.

The burn pot overflowing seems to be from air leaks in the ash pan. Once I welded the tabs on the latches and put on the thicker gasket it seals tight and the burnpot does not fill unless the damper is closed too much.

I read someplace that these are not meant to run for more than a couple hours on setting 5 (highest setting). It doesn't say that anyplace in the manual. Anyone else read that?

We have a some cold weather moving in so I'll be giving it a good workout this weekend.

 

[Vindii]

Neighbor saw the reflection from the flame in the window of the garage while I was out at a friends house. He came over and told my wife he thought the garage was on fire. She told him I put a pellet stove in and that was probably what it was but she would check to make sure. He goes home and calls the fire dept anyway! 2 firetruck and a ambulance come roaring in with light a blazing. Looks like I may have to get rid of it as they told me its illegal in a garage. Grrrr.....

 

[Bioburner]

Check on the ord. Some will allow if on a pedestal. Gas vapors generally are low so the thinking is if on a pedestal will be somewhat ok. I can't see the difference between gas and pellet in that regard if you OAK it.

 

[Lake Girl]

Neighbour had his wood stove in the garage WETT certified ... 18" off the ground. He had it temporarily up on cinder blocks and thought it was pretty unstable - hasn't gotten to the fabrication of a steel pedestal yet.

 

[jhanan]

I have this stove. Mine has different controller - only goes 1 to 4, there is no setting for a 5. Take some time to learn this stove. It has issues, but you can make it work. Read all my posts and get the seal kit from US Stove (fix add -on). You cannot run this stove on 4. Start the stove on 1 or 1 with high trim. You need to run air usually full open or almost full open. The stove will run good on 1 all the time. You can run the stove on 2 for maybe 4-6 hours and then set back to 1. You can run it on 3 for maybe 1 hour max. You need to make sure the door and ash draw are sealed very good (read my posts). Make sure your air inlet flow is good (you can feel the draw with your hand). The exhaust should feel strong on the outside (again check with your hand). You should not get any smoke in the house - if you do, then you must have a leak in the burn chamber somewhere. You may need a new combustion fan. How many hours on your stove? I have about 2000 hours on my stove - running original fans. I clean my burn pot 2 time a day - morning and night - it only takes about 2 minutes to empty out into a metal sealed hot ash can. My stove in the basement and will heat up 1500 sq ft basement to mid-70's if 20's outside. A lot of people diss this stove (and I understand why), but I got it new for only $900, plumbed in myself, and I'm getting plenty of heat out of it - paid for itself in 1 year against cost of fuel oil. I will be buying stove #2 soon for family room - it will not be this one - but I will not shell out $3K for a Harmon, will not spend more than 1500 - no need too. Jeff

 

[jhanan]

Neighbor saw the reflection from the flame in the window of the garage while I was out at a friends house. He came over and told my wife he thought the garage was on fire. She told him I put a pellet stove in and that was probably what it was but she would check to make sure. He goes home and calls the fire dept anyway! 2 firetruck and a ambulance come roaring in with light a blazing. Looks like I may have to get rid of it as they told me its illegal in a garage. Grrrr.....

Why - lot of people put wood burn stoves in there garage. What is the code on this?