Hampton GC60 PROBLEMS!!!!!!

[Nick Sterner]

Hello, I'm new to this forum and a new owner of a Hampton GC60. I've had the stove now for 5 weeks and I'm burning it 24/7 as it is our only source of heat. I've had several issues with the stove and questioning my purchase at this point. Here's a list of the problems, any help would be greatly appreciated!
Here is what I have
1700sq ft home
Temps are 20's at night 30's & 40's during the day
Burning Energex Pellets
I'm currently running the stove between 2 & 3 for the heat setting, Feed rate is at 2 and combustion fan at 3. Thermostat is at 70-72
- My first problem is that I'm using 1.5 - 2 bags a day (seems like a lot to me?) I checked the auger slide plate and had two holes exposed on the bottom. I moved it down so I now have 3 holes exposed.
- The agitator is squealing intermittently, sounds like nails on a chalk board. I've narrowed this down to the left side of the agitator where it sits in a small steel bracket. The dealer says to put high temp grease on it. This last for 2 hours.
- The house has a very slight smell of smoke. Its not bad, but its there.
- I'm getting raw pellets in the ash pan that eventually start to smolder. When I empty the pan the bottom is scorched and black.
- Overall the stove seems loud. Not the quietest in the industry like they claim.
Thanks for any help.

 

[jgrz0610]

I'll take a stab at it. I believe, unless I'm mistaken that the GC60 is pretty much an M55 with different labels so working on that assumption:

Usage: During winter I use 1.5 bags on a moderate day in my 1600sf ranch with less than desirable windows. Cold days can be in excess of 2 bags but usually not with the stove set to hi/lo on thermostat with heat setting 3. I haven't burned the Energex but if they are really small the stove will chew right through them. You're on the right track with the slide plate auger cover but your usage doesn't seem ridiculous to me as a sole source of heat and 1700sf. Maybe a little high, but not astronomical.

Agitator: I can't remember what kind of grease I bought the one time I re-applied the grease but I remember it was a copper color and pretty metallic. I'll try to look and find the bottle so I can give you a recommendation. It worked well for the purpose and lasted pretty well. The main agitator noise I get is from the agitator rubbing the knobs on a clinker in the burnpot. Fingernails on chalkboard describes it pretty well but you seem to have narrowed that down to the bearing. If the grease makes it go away until it wears off you're on the right track and just need the right grease. They didn't sell it anywhere around me and I had to order it. I believe it was a loctite brand.

Smoke Smell: You need to address this immediately. You shouldn't smell "wood" smoke in the house. There may be some burn in smell remaining but wood smoke is a bad sign. Wait till everyone is out of the room and it's pitch black (you know...4:30 during the winter) and get your best flashlight. Turn the stove off and then let the flame go out. Turn it back on (so the ignitor makes everything smoky) and point the flashlight at all of the doors/exhaust/everything else in a dark room and you will be able to see where it's coming from - or at least give yourself peace of mind that it's not leaking. Also...$20 for a CO detector will help you sleep at night...or help you get up if need be.

Raw Pellets: If the stove is overfeeding because of the pellet size mentioned earlier it's possible some of those suckers are falling out. If the stove is on auto/off you will get that on startup because it floods the pot with fuel and runs the agitator pretty much constantly forcing some half burned stuff out. If it is happening all the time then you may have an air issue. Did you set up the stove or your dealer? Either way it needs to be set with a magnahelic gauge per the manual. I discounted this for the first year and bought one during year two. Trust me...get a mag gauge and let the stove work to it's potential. I can't stress how important this is. May solve some of your issues.

Noise: My stove was whisper quiet when I bought it. Then I upgraded to the new turbo blower most likely factory installed in your stove and it was a noticeably louder. Not deafening...just louder. The higher cfm blower keeps my stove from overheating and popping the snap disc though so I guess I'll just turn up the TV a little louder. It also annoys me when it is almost out of pellets every time the auger turns because I can hear the hum. When it's full I can't tell.

Don't know if this is helpful or not but hopefully it is. Take care of the smoke smell first...the rest of it is annoying but leaking exhaust could kill you. Not a nervous nelly...just don't want you to go to sleep and not wake up.

 

[jgrz0610]

http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-80078-Anti-Seize-Lubricant-Bottle/dp/B000AAJTXY

You can use this stuff or a copper based anti seize lubricant. This stuff is good to 1600 degrees which does the trick. Most of the "High Temp" stuff out there that is called grease is really only good to about 800 degrees before it thins out and burns off. Your stove is running about 1300-1500 degrees so you're actually looking for anti seize instead of traditional petroleum/silicone based lubricants. I suppose you could also use dry graphite or metalized graphite but metalized graphite is not a common item at the store! If you don't want to order online you can get some copper based anti seize at any auto parts store for testing purposes.

 

[Nick Sterner]

Thank you for all the great info. Just a couple questions here.
First the smoke smell. I may not have described that properly. This is something that is very faint, so much so, that the only time I smell it is when I go upstairs and then come back down to the main living level which is where our stove is. It's not anything I can smell in the room? I've wondered if it's the smell of a new stove? I was given no info when I purchased it and have now found out that I should have cranked the stove up to high and let it burn for and hour or so to burn off all the "new". I have now burned half a ton of pellets and have never had the heat setting above 3. Could I still be getting some of this new smell? The other thing that doesn't seem right is that the ash pan door is not all that tight. The latch that holds it doesn't have any adjustment that I can see. Am I missing something here? I could be getting some smell from this if its not sealed properly.
I have the dealer coming to adjust the stove with there magnahelic gauge, I hope this makes a difference in the quality of the burn and the length I get out of a bag.
I'm curious about you comment on the noise. You say that you can't hear you auger when the hopper is full? All I can say is that I wish that was the case for me!! The fan is constant and I think that it's a noise you could get use to, but the auger on mine is loud and is making me almost regret this purchase! I'm wondering if something is wrong with mine since its so loud and you are saying yours is dead quiet when full?

Thanks
Nick

I'll take a stab at it. I believe, unless I'm mistaken that the GC60 is pretty much an M55 with different labels so working on that assumption:

Usage: During winter I use 1.5 bags on a moderate day in my 1600sf ranch with less than desirable windows. Cold days can be in excess of 2 bags but usually not with the stove set to hi/lo on thermostat with heat setting 3. I haven't burned the Energex but if they are really small the stove will chew right through them. You're on the right track with the slide plate auger cover but your usage doesn't seem ridiculous to me as a sole source of heat and 1700sf. Maybe a little high, but not astronomical.

Agitator: I can't remember what kind of grease I bought the one time I re-applied the grease but I remember it was a copper color and pretty metallic. I'll try to look and find the bottle so I can give you a recommendation. It worked well for the purpose and lasted pretty well. The main agitator noise I get is from the agitator rubbing the knobs on a clinker in the burnpot. Fingernails on chalkboard describes it pretty well but you seem to have narrowed that down to the bearing. If the grease makes it go away until it wears off you're on the right track and just need the right grease. They didn't sell it anywhere around me and I had to order it. I believe it was a loctite brand.

Smoke Smell: You need to address this immediately. You shouldn't smell "wood" smoke in the house. There may be some burn in smell remaining but wood smoke is a bad sign. Wait till everyone is out of the room and it's pitch black (you know...4:30 during the winter) and get your best flashlight. Turn the stove off and then let the flame go out. Turn it back on (so the ignitor makes everything smoky) and point the flashlight at all of the doors/exhaust/everything else in a dark room and you will be able to see where it's coming from - or at least give yourself peace of mind that it's not leaking. Also...$20 for a CO detector will help you sleep at night...or help you get up if need be.

Raw Pellets: If the stove is overfeeding because of the pellet size mentioned earlier it's possible some of those suckers are falling out. If the stove is on auto/off you will get that on startup because it floods the pot with fuel and runs the agitator pretty much constantly forcing some half burned stuff out. If it is happening all the time then you may have an air issue. Did you set up the stove or your dealer? Either way it needs to be set with a magnahelic gauge per the manual. I discounted this for the first year and bought one during year two. Trust me...get a mag gauge and let the stove work to it's potential. I can't stress how important this is. May solve some of your issues.

Noise: My stove was whisper quiet when I bought it. Then I upgraded to the new turbo blower most likely factory installed in your stove and it was a noticeably louder. Not deafening...just louder. The higher cfm blower keeps my stove from overheating and popping the snap disc though so I guess I'll just turn up the TV a little louder. It also annoys me when it is almost out of pellets every time the auger turns because I can hear the hum. When it's full I can't tell.

Don't know if this is helpful or not but hopefully it is. Take care of the smoke smell first...the rest of it is annoying but leaking exhaust could kill you. Not a nervous nelly...just don't want you to go to sleep and not wake up.