Us Stove 5660, Was Great 1st day and would not feed the 2nd.

[Doug Doty]

Does this sound even remotely typical for a new stove. I installed it last sat. and it ran perfect through about 50 lbs. of pellets. We topped it off Sunday, noonish and went out and about for a few hours. When we got home it was seeming to just burn weak on each setting. I shut it down, cleaned and re-fired and after the initial startup it would settle into burning at half or less. By sunday evening and on max setting of 5 the flame was barely visible out of the top of the burn pot more than half the time and never as it should be. I understand the stove and all of the elec. and mechanics well, I even enjoy working on it so I timed the the auger and it is running to on time and off time spec. it is running at exactly the correct 1 rpm also, all tested under load full of pellets. Pellets were seeming to be wrapping around the auger and not feeding them up along the auger as it should be, we were clearly not getting enough fuel. I watched the dealer demo in the store today and it runs exactly like mine but drops way more pellets. Mine is also grinding the pellets and more fines seem to come down the chute. Our pellets look and feel the same with comparable amounts of fines and in fact are coming from the same batch as far as I know.

I pulled the auger cleaned everything well, reassembled it and the same thing after settling in for a half an hour or so. It was burning like a #1 or #2 setting on #5

I finally decided that maybe the new stove was possibly lubed up in the auger and tube for anti rust purposes and this initially allowed the unit to perform to spec at first but the pellets dragged it all out and then it started feeding wacky. So I tore it all down again, scrubbed it all clean, deburred the auger a bit, removed a rough spot at the last flite to touch pellets before falling !! then I coated it and the tube it runs in with a dry film lube, let it all dry well, then added some lithium grease to the bushings and reassembled. The auger was smooth turning the whole time and is unchanged but it is running fine now just like the display in the store !!

Here is the question, it is getting down to 10 degrees tonight and I am wondering if the pros here think my current fix is temporary and it seems it could be !! , is this typical ?? do the augers and feed tube polish with use and get better with time, or do I have another problem I am over looking and soon to start slowing back down. ??

Sorry so long but I just though the details were important to anyone trying to help out !!

 

[bags]

Hey Doug,
I don't know anything about your particular stove but someone who does will probably chime in. I have seen where others with various brands take the augers out and do stuff like you have done. It will take a few to get used to your stove and get the kinks worked out. Hopefully it rolls out the heat for you without anymore glitches. Did you guys get snow too? Sent you a PM and yea, I live in Rabbit Hash.

 

[Doug Doty]

Ya, 5 inches on the cars, ground only held 2-3.

Stove is running good still after the tune up, 4 hours now so we'll see. I had read an article of someone that done a " auger super tune " before I even had problems so I just followed their lead as I remembered and so far so good. I am disappointed in the US Stove quality. the Auger tube should in my mind be very smooth inside to promote good operation and the auger itself could be a lot smoother and nicer from the factory but you get what you pay for I guess. I will be examining all the brands carefully as I come across them. Did you buy the Harmon from a local dealer around here ??

 

[bags]

Got it from Weideman HVAC in Sunman, IN. Went up Rt. IN 1 out of Lawrenceberg then a little west. They are 42 miles from me. Stan up there is awesome to deal with and knows his stuff. Paying the high dollar Harman price is what sucked. They are worth it in my opinion. Very well made and heavy duty but they bust your wallet up pretty good initially buying them.

I am looking at some others less expensive models now. I want to heat another area here. I'm doing a two story 2,350 SQ FT without any problem with mine. The whole place stays warm. I would love another Harman but the wallet is saying nope. I have several other projects in the works here and finishing my house up so I need to conserve my money to do all that.

My wife was about ready to ball bat me to death when I drug this one home. Now she gets it! In fact she is the one all for another pellet stove now. LOL! I was heating with an outdoor wood boiler the last decade. It's great but the firewood is tons of work. Thing works great but these 40 lb bags are too easy.

Sounds good you are back in business with a little clean and tune. That's key. Especially in this cold snap.