US Stove 6500

  • 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.
Status
Not open for further replies.
P

Polish Princess

Member
Hearth Supporter
Mar 13, 2011
52
Bunker Hill, IL
This is our 1st season for our US Stove 6500 and a blower motor went out. Our furnace is still under warranty so we have new blower motor waiting to be installed. My problem is
I can not find a technician to install. I have contacted US Stove and they could not help. I also contacted chimney sweeps they also were of no help. We have been without our furnace for 5 days and I am at the end of my patience and cold. I have the OWNERS MANUAL but it does not show us how to remove and reinstall. Does anyone have a suggestion as to where I might find an instruction manual? I also need to know HOW to clean all the motors and how to get to them so I don't have future problems like this.
 
Which "Blower". The Convection (room air) or Combustion (exhaust)? That motor didnt last long.
 
Polish Princess said:
....My problem is I can not find a technician to install.....
Click to expand...

Try this website. Put your zip code under the "Installers" section.

It's mainly for stove installers, but many of them do service work on pellet stoves too. Give 3-4 of the ones in your area a call and ask.

www.nwdinc.com/installers.php
 
Thank you for the website but I have already contacted the 2 in my area. Neither service pellet stoves only chimney sweep.
 
Do you have an owners manual? The Convection blower should be pretty easy to replace. Depending on the location of your stove (clearnces), and if your a little mechanically inclined. You could probably do it yourself. If you have any doubt, its best left for a pro. Here is the manual. (broken link removed to http://www.hardwarestore.com/media/pdf-misc/116760.pdf)
 
For some reason I cannot open the page. I tried to copy and paste. Then tried to type in and took me to Aubuchon Hardware Store, is that where I should be?
 
Polish Princess said:
For some reason I cannot open the page. I tried to copy and paste. Then tried to type in and took me to Aubuchon Hardware Store, is that where I should be?
Click to expand...
I just tried clicking on it, it goes directly to PDF file. It is just the owners manual. If you have one, then dont worry about the link. Only posted in case you lost yours.
 
Looking at the parts diagram in the manual. It has 2 Covection blowers, 800cfm's (Distribution blowers as they call them) . Are they BOTH bad? Seems like to much of a coincidence?? Both are completely separate. They have there own squirrel cages and motors.

EDIT: Have you checked the fuse.
 
Does anyone know if there are other pellet stoves on the market that are very similar to the US Stove 6500? If so maybe they have a guide on how to take apart the American Harvest 6500 to do a full Spring maintenance including the replacement of the blower that went out.
 
You would have thought that somebody familiar with other stoves would be able to help.

Have you spoken to the service depts of local stove shops?
 
Thanks for the info on the US stove 6100-6220 I downloaded the manual so my husband can see if it is more helpful.

I have called technicians that repair furnaces but they only work on gas and electric furnaces. By stove shops do you mean they specialize in stoves only i.e. wood or pellet? If so, yes I have called them and they only SELL or if they do service, they only service the brands they sell.

I would never have imagined I would have such a difficult time trying to find a repairman. I guess I thought, like a good car mechanic, they should be able to work on almost any but apparently this is not so. Also,
almost every one I have called have said pellet furnaces are rare in our area. That too surprises me as our winters run from mid September to April with temperatures in the teens to minus degrees.
 
Once your panels are swung open and removed, the blower should only be held in by a few bolts. They generally only have 2 wires going to them. Take off the access panels and take a quick look. Really not as complicated as it seems. May be tight quarters. But can be done by most. If it was the Combustion blower, where you run the risk of CO and affecting the burn quality. I wouldn't consider you trying. But the Convection blowers have No Deadly Hazards. As long as the stove is unplugged, and you put the 2 wires back to the right spade connections. You should be fine. Do your side panels swing out? Or is all work done from the back?
 
It is all done from the back and very tight area. Also, from what I can see we have to disconnect the vent coming from the stove to access the blower, the re-attach and seal. Do we need a special tool?

I am upset that we have not gotten a full season of burning. We converted from a wood burning furnace because of our age but this has been an experience.

Once the area is opened how do we clean the other blower and other parts that may look dirty? We have a pellet vacuum cleaner, is that all we need?
 
Yes a vacuum will do the job just fine. But if you pull the Combustion blower, you will need a new gasket to seal the area. Also if you pull your pipe (flue) you will need to re-seal the stove adapter with high temp RTV (at least 500 degree's) back to the connection with the stove. Looks very intimidating, if you can find someone to do it, because you don't feel comfortable, them do so. But many people who buy Englanders, US stoves, and other models, end up doing all the work themselves. I agree. It should have lasted much longer. I bought a Pellet furnace this year, that has been used 1 1/2 seasons. Got a Great deal on it because the previous owner did not know how to maintain it. These stoves do require a lot of up-keep to keep them running at there peak levels.
Back to what I started on. If its all from the back, and you feel COMFORTABLE doing so. Then pull the stove out and away from the wall to give yourself plenty of room. When in doubt about anything, take pictures so you know EXACTLY how it went back together. I was a mechanic and still do this on some of my projects.

******* Again, if you don't feel comfortable. Don't do it. Get a PRO.... I may say its not that hard. But I do not know your mechanical skills. Please be careful if undertaking on your own. If you must pull your flue, then make sure you seal it up good. All these things should be explained in your stove manual, or PL vent manual. ********
 
It is the room fan which is apparently also called a distribution blower. Will it also need a seal? I emailed US Stove and they sent an email with some replacement instructions for the distribution blower.
I agree getting a PRO to do it is best but that is what started this whole problem. I cannot find a PRO in my area that works on pellet stoves. I am still searching but I guess it will have to be done by my husband and myself.
 
Some stoves do use a "seal" or a gasket. My old Englander does, my new Quadrafire does not. Majority of stoves probably dont. If yours does, it may be able to be re-used, considering the application (No CO in that area). The Distribution/Convection blower has no ill effects if there is a small leak. If you have a simple tool set and follow the instructions sent, you should be able to complete the task at hand. I have taught my wife a lot about the workings of the stoves. So if and when I am gone, and a problem comes up. She can fix it herself. Doing something yourself can be very rewarding, so long as you remember where everything went, and there are no left-over "Oops" peices. LOL. Pulling the stove out to where it will be comfortable to work on and around, will be helpful. Wishing you the best of luck.

EDIT, just checked the owners manual. It does have a gasket for each blower. Hopefully they send one with your blower
 
When we purchased the pellet furnace we also replaced our secondary furnace and air conditioner. The guys that installed are coming tomorrow to look at the pellet and see if they can figure out. They are the ones that put in my ducts so I know they can re fix that. Are we going to have this much trouble every YEAR to keep it maintained? Do you have any suggestions that will make easier?
 
I have been reading some of the other threads and I have a question. Am I the ONLY person in (we are no where near Chicago) ILLINOIS with a pellet furnace?
 
I'm sure there are others in Illinois with a pellet furnace, however there are a number of different pellet furnaces.

Then most of the folks that post on here are posting because of problems.

As a result you'll get a pretty warped view of pellet devices in general.
 
Polish Princess said:
I have been reading some of the other threads and I have a question. Am I the ONLY person in (we are no where near Chicago) ILLINOIS with a pellet furnace?
Click to expand...

I wish you were closer I'd give you a hand as I have the same unit. My advice to you would be to sell the unit as I really feel you are not going to be overly happy with it in the next year or two. I made the mistake of buying my 6500 and it did the same thing yours did within 3 months or so.....I however returned mine where I bought it and got another one......mistake #2. When USSC said I could return it to where I bought it and exchange it I should have just said I wanted a refund but figured I just had a lemon and tried another,it worked fine the rest of last winter as far as the blower goes.

This year after I finally installed some duct work on my 6500, I noticed quite a bit of soot being blown onto the I beam just above the end of the duct work where all the heated air comes out. I never noticed last year as I had an elbow on the the supply end and was just blowing the hot air into my open shop. After doing some asking around on the "I burn corn" site I was told of a few places to look for that may need rtv silicone that may have been overlooked when it was built.....sure enough after opening it up I found some places and I sealed them up but it's still not perfect.

There is a lot more I could rant about but it's my fault for buying a furnace from a chain store and not looking into the unit more before I purchased it.

If I were to buy something to replace my 6500 I would look into the Fahrenheit Endurance http://www.fahrenheittech.com/index.html. From what little I have read so far people seem to be happy with it.

Good Luck and If I can help anymore let me know. There are a few guy's over on "I burn corn" that have these 6500's and can probably answer more than I can just so you know if you didn't already.

Good Luck,
Dave
 
Thank you for your input and experience with 6500. Had the blower installed today and had tech look everything over and I was here to stupidvise :) I did have him check all the nooks and crannys. It is working fine right now and hope continues. I had to have the guys that installed my backup electric furnace and my air conditioner do the maintenance and repair on my pellet because NO ONE else here knew how. I will read on the "I burn corn" site and will probably learn a lot more about this (may be more than I want to) but again THANK YOU
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
Older us stove co 5500m HELP!!
Replies
5
Views
131
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
ARC
ARC
C
Harman installation questions
Replies
4
Views
289
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
Cinobyte
C
J
Older harman pp38+ 2 knob style no lights.
Replies
0
Views
266
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
Jp older harman
J
O
EnviroFire EF3, Auger and Ignitor issues.
Replies
21
Views
370
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
ARC
ARC
B
Classic Bay 1200i combustion blower
Replies
3
Views
523
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
Whitenuckler
Whitenuckler
Top Bottom