USSC Pellet Stoves as a Whole

[Dave Ba]

i have about 8 years patching these POS together so anyone that says they are happy with their USSC Pellet Stove im calling you out as either a liar or have no clue what your talking about.

bought my first one can not remember model # its been too long ago,,,i do remember it had 2 augers system in it,,,and it worked fine for one year other than it sounded like i lived next to a international airport,,,,,second year igniter,convection blower,auger shaft and motor failed,,,,,3rd year exhaust blower.2 auger motors,one shaft,,,,,4th year convection blower and had to replace burn pot,,,,figured i just got a lemon after one week into 5th season exhaust blower again failed again so i said screw it i went and bought another because did not want to play the lets work on the pellet stove all winter game again

bought a 5560,,,,same noise,,,,im in my 4th season now with this piece of crap,,,,im on my forth blower now,2 of each,burn pot showing wear will be fine this season will need to spend the $300 + for the new pot if i was not going to have this POS next season,,,again first year problem free and 5560 threw more heat,,,,2nd year convection blower,auger motor,,,,3rd year exhaust and convection blower,auger shaft,,,,,4th year exhaust blower and auger motor

if you are not mechanically inclined your cost will be even greater than mine

stove roughly $1,300 x 2 =$2,600
auger shaft $85 x 3 = $255
auger motors $200 x 5 = $1,000
exhaust blowers $300 x 4 = $1,200
convection blowers $330 x 4 =$1,320
igniter $200 x 1 = $60 x 1 = $60
burn pot $200 x 1 = $200
parts S&H roughly $180

total $6,815

pellets 3 tons a year @ $250 a ton = $6,000

it cost me $12,815 to heat my small house for 8 years the day i bought one of their pellet stoves,i have a very small home,one kerosun heater can do the trick in a pinch kind of small

this does not take into account if i would have needed a repair guy
inconvenience of no heat because it spent more time waiting for parts than producing heat
Kerosene heaters and kerosene to heat because they were always broken waiting for parts

thats $4,215 in parts in 8 years $527 extra to use their stove per year,,,,thats like paying $426 per ton for pellets a year

i will take this added expense ive been weighted down with and will be applying it to a quality stove for next year,if your going to pay,why not pay for a dependable ,quiet,more efficient product and have no worries if it will fail or not when needed the most

 

[Bioburner]

I have said that their replacement parts were over priced before. CB at over $400. Harman CB -$250
Won't get into the imports

 

[FirepotPete]

I have said that their replacement parts were over priced before. CB at over $400. Harman CB -$250
Won't get into the imports

If you go through USSC to get parts the price is terrible, but most of the parts can be sourced from 3rd parties and are well in line if not lower than other stove company parts.

And I must say that I must not know what I'm talking about and am a liar because other than replacing the control board in my second year (and USSC covered it even past warranty) and replacing the fake fire brick with a home made one made from castable refractory cement, I've had zero problems.

But I've been called a perfectionist many times and am I anal about maintenance. When installing my stove I actually doubled the required clearances around the stove (I had the room), foreseeing in the future how much easier it would be for maintaining the stove especially with arthritis coming on. I also put the cleanout T inside so I clean the exhaust every week, whether it needs it or not, no excuse because it's too cold out!

I modded a clinker pot so I didn't have to put up with the banging from clinkers forming from burning mostly corn. I now burn only corn. So I actually have a little used agitator motor if anyone is looking for one.

I know of 3 other people that have the same stove. 2 of them have had the same luck as me, the 3rd sounds like the OP. But the 3rd guy also has to buy a car about every 6 months because he is just very hard on them and does zero maintenance on them.

I also know a lot of people with other stove makes. Just about every time I go to try and help them with a problem it seems to be 70% a problem with the install not being proper, 15% maintenance/not understanding how to run the stove and the other 15% is equipment failure.

But this is all just my not knowing what I am talking about lying opinion. Thank you so mulch! Be careful, it's a garden out there!

 

[LordmetalZ28]

Hey dave ba. Check out my posts in this thread.https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/new-to-pellet-stoves-debating-ashley-or-a-vogelzang.150426/. Your spot on dude

 

[Johnny_Fiv3]

If you go through USSC to get parts the price is terrible, but most of the parts can be sourced from 3rd parties and are well in line if not lower than other stove company parts.

And I must say that I must not know what I'm talking about and am a liar...

Same here, we must both be stupid liars. Second year on my 5502M and no issues.

 

[FirepotPete]

Same here, we must both be stupid liars. Second year on my 5502M and no issues.

LOL, we just jinxed each other! I love your sig line. >2014 US Stove King Model 5502M - Not all of us can afford Harmans! I love this stove. PM me if you need help with yours.<

ALL stoves have a learning curve. You being willing to help is what this forum is all about. You know your stove, having it running nicely and if someone else is having problems you can probably see what they are doing differently or wrong. I don't know your stove but a lot of problems come from the install/maintenance. And those pesky manuals are meant for reading. /s

 

[alternativeheat]

Runs on #1 or #2 fuel oil.
https://www.kumastoves.com/Content/Page/oil-stove

 

[funflyer]

i have a very small home,one kerosun heater can do the trick

I hear that Kerosun is very hard to come by, where does it come from anyway?

Motor after motor after motor, sheeesh Did it ever occur to you to purchase higher quality motors after the first fail? Not one stove manufacturer that I know of makes their own motors so you can't really blame US Stove for that, sounds like someone who never learns.

 

[alternativeheat]

Sometimes serious and multiple component failures are due to bad current, out of balance , dirt , low voltage etc. Do you run a good surge protector and have you checked your house current ? It wouldn't be good to go out and buy a $4000 stove just to run into the same problem. Not to mention that actually you might then owe the folks here an apology for "calling them out" as stupid and or liars. Awkward.

 

[FirepotPete]

Sometimes serious and multiple component failures are due to bad current, out of balance , dirt , low voltage etc. Do you run a good surge protector and have you checked your house current ? It wouldn't be good to go out and buy a $4000 stove just to run into the same problem. Not to mention that actually you might then owe the folks here an apology for "calling them out" as stupid and or liars. Awkward.

These were my first thoughts, current, voltage drops, spikes, with that many failures of motors. And like you say buying a $4000 stove will not fix those problems.

And as far as apologizing, I don't let that kind of thing rankle my kankles. I'm Scotch, Irish, French, English, Greek and Chippewa, first name Peter, pretty hard to get under my skin after 58 years of orbiting the sun.

 

[alternativeheat]

And as far as apologizing, I don't let that kind of thing rankle my kankles. I'm Scotch, Irish, French, English, Greek and Chippewa, first name Peter, pretty hard to get under my skin after 58 years of orbiting the sun.

I'll be 66 in April, someplace along the way I got the idea that other people count too.

 

[rona]

i have about 8 years patching these POS together so anyone that says they are happy with their USSC Pellet Stove im calling you out as either a liar or have no clue what your talking about.

bought my first one can not remember model # its been too long ago,,,i do remember it had 2 augers system in it,,,and it worked fine for one year other than it sounded like i lived next to a international airport,,,,,second year igniter,convection blower,auger shaft and motor failed,,,,,3rd year exhaust blower.2 auger motors,one shaft,,,,,4th year convection blower and had to replace burn pot,,,,figured i just got a lemon after one week into 5th season exhaust blower again failed again so i said screw it i went and bought another because did not want to play the lets work on the pellet stove all winter game again

bought a 5560,,,,same noise,,,,im in my 4th season now with this piece of crap,,,,im on my forth blower now,2 of each,burn pot showing wear will be fine this season will need to spend the $300 + for the new pot if i was not going to have this POS next season,,,again first year problem free and 5560 threw more heat,,,,2nd year convection blower,auger motor,,,,3rd year exhaust and convection blower,auger shaft,,,,,4th year exhaust blower and auger motor

if you are not mechanically inclined your cost will be even greater than mine

stove roughly $1,300 x 2 =$2,600
auger shaft $85 x 3 = $255
auger motors $200 x 5 = $1,000
exhaust blowers $300 x 4 = $1,200
convection blowers $330 x 4 =$1,320
igniter $200 x 1 = $60 x 1 = $60
burn pot $200 x 1 = $200
parts S&H roughly $180

total $6,815

pellets 3 tons a year @ $250 a ton = $6,000

it cost me $12,815 to heat my small house for 8 years the day i bought one of their pellet stoves,i have a very small home,one kerosun heater can do the trick in a pinch kind of small

this does not take into account if i would have needed a repair guy
inconvenience of no heat because it spent more time waiting for parts than producing heat
Kerosene heaters and kerosene to heat because they were always broken waiting for parts

thats $4,215 in parts in 8 years $527 extra to use their stove per year,,,,thats like paying $426 per ton for pellets a year

i will take this added expense ive been weighted down with and will be applying it to a quality stove for next year,if your going to pay,why not pay for a dependable ,quiet,more efficient product and have no worries if it will fail or not when needed the most

US Stoves seems to be a crap shoot as far as expecting quality control. Truth be known sometimes the manufacturer takes bids on parts for their stove and naturally low bid gets the job. You end up getting what you pay for many times. Sometimes we go shopping and look at price alone and not do our homework on the brand of stove we are interested in. From personal experience I can give you one more piece of advice which is don't buy a new model the first year. Let somebody else be the Guinea pig.

 

[FirepotPete]

From personal experience I can give you one more piece of advice which is don't buy a new model the first year.

That goes for cars and trucks also, in my opinion. Or upgrading operating systems on computers, never upgrade to v0.0 wait until at least v0.2.

 

[Rgerek]

Well have 5 years in on a 8500, the only thing I replaced is the cast iron auger with a stainless steel one, burn both corn and pellets, this year pellets. We have two one is up north. Added a thermostat what a difference, both stoves keep the houses at 77 all winter long.

 

[thatguy69]

im another one in the poor qaulity ussc boat. ive posted before but long story short ive had part after part after part go bad on mine.Im an industrial electrican and was a millwright before that so figuring these things out isnt hard,and figuring out the qaulity of them isnt hard either. to those of you who have had good luck with them,it seems like ussc can produce 1 good stove for every 5 or 10 theyve sold,count your lucky stars you got a good one

 

[ChandlerR]

That's a heck of a first post. Welcome to the Forum, I think?

 

[Lindsey-Ann]

Third season burning mine. No issues other than the normal maintenance/cleaning

 

[rona]

i have about 8 years patching these POS together so anyone that says they are happy with their USSC Pellet Stove im calling you out as either a liar or have no clue what your talking about.

bought my first one can not remember model # its been too long ago,,,i do remember it had 2 augers system in it,,,and it worked fine for one year other than it sounded like i lived next to a international airport,,,,,second year igniter,convection blower,auger shaft and motor failed,,,,,3rd year exhaust blower.2 auger motors,one shaft,,,,,4th year convection blower and had to replace burn pot,,,,figured i just got a lemon after one week into 5th season exhaust blower again failed again so i said screw it i went and bought another because did not want to play the lets work on the pellet stove all winter game again

bought a 5560,,,,same noise,,,,im in my 4th season now with this piece of crap,,,,im on my forth blower now,2 of each,burn pot showing wear will be fine this season will need to spend the $300 + for the new pot if i was not going to have this POS next season,,,again first year problem free and 5560 threw more heat,,,,2nd year convection blower,auger motor,,,,3rd year exhaust and convection blower,auger shaft,,,,,4th year exhaust blower and auger motor

if you are not mechanically inclined your cost will be even greater than mine

stove roughly $1,300 x 2 =$2,600
auger shaft $85 x 3 = $255
auger motors $200 x 5 = $1,000
exhaust blowers $300 x 4 = $1,200
convection blowers $330 x 4 =$1,320
igniter $200 x 1 = $60 x 1 = $60
burn pot $200 x 1 = $200
parts S&H roughly $180

total $6,815

pellets 3 tons a year @ $250 a ton = $6,000

it cost me $12,815 to heat my small house for 8 years the day i bought one of their pellet stoves,i have a very small home,one kerosun heater can do the trick in a pinch kind of small

this does not take into account if i would have needed a repair guy
inconvenience of no heat because it spent more time waiting for parts than producing heat
Kerosene heaters and kerosene to heat because they were always broken waiting for parts

thats $4,215 in parts in 8 years $527 extra to use their stove per year,,,,thats like paying $426 per ton for pellets a year

i will take this added expense ive been weighted down with and will be applying it to a quality stove for next year,if your going to pay,why not pay for a dependable ,quiet,more efficient product and have no worries if it will fail or not when needed the most

Buying the first one is excusable because a person generally expects that it will work. After having miserable luck why would you buy another of the same brand?