# Pellet Stove Baffle Modification



## jjkimbro (Oct 27, 2007)

I recently installed a new pellet stove of the Drolet (SBI-Quebec) Eco-45 variety.  Using an exterior vertical flue and a fresh air intake kit, the stove is an excellent performer.  Over the years I have spent some time successfully improving (tinkering with) wood stoves and wood furnaces to extract every available BTU from them.  The balancing act was always to maximize heat transfer while keeping the flue gases hot enough to avoid the well-known problems, and to not overheat internal structures unless you really enjoy welding or replacing warped parts.  So, it is wisdom born of experience that has so far kept the torch and hacksaw away from the new pellet stove.  But naturally, I have to wonder about that baffle above the burn pot.  The opening across the front of it is effectively a slot, maybe 12" x 1/2".  That should keep the fire area hotter, and create turbulence as hot gases are forced up, back, and through the stainless steel heat exchanger above the baffle.  But if the baffle were either removed, had some holes drilled in it, or the slot were enlarged to say 12" x 1", wouldn't the heat exchanger tubes reach a higher temperature (being careful not to overdo this) and thus be able to convey more heat to the air blowing through them?  I can't wait to experiment with this.  So my questions are:  Has anyone learned any lessons from this kind of "tuning" of their pellet stove?  Are there any gains (or losses I just don't foresee) to be had by altering baffle dimensions?  Or, should I instruct my wife to hide all of the tools while I am not looking?

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.


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## begreen (Oct 27, 2007)

Hide the tools and rake some leaves.  ;-)


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## jjkimbro (Oct 27, 2007)

I beat you to it on that advice.  I'm already after those leaves.  But I hear those tools calling me....


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## elkimmeg (Oct 27, 2007)

The gain is to void the warranty. To redesign what has not been safety tested. To gamble your modification's don't lead to a melt down  or a response from you local FD


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## Nickolai (Nov 16, 2007)

Would you consider the Drolet stoves a good stove to buy? I've been looking at both the Eco-35 and 45 and can't seem to find any reviews or consumer info on them at all. Any help from anyone would be appreciated as they seem to be one of the most cost effective and easier to access in my area.
Thanks.


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## stoveguy2esw (Nov 16, 2007)

Drolet is not as much a "household " name such as harman or quad, and others , but dont let that fool you. they have a very solid rep for quality. i do not know much about the actual design , but ive never heard of any glaring problems concerning their units.


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## Corie (Nov 17, 2007)

Leave it alone.  Sorry, don't meant to be blunt, but WE spend monthes and sometimes year getting these things right, balanced and operating as perfectly as possibly.  The easiest thing for you to do is fill it with pellets and leave it alone.


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## Shane (Nov 17, 2007)

Coming from the guy who built his own stove while still in college.   Really though modern appliances have ALOT more money spent on R&D;than in the past so it only stands to reason that Corie  is right and that your model is already performing at or about as well as it can.  Drolet looked like decent stoves, they were on "How it's Made" on the Discovery channel.


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## pete324rocket (Nov 17, 2007)

Hey Great! I found someone with the same model stove-the eco-45. Only a couple months with it so far and just getting to know it. A few things I have noticed so far...the baffle behind the burn pot is warped but I suppose I can expect that and I see that it is removable with screws. Also I turned the stove to the lowest level and filled the hopper completely to see how long it would run,can't remember exactly but I think it supposed to be 72 hours and ended up 24 hours short which seems a coicidence and may try again in case I missed something. The fresh air intake is kinda funny because it gives you a place to attach a pipe but it is really open to the whole back of the stove and doesn't go anywheres and surely won't pull air. I'm not familiar with other models draft controls and maybe they are all the same but I find it is "all or nothing" and won't fine tune-maybe thats common with pellet stoves. I had some dirty glass problems at first but they are better-there are black streaks on the glass at the points that retain the glass.
Well that makes the stove sound bad but I tell you I did a pile of looking before settling on this one-it seems rugged and will put out a lot of heat on the high setting but pellet consumption is huge @ 45,000 btu. Oh yeah I was kinda mad that the door gasket stuck to the stove after start-up taking a notch out of its life-a problem with the paint curing I suppose.
I'm not aware of the situation you describe and didn't realize the heat tubes are stainless-sure don't look it on mine that I can remember when it was new.Didn't notice any restrictions that you described but I'll have a closer look. I pipe the heat from the heat exchanger to an end boot and round ductwork to an overhead floor register-the stove is in an unfinished basement.


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## Nickolai (Nov 17, 2007)

Thanks pete and stoveguy for the info on the drolet stoves. I think I'm going to go with the Eco-35 mainly for the reasons that my house is only 950 sq. ft and it will be installed in my basement to replace my old woodstove. So it shouldn't have a problem heating my house seeing that the woodstove currently there isn't the least bit efficient and will heat the house no problems. Pete, if you do happen to do the test again to see how long it will run on low, I'd be interested to know exactly how long it will run for, just curious. Thanks again.


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## Corie (Nov 18, 2007)

Shane said:
			
		

> Coming from the guy who built his own stove while still in college.   Really though modern appliances have ALOT more money spent on R&D;than in the past so it only stands to reason that Corie  is right and that your model is already performing at or about as well as it can.  Drolet looked like decent stoves, they were on "How it's Made" on the Discovery channel.




HAHAHAH! You caught me Shane, you're right. I'm a "special" case


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## pete324rocket (Nov 18, 2007)

I'm hoping the author of this thread will comment


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## Stove Geek (Nov 29, 2007)

Folks
I burn the ECO 45 home. It has a tremendous heat output. I have looked at many out there, this one ahs stainless steel tubes for the heat exchanger, it ignites within 3 minutes and it produces less ashes than that of my friend's. The only thing, it is a bit noisy. But for the rest, I am very satisfied. It is the second season I am using it with absolutely no complaint. I've reduced my gas bills by 1200$, spending 625$ on pellet. Not bad...


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## jjkimbro (Jan 2, 2008)

We have now been using the ECO-45 for ten weeks.  We are heating 2200 square feet on two floors.  We leave the stove on the lowest settings (1 or 2 of 6) during the day and overnight.  If it is really windy and wet, so the chill goes right through the old bones, we run it on 3 or 4 to bring up the temp.  We like about 65 degrees in the house.  When it is 0 to 10 degrees outside, we run the stove on 4 overnight.  It is installed in a south-facing sunroom with 250 sq.ft. of low-E glass.  A fan circulates the heat into adjoining rooms.

I have explored most of the internals of the stove.  Generally, it is thoughtfully designed and well made.  Some of the welding appears to be done by hand, and some appears to be done by robot (no heartbeat), and all of it is well done.  Good quality parts are used throughout the stove.  There are numerous electrical safety interlocks covering every type of mechanical failure that could occur.  It starts itself quickly, runs quietly, and does a very effective job of heating our home.  While it deserves good marks for functionality, its performance and reliability are improved if you are a handyman.

Downside:
1.  The air intake connected to outside air dumps cold air directly into the house.
2.  Difficult access to the heat exchanger cleaner - have to remove cheap front grill that is awkwardly attached to the stove.  Drolet could have run the cleaning rod through the grill and attached a knob like other stoves.  
3.  The shape of the fins in the cheap grill actually limits heated air flow into the room.
4.  The blower is just adequate.  A restrictive internal air path limits the air volume that can be passed through the unit for heat transfer.  
5.  The warm air exiting the front of the heat exchanger is highly stratified.  There are two areas of high flow, and some areas of little or no flow.
6.  Pellet volume goes from 1x up to 6x on the highest burn setting.  Blower speed increases maybe 30% on the highest setting.  The stove heats up beautifully on higher settings, but the increase in the volume of heated air entering the room is negligible. 
7.  Ten or more pounds of pellets stick in the hopper.  We tried numerous tricks to make it empty by gravity, short of a physical modification, but the bottom sides just have too little slope.
8.  On arrival, the steel was slightly warped at the top of door.  This causes the gasket to leak air and the glass to dirty quickly.  I checked it with a straight edge, and straightened it with a 6" wood block and a prying on it with a breaker bar.
9.  The left-hand steel lip where the door hinges are mounted needs perhaps a 1" angle iron stiffener.  The steel warps with heat, causing the top door hinge (carrying a heavy door) to slowly bend slightly outward and to the right.  This spoils the door gasket seal on the left side and the top.  
10.  The electric igniter is marginal with the outside air intake installed.  Minimize the air intake at startup - cold outside air slows or completely prevents ignition.
11.  The door latch is a clever roller-based design, but it can easily be pushed too far past its stop and bent.  This requires prying/hammering the hinge pins out and opening the door backwards to free the latch.  If you want a tighter fit, remove the latch roller (drive out the pin with a small punch), turn the handle one full turn counter-clockwise, and reattach the roller.  A simple wedge latch would have been far simpler and more reliable.
12.  The pellet feed motor has a small puddle of oil under the gearbox.  As long as it stays small, I will just check it periodically.


Upside:
1.  No insurmountable problems if you clean the stove regularly, and perform simple maintenance.
2.  No increase in electric bill versus oil furnace.  The stove will run about 30 minutes on a Belkin 1250 VA UPS during a power failure.
3.  The control electronics were smart enough to detect a reverse-wired outlet, which was easy to correct.
4.  The oil furnace has remained OFF, and at current oil prices, can comfortably stay that way.
5.  Heating cost cut by 65%.  Greater savings in future years if oil stays high.
6.  Once the house is warm, it stays warm.

Recommendations:
Sorry, my post is too big to fit.
Please see my next post for recommendations...


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## jjkimbro (Jan 2, 2008)

Continuation of previous post...

Recommendations:
1.  Straighten out the fins on the air grill to minimize restriction and maximize hot air flow.  Be gentle or the remaining thin steel might break at the ends of the fins.  Touch up with high-heat black paint.  If you are not into aesthetics, remove it, laugh at the way it is mounted, and then toss it in the garage until you want to show off your pellet stove.
2.  Always drop the firebox baffle, then reach up inside and brush off the heat exchanger tubes when cleaning.  
3.  Straighten the steel where the upper door hinge is attached, with a hammer and wood block, once a week.  Place the block to BOTH the left and the right of the hinge when hammering to straighten the steel where it is attached.  Else the door hinge sag to the right will have the door hitting the bottom of the latch when closing the door.  The hinge is cast - do not hammer it!  Remove the door before hammering on the firebox.  Do this when the stove is cooled down for cleaning.
4.  Install the fresh air intake kit - it is not a perfect fit, so wrap it in insulation and seal off all of the remaining cold air leaks with adhesive weather stripping.   You can order this Kit # AC02019 from Inventex at 1-800-363-0566.
5.  Leave the side panels open slightly for more heat transfer off the sides of the hot firebox - always use a screen to keep children away.
6.  Remove the screen from the blower motor to very slightly increase air volume - AND - to make it possible to dust out the fan with a brush and vacuum.  If you remove the screen, be sure to replace the ring and tighten the screws!
7.  Clean the stove 2 -3 times per week.  Check your exterior flue pipe cleanout for collected ash periodically.  We have emptied the bottom ash drawer 3 times in using just under two tons of pellets.
8.  Finally, enjoy sitting in front of the stove and watching the snow fly!

I assume that none of the pellet stoves are perfect.  They all have design strengths and weaknesses, and this one appeared to have a fair balance of them.  So we got pretty much what we expected. 

After splitting wood for years, for a first pellet stove, we are thoroughly enjoying our ECO-45!  The bride is not too keen on the hammering thing, but hey, whatever it takes.  Somehow I think she managed to miss out on all of the hammering and welding the wood stoves required!

Happy New Year!


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## pete324rocket (Jan 2, 2008)

hi Jimk,thats a thorough report! I was wondering if you were just too busy to remember your post here-that happens sometimes.
  We have about the same amount of time on our stove so far  - drolet eco-45 -and just got the second lift of pellets delivered-2800 lbs (70 bags x 40 lbs each), so it was time to give the stove a complete cleaning.
  The small puddle of oil you encountered under the auger motor is the same as mine and a shock to see at first glance-less than a teaspoon and I'd have rather not seen that but maybe its par for the course-I just don't know and really don't think I'll worry too much unless someone has some advice about that.
  The front vent over the heat exchanger was a real surprise when the stove was first started and I wondered why they would make it that way and there are no instructions in the book about it. However,I soon discovered that it is hinged and will flip up so that the heat is no longer directed towards the floor and flows towards the front-right at you. I have in fact used a galvanized end boot from some of the duct work left over from the old furnace setup to fit over the outlet and direct air thru a 5 inch pipe to the main living area above(stove is in the basement).A short run and the stove isn't restricted,in my opinion, to cause any concern.Plus the basement gets enough heat radiated from the stove.
  The fresh air deal has me a little baffled because if you have noticed,the fresh air inlet to the stove in the back goes nowhere after the stove and is common to all the vents in the back. If the stove wasn't running,the cold air is free to travel out the back vents-and that doesn't make for a very tight house-but - maybe they are all like that-I am lacking experience here.
  Thats a drag about the door problem.I'll have to take a look to see if mine suffers the same.I have noticed the latch will allow you to over tighten although it really doesn't and forces the door upwards.A test is to put a piece of paper between the door and the gasket and close it-should be tight and not pull out freely.
 I'll have to go back and read your post again-I've forgotten some of your other points. I will say though,this stove seems like it should perform in the long run. Yesterday,I cleaned out  the hopper of sawdust by letting it go dry and running the vacuum cleaner as it operated-use a weight to disable the hopper door switch.I was amazed to watch how powerful the auger was to sever any pellets that were too long without slowing-I like that! I've been cleaning my pellets recently of fines to see if it makes a difference up front and seems to be doing so. A little wary of your removing the screen to the blower-I see your point for more air flow but I'd rather easily vacuum the build-up on it than seeing that flow further ahead where it can cause some grief perhaps.But thats just me.
Bottom line-heats fine-power bill is way down-and apparently the novelty hasn't worn off yet! pete


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## pete324rocket (Jan 2, 2008)

is it possible to move this to the pellet forum where it belongs?


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## jjkimbro (Jan 2, 2008)

Pete,

The Fresh Air Intake kit I mentioned is a clever little steel box that Drolet apparently designed as an afterthought.  It attaches inside the stove, between the port (which, as you say, goes nowhere) and the side of the blower intake.  The idea is to put that cold air into the firebox - not into the house.  But like I mentioned, it is less than a perfect fit, so I plugged the holes with adhesive-backed weather-proofing foam, a little "Great Stuff", and then wrapped it in fiberglass insulation.  It keeps a LOT of cold air out of the house.  This is really only needed if you have the air intake ducted to the outside so the burner gets enough air in a tight house.  

I like your duct work idea.  I'm a believer.  Put the heat where it's needed.  And as much of it as possible!

Best regards,

Jim


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## pete324rocket (Jan 3, 2008)

A few more things to share...When in doubt,read the instruction book.So I was wrong when I said there was nothing in the book about the front louver flipping up-there is a picture of it in the manual.I must admit though,I lit the stove up as soon as was safe in the beginning so it takes a while to get through everything.
  I also noticed about your door problem.Seems in the owners manual,they say that under the section "preparation" ,"the door overlay must be installed on the door frame" and that "the dealer will normally perform these functions". Just wondering if it was installed correctly in the first place as it is implied that it leaves the factory without the door-or so what I'm reading into that.My door works okay and have decided that it is best not to turn the handle further to attempt to make it a tighter seal because I don't believe that is happening-ie the paper test between the door and the gasket.I think it distorts the door and strains the hinges as the door moves upwards.
  Not sure what you meant about "always drop the firebox baffle" when cleaning the heat exchanger tubes. I use the slider when the door is closed and last big clean used a wire brush on a drill to clean all around the inside of the stove including the tubes-with vacuum running and airtight mask on. Very dusty-dirty.
  I have tried to address the cold-fresh air intake problem by blocking off the rear vents to the bottom of the stove-since it is all common and drawing cold air through a cold air register in the house.Still working on this. I could imagine your cold air intake could amplify the already ample draft-especially when the fire is on a low setting. When on a higher heat setting,the draft control is helpful but I wish there was a heat gauge so that I could discover whether a roaring fire or less so produces the most heat value-since the rate of pellets remains the same.
  My front glass is staying relatively clean but at the first it was horrible for some unknown reason. The pattern of soot seems to follow air currents across the glass starting from the points where the glass retainers for the door are. A wet cloth with some ashes on it seems to get the stubborn stains quite easily. Maybe at the startup, there were some residue from paint being baked-thought it would never come off the glass.
  One more thing I don't understand comes right from the owners manual.It says when giving the stove a real good cleaning under the section " chamber walls"  it says " start by removing the decorative masonry-like panels which are simply held by screws" Well first off,mine are not masonry looking but the picture shows a left side combustion chamber panel taken out of the stove,so I thought I could do the same. In the end I resolved this is not necessary and in my attempt to remove just one,found the screws so unbelievably tight started to strip the heads of the phillips screws they unwisely used. I got one screw out and had to replace it with a self tapping socket head  screw. No way these could ever come out without using vise grips and ruining them. Wrong choice of screws if that was their intention.
  Long and the short of it though,as we are comparing notes,I feel this is a good stove,rugged and the best buy for the money with a high heat output.In reality,the pellet stove is quite simple compared say to one of the old mechanical jukeboxes that used to be around.There are only so many things that can go wrong in the stove and patience is the key.I never considered the thought about whether a service guy would ever call when I bought the stove.I hoped to buy a stove that I would not have to depend on a service like that.Try to make a good choice from square one I say. By the way, if you have a fault code that won't reset even after unplugging and resetting,let me know,I have sorta figured out how to get into test mode via the keyboard. Cheers pete


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## pete324rocket (Jan 3, 2008)

Oh and I almost forgot about the pellets not all falling down. I wonder if other stoves do this also. I make a habit,if the hopper is not full and I don't feel like topping it up till morning to heap them up in the middle-seems to solve that problem.Also,I wonder if sawdust doesn't slow things down a lot. I'm in the thinking and gathering materials stage to make a pellet shaker to get rid of the sawdust thing.I burn premium but theres always some sawdust.Maybe some silicone spray on the hopper walls?


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## jjkimbro (Jan 3, 2008)

If I recall correctly, the reference to the "door overlay" had to do with replacing the liner that the glass sits in.  The book recommended having this done by the manufacturer.

Your reference to the "paper test" reminds me of how I determined why the glass was getting so dirty.  I used a dollar bill and found that only the right side was snug.  That is when I learned that the top edge of the door frame was bent in a full 1/16", and the left side of the door frame was bent out a full 1/16".  With enough prying and hammering, I managed to get them perfectly straight, the seal became perfect, and the glass stayed clean.  The top edge has stayed pretty straight, as it has about a 1/2" lip bent into it.  The left edge warps outward and needs straightening once a week at cleaning time.

The firebox baffle is that piece of plate that you can push up with your hand, and lower off the ledges it sits on.  The heat exchanger tubes above it get very crusty between cleanings.

Our glass stays quite clean too.  Much cleaner than a number of pellet stoves I have seen.  Each time I shut it off for cleaning, I vacuum off the inside glass, then use a single-edge razor blade (paint scraper) to scrape off the harder deposits (all of which come off instantly when warm), then I use Windex to instantly make that door glass shine.  It is a pleasure to have so little of the problem that creosote causes with glass doors in a wood stove.

Because we draw in outside air through the burn pot, we are not pulling warm air out of the house.  You have to buy the kit I mentioned to accomplish this.  I usually set the intake draft to minimum at startup, and even though I don't touch it after that, the next time I restart after a cleaning, I find that it has opened itself about 1/3 to 1/2 way open.  That seems to work perfectly, and we never see a blowtorch effect, or hurry the heat up the chimney.

Those "masonry-like panels" are inserts that look like bricks.  They fasten in with those two screws you found.  They are an extra-cost option that does not come with the stove.  I do not have them either, because I know from seeing other stoves that after one day of use, they look more like a "charred mess" than "bricks".

One more thing I forgot to mention previously.  With the right side of the stove open while running, you can feel a draft coming out of the under side of the plenum to which the blower is bolted.  Actually, both sides of the plenum have a 1/4" crack under them, and a lot of air that should be going through the stove leaks out from under it.  Use some high-temp RTV to seal up those cracks and send the air through the heat exchanger.

No doubt about the stove.  It is capable of providing excellent service.  It was 5 degrees here this morning, and it ran all night on setting 3, keeping the house comfortable.  As for the service guy, I expect you are likely to see the same service guy I would use.  In the mirror.

Best regards.


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## jjkimbro (Jan 3, 2008)

Silicone spray doesn't help.  Nor does burnishing the bottom slopes to make them as slick as possible.  There just isn't enough slope in the bottom sections of the hopper to let the pellets gravity feed into the auger.  They get in their own way and block each other until the stove goes out.  You have the solution we use.  Heap the pellets up in the middle from time to time.  I do have an idea that will solve this, but no time available to cobble it togeher at the moment.


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## bazil (Jan 17, 2008)

I bought a Drolet Eco 45 just before Christmas and had it installed. It ran perfectly for about 10 days. All of a sudden, it would go out, with a variety of error messages and a need to reset the sensor behind the baffle. I called my suppliers the next day, but just after I called, the stove seemed to reset itself and behave. It was fine again up until Jan 9th, when it started to act up again. It would start up, ignite, then run  on one blower, then stop with an "E" messge. After 2 days of trying to reset it, I called Drolet, and the tech guy said in a heavy french accent "ah, I know what that is. I am sending you a replacement for the L160 sensor." Well, 4 days later, no part. You would think that in the middle of winter, they would courier a part out. I called again, and a different rep, very short on customer service abilities, bluntly informed me that they had none of those parts, and they were back ordered to the end of this week (18th.) We would receive it "sometime next week." I asked him why they had no stock of this part. He had no reason, then informed me that this is a heavy duty stove, and these parts can break down. Sometimes the sensors last a short while, and if I was lucky, I might find one that lasts 10 years.  
What the heck????? I outlay a great deal of money for a piece of equpment to be told that there is a reliability question, and that this could be a frequent occurrence?
We called the area rep, Domic, for this area. We told him that there is no secondary heating in the house,trying to expecite matters.He assured us he would look into it, and call us back the very next morning. No call. As far as he knows, we froze to death in last nights -27. End of problem, I guess.

At this point, we have reverted to our oil heating at a dollar per litre, after having outlayed all our winter fuel budget on the Drolet,installation and pellets.
We can so far see what is apperently a poorly designed stove, poorly backed up by poorly trained people, and future winters of wondering whether our stove will quit at any time, leaving us in the lurch.

here is Drolet's mission statement 

Drolet - Our mission is to be a manufacturer that relies on the creativity of its employees to design, produce at the lowest possible cost and market high quality products that respect the environment and meet the needs of consumers in the solid and fossil fuel heating market, within niches that will enable our organization to achieve its socio-economic objectives. 

Our principal objectives are: 

1) To maintain a competent management team that respects all employees and provides them with a quality of working environment and level of job stability that enable the company to excel as a result of their creativity and skill; 

2) To preserve a leading position in our target market niches, mainly by fostering sustained investment in research and development and retaining a high level of commercial ethic; 

3) To sustain or improve the level of productivity with an approach of lean enterprise; 

4) To preserve a good financial position and procure our stockholders with a fair return on their investment. The manufacturing sector is extremely demanding and the company should be capable of self-generating sufficient funds to pursue its mission despite significant variations in business cycles


Not a single mention of striving for customer service. Just a need to build cheap,sell high and maximise profit for the shareholders.

Potential stove purchasers-steer clear of Drolet


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## pete324rocket (Jan 17, 2008)

Ah ,the old throwing the baby out with the bathwater deal! I suppose it would be nice if that sensor could have been shipped to you on time...but life don't always work that way.From my owners manual,I assume you mean the f-160 convection blower heat sensor. It is a simple switch really,that is normally open-until it gets warm enough to go closed-to run the convection blower that blows the warm air at you-one of two blowers the stove has,the other being a combined combustion/exhaust blower,which must be running or you wouldn't get any fire started,or unlikely much of one. I don't know if you read the owners manual but there are 7 reasons why you will get an "E" as a fault code. All of them relate to having not enough heat being produced due to various reasons ranging from the simplist being the stove out of pellets to the burn pot being dirty to various blockages of air to keep the stove burning properly. But assuming you are correct and it is the F160 sensor,is there another stove where you bought yours that can be a donor for parts? At least that way,you could be sure this is really the problem.What are you gonna do if you get the sensor and the problem isn't solved? Berating the stove or the manufacturer is only gonna make things worse.I donno,maybe someone else should take it from here.


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## bazil (Jan 18, 2008)

I wish it was as simple as just getting another sensor. After talking again yesterday to my dealer, which is a McDiarmids lumber(not really very expert in pellet stoves,but terrific on customer service) they said that they had contacted Drolet, and that they had 200 of these sensors on order. In the next phone call, they told McD that they had "scoured the country" for a sensor and found one. They then said that this brand of sensor had been troublesome and the new one may only last a short while. THEN Drolet said that the entire electronic system has been redesigned and a different system put into the latest stoves.
I think that in itself is a half admission of a problem.Our dealer felt that although Drolet wouldn't outright say it, there is a common fault with the Eco45.
Drolet then called us after talking to McD and gave us three options. 

1. Install the new sensor.
2. Get our money back
3. have a new stove.

I am very worried about the future of my stove out of warranty if this is a common problem.
Well, we need a stove, so it's pointless getting our money back.
A  redesigned stove would be a great solution.

I have to say that when the stove was running, it was fantastic. It heated every part of the house to 22 degrees even on low setting.
All I can presume is that ours was a "friday afternoon" sensor.Then again, they nearly all seem to be.

I am hoping that ourselves and Drolet can get past this giant sized hiccup and find a good resolution. In fairness they now seem to be responding to our mid winter plight, so we shall see.


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## pete324rocket (Jan 18, 2008)

sounds pretty fair to me. Nice to offer you a new stove or your money back. quite generous if the electronics is the only thing that is of fault. Safe to say,Drolet doesn't make sensors-some electronic company does. Can't remember the warranty period for the electronics but think it is at least 2 years-could be more.Keep in mind that once the bugs are worked out,you'll probably never have another problem that way-hopefully. And you will have established the fact with the manufactuer that you have had a stove with related problems-should it ever arise again. Too bad the stove is so heavy-be nice to start over again fresh.If you have any more info regarding problems with the eco-45,hope you will share them before the rest of us owners go out of warranty....cheers pete


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## stoveguy2esw (Jan 19, 2008)

[quote author="bazil" date="1200691613"].
Drolet then called us after talking to McD and gave us three options. 

1. Install the new sensor.
2. Get our money back
3. have a new stove.

I am very worried about the future of my stove out of warranty if this is a common problem.
Well, we need a stove, so it's pointless getting our money back.
A  redesigned stove would be a great solution.

quote]
the options offered are a suggestion of the company standing behind a product (good to see in my eyes)
an offer of a "updated" model of the stove is probably the best way to go if you are satisfied by the performance you had with the unit when it was running properly , if the factory is actually the ones who are  providing the replacement and shipping to the dealer, they should go through it special to ensure all is as good as it can be before shipping (we do if we do a replacement) might take an extra few days but is comforting to the end user that the unit would be functional , and also to the manufacturer knowing they went the extra mile to assure it also. even still if it has the upgraded hardware that will eliminate the possibility of the issue arising you should be fine if choosing this option.


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## bazil (Jan 22, 2008)

Well the new sensor is in and once again our stove is working, of course it was going to happen when we hit the -30's with -40's wind chills.  Be aware that the diagram for the eco45 is wrong on drolet's web page, showing the F140 at the rear of the ash box, but is actually in the secondary blower housing.  It was however easy to find after talking to one of their tech's.  At the end of the day we whilst we were unhappy with the wait for the part to arrive Dominic was very helpful in ensuring that we were not overlooked and that we would be a priority for them given our plight. Drolet actually ended having great customer service.  We still think that having checked out other stoves (including one that is built locally) that Drolet have the superior pellet stove and was the right choice.  Hopefully the new sensor works well and we can look forward to enjoying uninterrupted  heat. Let us know if the silicon works for the pellet chute, I do the same as you and pile them up on top in the middle.


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## pete324rocket (Jan 22, 2008)

Good to hear things are better. With the past two minus 24 degree Celsius nights and barely minus 18 days,I have been running the stove wide open-top notch- number 6 ,or whatever the highest setting. All seems to be well. I have put the magnetic flue temperature gauge on the front upper left (facing) on the front door and have recorded 350 degrees F. If you have one,I'd be interested in your results,although there are many variables,I suppose. I'm switching brands of pellets for a bit and will use this to determine if there is any added heat value to speak of.


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## rocky top (Feb 8, 2008)

Drolet High-Efficiency Pellet Stove, Model# DP00045.
This product has a very bad manufacturer response with customer service.
I used this stove for about 2 weeks when a problem with a control panel error occurred.I called left message with problem on 1-7-08, have yet to have a call back.
I purchased this product from Northern Tools. They replaced it with no hassle. I picked up the replacement stove on 2-2-08, I then took it home and installed it. It had an error code right after plugging it up. I returned it to Northern Tools the next for a refund. Because of product not working,
it cost me $880 in propane that I would not have used, and $90 in gasoline ,returning the product and picking up the replacement and returning it also. Would not reccomend this product.


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## roninnb (Feb 9, 2008)

bazil said:
			
		

> I bought a Drolet Eco 45 just before Christmas and had it installed. It ran perfectly for about 10 days. All of a sudden, it would go out, with a variety of error messages and a need to reset the sensor behind the baffle. I called my suppliers the next day, but just after I called, the stove seemed to reset itself and behave. It was fine again up until Jan 9th, when it started to act up again. It would start up, ignite, then run  on one blower, then stop with an "E" messge. After 2 days of trying to reset it, I called Drolet, and the tech guy said in a heavy french accent "ah, I know what that is. I am sending you a replacement for the L160 sensor." Well, 4 days later, no part. You would think that in the middle of winter, they would courier a part out. I called again, and a different rep, very short on customer service abilities, bluntly informed me that they had none of those parts, and they were back ordered to the end of this week (18th.) We would receive it "sometime next week." I asked him why they had no stock of this part. He had no reason, then informed me that this is a heavy duty stove, and these parts can break down. Sometimes the sensors last a short while, and if I was lucky, I might find one that lasts 10 years.
> 
> <snip>
> Potential stove purchasers-steer clear of Drolet



Very similar to my experience beginning January 25th. In the first call, [em]before[/em] I told them I was a consumer, he had looked it up and said they had 198 control boards in stock. When he found out that I was a consumer, he told me they did not deal directly with customers and gave me the number for their distributor (in Montreal, I think). I could go on and on about the saga, but the short version is that I still don't have a control board. Neither the distributor nor a second company that they referred me to knew what the part number for the control board was [em]because it wasn't on their parts list[/em].


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## roninnb (Feb 9, 2008)

After thinking through the last few posts in this thread and the conversations I've had with Drolet, I believe the original problem I had with my Eco-45 was a bad auger temperature sensor. The bad sensor lead to the same problem being described in this thread for the third night in a week during the coldest spell of the winter.

I have a background in instrumentation and all of these types of devices that I've seen/worked with have some method of a factory reset. Because I was faced with the possibility of having frozen pipes by the time the Drolet office opened (from their out of office recording), I opened the control box to look at the control board and see if it had a reset switch or jumper. I misaligned the board when putting it back in the control box and when we plugged the stove back in the board shorted out. I explained the above to Drolet with more details of symptoms from the stove he said they would send me a new control board because I might have the problem mentioned in the first paragraph. In the conversation this week, the same person told me they "should" be able to send it out next week.


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## bazil (Feb 9, 2008)

The best advice I have it to scream your head off. There is a message on their phone system telling you the phone # of your area rep. Call him, and plague Drolet with calls. You will probably talk to 3 or 4 different people, and have to keep re-explaining the situation, but you will get at least ONE of them to take action. I also went onto the web site and complained in their customer service comments section, and pasted my original complaint on this site in there to show them that this was going public. Maybe you should send them a link to this forum.
Our Eco 45 played up again the other day, giving me a "P" fault, and the whole thing shut down except for the manual auger button. I pulled out the board to check the fuses, unplugged it for a while, and just wiggled and check all the wiring. It finally came back on again, and I am now a little nervous. I am worried about this unit in the long  term. 
It's a shame that the electronics are so crappy , as this unit, when its running, is superb.
And Roninb, it wasn't our control board, it was the L-140 sensor in the blower housing. Drolet admitted that there is a big problem with these. It may be worth ordering a spare for next winter, so you don't have to try and get one for 3 weeks in the event of a breakdown.
The part number for the control board probably wasn't on their list because Drolet also slipped out to my supplier that the new stoves have completely redesigned electronis. My guess is that they have all new part numbers to discern them from the NASA quality stuff in the early ones.


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## rocky top (Feb 9, 2008)

My problem would have probably been corrected if I could have talked with a tech. I was on hold for twenty minutes, then automatically switched to voice mail,
 I left a message with my situation and to this date I still have not been contacted. I also sent an email to the tech dept. and all I got was an automated response stating my message was received and we be contacted soon. Things must move slower there than in the south where we are accused of being slow.
I also called Northern Tools about my first stove and they got the same reaction that I did when I called, being left on hold with no response. That was when they decided to let me return it for a new one.


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## bazil (Feb 9, 2008)

I don't think returning these units will help. I think there is a boat load of these earlier units out there with crappy electronics. I wouldn't be surprised if Drolet had to switch to automated calls because of the sheer volume of complaints.


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## roninnb (Feb 9, 2008)

bazil said:
			
		

> I don't think returning these units will help. I think there is a boat load of these earlier units out there with crappy electronics. I wouldn't be surprised if Drolet had to switch to automated calls because of the sheer volume of complaints.



By the amount of paper shuffling that I could hear during my last conversation with them (at least 3 minutes of what sounded like looking through a stack of papers), I suspect that you are right on the volume of complaints.


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## roninnb (Feb 9, 2008)

bazil said:
			
		

> The best advice I have it to scream your head off. There is a message on their phone system telling you the phone # of your area rep. Call him, and plague Drolet with calls.



That must be filtered by their phone system. I do not get a number for a regional rep... probably because they don't have a regional rep in Atlantic Canada.



			
				bazil said:
			
		

> You will probably talk to 3 or 4 different people, and have to keep re-explaining the situation, but you will get at least ONE of them to take action.



The customer service guy at the store where I bought the stove has been doing this for me.



			
				bazil said:
			
		

> I also went onto the web site and complained in their customer service comments section, and pasted my original complaint on this site in there to show them that this was going public. Maybe you should send them a link to this forum.



I've considered doing that.



			
				bazil said:
			
		

> It's a shame that the electronics are so crappy , as this unit, when its running, is superb.



I agree on both. The electronics are crappy. When the unit I have was running it was superb. I've said in other posts that we were in the middle of that cold snap. We bought this (2400 sf 100yo) house in May knowing that the heating system was not functional. Most of the windows are original with the 70s aluminum storm windows. The walls and attic are insulated with blown in insulation. On those cold nights (-30 to -35) we were running the stove on 3 and it was holding the temp in the upstairs. In the morning I would turn it up to 4 to take the chill off downstairs. If it was cold throughout the day we would alternate between 3 & 4 every couple hours.



			
				bazil said:
			
		

> And Roninb, it wasn't our control board, it was the L-140 sensor in the blower housing. Drolet admitted that there is a big problem with these. It may be worth ordering a spare for next winter, so you don't have to try and get one for 3 weeks in the event of a breakdown.
> The part number for the control board probably wasn't on their list because Drolet also slipped out to my supplier that the new stoves have completely redesigned electronis. My guess is that they have all new part numbers to discern them from the NASA quality stuff in the early ones.



I had the reset 3 times problem which I think was precipitated by a sensor problem. Whether or not that was intended to be a safety feature, I think they have ruined what is probably otherwise a good product. 

How many of these do they think they would sell if they told people up front that they had built in a safety feature that will disable the stove and customer support is only available during business hours in the time zone where they are located? My thought is not many.

Oh, and thanks for the info.


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## roninnb (Feb 10, 2008)

I had not read the first page of this thread until after writing that last post. From the first time we used the stove the glass did soot up. Since the maintenance instructions indicated that that was normal, we thought nothing of it. Over the 3 months it did get worse, but we had also switched to a softwood/hardwood pellet mix. After reading the posts on the soot on the door and paper test. The paper easily slide out on the second test. I folded and tried again with the same result. With 3 folds (8 thicknesses of paper) a paper still easily comes out at the top centre of the door. So, now I know what caused my stove to error out.

Based in the pictures (attached) we took using a trouble light and carpenter's level, it looks like there is about an 1/8 inch gap at the top centre of the door. I checked the door with the level and it looks straight and true. The rest of the story is in this thread.


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## bazil (Feb 11, 2008)

hi roninnb.  I think it's a sad situation that you only bought your Drolet  stove only in November and feel it's of more value scrap than of running to you.  Have you made Drolet aware of your circumstances and are they not prepared to refund you? 
A question out there to Drolet (I have no doubt they read this forum)  DROLET DO YOU INTEND TO LEAVE THESE PEOPLE IN THIS SITUATION? I must say I'd be disapointed for that to be the end result of your resposibility.   I feel your company did offer us really good customer service after our initial problem with our sensor and I have been left with a belief that you had good customer follow up, I hope you can come through for this couple also.  Do you think that maybe you could resond to this forum and put other eco 45 owners at ease that you do stand behind your product.


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## rocky top (Feb 11, 2008)

bazil said:
			
		

> hi roninnb.  I think it's a sad situation that you only bought your Drolet  stove only in November and feel it's of more value scrap than of running to you.  Have you made Drolet aware of your circumstances and are they not prepared to refund you?
> A question out there to Drolet (I have no doubt they read this forum)  DROLET DO YOU INTEND TO LEAVE THESE PEOPLE IN THIS SITUATION? I must say I'd be disapointed for that to be the end result of your resposibility.   I feel your company did offer us really good customer service after our initial problem with our sensor and I have been left with a belief that you had good customer follow up, I hope you can come through for this couple also.  Do you think that maybe you could resond to this forum and put other eco 45 owners at ease that you do stand behind your product.



I am glad for you that you have had good response with DROLET, probably one of the few. But, I will not recommend their products.
If you will recall my post  the ECO-45 cost me almost $1000 because of the poor service dept.


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## bazil (Feb 11, 2008)

Hi rocky top.  I hear you.  Although all is well now (our stove is fixed and we're warm again)  It was only when we finally got a hold of the rep did we feel like we were being followed up with. It did take nearly 2 weeks of 'pleading' down the phone about how cold it was here for us to receive our part.  Truly it should have been an overnight problem for them to get out part to us.  It was a hard and expensive time for us also as we had to add yet another most unexpected oil filling bill to our heating expenses, after having bought a new stove, buying the pellets and paying nearly $900. for the install we were fuming.  Hopefully Drolet is implimenting better stock control procedures as  and I quote "We're waiting for that part to arrive" should never have been allowed to happen in the first place.  However the rep that we dealt with saved the day for Drolet as far as we're concerned, he followed up, and kept us informed, despite the fact the poor man was 'screamed' at every time he phoned about how furious we were for the wait.  But as mentioned before our fire keeps our house toasty in the worst conditions (up to -45c with wind temps -50c)  so we do love our stove (now it's running) and I'd like to see Drolet given the chance to redeem itself with roninnb and stand behind it's product. 

Still curious though to see if Drolet repond to this page. (we know your out there)


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## roninnb (Feb 12, 2008)

Hi bazil, I do agree that it's a sad situation. One of the reasons I chose the Drolet was that it was a Canadian made stove and believed that would mean high quality and quick access to parts. There are a few major reasons that we decided to cut our losses and move on.

First, whether on not there is room to argue over the quality of the product, the accessibility of parts is no better than a product made in Asia. I've not been able to find anyone in NB who is trained to service the stove. I would hope that if there were, Drolet would have referred me to them.

Second, the text of the warranty says, "This warranty covers brand new products only, which have not been altered, modified nor repaired since shipment from factory." Assuming they do eventually send the board, installing it would void the warranty. Now that I found the warp I'm certain that the air leak was what was causing the sensor to trip. Since, we have no warranty after the control board any further repairs would be on our own dollar. There is a metal shop a reasonable distance from here that I'm fairly sure has the equipment to straighten the stove. But I expect it would only stay straight if it was reinforced with more steel.

Third, for about 7 years I worked on environmental systems in industrial sites (mostly pulp & paper mills). Most of the systems that I worked on were the ones that monitored the emissions from the boilers. While the pellet stove is on a much smaller scale they are designed on the same principle: blowers pushing and/or pulling air through the combustion chamber, a controlled steady fuel supply, and a cooling system. The main difference between the 2 technologies is the scale and the operating temperature. Our pellet stoves take a minimum of 20 minutes to cool down from operating temperature. A recovery boiler takes a minimum of 24 hours to shutdown.

My point is that building something that can sustain the heat that any pellet stove produces can be done. In the first 2-3 weeks of using this stove we averages 60 lbs of softwood pellets per day (2.5lb/hour). For the remaining period that we used it, we averaged less than 80 lbs/day (3.33lb/hour). About mid-December we switched to a 50/50 mix of softwood and hardwood pellets. About 2 weeks before the stove failed the store where I was buying pellets was out of the hardwood pellets I had been using, but had oak pellets. I bought those and we used them at about the same 50/50 mix. 

Once I switched to the hardwood mix, the stove was always on either 1,2 or 3 overnight (we actually had one night that was warm enough that the stove was off overnight). If it were a particularly cold night, I would turn it up to 4 in the morning to bring up the temperature in the main level. Through the whole time we used the stove, it was not on 6 for any more than a total of couple hours.

I have one of those hand held point and click thermometers. I don't know how accurate it is, but, on 4 with the oak 50/50 mix the diffuser temperature at various times ranged between 460F and 520F. Is that overfiring the stove? Other than recommending not to run the stove on 6 for extended periods of time, the manual gives no concrete indication of what qualifies as overfiring.

IMO, even though the Eco-45 is marketed as a 45000 BTU stove, it's more realistically a 25000 BTU stove with the capability of a "45000 BTU burst mode". And, that if the owner were using pure hardwood pellets, they should not turn the stove up past 3 for more than a few minutes. AFAIC, any pellet stove should be rated at a heat level which is designed to produce for at least a few hours. If a stove has limitations, they ought to be spelled out in the manual.

Yes, I sent them an email yesterday. I did not expect to hear back on the same day they received the email. I don't want to spend the rest of the winter heating with portable elctric heaters. I've been around the block enough times to see that most of the time when someone one says next week and you contact them 2 or 3 weeks later and they tell you the same thing that there is not much point in waiting on them.

rocky top, I hear ya.


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## roninnb (Feb 14, 2008)

I still have not had a reply from sbi customer service but my control board arrived today. It was shipped on Monday. Since I was prepared to pay for the control board from the beginning, I appreciate the fact that they sent it to me without charge.

We are going to alternate between 1 and 2 for the evening and shut it down overnight and are planning on continuing testing the stove's operation while we are awake and near the stove to monitor it. I'll update again on the weekend.


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## bazil (Feb 21, 2008)

hi guys.
Well, we are having more trouble. Whenever we turn off the stove to clean it, it goes through the shutdown cycle no problem. On restart, it fires up, runs a little while , then shuts down completely, leaving a burn pot full of gently burning pellets, and the smoke which is now undirected, finds it's way out and fills the room.This metalized demon then proudly pops up a "P" code. I pull out the plug and fiddle about with the electronics, and If I'm lucky, I can get it to start up again. I found after trial and error that if I unplug the seperate black and white whires going into the back of the control board box (they have two spade connectors that can't be mixed up on reconnection) I can get it to run. I called Drolet and they told me that the code was for the pressure switch. I have to pull off the pipe on the right side (looking forwards) under the side panel and blow out the tube. I had already done that. He than told me that I might have to remove the combustion blower door to clean out some debris that might have gotten into the housing. Wow, apparently customers who buy pellet stoves must also be trained pellet stove technicians. You must be able to field strip a stove like an M14 assault rifle and clean, repair and service in the middle of battle.
Although minor, our stove also does another stick shared by others on this forum, the magical self opening damper. I did a quick fix I want to share. I took one of my wifes elastic hair bands and kept winding it arond the knob shaft until it would go no futher. I actually packed out the space between the back of the knob and the side plate, creating a friction shim to stop it turning.
DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES.

I also wanted to mention about the multiple button pressing to reset the control. BE CAREFUL HERE. I found that with a certain sequence of buttons, you can put this puppy inta diagnostic mode, and I found my self in some very dark territory. I think this mode is for techs to check diagnostic levels of the board, and you cn only get out of it by unplugging the unit. I don't know if it is possible to change some of the bios settings ( and it does have one, Drolet told me) but messing with it could change some of the defaults in the system.

If this stove was a crippled dog, I would have taken it out the back and shot it by now.


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## roninnb (Feb 22, 2008)

I had the same damper opening problem. It's due to the fact that when the damper is closed it is mostly balanced over the rod that goes to the side of the stove to the control knob. Once you open it a bit the balance shifts toward the front of the stove and, with the assistance of the tiny vibrations coming from the blower motor, gravity works its magic. 

My first attempt at dealing with this was to tape it in position which worked except having to peal the tape every time you wanted to change it. Since I had a couple weeks on my hands where the stove was not in use I looked through my stash of odd parts and found something that balances tamper up to about 2/3 open: a spare flat 220V plug prong (it made a nice handle and a good counter-balance). If you take the control knob off, the end of the rod is flat. The 220 prong set screw tightened up nicely against it with the prong pointed toward the back of the stove. What I use to hold it in place if I'm going past the 2/3 open is a rod from a magnetix kit (toy) stuck to the panel above the prong. Works like a charm.

I've had all those panels off to clean. I had been cleaning the exhaust blower housing on a bi-weekly basis. I clean the convection air twice a week. If you have not removed the left panel in the firebox, that would be the next place I would look. Also, use a hand mirror to look at the front of the heat exchanger from underneath. The first time I looked at that was shock. There was about 1/2 - 3/4 inch of crud pushed together by the cleaning rod (since you are always pulling it forward first).

How much soot are you getting out of your vent when you clean it?


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## silversrfr (Nov 14, 2010)

I had the same issue some people have reported with my Eco35 not starting due to "P" error code.

I tried all of the steps in the manual:

- cleared the pressure tube by blowing through it
- cleaned the blower fan and pressure tube nozzle
- replaced the blower cover gasket
- checked all wiring

I was still getting the P error.

I then tested the pressure switch by sucking gently on the pressure tube (the switch made a clicking sound indicating that it was fine).

I also tested the pressure switch by running the tube from the pressure switch to my my shop vac (to create regular suction) -- the stove started up fine.  

It was clear to me that air for some reason wasn't flowing, and sure enough I found that the chimney had become clogged.  After sweeping out the chimney, no more P error and everything runs fine.


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## boycollin (Jan 7, 2011)

I just got the eco-35 a month ago. Had the same P error. found out the cause was the brass nipple on the fan case that connects the tube to the switch. That nipple was very loose and could no be tightened with the clip inside the fan case. the tech guy used a high temperature silicon to seal the nipple. I let that hardened for a couple hours...and started it. Worked fine.  With that switch not working..the igniter  doesn't work.


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## pete324rocket (Jan 8, 2011)

I know there must be a lot of Drolet pellet stoves out there,at least in Canada,maybe not so many in the States,but I think they make a pretty decent stove and would give it a thumbs up,all in all. There hasn't been too many recent complaints about them lately,so they must be getting better.


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## boycollin (Jan 13, 2011)

i'm quite happy with the drolet 35...i found however that you get a bit more heat when you leave the left side door open. some of the heat from the exhaust system stays in the room instead of being exhausted outside.


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## Snowy Rivers (Jan 13, 2011)

A newer stove thats working right usually doing all it can do.

Now as far as modifications go, I am always game to make things better if it can be done without sacrificing safety.

I have two Older whitfields and these stove were, in their day, really great stoves.

I have since owning these, rewired one to utilize a set of inductrial quality timers to replace the original contols.

The original safety features were all retained and augmented some too.

I burn but shells so a slight addition to the firepot in the form of a "scatter bar" that helps distribute the shell pieces over the fire area was added when I installed the stove.

My choice of controls was made so that I was not locked in to a dwindling supply of expensive control boards, that even during their hayday had issues.

Off the shelf parts that are easy to get and inexpensive to buy can be a great plus when repairs if ever are needed.


The biggy though is to always maintain any and all safety devices.

These safeties can make all the difference between having a little problem become a big problem and in a hurry.


As far as modifying baffles, ???????????/  the manufacture spent many many hours designing the airflow through the stove to get the optimal heat output, so its a good bet that the baffle is about right in the sweet spot.

I wont say that with time and use, that an improvement can't be made but will it be enough to warrant the effort.

I have found with the Whitfields, that they work just about perfect as they came from the factory.

Just a little adjusting and tweeking to get them settled into the sweet spot while running shells is all I have done.


Enjoy the nice heat.


Snowy


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