Hot Blast 1551E - EPA stove questions......

[nomorecold]

Update:

Got my new motor and after running it a bit to make sure before I posted, it seems like it might stay working! Kubic, if your still interested in making your 1551E work how it is supposed to I would compare what you received to what I just got. I immediately noticed the difference in size of the gear in the motor and said to myself this might actually change something!

The old one has the small gear and the loose collar like piece where the arm goes in to be tightened by the set screw, the new one has the bigger gear and solid polished snout where the arm attaches. It did not directly bolt on but after a few small washers on each of the two mounting screws (to space the new motor from the mounting plate to clear the screw heads the old one didn’t have) and a redrilled/reamed hole or two it went on. I think that forced me to use a little longer screws as well but they were same size as some lathe head self tappers I always keep on hand.

Only one time since October 24th when the pics were taken did it not fully open and it still got alot further than the old one. It was like the next day and it did feel hard to pull even by hand that one time so I played around with it a bit and smoothed out the pull. I believe all I did was take the cover off the door and manually pushed the damper plate tight against the door and forced it up and down rapidly by hand to try to smooth out any small defects in the metal catching. I figured if that did the trick even temporarily I could go back and smooth it out better but so far so good. If it aint broke dont fix it right?

Now I am just fighting with the automatic overfire as mentioned by another member in a previous post. I believe my DVL straight off the furnace connecting within 2’ to the chimney support box and 35’ or so of triple wall through the inside of the house may be to blame. I do intend to make a new topic on this matter but have at least temporarily came up with a solution for that as well. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. I may have the billing slip but can’t remember if it had an actual part number or just description but it was made by the same motor company, Erie I believe.

 

[patrickt]

I am on my second year using this furnace. I had the same door problem that others have reported but at the time US Stove didnt have a fix for it. I found the problem myself under the door there is a little loop which keeps the cable on the pivot bolt. Removing the loop fixed the problem as it was binding up the cable. Now this year another problem has come up in the cable now jams the door open and closed because the wire has a memory to it and hangs up on the pivot. I am going to be changing the wire to a small chain like the old school furnaces which I am thinking should work, also plan on grinding down and polishing the intake door contact points to the door to make it slide smoother. The only other issue I have is the snap switch for the fan is garbage and unreliable, but I plan on replacing them with a Honeywell 4064 which should make them far more reliable. Other than all that its a great stove that when you manually use the controls puts out alot of heat and decent burn times.

 

[nomorecold]

I am on my second year using this furnace. I had the same door problem that others have reported but at the time US Stove didnt have a fix for it. I found the problem myself under the door there is a little loop which keeps the cable on the pivot bolt. Removing the loop fixed the problem as it was binding up the cable. Now this year another problem has come up in the cable now jams the door open and closed because the wire has a memory to it and hangs up on the pivot. I am going to be changing the wire to a small chain like the old school furnaces which I am thinking should work, also plan on grinding down and polishing the intake door contact points to the door to make it slide smoother. The only other issue I have is the snap switch for the fan is garbage and unreliable, but I plan on replacing them with a Honeywell 4064 which should make them far more reliable. Other than all that its a great stove that when you manually use the controls puts out alot of heat and decent burn times.

This is good information to have. I was thinking the same thing about the cable trying to keep a memory not helping things, although mines still running good with the new motor so far for me. I looked at the pivot and piece that I guess holds the cable close to it and looks like its causing no issues currently.

It seems to me these units are just made on the cheap side and problems are across the board. I had the small screws fall out of my door latch mechanism several times already and had to put back whatever I could find in spare screws and nuts to keep it together. Also my ash pan door will skip by the latch and open back up if you push too hard. I was going to weld up a stop in my “free time“ but its still that way burning right now.

As for the fan switch, you mean the adjustable temp (5 position) one that comes with the furnace? I am running a custom plenum the size of the top of the furnace, 15” high and I installed a Honeywell 4064 fan/limit switch a buddy gave me in it thinking I could better control heat output this way in my series install. I made a last minute decision to run power through the factory Hotblast switch then to the Honeywell switch in the plenum I added. I figured this would insure the furnace is getting at least to temps factory expected before the blower kicks on. I believe right now my Honeywell switch is always calling for the fan to come on by the time the factory switch wired before it sends power. I would like to get rid of the factory switch but on my install running series using my fuel oil furnaces blower only it seems to cool down plenum/duct temp
too fast as it is. This is just my experience so far but everyone seems to get different results from what I have read. I dont like having to worry about two switches needing to work to kick my blower on in my situation, especially if the factory one is questionable but I still plan to improve on the setup.

 

[nomorecold]

Oh and I forgot to ask,

To you or anyone else that has run manually before (without the motor) on the EPA version, do you believe your getting better burn times that way? I am still considering making a manual control setup but I am getting pretty good heat now just burning up fast. Seemed to me I was able to stretch burn time out a bit longer controlling it manually but it wasn’t really cold enough yet to know about true heat output and my ductwork wasn't finished either.

 

[patrickt]

I have run mine manually and have had better results extending the burn time sometimes 12-14 hours and still have eveything nice and toasty.

My cable over the summer got a memory to it and started binding up. The chain is actually working alot better however yesterday the supplied makeshift bracket they supplied I guess couldn't hold up so I am going to have to fabricate something else to keep it working

the 4064 would actually be used to replace both the factory snap switches (fan and over limit) and would be installed in the same position they are in now. ITs actually an upgraded switch that US stove puts on the forced induction stoves inplace of those. If I were you I would just go based off the 4064 and completely bypass the factory snap switch. they are just so inconsistent. My setup is stand alone so there is no other furnace involved and I have already took temp readings inside the jacket of 175 deg and that snap witch still hasn't kicked on the fans even though I have it set low at 120. They are just not very reliable. I have been controlling my blowers manually until I get around to ordering one

 

[Jfro15]

I have this same exact stove only it is the Ashley Hearth brand. I bought it new in February 2019. I will agree the primary damper on the door is a terrible design. I modified a Thermo-Control automatic damper to fit and it is amazing The damper is actuated by a spring inside that reacts to the heat of the firebox. When the temp is cool the "flap" is open then when loaded with wood the flap will slowly start to close as the temp rises. When the surface temp reaches around 650-700 the flap will be completely closed which is perfect because by then the secondary burn effect begins to take over. Then hours later as the temp begins to cool the process will start all over again. I regularly get 10-12 hour burn times with my surface temp staying above 300. I highly recommend this modification for this stove. The damper cost me $120 and was fairly easy to modify and install. I will try to attach pics

 

[patrickt]

I have this same exact stove only it is the Ashley Hearth brand. I bought it new in February 2019. I will agree the primary damper on the door is a terrible design. I modified a Thermo-Control automatic damper to fit and it is amazing The damper is actuated by a spring inside that reacts to the heat of the firebox. When the temp is cool the "flap" is open then when loaded with wood the flap will slowly start to close as the temp rises. When the surface temp reaches around 650-700 the flap will be completely closed which is perfect because by then the secondary burn effect begins to take over. Then hours later as the temp begins to cool the process will start all over again. I regularly get 10-12 hour burn times with my surface temp staying above 300. I highly recommend this modification for this stove. The damper cost me $120 and was fairly easy to modify and install. I will try to attach picsView attachment 255696View attachment 255697View attachment 255698

Looks good, I was thinking of going that route but I opted instead to keep the electric dampener because frankly I am a control freak and can lower my burn when I feel its warranted. I eventually plan on have on it smart switch bypasses so I can even control it remotely from my phone and alost to hook it into my egt sensor to actually have a logic control as well at adjustable set points. But first I have to finish modifying the original design

 

[Cfireburn]

 

[LaVern]

Hi, New here and the first posting and it will probably be a long one. I too have the 1551E with the same problem with the main damper not opening unless I help it. I bought the stove at TSC during the winter of 2018-2019. I did not install it until last fall, 2019. Several problems with it from the very beginning. Parts missing. The cable clamp to attach the damper motor arm to the cable. When I called them they told me the clamp was no longer available and they had nothing to replace it with. Second part missing, well it wasn't actually missing but.... It was the ash pan. When unpacking the furnace I misplaced it in the corner of my furnace room. When I saw that there was an ash pan listed in replacement parts I called them. Their answer was that no, the 1551E did not come with an ash pan. Hmmm, that seemed odd. Well in the next few days before actually firing it up I came across this metal pan in the corner. When I first looked at it I could not figure out where it came from. I thought perhaps it was something that my wife had gotten somewhere. Then it dawned on me, and sure enough it was the ash pan that supposedly was not provided for the 1551E.

That was the second time I called them, the first was to confirm the proper locations of the fan limit switches. Their diagram showed different than the pictures. When they settled that they told me that I could get better and faster results by texting them any questions that I had instead of calling the number provided.

So any way I am not overly impressed by the help I have received, even though the product seems to be fine but needs a few bugs worked out. I have tried several things to prevent the damper slide from hanging up and so far the same problem as everybody else here. If I pull up on the cable and hold it while the door is opened, it will open with the servo motor, but other wise it is a sometimes yes sometimes no. I was thinking that perhaps by relocating the direction that the cable pulls from like straight up through the outside cover and then over instead of at an angle out the side of the cover, maybe the resistance would be less. Maybe have the cable pull through a bushing with a larger radius or maybe even a small pulley to lessen the drag. Someone also stated that a new arms and motorwere available. My motor has actually turned inside the are so I now really got the set screw torqued down and it seems to hold but now won't lift the damper all the time. Also someone above mentioned a longer arm, wouldn't that actually decrease the force. I thought that making a slightly shorter arm would maybe help. Any way as I said it was going to be a long first posting. I would appreciate any input or thoughts on this matter. Thanks

LaVern

 

[LaVern]

Well it's been a few months now and after looking and trying to come up with a better system for opening and closing the damper I have come up with a solution but not perfect. I do think as others a stronger damper motor is required, and I think there is a problem with the system that causes the damper to stick shut, maybe creosote or maybe just a problem with damper getting cocked at a slight angle and leading to the sticking situation. What ever it is, it requires quite a strong pull on the cable to to free it when it happens. What I have come up with is a block and pulley system pulling straight up and over the pulley horizontally to the damper motor. It usually woks but sometimes it still jams in the closed position. I've thought of maybe trying to change length of the arm on the motor. I think by shortening the lever I would get more torque advantage but also it would provide a shorter length of pull. Does that sound correct? Here are some pictures. It was a relatively easy build. It did require a new length of cable and some mill and lathe work. Any suggestions or comments are welcome.
LaVern

 

[plumberlindy]

Hello everyone.

Just purchased a Hot Blast 1551E stove.

Little back round, I have a 30x25 uninulated wooden shop up in Ohio with concrete flooring. I've been burning a hand me down stove from the 1980s, obviously not EPA and no fancy gismos and gadgets to it. Finally got tired of burning crazy amount of wood to get 55 degree temps so upgraded massively even though its not the Cadillac of wood stoves.

I have a few questions for you guys if anyone knows about these stoves or ones like it(seems to be about 4 brands with the same features and such)

Let me start.....

First off this auto draft door sucks, I DO NOT HAVE THE ASH DOOR SPIN DAMPENER. Through testing the actuator doesn't have enough power to open the door when the fire needs to heat back up, so I've manually kept it open but doing so burns my wood faster(temps stay about 350-450 flue wise). Does anyone know of any tricks or hacks to fix this actuator issue or make the door work more smoothly or a manual way to control it other than full off and full on?

Secondly these two levers I have, the secondary air and rear pilot air levers. I know these are to control the return process but can someone explain them better, the secondary air has a low side and high side but pilot air has a on-off setting with room to play in between. I read the manual about 10times but can't under stand there jargan about these or how to properly use them.

Plus anyone have any tips or tricks for me with this style stove?

Other than that I love the stove, keeps coals for 12hrs, doesn't push heat at this point but is nice not to have to restart a fire from scratch. Plus my shop being at 70 instead of 55 is awesome.

Side note this tripple wall piping cost me a fortune to be up to code good god it's a bit rediculious if you ask me, it's not hard to keep up with cleaning your pipes to prevent a fire.

Anyways, thank you guys hope to get some help.

so did you get the real fix on that stove? I got the same one 2 years ago wrecked my bike and just instaled it this year. now that I could do the work. hope you have the answere for me thanks

 

[nomorecold]

Thought I might add the magic fix motor they sent me through warranty died just over a year after it was installed. No warning, just came home to a shut damper and just started using it this year less than a month ago. Like many others I am starting to believe there is no real fix other than what we can come up with on our own.

A local electric company said they could not rebuild it, nothing serviceable on it and its a chinese part US stove gets direct from with their own part number by the sounds. Called US stove. Lady this year was real helpful.. Basically laughing at me as I am telling her if it would of quit a few weeks earlier might still be in one year warranty even though id be my third motor. Over $300 this time. No thanks.

If I could figure out if one of the motors I find online would work I would give one of those a try for $50-80. Now that I am somewhat use to the function when it was working I kind of liked it. Currently I am using a hook magnet as well, at least for now.

 

[LaVern]

I for one have come to expect lousy help from US Stove. These stories and experiences that folks have with them is standard policy for them. I have contacted them several times and they have been completely useless and unhelpful. Unfortunately that seems to be a common reaction among some othermanufacturers also. In 2013 I purchased a Yukon Eagle . It is a wood/oil combination furnace. It was made in the USA. The unique feature it has is the supposedly easy accessto the heat exchanger for cleaning. It would be needed but when in the middle of winter you have to shut down your furnace for a day ahead of time so you can clean the exchanger without dumping smoke and fumes into the room, it's a problem. I had been following and studying up on it for seveal years before actually inquiring about it and considering purchasing one. They were there and had answers for all my questions before buying. They even promoted a rebate program which knocked off a bunch of money. As soon as I purchased the furnace that help ceased. The first thing was the grate they provided allowed a lot of the burning embers to drop into the ashpan. They told me that no one ever had that problem previously. Then the unit required constant cleaning of the heat exchanger, like every 2 weeks. It would build creosote and plug up even when burning 3 yr. old cherry wood which had been kept undfer roof, out of the rain and weather. They implied that it must be wet wood. They never had aa answer. The problem I figure was the design of the heat exchanger that pulled so much heat from the smoke that it left extreme creosote build up. This cresote acted as an insulator and did not allow the heat to transfer effectively into the plenum. Any way after those problems I felt it was time to look into something different and that's how I come to TSC and buy the 1551E. I like the 1551 other than the manner the intake damper works. My son has a US Stove with the spin open damper and he loves it. Sorry about the rambling but lousy customer service is frustrating .
LaVern

 

[blades]

US stove - had one of their add on furnaces- ya blower motors bearings went south 1/2 through first season and then that automatic overfire damper. Was never sure the house would still be standing when I got home from work. Took it out after one season and sold it never looked back. Put an Englander NC 30 on main floor- that worked better than the US stove unit. Sold that place 3 years ago, installed a new NC30 in current place heats all 2200 sq ft. central location. Even when the temps dipped to -31 it was still 70 plus inside with out help from the LP furnace- Likely this isn't typical. 1990/1 build ranch, with 6" sidewalls, fairly tight and decently insulated. Had to replace all the Anderson casement windows ( 31) ( just the glass panels as they all had the collapsed pane syndrome) That made a huge improvement.

 

[nomorecold]

This thread has been going on and off for awhile and has seemed to collect some decent information... So I have came back with the (at least my) permanent fix! Older doors! They do fit and I have only been running them since Sunday and what a difference!

By the way, if this didn't pan out I was considering doing the thermo damper mentioned. That seemed like the only other thing working out real well so far. Hook magnet was getting old in my case for how much heat my house requires!

 

[nomorecold]

Sorry for the sideways pic! BTW so far I have been running on pretty much bottom spin damper only once the stove is warmed up good. Keeping everything else shut but the spin damper maybe a turn and a half to shut. I have not modified (ground) to be able to fully close it at least yet.