Making old Enviro Mini crank out heat! ! ! Where is the latch? Can you say Titanium Step Drill Bit?

Hello

Where is the latch? LOL ;?

Anyone have this problem?

Why do some Enviro Mini's work very well and others have unhappy owners? There maybe a few good reasons.
The newer Mini-A stoves have a few upgrades to address some issues so I am trying the cheapest first! LOL

However for the old Enviro Mini, just upgrading the control panel is not the catch all fix all
See > http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/...mods-in-and-the-bugs-out.123269/#post-1652399

So what about the ash pan?
Dollar bill test will never pass! The ash pan is hooked in on the bottom left and right corners so it shuts using gravity. However the ash pan gasket does not compress enough to make a tight seal!

Where is the ash pan latch? Only the Mini-A has one but the latch itself can be purchases for about $45.00 and it is a good heavy solid one.

The only other thing you need is a big hole! Since the hole required is approx 13/16" and most metal drill bit sets go up to 1/2" that can be a problem!

However the new Titanium Step Drill bits can easily solve the problem! I got some from Harbor freight!

See pics. Now the ash pan is latched up tight!.

Just find the center of the pan and measure approx 1-1/2" down fromm the top.

Pic 1 - Where's the latch?
Pic 2 - Titanium step drill bits
Pic 3 - New Ash Pan Gasket but not tight without a latch!
Pic 4 - Drill a hole with a regular titanium bit to start
Pic 5 - Now for some stepping up to the big one
Pic 6 - New latch
Pic 7 - There is the latch! LOL

 

Hello

The latch made a difference but not enough. So I went with the upgraded GA exhaust blower with 1.75 amps of shear power for LOW draft performance. Then I added the Big Blades to keep the ash from building up under the blades! Does that make a difference, you bet your sweet bippy! The big blades keep the performance and draft up when the stove gets dirty and the higher current blower keeps the burn pot clean on Heat levels 1,2 and 3 during low draft! What a surprise!

No more overflowing pellets in the burn pot from caked ash building up in the bottom! Also no more black ash on back of the firebox! what a difference! ! !

Here it is now running on heat level 2 with old control board and old burn pot! ! !


Also since the old burn pot stays clean extreemly few pellets bounce out!

Pic 8 - Overflowing pellets in the burn pot from caked ash building up in the bottom! Also black ash on back of the firebox!
Pic 9-11 - New upgraded exhaust blower with large fan blades and new white lytherm gasket
Pic 12 - Lazy flame is gone and no more durning birty, Burning Dirty! ! ! LOL

In summary (It works good like a Mini should!)
The more lively the flame the better the heat transfer. Harman pellet stoves have one of the most intense flames and they really crank out the heat! I also have been upgrading Magnum Baby Countryside stoves in this area for a couple years. They sold a boat load through Home Depot about 6 years ago in this area. All the stoves came setup to burn corn not wood pellets which of course every one burns here. So one of many changes I make is to install the upgraded large petal exhaust blower that makes the sparks fly. So from my experience installing the high current blower with the large petal blades is a logical upgrade and wow, no more black smoke on the back fire box wall, no more caked ash in the burn pot and no more pellet pile up in the burnpot until it overflows and very few pellets bounce out without being burned! As far as heat goes, I had my work shop up to 97 Degs F on heat level 2 so it really cranks NOW!

 

Those step drill bits are good to have for many other things as well!