Smokey Explosive Ignition with Whitfield Profile 20

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SoccerGuy3

New Member
Jan 8, 2014
6
West Coast
I am having increasing issues with the startup of my Profile 20. The stove is probably 8-10 years old and run pretty well for most of that time. I have put two ignitors in it over the years and had it professionally cleaned most every year.

Lately it has started having problems when igniting. The stove will turn on, start feeding pellets and sit for a long time. The firebox will fill with think white smoke, then suddenly ignite with an audible "woof". Smoke will be blown out through the door seals and the fire will burn large and aggressively for a bit until settling down.

This doesn't happen every time. About half the time it ignites as expected. The rest of the time it either ignites as previously described or it won't light at all and will error.

Before I drop $150 on another ignitor, does this sound like a weak ignitor?
 
Maybe a burn pot bypass/ air leak somewhere? I would look at all gaskets are sealing tight.
 
pell it said:
Maybe a burn pot bypass/ air leak somewhere? I would look at all gaskets are sealing tight.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response.

Are there gaskets beyond just the door gasket that would need to be checked?

Wouldn't more air allow it to ignite sooner, rather than delaying the ignition? The smoke doesn't leak into the room until it ignites violently.
 
Can't speak for your exact stove, however, mine has door, window, burnpot, and ash pan gaskets. Some stoves have a hopper lid gasket also.

Air being drawn in, but not through the burn pot (ie in-sealed gaskets), impedes combustion. You want all air flow thru the burn pot aside from any designed glass air-wash system.
 
I had a similiar situation a couple of months ago. My wife had let the stove run out of pellets, so I put some pellets in the hopper and hit the "On" button. I failed tocheck the burn pot. I later found that there were a lot of partially burned pellets filling the burnpot. We experienced the same "whoosh" and violent ignition that you described.I'm not sure if your problem is the same, but I contributed my issue to the pellets left in the pot when the stove shut down due to a lack of fuel.
 
I would also start with a good cleaning. Clean out ash traps burnpot and venting if you can. Igniter is fine , you are having a lack of air issue from needing cleaned or gasket .
 
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I'm less concerned with the way it starts than the fact that air leaks from the door gaskets. Suggest they need replacing. Check others before ordering and replace any with signs of wear.

My MVAE always starts with a tiny "whoosh".
 
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The single most common cause of what you are experiencing is a dirty stove, you need to clean that stove, vent, and check all of its gaskets.

There are passages behind your firebox and ash traps that need a good cleaning this will involve getting any ash above the ash trap clean outs down so you can get at it with a well filtered (hepa, fine particulate, drywall) vacuum.

If you can get to the termination of your vent system, remove the termination cap run a brush through it and then attach the suction end of an electric leaf blower/vacuum to the vent and suck all of the mess out of the stove while using a good set of brushes and thumping of the area above all clean outs.

Your stove will love you for it.
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone. The common theme here seems to be cleaning and gaskets. Will give it the thorough once over. I know that the gaskets have never been replaced (10 years or so).
 
I'm not familiar with your stove but does your burn pot have a hole or slot in front of the igniter to let the air be drawn over the igniter and into the burn pot? If so, make sure it's cleaned out completely.
My stoves will occasionally fill with smoke and puff when starting but i've never had smoke come out into the room. That DOES sound like not enough exhaust volume so Smokey's probably right..............again! :)
 
Soccer Guy Is your stove connected to a cinder block chimney on the outside of your house? The reason I ask is my pellet stove Is connected to a 20 foot cinder block chimney on the outside and with this cold weather when I start the stove It will fill up with a lot of smoke as It has a hard time pulling a draft. The same thing would happen with the wood stove I had many years ago.
 
Running on a thermostat?
 
Sounds like a cold flue temperature inversion. I have experienced this several times lighting my P38.
 
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