Country Winslow PS40 Issues

Suggestions on two issues would be MUCH appreciated!

1) The augur is squeaking like crazy as it pushes the pellets up. It is not constant but will occur frequently throughout the day. It basically sounds like it needs some oiling.

2) The auto ignition is not working. I CAN run my stove. I start it manually in the burn pot with rubbing alcohol/pellets mixed together. Once I have a good flame, I close the door, and run the stove.

Inside the stove, you CAN see the heating element (through the hole in the igniter) turn red when I turn the stove on, so it appears that that part is working. But it does not actually light any pellets.

SmokeyTheBear said:

On 2 above there has to be a good air flow past the igniter for it to work as it actually uses the superheated air to lite off the pellets. Sometimes ash gets in around the igniter preventing it from lighting the pellets, it is also possible for the igniter itself to block the air flow by being to far forward in its mount. It is also possible for the igniter to indicate is is fine but not all sections are firing and the air flow doesn't get hot enough. I'd start by cleaning around the igniter and for that matter the entire system from air intake to vent termination but I'm strange that way.

The auger situation may be a warn or gummed up auger bearing, they do go bad over time.

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Thanks for taking the time smokey. I will give these a try. I actually moved the ignitor forward thinking that it may not be close enough....maybe too far. Will adjust it again. Let you know.

SmokeyTheBear said:

On 2 above there has to be a good air flow past the igniter for it to work as it actually uses the superheated air to lite off the pellets. Sometimes ash gets in around the igniter preventing it from lighting the pellets, it is also possible for the igniter itself to block the air flow by being to far forward in its mount. It is also possible for the igniter to indicate is is fine but not all sections are firing and the air flow doesn't get hot enough. I'd start by cleaning around the igniter and for that matter the entire system from air intake to vent termination but I'm strange that way.

The auger situation may be a warn or gummed up auger bearing, they do go bad over time.

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Smokey - Still not auto lighting. 2nd time through complete cleaning. Pulled the igniter back and looked for clogging, but nothing. What do you mean by "It is also possible for the igniter to indicate is is fine but not all sections are firing and the air flow doesn't get hot enough"

The situation is odd to me. The heating element in the ignitor is definitely red, but the pellets are not even warm after the ignition failure. So it seems that there is no 'super heated air' getting to the pellets. Where does this super heated air come from? Is it simply pulled through by the exhaust fan turning on upon ignition?

EZsteve said:

Hey Markb, I am having the same problem right now. My stove is a 2008. I have never had a problem with the igniter. I have my stove on a thermostat. So I got home yesterday and the stove was off. I tried to restart it and got no ingintion. The igniter did glow red but no fire. To my eye it looked just as red as I always does. The funny thing is I did a full clean just this weekend. I took the ingnitor out this morning and I am going to check it today to see if it glows all the way to the end. Maybe as Smokey said it is possible it is not functioning fully to get the air hot enough. I will keep you posted. Please let me know what you come up with. Thanks

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EZsteve - my model is a 2004 and one issue that I had many problems with was the proof of fire snap switch (located on the exhaust). I have had to replace it almost yearly. Actually had a couple good years recently....check out the error codes (blinking reds) and see if you are getting this message. Real easy to change that switch if its the case.

But isn't that Murphy's law? You clean your stove and then it acts up. Its like you get your breaks fixed and the alternator goes in the next week.

Delta-T said:

not uncommon to accidentally bang into the igniter tube when removing the burnpot on the winslow, which can move it back into the tube, away from the burnpot. it only held in place with a metal strap style clamp. pull it back so that it sits right up against the burnpot. also not uncommon for the igniter rod to glow red, but still not work because it has partially failed. If the tip appears to be deflected toward the side of the tube, ity has probably failed somewhere causing it to bow. also make sure you set the burnpot in perfectly straight, otherwise the hole in the back will not line up with the igniter, it just has to be a tiny bit askew to flub it all up. good luck.

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Delta T - Good call. My igniter rod was only glowing at the base/bottom 1/3. I have put an order in on Amazon, as well. Hopefully this works!.

Any idea how hard it is to change the augur motor? Thanks

Mark

Markb said:

Delta T - Good call. My igniter rod was only glowing at the base/bottom 1/3. I have put an order in on Amazon, as well. Hopefully this works!.

Any idea how hard it is to change the augur motor? Thanks

Mark

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Delta T - just finally got around to installing my new igniter. Started right up. Thanks for the suggestion to look down the tube and thus notice that only half of the igniter was turning red. That said, I have come to enjoy starting the pellet stove with just a small amount of isopropyl alcohol. I have not had the bad luck that many have had with this igniter on this stove, but it seems like an easy way to prolong the life of the igniter.

On a side note: It seems like the electricity use from this stove comes from two places the fan which uses nothing and that rod which probably uses much more. Any idea how much electricity that igniter uses?

Also, while I have you (or anyone else). My auger is squeaking like crazy. Advice so far says its the auger motor bearings. Before I order a new motor, do you have any idea if the problem could be farther upstream? Brass bushings, etc?