Breckwell P2000i, can't advance heat level past 1

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djcg

New Member
Feb 27, 2011
25
North Eastern, CT
Just a quick background since this is my first post. We just purchased a house that has a P2000i insert in the fireplace. I've never used a Pellet Stove before so it was a bit overwhelming to me at first. It appeared the previous owners weren't much into cleaning it, so thats what I spent most of the day yesterday on. I cleaned and vacuumed all the comparments I could find, as well as both the blowers. I've read the manual through serveral times, so I'm feeling maybe 50% confident in my knowledge of how this thing works.

Anyways, the stove fired up just fine now. The problem I have is after the initial 10-15 minute wait period, and the green on/light stays lit, I press the Heat Advance button, and it doesn't do anything at all. I've pressed it repeatedly and held it down, still nothing will happen. The stove stays at Level 1 and won't go any higher. Kind of a bummer since level 1 is pretty weak on heat. I checked for any external temperature monitors, there doesn't appear to be any. Also the on/off/manual toggle switch is set to manual. The "reset trim" button seems to be working just fine, but that only changes things for level 1 heat.

One other issue, is the on/off button. It works great to turn the stove on, but it will not turn the stove off at all when pressed again. The only way to turn off the stove is the pull the plug.

Do you think this is a control board problem or a wiring problem of some kind? Any help is appreciated, thank you.
 
Is the stove actually hooked to a thermostat?

When you cleaned the stove did you unplug it first?

Was the stove plugged in since you got the house?

Is it on a surge protector?
 
To further help I need the stove's date. Also because there are several revisions, I will need a quick picture of the back side of the control panel. Be sure to unplug the power cord before removing the control panel.

How long has the stove been running before you tried changing the heat setting? Some of the older control boards had to stay in heat range 1 until it got passed the start up cycle before you can advance the heat range. Takes about 5 to ten minutes to do so. On the shutdown some of the older boards would have to be held in for 2 seconds during start up to change to shutdown mode.
 
Is the stove actually hooked to a thermostat?
None that I can see, there is nothing connected to the themostate connections on the back of the control board.

When you cleaned the stove did you unplug it first?
Yes, made sure of this. There are warnings all over the stove about unplugging before doing anything

Was the stove plugged in since you got the house?
Stove was not plugged in when we got the house. I plugged it in a few days ago to see if it worked. I got an error 2 diagnostic warning. The manual suggested it was an airflow issue, so then I started digging in and found ash clogged up throughout the stove and blowers. I cleaned that all out and now the stove does seem to work. Aside from the heat level and power off issues.

Is it on a surge protector?
Yes, I am using a surge protector, but I don't know if the previous owners did.
 
After you get done getting Jay the information he asked for I have a simple thing for you to try.

Jay knows about the quirks of the Breckwell controls.

I know that some controllers will not operate in manual mode without a jumper installed across the thermostat terminals.

You might try putting a jumper across the thermostat connections.
 
djcg... Your shut off problem might not be a problem. After the stove has been running for a bit, and you press the on/off , the stove should go into high fan and will shut down in about 10 minutes. It does not just shut right off, as it needs to properly exhuast itself and cool down. The first time I used ours, I was like what the...
 
I've searched all over for the stove's date, but I can't find it anywhere. I know it's a 2003 or newer as it has the on/off/manual switch on the control panel.
I've attached photos of the back of the controller. I've tried waiting 10 minutes or 1 hour, doesn't make a difference, it wont let me advance the heat level. Its almost like it thinks it has a thermostat attached. I do have it in manual mode though, so my understanding is that should bypass the thermostat even if there was one.
 

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My guess is 2004 or early 2005. The 2003 did not have the thermostat selector switch, It used jumpers, and lots of resistors on the backplane. These boards were quirky to say the least!

One other thing I see is the missing screws need to replaced that hold down the board. It will not let the selector switch move right. As the backplane is moving around while you are moving the selector switch. It may also let the boards components hit the screw studs and cause shorts(that would be bad!).

If your not going to use a thermostat add the jumper like STB said. Use a piece of bare copper wire!
 
j-takeman you were right on. The control board was mis-aligned and the lever could not be pushed all the way to the right. I didn't have the right size screw, so I ended up taking one of the bottom ones out and screwing in the opposite corner one. The board is ligned up perfectly now and the switch is set to manual.

The stove is running great now, and I am able to advance the heat levels properly.

Thank you so much everyone for all your help.

One quick question about the stove in general. When it talks about damper being open and closed, which direction is open and which is closed? The damper switch is on the left side of the stove and the switch moves left and right.
 
djcg said:
One quick question about the stove in general. When it talks about damper being open and closed, which direction is open and which is closed? The damper switch is on the left side of the stove and the switch moves left and right.

Damper to the left is out(more air), Damper to the right is in(less air). Any othere questions feel free to ask. :)
 
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