Hello all. I own a Whitfield advantage II, manufactured around 1992. This is the fourth heating season I have owned it. We had it burning a pretty hot fire last week, and the blower just stopped. I unplugged the unit for about half an hour, and tried to power it back up. The blower started for about a second, before it slowly shut off. Does anyone know what would be my problem?
Stove has stopped working. Blower problem??
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jtakeman
Minister of Fire
Which blower? Convection or Combustion. And did you ever remove it and properly clean and lube it?
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
I am not sure which blower. That question is a little over my head. I ahve had the thing completely apart a number of times, and did some work ith the auger, but have not had any issues with either of the blowers, so this is the first time I will be addressing them. I will try the lubricant, and see if that helps things...
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
Ok, I'll need a little time to find a manual. I'll post a picture and you can then tell me which one is stopping.
Do you have a manual?
Do you have a manual?
The combustion blower is for your exhaust/flue gases.
The convection blower is the blowed that pushes warm air into the room.
Is it your exhaust or room air blower? Blowing the dust junkies off of the motor windings and lubricating the bearings may get you through. If its not to burned up yet.
The convection blower is the blowed that pushes warm air into the room.
Is it your exhaust or room air blower? Blowing the dust junkies off of the motor windings and lubricating the bearings may get you through. If its not to burned up yet.
jtakeman
Minister of Fire
So I dripped some lubricant onto the blower, and tried to fire it up again. It sounds like something is trying to turn, but isn't. It looks like I might just be outta luck...
nick2196 said:
Is the room air (convection) blower anything like the pic below? It may have the lube ports as shown. 2-3 drops of non-detergent 20w oil (like 3 in 1) twice a year during cleanings. If you have the yellow plugs, remove before oiling.
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That is very similar to what mine looks like. I just took the whole thing apart, and cleaned everything. I also took the exhaust blower off, and looked to make sure it was running. It was running but, didn't seem to make a lot of noise. I am guessing it is the room blower that I am having problems with. When the stove starts, it sounds normal for about 2 seconds, and then slows down to almost no noise. The blower that is making a little noise is the exhaust blower. I only hear a slight humming from what I guess is the room blower.
Do I need a new blower? My wife wants me to call somebody to fix it, but I know the local stove company will charge 125 just to come out + parts + repairs. Any ideas here? How do I know if the blower is completely blown out?
Do I need a new blower? My wife wants me to call somebody to fix it, but I know the local stove company will charge 125 just to come out + parts + repairs. Any ideas here? How do I know if the blower is completely blown out?
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
nick2196 said:
The blower may or may not be the problem.
You can test the blower it is a simple process but you'll be playing with a live electrical connection.
The blower should run at full speed if it is connected directly to a 110/120 volt normal household outlet using a patch cord made from an old lamp or extension cord. You do this with the blower disconnected from the stoves controller and the stove off, cold, and unplugged. Doing this without understanding what you are doing and how to do it is dangerous and can kill you if you make a mistake.
Northeaster2010
Member
I have the same stove, I would unplug the stove, take off the back panel and you will see the room blower on the left side facing the stove, I would try to lube the motor (you will have to open the left side to get to those little plugs) as told and you can reach around in the back of the stove where the blower cage is and try to spin it a few times, the plug it in and see if it works.
I tried to move the fan, and it seemed like it would only turn for 1/3 rotation. Should it turn freely all the way around?? THANK YOU for the Help
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SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
nick2196 said:I tried to move the fan, and it seemed like it would only turn for 1/3 rotation. Should it turn freely all the way around?? THANK YOU for the Help
It should spin a few times without needing more than a push.
I am moving what feels like some type of arm on the inside of the fan. It raises, and then lowers with a clunking sound. When I start the stove, nothing happens with that fan. I hit the fan (I know) and then the fan starts making a little noise, like something is moving slowly. I move the fan speed switch off, and everything gets real quiet. I move it to high, and I hear the same clunking sound that I mentioned above. Turning from slow to high continues to get the same result of the clunking sound. It feels like the fan, but am I actually moving something else?? I do not feel any fan blades on the inside of the fan.
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
nick2196 said:
Turn that stove off before you burn out the controller.
Take the fan out of the stove, test it on the bench or even inside the stove with the blower disconnected from the controls.
Do not play with it in the stove connected to the controller.
Thanks Smokey. I need to ahve an electrician come to the house in the next few days for something unrelated. I will ask him to test the blower for me. It's over my head... Thank you for all the guidance!!
Well, I am pretty sure I found the source of my issues. I took off the convection blower, and it was completely melted inside! Question 1: what causes that? Question 2: Are there any tricks to installing a new convection blower? My local pellet stove store has them in stock, and I can put one on tomorrow. Any reason why I should not attempt?
Check out the pictures of the fan.
Check out the pictures of the fan.
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PJPellet
Minister of Fire
Hey if you took that one off, no reason you can't put the new one on. Good job so far, you found the problem. I am thinking the blower motor overheated and caused that to melt. Did you clean it out regularly?
no. Learned my lesson. I think I have learned every other nook and cranny of the stove. I can add this one to the list.
PJPellet
Minister of Fire
nick2196 said:
Learning "every other nook and cranny of the stove" is good too. The only tips I can think of when re-installing is to make sure your stove is unplugged from the power outlet, IF there was a gasket on the old blower make sure the new blower has one(not all have gaskets), and that should be about it. Take the money you saved by doing it yourself and treat yourself!
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
You have few choices stove being overfired (raises air temperatures inside the stove shell), something fell or bounced into the fan and jammed (there are a few others but you can start there).
If you can independently set the feed rate and the blower settings the stove may have contributed also. Could have just been the blower motor.
The room air blower should always (majority of stoves) be at the same rate as the heat/feed setting or higher (higher being better). Just a thought.
If you got the old one off, then you can install a new one. I would check the power the the motor leads. Just to make sure the power supply from your board os good.. May not be a problem. But it melted for some reason. Does the motor on the blower look lime it was overheated?
The room air blower should always (majority of stoves) be at the same rate as the heat/feed setting or higher (higher being better). Just a thought.
If you got the old one off, then you can install a new one. I would check the power the the motor leads. Just to make sure the power supply from your board os good.. May not be a problem. But it melted for some reason. Does the motor on the blower look lime it was overheated?
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