90s Breckwell P24FS Convection fan quits but combustion fan and auger keep on going. That can't be

I tried searching but couldn't find what I was looking for.

I have an early 90s Breckwell P24FS. Sometimes(usually when its going good and hot) the convection fan will just quit. Meanwhile the combustion fan and auger keep on running until it gets so hot that it turns itself off. I have tried cleaning the crap out of it and oiling the motor, but the problem continued. I then bought a new fan for it and thought it was fixed, but it started doing it again last week after having been on for several days straight.

I am stumped. I thought it was the fan, but the fact that putting another fan in it, combined with the fact that it only does it when running on max(hot) makes me think the problem may be something else. I wouldn't think that the failsafe logic would include this behavior--in fact I would think that this is EXACTLY the scenario that should be avoided.

Any ideas?

THanks!

I don't exactly know what the problem is, but it sounds like some kind of sensor is bad. The sensor/component may be failing once a certain temperature is reached.
I have a Breckwell PS-23FSL manufactured somewhere around 1998. FWIW, My manual says never to run it on "MAX" for more then a couple hours at a time.
It says it may limit the life of some of the components.

You can try and look at the schematic in the manual and see what component is attached to the blower.. or,
if you don't find an answer here, you can always e-mail the tech department at Breckwell. They can probably
zero in on it and help you avoid replacing any more parts that don't need it. I've had good luck getting
a timely and accurate response from them. PM me if you need the e-mail address.

Go thru the trouble shooting our our website
Sounds like a bad limit switch.
But if you have tested and or jumped the switches could be just a bad wire or control board.

Go thru all the steps first.

http://www.hearthtools.com/parts/Breckwell_help.htm

This sounds like exactly the same problem I'm having. Odd thing is, now if I run the stove on heat setting #3 without the high fan on, it seems to be fine. A few days ago, it would eventually shut off with a #2 light blinking.
I'll update my original post, and I've emailed Breckwell. Hadn't heard back from them as of this afternoon....

Thank you for all the replies.

Hearthtools moderator--I saw and read through the breckwell troubleshooting guide and didn't see my particular problem listed. My combustion fan never quits, only the convection fan. It was my understanding(both logically and from the wiring diagram) that the convection fan should NEVER stop as long as the stove is on(except when the power is off and it is cooling the stove down as part of the shutdown sequence), because in addition to forcing the hot air out of the stove, the convection fan also cools the stove and keeps it from overheating. I didn't think that the convection fan even had a themodisk.

Please do not think that I am ignoring your advice--I am not. You certainly know more about this than I and I will go ahead and troubleshoot as you recommend, I am just thinking 'out loud' here as this isn't making any sense. The only 'logical' explanation I could come up with was that the convection fan was bad--which is why I swapped it out. I guess the only real way that i can think of to test this theory would be to wait for the convection fan to fail again and then test to see if it is getting power at that moment. The problem is that the stove is prety hot when this happens, making such a task difficult.

Thanks again and great site!

You are correct the OLDER stove the blower came on as soon as you turned the power on.
and only shut off after the stove cooled down.

so unless you have a short or something it could be the control board malfuctioning.

Check to make sure all the wires are correct.
Im stumped also and would not be able to trouble shoot with out being at the stove.

Sorry.

Is the convection fan AC or DC? I do not see a reason why I couldn't just wire the convection fan to be always on(when the stove is on)--at least as a test to see whether or not the fan was faulty. IMO, this is how it should be as I do not see a circumstance where turning the convection fan off would ever be desirable.

add the extra test wires to the fan before it runs and gets hot-make sure they are heat safe-have them hooked to a test meter and then see if its getting power or not when the trouble arises.good luck pete

Just two thoughts, does this have some kind of thermal protection for the motor, and is there some kind of variable controller? Here's where I am coming from: If the motor is thermal protected for over heating it could be internal or external, and the manufacturer recognizes the need to limit it's use on high, you could be exceeding the limit. The second case could be a bad switch. Over heating could cause the switch to bridge and shut down. Does letting the stove rest for a few or more minutes result in the stove restarting normally? Does the motor start if you change the setting to a lower point? This could be mechanical, or part of the circuit board, but it seems the manufacturer was aware of the problem.

Not that I am an engineer, but have lots of practical experience with electric motors and blowers run at extreme levels. High setting may be over the practical limit of the motor. My experience also tells me that each time you press that limit you reduce the life of the motor and the protection. I have an exhaust blower in an isolated location that is good for about three hours max, beyond that it shuts down, and is a total pain to reset. Therefore, it is on a timer set for 2 1/2 hours.

In the case of your stove, maximizing the output would create a lot of heat on the components and in the internal space that may not be dispersed.

For me, I would take Rod's advise and not run it at the highest setting.

Mines an older P24 insert but I noticed when testing it that the convection fan was extremely hot to the touch. Not from stove heat but from it's own motor. A good cleaning reduced it's operating temperature but now I suspect that the convection blower in those old units may be the weak link. My manual says;

"CAUTION: The "MAX" setting is designed for temporary use only. If used for extended periods it can shorten the life extectancy of the unit's components. Aviod use at this setting for more than one to two hours at a time.

The convection blower speed varies directly with feed rate. The "High Fan" switch overrides this variable speed function. It will set the convection blower feed to high at any feed rate setting."

I take that to mean that Max isn't a really usable setting on the stove unless you just want to heat it up quickly and then turn it down. And that the high fan switch forces the convection blower to run on high constantly. I have a sneaking suspicion that the fan just isn't up to the task. Mine runs pretty cool, now, on normal settings but if I use the high fan switch it quickly builds up heat again regardless of the feed rate. Strength wise, as far as the air output at the front of the unit, there's no comparison between what comes out of that old Breckwell verses what comes out of my Englander. The Breckwell just doesn't move the air as well even on high fan. A more complicated path through the stove perhaps?

If yours doesn't quit when you run it on a setting below Max, without the high fan switch on, then I'd guess that it's just the fan that's the problem. I don't know if there's a more powerful fan that could be swapped out to replace the original but if there is I'd be willing to try it since I think that fan is undersized for the job it's being asked to perform.

Thanks for all the input. My stove only has 3 settings--High fan, norm and thermostat(which according to the breckwell manuals would make it a 1991). The weird thing about my stove is that to get the auger started it has to be in the 'high fan' position. This is the only way i have been able to figure out to get power to the auger(green auger light lit). Once the auger starts i can change the setting to norm. However, because of this behavior it tends to get left in the high position cause thats where it has to be started. Maybe that's all it is. I will make a housewide mandate to be sure that it is set back to norm every time and see if it makes a difference.

Personally, I've found that my stove doesn't transmit heat throughout the rooms without that fan being on, so I have been violating that warning constantly. Maybe that's why I'm having problems now tho.