Breckwell Cadet P-26 starting problems

[bit_flores]

Other than an auger problem I had a few years ago, my Breckwell Cadet P-26 has been reliable for the past 15 years. Woke up today to find that the combustion motor would not start. The stove has been slow to start (combustion motor engaging) all winter. Today, the convection fan runs on low speed, waiting for the combustion fan to start, but no go. So, I looked at the schematic and saw that maybe I should check the motor & auger thermodiscs. Guess what, they fell apart in my hands because of high heat damage. The high-temp thermodisc looks ok and did NOT fall apart. I did a continuity check on all thermodiscs and they all show "normally open". I put damaged ones back in place for now.

So.... I called Breckwell and they said to directly hook-up 120v to the combustion fan (direct power bypass) to see if it the motor was working. When I did this the motor did not run. I did happen to have an old combustion motor & fan (I replaced it many years ago because it gave me a little rattle). I tested this with direct power and it works fine.

So it looks like I need to replace the combustion motor (which I have) and the all the thermodiscs. But the goofy thing now is that when I put it all back together the stoves starts running on low-speed even with the power switch turned off. Since all the thermodiscs are normally open, nothing has changed in the circuitry, even if the thermodisc housing is damaged. I reconnected all the wiring to its proper location. Anyone have an idea on why this stove would now start with the power switch off? By the way, I have the old analog circuit board.

 

[DexterDay]

Its a slow part of the season. So a lot of Breckwell owners may not see this.....

What brands of pellets do you have in your part of Ohio? Somersets are some of the best around me (Ashland Co).

Sounds like you are pretty handy with the stove. After 15 yrs!! Is that with original motors?

 

[MountainSean]

Pull the wires off of one side of a low limit disc. Since you have an Analog board you will have two low limit discs in your stove and at 15 years old probably the really old 3 prong switches. If you pull the wire off the single wire side of a low limit switch and the blower turns off then it is that thermodisc. Without having my books in front of me I can't remember which it is off the top of my head. (Please be careful doing this as you will be working on a stove with live current going through it) If pulling a lead off the switches doesn't help then you will need to either get a new control board or get your current one fixed. Several online stores offer both options.