We have had our pellet stove for approximately 5 years, ran with no problems other than the combustion motor was pretty squealy and then it basically died. We ordered a new combustion motor and control board since we had some issues and techs suggested this. I put the motor in and the control board, started it up and it fired fine and I had flame but after about 1/2 hour our house smelled smoky. We are wondering if now the convection motor has died since we aren't sure if it's even running since the manual says it turns on after a certain degree.... I now see creosote on the back wall inside the stove and the ash pot is black as well as when we shut it off to test it out, the pellets continued to burn and then the stove filled with smoke that seemed to never go away but we did have smoke coming out the outside chimney. I have had to re-silicone the area between the new motor and the vent pipe as well as the vent pipe. Now I have smoke coming out the area of the clean out t. Can I use foil tape on that as there is no gasket.? We have been dealing with this stove problem for 3 weeks now and are getting frustrated. Hate to have to call the repair guy if it's something easy. Since I was the one doing all the research on this the hubby has deemed it my job.....help!!
Breckwell p-4000 issue
- Thread starter garagedoorlady1
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SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
If the smoke is coming out of the cap on the tee it needs to be sealed, if you can get foil tape around it and sealed, it will be fine.
You can normally test a convection blower with the stove off, cold, and unplugged. You remove the connections from the blower to the controls and use a patch cord made from an lamp cord or extension cord to directly wire the blower so you can plug the patch cord into a standard 120 volt outlet. Make certain you observe proper precautions working on wiring as what comes out of the house outlet can kill you.
You can normally test a convection blower with the stove off, cold, and unplugged. You remove the connections from the blower to the controls and use a patch cord made from an lamp cord or extension cord to directly wire the blower so you can plug the patch cord into a standard 120 volt outlet. Make certain you observe proper precautions working on wiring as what comes out of the house outlet can kill you.
Wachusett
Feeling the Heat
You say the original fan died. Be sure the vent pipe is clean, as the original fan pushed less and less air chances are there could be alot
of ash buildup in the pipes. Also the same applies to the ash traps of the stove. I am repairing/rehabbing a stove I picked up for cheap with
the same problem (combustion blower). This stove was packed with ash all the way through to the blower. I know your seeing smoke from
the vent, but it still may not venting properly or efficiently. FWIW the stove I am working on is also 5 years old and was never thoroughly cleaned.
of ash buildup in the pipes. Also the same applies to the ash traps of the stove. I am repairing/rehabbing a stove I picked up for cheap with
the same problem (combustion blower). This stove was packed with ash all the way through to the blower. I know your seeing smoke from
the vent, but it still may not venting properly or efficiently. FWIW the stove I am working on is also 5 years old and was never thoroughly cleaned.
garagedoorlady1 said:
The indicators here are the black burn pot, "creosote" inside, and the "smoke that seemed to never go away" (pellet stoves give off little or NO smoke except for the first few minutes of start-up).
I agree with Wachusett...the stove seems to be in the need of a VERY good, inside and out cleaning. Entire exhaust pipe, ash traps behind the firebox back wall, combustion blower cavity, etc, etc.
Also, do some searching on this forum for the "leaf blower trick" cleaning method. This is done after ALL the other cleaning is finished, and gets all the last little bit of loose ash out.
As far as the ash traps go, are we talking the baffles? I have vacuumed the heck out of those and they were full of ash. I also got loads of ash out of the vent pipe in the back and at the bottom of the t-trap. We have had someone come out once a year to clean out the chimney and pipe but I don't think he was that thorough, hence my attempting to clean out as much as I could while waiting for the new parts to arrive. Could you also tell me what the pipe is coming out of the back of the stove that is closer to the control board? It seems to go nowhere when I poke something in it, I seem to hit a wall.....I am just learning about this stove and getting all I can from the breckwell manual, which has no pictures and not the greatest directions or explanations for people without much mechanical aptitude. Am truly appreciating all the tips and advice. Thanks!!
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
That pipe you are now talking about could be the fresh air intake, I don't have a manual for that stove at the moment. You might be hitting a damper.
Another question, when I turn on the stove, I can feel air whizzing out of the new combustion motor I just put in, I can't tell if that is from the fan in it or the gasket leaking.....we had it opened to look for the smoke leak....so if my stove is clean, and I have these new parts, am I looking at replacing the convection motor next? Before this thing died we had no problems with it smoking or anything....the ash pot never got black, no creosote inside, etc. It is just really wierd.
heat seeker
Minister of Fire
That air is probably the motor cooling air. If you look closely, you can probably see a little fan in one end of the motor that blows cooling air through the motor. Normal, no worries.
garagedoorlady1 said:
The convection blower motor will have NO effect on how the stove burns....it just blows the warmed air into the room.
Also, has the exhaust pipe been cleaned from the stove all the way to it's end outside? Maybe you can describe the exhaust layout too.
As for the pipe coming out the back near the control board, as Smokey said that is probably the air intake pipe. And this is from your owners manual:
"DAMPER CONTROL
The damper control rod on the stove’s lower left side adjusts the combustion air. This control is necessary due to the varied burn
characteristics of individual installations, different pellet brands and pellet feed rates. It allows you to improve the efficiency of your stove.
Providing correct combustion air will reduce the frequency of cleaning your glass door and prevent the rapid buildup of creosote inside your
stove and chimney.
You should adjust the damper based on the fire’s appearance. A low, reddish, dirty fire can be improved by pulling the damper out slightly. A
“blow torch†fire can be improved by pushing the damper in a bit.
As a general rule, on lower feed rate settings, the damper should be in farther. On higher feed rates, the damper should be more open.
Through trial and error, you will find the best setting. Consult your dealer if you need help.
NOTE: On “1â€, damper should be out approximately ½†to ¾â€. If damper is out too far, it can cause the fire to go out."
Looking at the picture of the back of the unit, the damper rod is connected to a plate that is directly in-line with the OAK......could be that it's closed all the way, since you say you hit "a wall" (look at figure # 20 in the manual) , and also look at figure # 19 to see all the ash traps and baffles that HAVE to be removed to clean the stove correctly.
I have taken off the baffle plates to clean out the stove, but I will do it again....and my exhaust pipe goes straight out the back of the stove, about maybe a foot, then there's that t clean out trap, then the pipe goes straight up to the ceiling which is about 8 feet....and we have not really cleaned out that pipe since the stove guy came out and ran the pipe cleaner up it from the inside.....we have beat on it alot and gotten alot of soot and ash out of it though that fell down into the t-trap area....do I need to take something out on the top by the heat exchanger tubes also? So far on the inside I have taken out the 4 baffle plates and vacuumed them out.....I got an extreme amount of ash out of them. This is why I am so confused on the "cleaning" issue, when I cleaned the stove out alot.....I found that using one of those plastic tools for getting hair clogs out of your bathtub drain worked great for getting ash out of areas and off the sides of pipe.
garagedoorlady1 said:
Push the rod all the way in, and then come back out the 1/2 ". If the flame looks "lazy" (very long red/orange flames w/ darkish tips), try opening the damper another 1/2". What you're trying to get on ANY heat setting are flames that are yellow/orange, with a hint of blue at the base of them, and fairly active.
If they are VERY short and like a blowtorch, that is too much air....push the rod back in a little.
Every stove set-up and pellet will need slightly different settings, so don't take the owners manual figure of "1/2" as gospel.....experiment a little.
But getting back to your cleaning, you MUST get as much ash out of the stove as possible. It could be choking off the airflow through the stove causing the black soot and creosote build-up.
I just took off the baffles, 4 bottom and 2 on the top, got a little more ash out but nothing spectacular.....I am starting to think the issue is the pipe. since when it comes out of the pellet stove it goes straight out then it turns and then it has a spot in it about a couple feet long that is another turn, there are kind of elbows, before it straightens out to go to the roof...seems like maybe that would be where my blockage could be...since it's raining here in WA pretty bad, reluctant to have the hubby get up on a slippery roof to clean it out, expecting a call back tomorrow from a certified Breckwell tech in the area...maybe they can come out and make sure things are ok as far as the pipe goes. Thanks for the help. I'll let ya know how it goes.
heat seeker
Minister of Fire
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