Empress pellet stove.. no ignition

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simonejm

New Member
Feb 11, 2008
2
Wilmington, NC

This is the first time I've done this...(post on a site) but have been reading about problems with Empress Pellet stoves. I had one installed in a new home in coastal NC, but it wasn't tested out as it was deep in summer. I've finally tried to get the thing going, but there appears to be no action in the igniter. Isn't it supposed to get red??? Meanwhile, the folks who installed it have gone out of business, and the next nearest appears to be about 2 hours away. is there something very simple that I'm not doing???? Thanks.
 
simone said:

This is the first time I've done this...(post on a site) but have been reading about problems with Empress Pellet stoves. I had one installed in a new home in coastal NC, but it wasn't tested out as it was deep in summer. I've finally tried to get the thing going, but there appears to be no action in the igniter. Isn't it supposed to get red??? Meanwhile, the folks who installed it have gone out of business, and the next nearest appears to be about 2 hours away. is there something very simple that I'm not doing???? Thanks.

Is your burn pot pressed all the way up against the igniter? I know, simple stupid question, but it's happened to me before.
 
The ignitor could have went out
but make sure the burn pot is not in backwards
and
If it is NOT feeding pellets and the IGNITOR is not working it could be the fuse on the board
there are two.
one for the blowers and one for the Ignitor and auger
the new boards have just one for all
 
simone said:

This is the first time I've done this...(post on a site) but have been reading about problems with Empress Pellet stoves. I had one installed in a new home in coastal NC, but it wasn't tested out as it was deep in summer. I've finally tried to get the thing going, but there appears to be no action in the igniter. Isn't it supposed to get red??? Meanwhile, the folks who installed it have gone out of business, and the next nearest appears to be about 2 hours away. is there something very simple that I'm not doing???? Thanks.

also possibly a stupid question, but if it's the first time you've used it did you prime the auger?
 
I would check the vacuum switch to make sure it's closing before I condemned the ignitor. You can easily remove the silicone hose at the switch end and blow through it to be sure it's clear. Then, with the stove running, you can hear the switch open and close by sliding the hose on and off the connector. Make sure it's on the bottom connector on the switch.
 
Thanks to all of you who responded so quickly to my Empress woes. With the help of a dealer 4 hours from here, and a good speaker phone, I ran through all of your suggestions. Turned out that the igniter leads were not fully pushed into the connection. It was a simple fix in the end. So I've just had my first fire in the pellet stove. All it has to do is get cold again!.
 
simone said:
Thanks to all of you who responded so quickly to my Empress woes. With the help of a dealer 4 hours from here, and a good speaker phone, I ran through all of your suggestions. Turned out that the igniter leads were not fully pushed into the connection. It was a simple fix in the end. So I've just had my first fire in the pellet stove. All it has to do is get cold again!.

Thanks for giving us an update
this helps others to learn that the dumbest things will stop a stove
and to always check all connections.

You can use that stove with out an ignitor if the ignitor goes out.
just use a Plumbers torch or some approved fire starter.
Ignitors were an option on most stoves just a few years ago.
 
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