Englander Igniter Problem

[smwilliamson]

I've looked at three Englander Stoves this week with the same problem; igniter heats up (glowing) but fails to ignite.

These were all post 2006 models of the PDVC that utilized a 1/8" metal hose attached to the end of the igniter hose air intake.

The fix:

The igniter is located in a cast iron housing behind the fire wall. Englander has two variations of how this tube draws air. One is to route back to the air intake tube using a rubber hose to connect to two nipple connections (which seems to be the better of th two variations), the other has the 1/8" metal tube inserted into the rubber hose which hangs loose below the convection fan. I suppose the metal tube is to act as a counter weight to keep the hose from mistakenly being sucked into the convection fan. If this tube gets blocked, either by dust, pellet matter or creosote resin, the stove cannot draw air into the igniter housing thus not providing hot air for ignition. Simply remove the hose, jet it out (blow not suck) and reinstall. Whola! We have ignition.

 

[Rainman855]

Scott:

I tried "starting up" my ca. 2006 25-PDVC for the season and am experiencing a problem with igniting my pellets...first time in 2 seasons. My igniter lights up nicely but it seems as though there is no air being drawn across it to ignite the pellets. So I read your posting with interest. I find no air tube going to the igniter chamber at all - see picture. Neither of the conditions you describe seem to be present nor is there any tube - metal or plastic - attached to the convection fan/motor assembly. Is the space around the igniter sufficient to ignite the pellets? While I have not had a problem for 2 seasons, I would guess that's not enough since the pellets are not lighting now. I do see a plug of sorts on the upper left area of the igniter chamber. Is something supposed to be attached there instead (e.g. intake tube)? Might the air be drawn through the CI chamber via an internal "duct?" Any ideas anyone? Thanks for the help!

Ray

 

[Rainman855]

Follow Up! I watched the DVD that ESW supplied with the stove and noticed that in the "Igniter" portion of the video, there was an air hose attached to the igniter chamber as noted in the first post. (I couldn't tell in the video where the other end was attached, though.) I removed the plug on the upper left side of the chamber - see pic, started 'er and the stove fired right up! Working fine. My questions:

1. Why did the unit work (ignite the pellets) fine for two seasons without a hitch then decide not to this year?
2. What part (hose, etc.) might I be missing? Apparently an air hose is supposed to be attached to the igniter chamber but I could find neither the hose nor any connections where the hose would go. To a vacuum switch perhaps?

Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

 

[86 toy]

rainman855, on the newer model pdvc the igniter air is drawn through a hole that is inside the casting. the plug you removed is the access hole they made so they could drill a hole through the ignitor chamber into the intake air tube. what probably happened to your stove is that the hole inside the housing got blocked up with junk.. what i would do is remove your ignitor and go through the hole where you removed the little plug with a drill bit to clean out the passage inside the casting then reinstall that plug. this is the way my stove is built and i'm sure yours is the same.

 

[Rainman855]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that & let you know.

 

[smwilliamson]

Another Englander Update: The I gasket behind the burn pot serves a vital ignition function. I had a customer remove the burn pot to powerwash the stove and instead of reusing the gasket or using a new one, he used wood putty to seal the pot to the back wall. Seriously. The air intake as well as the ignition hole NEED to be separated and sealed, otherwise, the hot air escapes up the back of the burn pot and not through the burn pot.

 

[Rainman855]

Thanks, folks. I pulled the igniter and, waddayaknow, there was the port "86" was talking about. It leads from the main air intake pipe to the igniter chamber. I pushed a large nail through the plug hole into the igniter air port and there was a cob web in it! I replaced the plug and will fire 'er up tomorrow. I fully expect this will resolve the issue. Thank you!

 

[86 toy]

Thanks, folks. I pulled the igniter and, waddayaknow, there was the port "86" was talking about. It leads from the main air intake pipe to the igniter chamber. I pushed a large nail through the plug hole into the igniter air port and there was a cob web in it! I replaced the plug and will fire 'er up tomorrow. I fully expect this will resolve the issue. Thank you!

glad i could help

 

[Rainman855]

Wanted to let you know that all is good. Unit fired right up with the plug in and the hole cleaned out. Thanks, again!

Ray

 

[sydsdad]

i just wanted to thank the people in this thread.I have a 09 summersheat 55shp10 which we all know is a 25 pdvc ,it has never ignited properly from the day i bought it.i called ESW and they tried to help but to no avail.My problem was something was clogging the air intake hole as suggested.On monday night i was out of town and my wife neglected to refill the hopper,i was called because the igniter failed to light as always.I went home cleaned it out now it works perfectly every time.So the Englander gets to stay in the house now, saved me atleast 2500 she was going to buy a new Harmon tomorrow if i didnt get it fixxed..ty RMW