Help! Problem with Whitfield Profile 30 Pellet Stove -Baffled!

[Debc]

I purchased a Profile 30 4yrs ago, have already replaced the ignitor after 1yr, the photoeye shortly thereafter, and now am encountering a problem that I can't figure out. The stove starts up normally, but after a short period of time, sometimes before a flame can ignite, and sometimes with a flame in the box......the stove will shut down.....all power, blower and all, leaving the room to fill up with smoke. After reading the manual, my problem was not exactly listed, I decided to replace the pressure switch and the high limit switch but the problem still persists. I have had the stove and all it's parts cleaned thoroughly from dust and debris, The vent is clean. Once the stove shuts down, I am able to get it running again by.......unplugging the stove and plugging it back in, the pellets feed, the fire continues, and the fan comes back on. I then have to turn the unit off by the thermostat and about 2-3 minutes later I turn the thermostat back up, and the stove will usually run as normal except I have to leave the thermostat all the way up to prevent the stove from turning off and recycling causing the restart process and problem all over again. I find myself replacing things that don't need replacing, leaving me baffled...Any suggestions that may help with this start-up problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bit_flores]

If your room is filling up with smoke, install an outside air feed pipe to the stove's combustion air intake. That way, if the stove goes out again, the smoke will vent outside.

Attached is a diagram from a England Stove Works manual. The combustion air supply is the lower hose in the diagram.

 

[Debc]

I would really like to solve the problem of the stove shutting off.....I need to use it. When working properly, smoke never comes into the house. Someone told me that it may be the control board or wire harness. The way that it is working now, I can not use the thermostat for it, because it just spontaneously shuts off......all power, blower and all!

 

[rayttt]

Im a relative newby to pellet stoves (I got a Harman p38 without igniter).
But it sounds like its not getting proof of fire..whatever mechinism that may be (photoeye?).
instead of the ignitor if after its off and you manually light the fire does it then run? it sounds like its not running within its set time limit for proof of fire

 

[Philip]

I'm not familiar with your stove and am a newbe also so this is just my two cents worth. Can you run the stove on manual without using the thermostat? If so, do you still have the problem at start up? If not, then the problem is with the thermostat or in the control board circuit that relates to the thermostat. If you still have the problem when the stove is run on manual, then I agree with Rayttt that it sounds like a proof of fire. Another poster had a problem with his stove just shutting down completely but it blew a fuse every time. Since your stove will work after it is reset (unplugged) it must "think" there is no fire and is just shutting down completely. If you replaced the photoeye and that didn't fix the problem, it may be the control board. Have you had the dealer out to look at it?

 

[Shane]

Sounds to me like it's not igniting in time to activate the photoeye and or the photoeye lens is dirty and needs cleaned. The other possibility is that the board is bad and not allowing the unit to stay on through the entire start up cycle. When this stove starts up it's default on medium speed, it stays that way until the photoeye detects light then it goes to whatever setting the user has it set to. It's the easiest way to test whether the photoeye is activating. If you have no control over blower speed or feed rate it tells you that the photoeye is your culprit.

In addition even if you did add the OAK it wouldn't help much due to the fact that the air inlet tube on those whitfields has two or three half dollar sized holes in it. NOt like an Englander which apparantly has a solid tube.

 

[Debc]

I have not had anyone out to look at it yet, I wanted to see if I could fix it myself first. I thought of the photo eye also, because I have replaced that in the past as well, and am familiar with cleaning it. I thought I had been through it all with this. But what I don't understand is why the entire Power to the stove goes out....it doesn't default, but it entirely shuts off, and I have to unplug it and replug it back in. I am still able to use the stove. But it is a real pain to get it going. I have found that what works most times is......starting it, and it will usually shut down before the flame ignites, so.....I then unplug it and re plug it, and the pellets feed. When the fire does ignite, I turn the thermostat to the OFF position and after about two minutes I turn the thermostat all the way up, and it will usually (but not always) stay running. I have been using it like this all winter! The repairman is SO expensive, I really wanted to try to fix it myself if possible, but I may have to resort to paying someone if I can' t figure it out. I don't think the stove would lose ALL power if it were the photo eye.......i think~

 

[Shane]

You're right, it should go into fault mode. The blowers will shut off because it thinks there is no flame, but it should fault. I would look at the control board not functioning properly. I used to record the ser. #'s and let people purchase and try the board, and if that wasn't it let them return it, (after verifying it still worked on my showroom unit) if the board wasn't the problem. Your dealer may or may not do that for you, but it's worth a shot and would save service call cost. Another thing maybe to check is your thermostat wire and the thermostat itself. Just put a jumper on the thermostat connects and see how the stove runs then. Let us know and we'll try to help you out as much as we can.

 

[Debc]

This site is great!! Thanks for all your responses. I will try the thermostat......stay tuned!

 

[ADSchultz]

Clean both sides of the IR filter in front of the photocell and the surface of the photocell. FYI, if you ever need a flame sensor order it from Digikey. $16.00 instead of over a hundred. I've also found that the flame sensors will lose sensitivity to IR before they lose sensitivity to visible light. So using an ohmeter and room light is not a good assurance the photocell is good.

I put a bit of gasketing around the IR lens. I also ran brass tubing into the stove pointed at the lens and photocell. Now I can clean it from outside the stove with a can of compressed air.