high temp wont rest.........??

[monsondad]

ok here we go.... new to the pellet stove world. Bought a used Saranac pedastal from a good freind who was getting rid of his. Stove worked great for the weekend then the other night the convection fan just stopped running. Also noticed the high temp cutout tripped. My fault still trying to get the settings right. Ok well when all cooled down i tried to reset cutout and it wouldnt reset. The fan will NOT come on now. The exhaust fan works and the hopper will feed. Now i know this is a normally open switch so i tried to bypass it just to see if fan would work but doing so cuts out the hopper also. I have hooked direct power to the fan and it will spin and work. Im thinking the high temp is defective due to it not reseting but dont know enough about these stoves to be sure. Any suggestions would be appreciated Thanks

 

[jtakeman]

I don't think its the high temp causing the fan not to run. But the fan is causing the high temp to trip! If the high temp was tripped you wouldn't be able to get anything to work.

Test the convection blower with a lamp cord. I bet it doesn't work. Remove the convection blower, clean and lube it. If it still doesn't work you'll need a new one. SmokeyTheBear will be along to assist in the debug.

 

[monsondad]

I wired direct power to fan and it works fine. i did pull it out originally and cleaned and lubed it. with direct power it works. checked the power from board to fan and i have nothing there with stove power on. but like i said the switch is listed as normally open but when i test it i have continuity thru it and it wont rest. even when isolated from unit.

 

[jtakeman]

Sorry guess i didn't have enough java yet. I missed the direct power connection. Where the heck is that bear????

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If you have a decent pellet in the hopper and you are operating the stove at firing rate 3 or above, you will have problems with the convection fan thermaling off on you which will trip the 250 °F high limit.

High limit switches can sometimes be hard to reset, with the stove off, unplugged, and cold, you can remove that switch and test it using a multimeter to verify if it resets when you press that little red button (I use something that is blunt and small enough to clear the guard around the little red button).

You will also need to clean the convection blower, its motor, and the motor's cooling fan, provide it with more oil in each port until it turns easily.

Then keep the stove off of levels 4 and 5. When the stove is in level three you need to use the fan override to put the convection fan at a rate that stands a chance of removing enough heat from the heat exchanger to keep the air in the stove's shell from causing the thermal protection from stopping the convection blower.

Basically the convection fan needs to run faster than it does or the controller needs to feed less fuel or the convection fan flow rate needs to be higher or you need to burn a less btu producing pellet. This is from someone who has been there done that.

There have been several controllers in that particular stove over the years, if you have a stove with the proper controller it has three firing setups in it. Consult the installation manual You should have three tables in it, change the jumper to select the firing rate that has the least on time and most off time for the top firing rate. This will make what is normally firing rate 3 become 5. Now I need to tell you that there are also controllers on the stove that do not have this ability. Make certain your controller matches your manual and that your manual has the three tables in it.

Some stoves also made it out with a 200°F instead of 250°F high limit switch installed. You should be able to verify what is on that unit when you take the snap disc out to test it.

If any stove gets to the point that its high limit switch trips it should be gone over with a fine toothed comb as other parts may have become damaged. This includes the control board.

I have replaced the convection blower on my unit with a higher flow rate one. Unfortunately I didn't buy a couple of spares at the time (my replacement blower cost me $49.00).

Once you get that switch reset you might still need to unplug the stove to reset the controller (I have a case of CRS this morning as I haven't had a second cup of coffee yet).

Keep us in the loop.

 

[monsondad]

ok great info. my switch is a 250. part #611240. now my controller does have the jumper setup on the top but i do not have the manual that shows the jumper table. basically mine is on the first 2 pins. I have taken the switch out and isolated it. that reset is small but when ohm'ed it reads then when i push button to rest it goes to zero. so i know im pushing it in enough but it wont stay open. now pulled and cleaned oiled the convection fan motor and it spins freely. no binding. cleaned the exhaust one also. had all back in and im not even getting power from board to fan even with rest button pushed in. checked the snap disc on exhaust and it is still open. do you think my board could of fried?? is there a way of checking that?? now i have unplugged and plugged back in and am about to the point of banging my head against a wall.

 

[jtakeman]

about to the point of banging my head against a wall.

That should fix it! ;-) These pellet eaters can be a PITA at times. Hang in there, You get it!!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

ok great info. my switch is a 250. part #611240. now my controller does have the jumper setup on the top but i do not have the manual that shows the jumper table. basically mine is on the first 2 pins. I have taken the switch out and isolated it. that reset is small but when ohm'ed it reads then when i push button to rest it goes to zero. so i know im pushing it in enough but it wont stay open. now pulled and cleaned oiled the convection fan motor and it spins freely. no binding. cleaned the exhaust one also. had all back in and im not even getting power from board to fan even with rest button pushed in. checked the snap disc on exhaust and it is still open. do you think my board could of fried?? is there a way of checking that?? now i have unplugged and plugged back in and am about to the point of banging my head against a wall.

Are any of the lights on on the controller?

The head banging only hurts and does nothing to fix the stove.

ETA: It also sounds like you need to get a new high limit switch. This switch BTW is a normally closed switch. It just stops the auger from feeding, then the stove does an out of fuel routine.

 

[monsondad]

oh ok that makes better sense. The manual i do have says its a normally open switch. So im supposed to have power thru it when hooked up. Everything will work BUT the convection fan. The fan WILL work though when direct power is sent to it. This is what i dont get. When i push the start button that light comes on....auger light flashes... exhaust fan turns on.... after a few flashes auger light goes to steady on and the heat level light comes on to level 1 spot and pellets start to drop. But no convection fan. And just so i dont forget later Thanks for your time and input!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

oh ok that makes better sense. The manual i do have says its a normally open switch. So im supposed to have power thru it when hooked up. Everything will work BUT the convection fan. The fan WILL work though when direct power is sent to it. This is what i dont get. When i push the start button that light comes on....auger light flashes... exhaust fan turns on.... after a few flashes auger light goes to steady on and the heat level light comes on to level 1 spot and pellets start to drop. But no convection fan. And just so i dont forget later Thanks for your time and input!

There will not be a convection fan running until the proof of fire switch gets to temperature and closes. This can take ten minutes or so at startup.

 

[monsondad]

oh my god if thats the only problem, my own ignorance ,im definately going to bang my head. i will check and see tonight when i get home. if all works good .... i thank you again and sorry for wasting time. like i said....new to the pellet world. but while i still have you for future reference.....where the heck do you get parts for your saranac?? no dealer around here has any! called a bunch and nobody deals with these.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

oh my god if thats the only problem, my own ignorance ,im definately going to bang my head. i will check and see tonight when i get home. if all works good .... i thank you again and sorry for wasting time. like i said....new to the pellet world. but while i still have you for future reference.....where the heck do you get parts for your saranac?? no dealer around here has any! called a bunch and nobody deals with these.

There are tons of generic parts that work.

Here is one place http://www.stonewelltradingcompany.com/Heating-Heating_Parts_and_ACC.html that sells the parts, you can also contact the folks at Hudson River.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Bumpy, how is it going?

 

[monsondad]

Morning. Ok first thanks for all the info. GREATLY appreciated. Fired her up last night and flame started .... waited a bit and bam....there goes the fan. blowing on high speed. Adjusted heat level to see if fan would adjust and it worked like a champ after that. Adjusted back to factory settings the auger rate and seemed to run a heck of a lot better. enjoyed a nice warm night of not using any oil!! Glad i found this forum and again thank you all for the information. Im sure ill get the hang of this pellet thing soon enough.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Glad you are off and running now a couple of other tips, pay close attention to build up in the burn pot, if your burn pot doesn't have a gasket under the rim, I suggest you get some rope gasket to wrap around the pot under the rim.

The other one is to verify that the auger flight cover in the hopper doesn't have a gap around it at the top, if it does get some flat stove window glass gasket and seal that gap.

Both of those tips fix air leaks that can ruin your burn and result in a fast filling burn pot.

 

[monsondad]

Yes my burn pot has the rope around the bottom of the rim. I will check the auger flight cover tonight. You say thats in the hopper? If so i will check for gaskets. Again thanks guys. Glad i stumbled into this forum. Not really sure where Standish ME is but if im ever up that way beers are on me!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Yes my burn pot has the rope around the bottom of the rim. I will check the auger flight cover tonight. You say thats in the hopper? If so i will check for gaskets. Again thanks guys. Glad i stumbled into this forum. Not really sure where Standish ME is but if im ever up that way beers are on me!

What? Someone in Massachusetts that doesn't know where Standish, Me is? Perhaps Sebago Lake might ring a bell.

 

[slls]

I'm not sure where it is lol.