Ok I just bought a 1996 whitfield Advantage II-T from a co-worker for $150 and I knew it was broke when I bought it. The reason I still bought it is because of reading forums and sites like this one. It sounds like a pretty good deal to me. The stove looks like new and apparently they only have been burning this stove 3-4 times/year for the past few years. The auger just quit on them last week and thats how I ended up with it. I have been a woodstove guy up until now but really want to get this pellet stove up and running to replace my wood burner. I have read the troubleshooting guides and even printed them off so I could dig right in to this thing and get it working correctly. I am somewhat mechanically inclined except when it comes to the electrical things and thats where it all gets a little cloudy for me. The light to the auger is on and it flashes like its supposed to but the auger motor does nothing. Now if I hadnt read the troubleshooting guides I probably would have already just ordered a new auger motor but after doing some reading Im not sure thats the issue. I checked the tube and it seems clear however I havent tried clearing the combution side of the metal barb out yet. I will do that tonight. Should the combustion motor be running or does it just run while the auger motor runs? I unhooked the convection blower so I could hear if the auger motor was humming but it wasnt making a peep. I have read about bypassing the limit switch but Im not totally clear on which wires I need to cross?? The wires that are connected to the switch with the rubber tubing are both black... there are 2 wires to another switch below that one that are both yellow and have nuts hold them on... Does this stove have any switches on the doors that would keep the auger from running if they were tripped? The auger turns ok by hand... I unbolted the auger motor using the allen bolt and turned the auger itself just fine. however the axle that comes out of the auger will NOT turn..Should it? Any help is very much appreciated as I am ready to get this stove up and running ASAP...
Light is on but Auger motor isnt working
- Thread starter drtnshtr
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hearthtools
Moderator Emeritus
A meter is the best tool Or a Non contact voltage stick
To see if power in gettting to each switch before the auger motor.
The Combustion blower must be running to creat vacume so yes the blower needs to be running for the auger to run
The older unit do not have a door switch but with the door open there is sell vacuum and the switch will trip.
You can connect the auger to full 120 and see if it works.
Sometimes you can take the power from the combustion blower and connected it to the auger if you dont want to make up a cord.
The pressure switch is just a switch that opens and closes the two wires going to it.
so jumping it is putting the two wire together to close the circuit.
To see if power in gettting to each switch before the auger motor.
The Combustion blower must be running to creat vacume so yes the blower needs to be running for the auger to run
The older unit do not have a door switch but with the door open there is sell vacuum and the switch will trip.
You can connect the auger to full 120 and see if it works.
Sometimes you can take the power from the combustion blower and connected it to the auger if you dont want to make up a cord.
The pressure switch is just a switch that opens and closes the two wires going to it.
so jumping it is putting the two wire together to close the circuit.
OK thanks for the quick reply and I also wanted to thank you for all the helpful info that you have posted on the internet. My combustion blower is NOT running....The 2 black wires going into the coil pack on the auger motor I am going to assume are the power wires since I didnt see any other wires going to it. I guess I could just look at the wiring diagram to figure that one out but the diagrams always look like japanese to me for some reason. I will stop and get a meter tonight on the way home from work and do some testing to see where I have juice. are the 2 black wires that go up to the vacuum switch the wires you put together to do the test? Im talking the switch that has the rubber tubing hooked to it...
hearthtools
Moderator Emeritus
drtnshtr said:
Yes but vacuum swith test is mute if your combustion blower is not working
you have to get the combustion blower working first
there is a wire diagram on our website
so it sounds as if I need to start at the combustion blower after a quick 120 volts to see if the auger is working...do you test the CB the same way? Im not sure if it matters but my stove does have the CSR
hearthtools
Moderator Emeritus
eernest4
New Member
If you have the auger motor out of the stove, connect a 120 volt test wire to the two terminals of the auger motor . (what you call the coil pack) to see if the auger motor will run without the auger attached. Then attach the auger & install in stove & again with the 120 volt test cord to see if the auger motor runs with auger installed into stove.
If it does , then the problem is with one of the thermostatic bi metal switches in series with the auger motor or the pressure switch hearthtools was talking about.
Use a vom (volt-ohm-milliamp meter) to test for 120 volt power at the terminals of the wires
that hook 2 the auger motor.
Please NOTE THAT auger motors run intermittantly ,on a 10 second on & a 10 second off cycle , to control pellet feed, so do not expect to get a constant voltage from the auger feed wires.
WHAT YOU WILL READ IS VOLTAGE for so many seconds & then no voltage for so many seconds. It cycles off & on , off & on, off & on, get it ?
If you read no voltage for like a minute, then look for a bad switch.
Check the wiring schematic on the stove or hearthtools web site.
P.S. GREAT SCORE ON THAT PELLET STOVE, I wish i had bagged it.
If it does , then the problem is with one of the thermostatic bi metal switches in series with the auger motor or the pressure switch hearthtools was talking about.
Use a vom (volt-ohm-milliamp meter) to test for 120 volt power at the terminals of the wires
that hook 2 the auger motor.
Please NOTE THAT auger motors run intermittantly ,on a 10 second on & a 10 second off cycle , to control pellet feed, so do not expect to get a constant voltage from the auger feed wires.
WHAT YOU WILL READ IS VOLTAGE for so many seconds & then no voltage for so many seconds. It cycles off & on , off & on, off & on, get it ?
If you read no voltage for like a minute, then look for a bad switch.
Check the wiring schematic on the stove or hearthtools web site.
P.S. GREAT SCORE ON THAT PELLET STOVE, I wish i had bagged it.
Sorry man I didnt mean to confuse ya..what I meant was that if the auger motor will not run without the combustion blower running and my combustion blower is NOT running then how do I test the combustion blower? The CSR I was talking about is that relay board that you show in your wiring diagram with the writing on it and I wasnt sure if maybe it needed to be removed like you show in your instructions or not...I will take pics of what I am testing today and post them along with the outcome....hearthtools said:
Yeh I feel like it was a steal...I will remove the auger motor completely today and check for power but the it sounds like my combustion blower should be running before my auger motor is but its not....eernest4 said:
Bench tested the auger motor and it works fine....I am also getting power from each one of the wires that attach to the auger motor on the stove...But when I hook up the auger motor to the wires and turn on the power I get nothing...I have to go and deliver a wood stove to a guy and when I return I will test the other things...
Ok I thought I would check combustion blower for continuity before I left and get this....I was getting voltage from the CSR but no voltage from back on the main panel...there was an empty terminal next to the one the CB is wired to so I checked it and it showed voltage. I just connected the my CB wire(large power wire) to that terminal and the CB started running and the auger was running intermittenly like you said it should. I havent looked at the wiring diagram yet to see what I have it hooked to but I will when I return after bit. Does this make any sense to you guys? Could the previous owner maybe have screwed around with the wires or something and reconnected them wrong?
hearthtools
Moderator Emeritus
You are going about it backwards
Yes
You want to check to see if all the wires are correct by matching the wires to the wire diagram.
The best way to test each component is to first to see if they are getting power.
Start with the source the wires coming from the wire terminal strip then work your way towards the component
to see what safety switch is stopping the power.
Think of it like Tree lites that if a bulb is bad it makes every bulb after that NOT WORK.
Yes
Your auger motor will not work with out the combustion blower working
So you need to see why the combustion blower is not working (or not getting power) before you think the auger system is bad
Also the blower will come on when you switch the stove to on
The auger will only get power after the Auger Button is pushed and only if the combustion blower is working to create vacuum for the Pressure switch to stay closed and keep power to the auger circuit
Yes
You want to check to see if all the wires are correct by matching the wires to the wire diagram.
The best way to test each component is to first to see if they are getting power.
Start with the source the wires coming from the wire terminal strip then work your way towards the component
to see what safety switch is stopping the power.
Think of it like Tree lites that if a bulb is bad it makes every bulb after that NOT WORK.
Yes
Your auger motor will not work with out the combustion blower working
So you need to see why the combustion blower is not working (or not getting power) before you think the auger system is bad
Also the blower will come on when you switch the stove to on
The auger will only get power after the Auger Button is pushed and only if the combustion blower is working to create vacuum for the Pressure switch to stay closed and keep power to the auger circuit
Thanks hearth!! did you read my last post? I am going over the wiring diagram now to figure out why the terminal the combustion blower was hooked up to doesnt have power but the empty terminal beside of it does have power...I hooked the CB wire to it and the CB started right up... I just need to know if thats a correct connection or not....I havent lit the stove yet but everything appears to be working now. Should the combustion blower spin very slow as well as the auger?I can see the CB fan spinning and the air is coming out of the exhaust but it is very slow...hearthtools said:
Looking at your wiring diagram my stove had the SN in the 24,000 number range so its the diagram you have a star beside. It has the inline fuse on it...The combustion blower terminal was hooked to the #4 terminal on the strip but it has no power getting to it.. I am getting power on the #3 terminal on the right side which is empty so I hooked it up there and the combustion blower worked...Im not sure this is a fix but it does work.
update: the stove has been burning for well over an hour now out in the garage...I have it hooked up to my chimney for the woodstove out there for testing purposes...I did not know about priming the auger before start-up so Im getting a slow stream of pellets right now..I have never been around a pellet stove before so Im not sure if the grate is supposed to be kept full or not...the flames will be nice and big for a few minutes then go way down and then back up again...its definitly blowing some heat...I completely read the owners manual that I printed off(the lennox manual) just so I could get myself familiar with the stove and the maintenance that needs to be performed. What exactly is the difference between the grate that comes in it and the Ultragrate the manual talks about? Is the firebrick really supposed to be foam material? I cant wait to get this thing hooked up in the house and accessorize it with a thermostat and whatever else that will make it more versatile.
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