No Thermostat connection

This is the side of the stove with the control panel.

You should be able to see the back of the control board by looking in the inside of the stove....may have to remove a cover? Usually the stat connections are on the rear of the board.

In the first photo it looks as though you have a copper tubing reducer on the intake air. Am I correct? Or am I not looking at it corrctly?

Yes it looks like copper to me too.

But it looks like it is reduced drasticly,

I would almost tink that you would want more air than what would go through a 3/4" or 1" pipe.

Here are some pictures of the back of the control board. Looks like a sealed unit to me, but the red wire at the top looks very like what John C posted in a previous picture. Could this be the stats jumper? I can't see the bottom because of the blower fan. But I think this might be the jumper and it looks like it is in place. And if so, does this mean this is NOT my problem?

Could this be causing my problems?

It may not be, but if it was me I would not restrict the intake air unless a technician or the stove manufacturer recomended that you do.

Even though the pic is blurry, I'll take a guess that it IS the stat jumper wire. If so, that's NOT your problem.

In the original post you said that it burns for about 45 minutes and then the fire goes out? I just want to be sure I'm understanding correctly

Actually the augur stops spitting out pellets and this causes the flame to go out.

I agree with imacman, I bet that it is the jumper wire. Even if it was that wouldn't stop the auger from feeding, it would just stay in low fire if it works like my stove. If you haven't already done it I would do a thorough cleaning,m top to bottom, front to back. If you don't have a manual for it try to find one online. It should give you step by step cleaning instructions. Also, see if you can make sure that the auger is free and not partially jammed or stuck. The other thing does the room fan start up? If that blower doesn't start up the stove will over heat and shut down.

The very first thing to do is to make sure that the connections on that jumper are tight and not oxidized because if they are loose or oxidized the controller will act like there is no jumper there.

If your damper is set for burning more pellets than are being delivered after a while there will not be enough fire in the burn pot to keep the POF (proof of fire) system closed this leads to the stove entering shutdown (auger stops, and so forth).

So after having verified the jumper is actually making solid contact I would then check and clean the POF system.

Appreciate your advice very much. Yes the fans work perfectly fine, actually I am going to take your advice and change the air output pipe to fit the size of the stove, I don't know why they had that much reduction, I can only assume that the person who had the stove before me was even more ignorant of pellet stoves than I am. And I will have a go at cleaning the stove as you describe. Thanks so much.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the POF system and how do I clean it? Will the instructions of Gary Gileau cover it?

From Smokey the Bear:

The very first thing to do is to make sure that the connections on that jumper are tight and not oxidized because if they are loose or oxidized the controller will act like there is no jumper there.

How do I do this, it is very hard to get at the back of the control panel?

How do I do this?

Do you have a manual for that stove?

POF is proof of fire normally it is a thermo disc stuck against the exhaust system (frequently called a low limit snap disc) it senses when the temperature in the exhaust system is at a certain temperature by closing. When the controller checks this switch and finds it is closed it sort of says hey great we have fire, exit start up mode, start the convection blower, and enter run mode. Some stoves have a thermo couple that serves this purpose, and some have a photo eye that actually sees the light from the fire in the burn pot. Your oil fired heating system if you have one also uses a photo eye as a proof of fire system

If your stove has a snap disc you remove it (always stove off, cold, and unplugged) and wipe it clean with a damp cloth. You can check it using a lighter or match and a continuity tester.

Usually it is more difficult testing a thermocouple but cleaning one is a simple operation of wiping with a cloth.

A photo eye can also be tested, once again cleaning it and any lens between it and the burn pot is a matter of wiping with a cloth.