I am a new member, however been lurking for a few years getting advice and suggestions on pellet stoves. I did not find exactly what I was looking for so, for my first post I am hoping to get some quick answers. I came home last night and the pellet stove was off and it was cold (40 degrees inside temp). This stove is installed in my garage, so no additional heat source available. The system shut itself down. I checked that there were pellets in the hopper and it was 3/4 full. I removed the pellets, and cleaned the hopper area and auger area as good as I could. I then proceeded to do a thorough clean since it was down. I put it back together and put about 1/4 hopper of pellets in. The blower would start but the auger never turned or dropped pellets. I then attempted to push the back of the snap disc number 2 and number 3 (as there seems to be a "button" on it possibly a reset (according the manual it said to reset the snap disc #3. Reinstalled and still no auger turn. I did not take out the auger or run a wire up the trough to see if it was clogged, but I was not hearing the auger even attempting to turn. Is it possible that it is clogged so tight that it needs to be removed (would the motor still not attempt to make noise to turn the auger)? I guess other than finding out that there is a blockage and clearing it, what is the next step? The snap disc's seem to be fairly expensive to just replace and see if the stove works. I attempted a few checks and will attempt some more when I am done with work. I might attempt to jumper out the snap disc number 2 and test, and same with number 3 and test. But I am just wondering why it would have quit as quick as it did. The temps have been very cold (8 to minus 11 the last few days) so the stove has been running nonstop. I keep the stove thermostat set to 50. Hoping for a quick fix and answer to get this back up and running. Thanks in advance for your help and assistance.
Pellet Stove quit working
- Thread starter sammer4u
- Start date
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Ssyko
Minister of Fire
Not meaning to be sarcastic but it would help all of us to give you meaningful advice if we had a clue as to what stove you own how long you have used it and if you have a manual
I mistakenly forgot the most important part, it is a Heatilator Eco Choice PS35. It was purchased in 2011, it is used yearly from November to April if weather is below 50 out. I do have the owners manual, not much help pretty vague as far as the snap disc's.. says to replace if this is not happening. Trying to isolate things with some helpful advice instead of installing new snap discs, vacuum switch, auger motor, etc... Not trying to be sarcastic as well, but trying to be frugal and check this out before replacing good parts. Just looking for info for the first time servicing a pellet stove.
Sorry for the lack of info on the unit, my mistake.
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
Yes. The blower starts, however normal startup consists of the pellets being dropped into the chamber and ignition takes place. While running for about 2 minutes there were no pellets dispersing. I did not hear the auger engage either.
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
Ok unplug the stove and take the red wire off your vacuum switch that comes from the control board and place it on the #2 snap disc where the orange wire is. This just bypassed your vac switch and hopper lid switch for diagnostics. Plug in and hit start let us knowwhat happens.
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I will try that out in 2 hours. I will report my findings on that. As far as the the blower shutting down, it appears to continue to run. I believe after cleaning I let it fire up (or so I thought) for a good amount of time while I cleaned up and did a few things. When I went back to it, the blower was running but not the auger and did not fill. Had to be close to 5 minutes or more.
Thanks for the help so far! This is what I was looking for to try to eliminate bits and pieces!
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
They are all different ranges. Have you tried hooking the auger up to 120vac to see if it runs. Take an old lamp cord and hook to the auger the plug into the wall socket.
I did not get a chance to reply last night, but I did work on the unit. Here is what I did, I removed the auger and motor, cleaned the tube out. I removed the hose from the vacuum switch and blew it towards the auger to make sure that was open. I then put some pellets in the burn pot and plugged it in. It heated, but the auger never turned or started. Unplugged, and jumped the lid switch, no difference. Jumped the vacuum switch and the auger motor started. Shut the stove down, plugged the vacuum switch back up and everything worked except the convection blower did not start. Jumped that disc and the blower came on immediately. The unit worked, but not as it was supposed to with the convection blower running immediately. So I will get a new snap disc for that connection. The motor and auger turned and worked, the stove fired up. I assume the other two disc's are working as they should. The disc controlling the convection blower (snap disc #1) must have gave out causing the stove to shut down and not fire back up. I did push the buttons on the back of disc #2 and #3 which apparently are the resets, and maybe that helped the cause as well?
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
I installed the new snap disc number 1 yesterday. Seemed to function as normal for most of the day, and then this morning is was shut down. I hit the reset button and it fired up. Not sure why it stopped after working all day shutting down when up to temp, and starting back up when the thermostat called for it to fire up. Maybe just a hiccup over the night?
So I pulled the auger and cleaned it up again. Put it back in and pulled the red wire from vacuum switch and hooked it to disc #2 orange wire. Fired it up and convection blower did not come on gave it about 5-8 minutes. The auger turns and spit pellets into pot. Changed wires back to original spots and blower came on after what seemed a long time. Never seems to take that long normally. According to manual if convection blower does not come on to replace disc #1 which I did. Says blower motor might have jamb. Blower unit needs to be replaced or control box needs to be replaced. Doubt control box needs to be replaced. What other checks can be done to figure this out? Service tech sounded busy since we were in a very cold spell. This is starting to get frustrating... however finding out how simple these stoves are! Is another snap disc worthy of replacing? Is vacuum switch worthy of replacing?
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
Ok im reading alot about the convection blower, that is the room blower. It is not supposed to be on untill the stove reaches about 120f-140f. Your combustion blower is supposed to be on and stay on when you turn the stove on. It creates a vacumm which in turn closes the vac switch and allows the auger to start. If the combustion blower does not come on i would pull the motor and see if it spins easily by hand, give it a good clean, blow out the windings and lube if you can. Use an old lamp cord and bench test the motor.
Combustion blower is fine, that fires up right away and stays running. The convection (room) fan does not seem to do it's thing. However, I am not able to get a reading of the temperatures. I wonder if the snap disc #2 is at fault? My understanding is that snap disc #1 controls the convection blower (which is new and replaced), and if I jumper this disc wires the convection blower runs constantly. While running the stove with the vacuum switch and lid switch bypassed (as Ssyko's note mentioned above) the convection blower came on after quite a long period of time and then shut down during this same period of time. The flame was hot and big (The outside of the stove was hot to the touch). Again no way to physically tell the temperature. What does the thermocouple have to do with the convection blower? What part does the thermocouple play with the stove? In other words what does the T/C tell the stove to do or not do?
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
Thermocouple acts like a proof of fire. As the stove starts it gets heat from the fire and creates voltage the hotter it gets (millivolts) when it reaches its first stage a green lite will come on and auger will feed a little more pellets. When it reaches its second stagege a red light will come on and the stove will go out of start up mode into run mode. Thes lights are in the control box on my quad. Make sure your thermocouple is touching the end of the ceramic cover
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
Update... spent 3 hours on the stove last night. I took the convection blower out and verified it was clean and worked. Removed the thermocouple tube and cleaned that, made sure the t/c was inserted and touching the end of the tube (the closed end). Made sure the tube was 1" in the firepot. Fired it up. After 35 minutes the convection fan did not start. I had the thermostat way up. I had a temperature sensor reading device and was only getting about 60-65 degrees on the wall where the snap discs are located. I then proceed to put the sides back on, and turned the fan switch to high (a 3 selection type switch and I used it mainly on the low setting 90% of the time). Once I put the side panels on, the convection fan kicked on. It seemed to run fine, and I sat with it for 2½ hours. It did not get up to my high set point (70°), but when I moved the thermostat to a temp closer to the temp it was reading it seemed to click. So I decided to let it run a bit while I did something else and watch the news. After about 35 minutes I checked it again and turned down the fan to low and left it for the night. Got up this morning and it was running, however I am not sure if it shut down and started on it own, or never shut down? Nonetheless, I cranked up the t-stat and kicked the switch to the middle setting and left it. I have no idea if it is still running or is running like it should getting to temp, shutting down and starting back up again? I am beginning to wonder what this tells me, is the fan switch bad? Is the thermostat screwing with things? Why was it not getting warm enough to kick on the convection fan until I turned the blower to high? Or was it because I had the side panel off and sucking to much cold (40°) air around it? The temperature on top of the stove before the convection fan kicked on was about 120°.. after the fan was on it was about 119° or so. Any thoughts on this would be great. I did order a new vacuum switch and figure I will install it anyhow, cannot hurt. But still at a loss as to why it is doing what it is doing. Have had everything unbolted and removed on this thing now with a through clean.
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
You convection blower(room blower) wont come on until stove hits 120f, its operating properly. Cleaning everything out helped and when you get home set the tstat to 1-2 deg up so stove starts, watch it till it satisfies the tstat. If is starts shut down it is working the way it is supposed to. I bet your thermocouple wasn’t making a good connection or was dirty.
Well, here is an update and I am at a point of what could possible be wrong. I replaced the vacuum switch, and bought a new thermostat. I was informed that getting the vacuum switch might be a good thing to replace considering the age. The thermostat was cheap so why not. So, replaced snap disc #1 with a ceramic disc, vacuum switch, thermostat, and fired it up. The red call light is immediately on, stove starts it's start up process. There is a blue light that flickers on the control box, and then changes to a steady green light. After sometime the green light changes to red, my understanding is that these two lights (green and red) are the thermocouple status potentially. Not sure what the green or red means, but that is what is on. The red seems to be the longest, so potentially the running light? The convection blower started up, but shut down after about a minute and the stove appeared to do a shut down mode.. then after another minute the pellets started dropping and it fires up again. The convection blower does not start up for a very long process. I shut down the stove, jumper disc number 1 (which makes the convection blower on constantly) and plug it back in. Things seem to run, but after a bit of time it shuts down the pellet distribution. I get power from the red wire from the control box to the vacuum switch. I get power on one side of snap disc #1. I get power to disc #3. But it does not keep the convection blower running, nor does it seem to want to keep performing. The only thing I have not switched on this stove is the snap disc #2, or #3. I have not changed the lid switch. I have jumpered the lid switch, and snap disc #1 as mentioned. I actually replaced disc #1 with the old disc. The new one is a ceramic one, the old one is not. They both seem to do the same thing. What am I missing? The exhaust pipe has been dismantled and cleaned. The entire system has been cleaned numerous times. It just seems as if the stove does not allow it to continue running. The pellet gate is at the same location it always has been, the new thermostat is set up same as old one. What is the next step, is it the thermocouple? I cleaned it, adjusted it within the cap, set it as it is to be according to the manual. This is my stove, and the manual I have been using with your comments on working with this stove. "http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/communications/ECO PELLET_consumer_serv_man.pdf" I am at a point where I do not know what to look for, and want to avoid calling a stove guy in. They are still booked out from what I understand. As always, thanks for your input and assistance. This stove is starting to win.
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
Can you time the process? Call light comes on, pellets feed, green light ( means thermocouple has reached 2.7 mV) fire burns how long before red light comes on(red light means thermocouple has reached 12.0 mV)? Convection blower comes on. Then stove goes into shutdown. That entire process is the start up sequence and it will only go for 18 min. If the fire is not big or hot enough it will shut down. Try opening the hopper gate a little more.
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