Really basic information on a Whitfield stove

[QuicksilverKites]

I've got a Whitfield pellet stove that we inherited with a home that we bought about 5 years ago. I'm trying to fix a problem with the blowers, and I'd like some advice/information/sympathy, but before I try to describe the problem, I need to be able to identify the stove. The front door says nothing but "Whitfield"; the label inside the pellet bin has, in addition to a lot of text, a barcode and the letters WH-Q alongside the number 16112 (maybe "Whitfield-Quest and a model/serial number?) There doesn't seem to be much other identification on the stove: The part numbers at the bottom of the labels probably refer to the labels themselves (both start with 6002xxxx, if that's relevant.)
Can anyone identify my stove from the information I've given, or tell me where else to look?
Thanks, guys -
Neil

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

i can email you the quest book, or any other book... send request to
[email protected]

sounds like a quest to me...

http://woodheatstoves.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=25&chapter=1
scroll down for a pictorial on identifying whitfields...

also, posting in the pellet mill might get more replies...

 

[QuicksilverKites]

Actually, somebody may be able to diagnose the problem without knowing exactly what stove I've got, because the problem, too, is pretty basic: Changing the damper setting on the control panel doesn't seem to effect airflow though the fire pit. (I've removed the exhaust motor, so I can see the damper valve: The valve moves freely as the control knob is turned, so the cable/fasteners are all okay.) So it's got to be an airflow-blockage problem, right?
So far as I can discern, air for the fire pit enters the stove through all the holes in the back panel, flows past the auger/motors/ductwork and through a little (about 1 1/2" square) hole directly below the fire pit; it's then sucked up past the heat-transfer tubes and blown into the external vent pipe by the exhaust motor (which is working just fine, thanks: I just tried it out.)

To get a little more information about how this thing is working, I just re-installed the exhaust motor and turned the stove on (without hooking it up to the vent pipe or replacing the side panels.) Both motors are working well, but there is very little exhaust airflow (adjusting the damper valve diminishes/increases the airflow only marginally, because there's not much flow to begin with.) So: Where's the exhaust motor getting its air FROM? Is there an orifice behind the heat-transfer tubes that could be blocked? And how do I get at it? All answers to these questions will be greatly appreciated, guys.
Neil

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Follow the air path and all will be revealed.

 

[QuicksilverKites]

A little more specificity, please: The air path seems to disappear behind the heat-transfer tubes above the fire pit. How do I get in there?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Well a brush on a flexible shaft would be a start, or better yet take the stove apart say starting with the firebrick and seeing what's behind that, or probing the heat exchanger from above the fire pot. Then don't forget under the fire pot out to the air intake.

 

[QuicksilverKites]

Actually, reverse-flushing the fire-pit-to-damper air-flow system with my wife's hairdryer may have done the trick. I'll let you guys know.
Neil

 

[imacman]

Actually, reverse-flushing the fire-pit-to-damper air-flow system with my wife's hairdryer may have done the trick. I'll let you guys know.
Neil

Neil, what many of the pellet burners on this forum do is the same as you mentioned about the hairdryer.....except they hook a leafblower that has the vacuum attachment directly to either the stove outlet (if you can get the stove outside), or to an outside exhaust pipe. Much higher airflow and will do a much better job of getting all the unseen ash.

 

[QuicksilverKites]

Yeah, it works fine now. (Must've been some accumulated crud up behind the heat-transfer tubes that I couldn't access any other way.)
Neil

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

From one of the stickies at the top of this forum http://www.hearthtools.com/parts/whitclean.htm you might have missed a few things.

The stove is a pipe with a bulge in the middle called the fire box.