Repair or Replace? With what?

[storit]

Here is the issue. I have a Whitfield Advantage II insert. It is nearly 25 years old and has run without fail, year in and year out. I have never had to do anything to it except clean it, and once when my son was about 4 (he is 22 now), put his hot wheels car in the pellets, I had to unplug the auger. Oh... I almost forgot, I had to rebuild the burn box about 12 years ago as it wore out. About a month ago, I noticed the flames getting lazy and smoke appearing inside the burn chamber. The pellets also were not burning as fast even with the flue wide open. A thorough cleaning did not fix the problem. Two nights ago it started making a dying noises and I knew the end was near.

I unhooked the stove pipe and puled the unit out so I could troubleshoot and this is what I found.
1) The noise was coming from the convection fan. I am not sure if the fan is bad or it is a result of my other findings.
2) The noise only happened when the fan speed would slow down
3) The fan only slowed down when the auger was NOT running. It appears that the fan speed dropped when the auger would cycle OFF and speed up to normal when the auger cycled ON. This was repeatable on all speed/heat settings, 1 thru 5.
4) Here is the weird part, when I manually turned the auger OFF so that it would not automatically cycle, the same pattern kept up with the power surges in the fan and it would correlate to the setting 1 thru 5 even though the auger was manually turned OFF.

At the very least, I think there is an issue with the control panel ($400 to replace), possibly the convection blower ($200 to replace) and if I am going to replace on 25 year old motor why not replace the exhaust fan (another $185 to replace) since they are probably like headlights, when one goes the other is never far behind.

So then I get to thinking, do I want to put $800 dollars into this stove or just replace it? Like I said, this old gal has been a dream. Never any problems, she just ran and ran. I spent all day today looking at replacements. I really liked the Harman Accentra ($$$$) and the Quadra-Fire Classic Bay 1200i ($$). I looked at the Breckwells but was not feeling the love (am I wrong?).

What are your thoughts? Repair? Replace? With which stove?

 

[bags]

The Harman get rave reviews here and are great stoves but as you see you $$$$ pay for that. 25 years is a pretty good run for anything let alone a pellet stove with just a few hiccups. Question you have to ask yourself is are you ready for something new? $800 bucks is entirely another thing than shelling out $3 - $4 grand.

Another words, would you be happy spending the $4 grand? Probably. But could you be content spending less than 25% of that? The old Whits are beloved stoves here by many. You could also clean the old girl up and throw some fresh paint on her too for chump change. Have you checked and / or replaced your rope gaskets lately? Oiled the bearings and done other maintenance vs. just thinking of replacement parts?

Are you sure your board is heading south and the other parts? Tough call on a re-vamp or new. Either could be a winner and it really is up to what you feel would be best. Everyone likes new stuff but then the new car smell wears off too.

I am a member of the Harman Mafia without a doubt. They are great stoves and easy to clean and deal with compared to many others so that has a value in my mind. Along with the dependability. But as mentioned, that comes with a price. I do not regret spending $4 grand at all but i also did not have the fixer up option when I bought either.

 

[rich2500]

With a stove that dependable I would not part with it, none of the new stoves are gonna go that long without a single issue.

 

[Marina1327]

With a stove that dependable I would not part with it, none of the new stoves are gonna go that long without a single issue.

I am with Rich...if you know the parts will fix it...I think I would fix it and keep it.

 

[bags]

The OP has had some issues but minor for the longevity IMHO. That's what i was kind of getting at but maybe they are ready for a change. Me I'd probably go the cheap route if I thought because after tax, misc odds and ends, etc; You're knocking on every bit of probably $4,400 bucks.

$4,400 - $800 = $3,600 for a new ride unless they find and buy a less expensive unit. The OP could be looking at the what might go wrong next scenario too. It's their warmth and wallet though. To me it'd probably be worth the chance to get another 10 to 20 years out of $800 bucks but new is nice. Nice and costly.

 

[bjr23]

Here is the issue. I have a Whitfield Advantage II insert. It is nearly 25 years old and has run without fail, year in and year out. I have never had to do anything to it except clean it, and once when my son was about 4 (he is 22 now), put his hot wheels car in the pellets, I had to unplug the auger. Oh... I almost forgot, I had to rebuild the burn box about 12 years ago as it wore out. About a month ago, I noticed the flames getting lazy and smoke appearing inside the burn chamber. The pellets also were not burning as fast even with the flue wide open. A thorough cleaning did not fix the problem. Two nights ago it started making a dying noises and I knew the end was near.

I unhooked the stove pipe and puled the unit out so I could troubleshoot and this is what I found.
1) The noise was coming from the convection fan. I am not sure if the fan is bad or it is a result of my other findings.
2) The noise only happened when the fan speed would slow down
3) The fan only slowed down when the auger was NOT running. It appears that the fan speed dropped when the auger would cycle OFF and speed up to normal when the auger cycled ON. This was repeatable on all speed/heat settings, 1 thru 5.
4) Here is the weird part, when I manually turned the auger OFF so that it would not automatically cycle, the same pattern kept up with the power surges in the fan and it would correlate to the setting 1 thru 5 even though the auger was manually turned OFF.

At the very least, I think there is an issue with the control panel ($400 to replace), possibly the convection blower ($200 to replace) and if I am going to replace on 25 year old motor why not replace the exhaust fan (another $185 to replace) since they are probably like headlights, when one goes the other is never far behind.

So then I get to thinking, do I want to put $800 dollars into this stove or just replace it? Like I said, this old gal has been a dream. Never any problems, she just ran and ran. I spent all day today looking at replacements. I really liked the Harman Accentra ($$$$) and the Quadra-Fire Classic Bay 1200i ($$). I looked at the Breckwells but was not feeling the love (am I wrong?).

What are your thoughts? Repair? Replace? With which stove?

I have the Standalone Whitfield 2 advantage. I replaced the combustion motor a couple of years ago. I bought it used and it's been great. I'd just make sure you've cleaned behind the fire brickwall and replace the fan motor and or have board rebuilt. See the sticky notes for rebuilders of the boards. These stoves are the best in MY opinion. Just fix what you have.

 

[Mikey pellet guy]

I agree fix what you have. If you were to rebuild the whole stove i mean replace everything internal its still not gonna cost you as much as 4 grand i dont think. Then you have a new stove.

 

[tbear853]

I almost bought a Whitfield Advantage II stand alone first before I found a deal on the VC stove I have had .... soon to be 25 years as well. I know my stove well, if mine goofed up now, I'd seriously look at fixing it.

 

[MButkus]

You can get the control panel fixed for much less then $400 from Heatwave electronics. Write to him to see if the control panel is going. The fans are not as much as you state. My Advantage I was installed in 1997. I replaced the auger twice (one was bad and only lasted a year) and that's it. Did you clean behind the firebrick and the two metal guards ? It could be your exhaust fan is going, hence no "dancing flame".
Last time I cleaned it was mid Nov., it hit 50 in Jersey today so I shut it down to clean it. I do use a vacuum (from Sears) and clean the ash quick (8 seconds) once a week while it's going. Just make sure no hot coals are in the sides. Basically since Nov. it' has been going steady. Just keep adding fuel.

 

[BigJohnfromCT]

Another option might be to watch Craigslist for a used stove. Strip all the relevant and useful parts. Scrap the rest. Might be financially advantageous.

 

[DneprDave]

I think its a no-brainer, Fix it!

 

[stellep]

You are replacing all the maintenance parts for $800. Sounds like another 20+ years to me.
Net profit 3-4 grand.