Stove shuts down after several hours

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newnew50

New Member
Nov 24, 2008
9
Southern Ohio
Let me begin by stating that I have a whitfield advantage ll stove which I have had for over 8 years..i live in southern Ohio and there is no repair people around here that I know of, so I am on my own.... Last fall i replaced the combustion fan, and my stove worked great through out the winter...This fall the stove will work for a couple of hours 4- 12 hours, then the stove will go out.
The glass will be filthy and the pellet grate will be over flowing with pellets...I have cleaned this stove and vent completely at least six times this fall.. any ideas Thanks newnew
 
Welcome to the board. After reading many posts about problems lately, I'd suggest replacing the rope gaskets. Have you done that recently?
 
newnew50 said:
Let me begin by stating that I have a whitfield advantage ll stove which I have had for over 8 years..i live in southern Ohio and there is no repair people around here that I know of, so I am on my own.... Last fall i replaced the combustion fan, and my stove worked great through out the winter...This fall the stove will work for a couple of hours 4- 12 hours, then the stove will go out.
The glass will be filthy and the pellet grate will be over flowing with pellets...I have cleaned this stove and vent completely at least six times this fall.. any ideas Thanks newnew
this might help

insman stoves - 23 November 2008 12:41 AM
A friend of a friend called me to a house that was having a problem with a Whitfield. The auger was not running right and a few other small issues were going on. I found out the “eye” was not sensing the fire. I did some cleaning of the glass under the eye inside the auger tube and it appeared to be working well. I hope this solved the issue. I will keep all you Whitfield owners aware.
 
xpellet freakx said:
newnew50 said:
Let me begin by stating that I have a whitfield advantage ll stove which I have had for over 8 years..i live in southern Ohio and there is no repair people around here that I know of, so I am on my own.... Last fall i replaced the combustion fan, and my stove worked great through out the winter...This fall the stove will work for a couple of hours 4- 12 hours, then the stove will go out.
The glass will be filthy and the pellet grate will be over flowing with pellets...I have cleaned this stove and vent completely at least six times this fall.. any ideas Thanks newnew
this might help

insman stoves - 23 November 2008 12:41 AM
A friend of a friend called me to a house that was having a problem with a Whitfield. The auger was not running right and a few other small issues were going on. I found out the “eye” was not sensing the fire. I did some cleaning of the glass under the eye inside the auger tube and it appeared to be working well. I hope this solved the issue. I will keep all you Whitfield owners aware.


This stove has no eye thanks
 
sounds like its not getting enough air for proper burning..
if glass is sooting up right away..
I'd do a complete cleaning first..then go from there.
 
rayttt said:
sounds like its not getting enough air for proper burning..
if glass is sooting up right away..
I'd do a complete cleaning first..then go from there.

Gotta agree with this. Sooting is inefficient combustion. Don't forget to check the outside of your air intake. I found the slots in mine get clogged and it generally isn't the first thing a person checks.
 
newnew50 said:
Cleaned completely sunday did it again thanks newnew
you need to do a full cleaning
Pipe
behind the brick
the baffle behind the brick
pull the combusiton blower
clean the chamber were the combustion blower WAS mounted after you pull it

she the help files at the yellow sticky pages at the top of the pellet room.
the first link Tips on if Your pellet stove is burning lazy and or getting smoke in the house
will help you out a lot.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/13419/

and
Update here is some photos of behind a Advantage II firebrick and removal of baffle
http://www.hearthtools.com/parts/adavantageII_clean.htm
 
The issue doesn't seem to be electrical in nature, so all signs point to an air leak(s). Did you replace the rope gasket before or after the end of last season? If after, your door may need adjustment to get a good seal. Is the damper working as it should? Is the burnpot o-ring good?
 
Is your vacuum switch good ? That will kill the stove.
Pellets piling up is too many pellets being fed or lack of a good fire.
There is a pellet feed adjustment on the side control
If it's just not burning right... then that is the problem and you have to find out why air is not being sucked out enought.
Blocked chimney by birds, nests, and stuff will do that.
I have a Whitfield II repair manual if needed.
 
I want to thank everybody on here who has tried to help--------Heres where it stands as of right now---I have completely cleaned EVERYTHING---I replaced the gasket on the stove and the ash door....This did seem to help, but when i got up at 5 this morning it was out....It ran for 36 hours, which is a lot better than before....Any more ideas Thanks NEWNEW
 
is /was your glass sooting up before you notice the pot building up? have you experienced any noticable "gaps in feeding"? you could possibly be getting a "starve/smother" which can happen if feed is interrupted then starts after the fire has gone to coals , the stove then relights from the coals and burns again . but the amount of fuel dropped in before the fire starts again could be much more than normal. this can cause sooting and also can start a cycle of tripping the auger back off from the high limit or defeating the vac switch if equipped so it would then do it again. it would be worthwhile to literally watch the stove at the first sign that its not burning correctly (ie. if the glass starts sooting rapidly) and see if you notice feed inconsistancy. ive seen stoves do this in the past due to feed interruptions followed by a return to feeding , it can set up a cycle where you have fire , then coals then fire again. this is a very dirty burn and can clog vacuum lines and even the flue if not corrected. hope this helps
 
hearthtools said:
newnew50 said:
Cleaned completely sunday did it again thanks newnew
you need to do a full cleaning
Pipe
behind the brick
the baffle behind the brick
pull the combusiton blower
clean the chamber were the combustion blower WAS mounted after you pull it

she the help files at the yellow sticky pages at the top of the pellet room.
the first link Tips on if Your pellet stove is burning lazy and or getting smoke in the house
will help you out a lot.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/13419/

and
Update here is some photos of behind a Advantage II firebrick and removal of baffle
http://www.hearthtools.com/parts/adavantageII_clean.htm


dang rod,

that thing was ugly dirty! i do love the way you set that step for step pictures procedure to clean it though. nicely done!
 
stoveguy2esw said:
is /was your glass sooting up before you notice the pot building up? have you experienced any noticable "gaps in feeding"? you could possibly be getting a "starve/smother" which can happen if feed is interrupted then starts after the fire has gone to coals , the stove then relights from the coals and burns again . but the amount of fuel dropped in before the fire starts again could be much more than normal. this can cause sooting and also can start a cycle of tripping the auger back off from the high limit or defeating the vac switch if equipped so it would then do it again. it would be worthwhile to literally watch the stove at the first sign that its not burning correctly (ie. if the glass starts sooting rapidly) and see if you notice feed inconsistancy. ive seen stoves do this in the past due to feed interruptions followed by a return to feeding , it can set up a cycle where you have fire , then coals then fire again. this is a very dirty burn and can clog vacuum lines and even the flue if not corrected. hope this helps




HOW DO I CORECT THIS PROBLEM
 
xpellet freakx said:
newnew50 said:
Let me begin by stating that I have a whitfield advantage ll stove which I have had for over 8 years..i live in southern Ohio and there is no repair people around here that I know of, so I am on my own.... Last fall i replaced the combustion fan, and my stove worked great through out the winter...This fall the stove will work for a couple of hours 4- 12 hours, then the stove will go out.
The glass will be filthy and the pellet grate will be over flowing with pellets...I have cleaned this stove and vent completely at least six times this fall.. any ideas Thanks newnew
this might help

insman stoves - 23 November 2008 12:41 AM
A friend of a friend called me to a house that was having a problem with a Whitfield. The auger was not running right and a few other small issues were going on. I found out the “eye” was not sensing the fire. I did some cleaning of the glass under the eye inside the auger tube and it appeared to be working well. I hope this solved the issue. I will keep all you Whitfield owners aware.

Where is the eye in the glass in the auger tube ??????[]
 
newnew50 said:
stoveguy2esw said:
is /was your glass sooting up before you notice the pot building up? have you experienced any noticable "gaps in feeding"? you could possibly be getting a "starve/smother" which can happen if feed is interrupted then starts after the fire has gone to coals , the stove then relights from the coals and burns again . but the amount of fuel dropped in before the fire starts again could be much more than normal. this can cause sooting and also can start a cycle of tripping the auger back off from the high limit or defeating the vac switch if equipped so it would then do it again. it would be worthwhile to literally watch the stove at the first sign that its not burning correctly (ie. if the glass starts sooting rapidly) and see if you notice feed inconsistancy. ive seen stoves do this in the past due to feed interruptions followed by a return to feeding , it can set up a cycle where you have fire , then coals then fire again. this is a very dirty burn and can clog vacuum lines and even the flue if not corrected. hope this helps




HOW DO I CORECT THIS PROBLEM

if this is what its doing, we need to figure out what interrupts the unit has for the feed auger , if vacuum baced interrupts (vac switches) then check the ports for debris and hoses for leaks, vac hoses tend to get brittle with age and heat and can crack , this causes a loss of vacuum , now this will not as readily cause cold feed issue but as your stove heats up your air travelling through it beomes less dense, this magnifies the issue of the leak, if the leak and the lighter air are enough of a drop then the switch will open and feed stops , after the fire starts to die and the air density picks back up the switch can be pulled closed again and the feed starts again, creating a cycle of feed and starve feed and starve.

a "snapdisk" works in a similar fashion though strictly from temperature. these can wear out and "snap" open at a lower temperature than they are designed to. depending on its function a snapdisk interrupt (usually a "high limit" ) could interupt feeding in the same manner then "snap closed" again as the unit cools. the only cure for this is to replace it.

the reason im bring both of these up is that i am not familiar with the whitfield's control and safety monitoring systems. maybe a whitfield familiar tech could elaborate on what the system does in that stove.
 
newnew50 said:
xpellet freakx said:
newnew50 said:
Let me begin by stating that I have a whitfield advantage ll stove which I have had for over 8 years..i live in southern Ohio and there is no repair people around here that I know of, so I am on my own.... Last fall i replaced the combustion fan, and my stove worked great through out the winter...This fall the stove will work for a couple of hours 4- 12 hours, then the stove will go out.
The glass will be filthy and the pellet grate will be over flowing with pellets...I have cleaned this stove and vent completely at least six times this fall.. any ideas Thanks newnew
this might help

insman stoves - 23 November 2008 12:41 AM
A friend of a friend called me to a house that was having a problem with a Whitfield. The auger was not running right and a few other small issues were going on. I found out the “eye” was not sensing the fire. I did some cleaning of the glass under the eye inside the auger tube and it appeared to be working well. I hope this solved the issue. I will keep all you Whitfield owners aware.

Where is the eye in the glass in the auger tube ??????[]
Found this,, may help

http://www.butkus.org/whitfield_pellet_stove.htm
 
UPDATE

Thank you PYRO for all of your help. I finally got it fixed..It seemed to be a combination of things..
1 The combustion fan blades were dirty
2 Replaced bushing on auger very easy to do and cheap
3 Replaced air hose to combustion fan

STOVE IS WORKING BETTER THAN IT HAS IN THE LAST 12 YEARS

Thanks again to everybody on here who helped me MERRY CHRISTMAS
 
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