To repair or buy new?

[whitey76]

Let me start with some brief history:
Recently inherited a Whitfield Advantage II that came with the house just purchased in 2008. Didn't run it the first winter, only ran this winter. I had the local stove store come and perform cleaning on the unit before running this winter and to give me some idea on maintenance and operation. Currently having troubles that I thought were either a blockage or the Combustion Motor. Tore the unit apart and completely cleaned it out as well as removed the combustion motor and went to the local stove store and had them test it. Tested ok (original motor) and I had it put back on and still doesn't run. The unit has had the Convection motor replaced by the previous owner as well as the control board has been updated to the digital board from the original knob control. It has its nicks and dents but was having no issues until just now, most likely is a 1991 model.

The way I see it I have two options 1) I can have the local store come and test it to see what is wrong and have it repaired. Not sure on costs. 2) Or I can take advantage of the tax credit and purchase a new stove. The local stove store carries Lennox, Avalon, Lopi as well as a few others that I don't know if they are worth mentioning (Thelin and Astro Flamm). I'm not finding what I would consider many good reviews on any of the Lennox, Avalon or Lopi models.

The Advantage II when it was running would comfortably heat and maintain the temp in my 2,000+ sq ft. house. The unit is located in the finished portion of the basement of a ranch. Now with the unit not turning on, I am assuming a wiring issue. It kicks on and the lights on the control board blink but I am unable to adjust the settings. The convection motor will run but the combustion motor does not seem to spin.

The only other stoves I would have available would be from Lowes or Home Depot and I'm not sure I would want to have to deal with either of them.


Any suggestions are welcome. I do have alternative heat so don't worry I'm not freezing here as I type this.

 

[Ladderlieu]

Sorry to hear about your troubles.
Something else to consider, but I DO NOT know if this is an option... Perhaps some stove dealers take "trade ins" on older stoves? I know the current stove isn't running, and if it were me I'd let the stove dealer know that if he did offer some money on a trade in. Just a thought

 

[whitey76]

Thanks for the reply. New here and I've been surfing through here and found some info on the stoves that the dealer does have.

I did talk to them about the possibility of a new stove and he did comment that depending on the condition of my stove that they could possibly offer a few hundred dollars for it on trade.

One other option that they did have was a Whitfield Advantage Plus that they took in on trade and added parts to. They are asking $995 for it but only a 90 day parts warranty. Figure if I go new, most likely from what I can decipher I'll go with the Avalon Astoria, I can take advantage of the tax credit and get a 7 year warranty.

Anything I should know about the Astoria? From what I can find in other posts it seems as though most who have them are happy with them. The Lopi's seems to have issues, which is concerning to me since they both come from Travis Ind.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Well I might as well toss in my 2 cents worth.

Personally if the stove is in good shape as far as the chassis goes, I would fix it.

Can't be too serious of a problem as there is so little to these things anyway.

Get out the schematic (or if you dont have it, get one online) and trace out and see where the loss of power to the exhaust blower is.

Could be an open snap switch. (high temp)

Snowy

 

[smwilliamson]

I'm curious of the new control board came with a new wiring harness. Most digital conversions I do I replace the high limit switches to fused switches, new wiring harness and new control board. The Whitfield is great stove. Whatever is giving you the problem is a part...not the stove. I'll help you troubleshoot it by phone if you are at all handy 508-245-6508...you need a mutli-meter.

 

[bjr23]

I've a older Whitfield Advantage II and love it, it's a good quality stove. Keep the stove and let some of the guys here help trouble shoot and I'm speaking from experience, They helped me get up and running and save me a bundel and now I know the stove inner working's. The Whitfield has quite a few aftermaket parts available which help replacement part costs. It will require a minimal of small tools a multimeter a shop vac and most importantly some patience. Go thru the sticky notes at the top of the page and review the information. I've got the reostat knobs (older style) board. I'd start troubleshooting at the pressure switch on the combustion blower making sure the tube orifice is clear and hose clear and not split. then check with ohmeter to see if switch closes, All power off doing this. Stove shops are kinda like Car Sales in that it you ask the saleman "Do I Need A new car? they'll likely rospond "Why Surrree". New stoves break down and need repair as well especially a day after the warranty's up. Don't beat me up to badly here on New Stove Sales. I'm just a guy tryin' to hold it together financially in my later years. bjr23

 

[whitey76]

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that I would rather not replace the stove since in essence I would feel like I'm tossing a perfectly good unit for small $$$ (trade in) to gain a new expensive piece that would take me a while to get any ROI on.

Even the person at the stove dealer was asking if the motor had a Molex connector on it. It does not. All of the wires are going directly to a block that is attached to the stoves inside under the control board. Since I did not do the control board change myself I have no idea what else was changed along the way. I do know that when I had the stove dealer come in and do the cleaning and give me some insight on the unit that they commented on the Convection blower and the control board as being replaced.

When I took the Combustion blower to the stove dealer he did say that it was running hot and possibly the cause of the unit shutting down. He also commented that the combustion blower motor was fluctuating in voltage and I didn't write down or retain what he said the fluctuation was. But he made it sound like it was good enough to continue running with.

Unfortuneatly I do not have a multimeter. Not exactly sure why I have never broken down and purchased one.

This past weekend I did do a very thorough cleaning of the unit. Removed the bricks, and back panels and cleaned out until I didn't see any more ash falling. The bottle brush and small hose I have for my shop vac got a good workout getting into the various nooks and crevices. As well as cleaning out the pipes to the combustion motor, since I had it off.

If anyone can point me to a schematic I'm sure I can troubleshoot this, possibly with a little help from you guys here. Of course I need to finally break down and get that multimeter.

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

[Topshelf]

I would look at repairing it also. Take up smwilliamsonon his offer to trouble shoot over the phone. I'm guessing its something simple as a fuse or maybe a connection to the motor not tight or even a circuit board connection not soldered correctly or broken? Call the manufacturer ad see if they can hook up with a schematic.

Good luck

 

[whitey76]

I haven't had a chance to grab a multimeter, but I did find the wire diagram for the digital control board on one of the sticky's at the top of the page. However, with a brief look at my current wiring compared to the diagram I noticed one thing. I have a Current sensing relay that has one wire attached from the "inlet, high limit switch" and another from the "Combustion motor". Now I realize without testing this I'm taking an educated guess but could this possibly be part of my trouble? I'm not exactly sure what that is doing. Now as I said the wiring does not match the diagram, but as you know the stove was working up until about a week ago with the current wiring. I plan on stopping out at lunch time from my work tomorrow and grab a multimeter.

One other thing I seemed to notice was that all of the limit switches appear from visual inspection to be newer (at least not original parts), other than the one that is attached to the combustion motor.

Once I get the multimeter I can give smwilliamson a call to walk through some troubleshooting. Is there a better time to call? I work 8 to 5 Eastern and of course don't have access to the stove during that time.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Hmmmmm. N/W Pa? Call me.

330-448-0300
Eric

 

[lmjr]

I did find the wire diagram for the digital control board on one of the sticky’s at the top of the page. However, with a brief look at my current wiring compared to the diagram I noticed one thing. I have a Current sensing relay that has one wire attached from the “inlet, high limit switch” and another from the “Combustion motor”. Now I realize without testing this I’m taking an educated guess but could this possibly be part of my trouble? I’m not exactly sure what that is doing. Now as I said the wiring does not match the diagram, but as you know the stove was working up until about a week ago with the current wiring. I plan on stopping out at lunch time from my work tomorrow and grab a multimeter.

One other thing I seemed to notice was that all of the limit switches appear from visual inspection to be newer (at least not original parts), other than the one that is attached to the combustion motor.

Current Sensing Relay can be taken out of circuit.

Remove CB and A from CSR and move both wires to terminal 6.

Remove RB and RW from their terminals.

Remove CSR from stove.

Also, check that little jumper wire is still connected across thermostat connections there.

 

[whitey76]

I have no problem removing the CSR from the circuit. But can someone explain to me what it is there for? And if this could potentially be part of my problem?

I understand the acronyms except what are the RB and RW? Are you reffering to the two wires going to the block where the CSR is connected?

Currently at work. Hope to dig into this thing a little more tonight to troubleshoot.

 

[lmjr]

CSR was deemed redundant by mfg. and appears that dealers where instructed to eliminate it as to simplify the circuit.

RW= Relay White
RB= Relay Black

Note: DO NOT reconnect any wire to terminal 7. It will create a short circuit

 

[whitey76]

Just wanted to get back to you guys and say thanks for the help. smwilliamson especially for the phone help and Mr. Whitfield for the wiring diagrams!

Finally found a blockage in the air intake that was causing my combustion air problem. It was small and overlooked but it was right there in front of me all the time. I have to say that since I've had the stove apart, oh about 3 times now since first posting, that it's clean as a whistle now.

Still probably going to purchase a backup combustion motor and blower, at a minimum a new gasket and replace that. Keep the motor in my back pocket for now. I need a new set of the ceramic fiber fire bricks anyway since the middle one is in two pieces and I have to assemble it together each time I clean the unit out. figure I can get all that for around $300.


Again, just wanted to say thanks! You guys were a great help! I know more about my stove now than I ever did a week or so ago! And you're all right, A CLEAN STOVE IS A HAPPY STOVE!!

 

[Pellet-King]

Long live Whitfield!!, the First and Best Stove Ever!!
Where is Dr. Whitfield today??

 

[Stovensen]

Yes, thanks to Jerry Whitfield and his doctorate in combustion engineering which led to his invention of the pellet stove in 1983, we're now sitting here in a warm and cozy house.

A little research on the www shows us that Jerry Whitfield is now manufacturing coffee roasters with his neighbour Syd Stapleton.
Syd and Jerry's Coffee roaster.
They have a rooster on the logo for their roaster (of course).
Very interesting web-site:

http://www.9designs.com/webs/coffee/about.htm