We've had a lot of trouble over the past 2 years with our Whitfield Advantage II. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of skilled technicians. They clean it and then say that's about all they can do for it.
The problem is that the burn pot fills up overnight for various reasons.
What helped a lot this year was:
1. We got better pellets
2. We changed our stove pipe from a horizontal pipe to one that goes up to our roofline.
We also replaced the auger motor, which had gone belly-up, although we suspect our new motor has a higher rpm.
So here's the latest problem: the right half of the burn pot doesn't burn. For the past few years I noticed that the right half of the flame seems lazier than the left. Also the right half of the stove has blacker soot than the left. But it's really obvious now; when we start up the stove and let it burn for an hour, we get a big lazy flame everywhere and the burn pot fills up. But if I turn off the auger and then boost up the red dots (combustion blower?) the left side burns down but the right side doesn't. (Pic attached).
Another thing--the door. When I latch it shut, it is really easy to do. I barely have to push it. I've done the test with a piece of paper to check the gasket. There's a little resistance, but not a lot. The gasket hasn't been changed in 15+ years. Also over time the door keeps popping its bottom hinge out and we keep pounding it back in. It still sticks out because we never could get it back totally.
The flue pipe probably needs cleaning. We've removed the bottom of the clean out tee but we haven't yet tried to get a tool around the corner (I wanted a double clean out tee, but they don't make it in a 3-inch to 4-inch converter, which is what we needed).
So, all you experts out there...my theory is that their weird thing with the right half of the burn pot acting differently than the left has to do with the door. Shouldn't it be harder to latch it? Is there a way to adjust something so that it is a tighter fit? Do I need to replace the gasket?
Also our combustion fan blades are really caked with soot. Does that matter? Should I replace it or is there a way to clean it off?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Susie
The problem is that the burn pot fills up overnight for various reasons.
What helped a lot this year was:
1. We got better pellets
2. We changed our stove pipe from a horizontal pipe to one that goes up to our roofline.
We also replaced the auger motor, which had gone belly-up, although we suspect our new motor has a higher rpm.
So here's the latest problem: the right half of the burn pot doesn't burn. For the past few years I noticed that the right half of the flame seems lazier than the left. Also the right half of the stove has blacker soot than the left. But it's really obvious now; when we start up the stove and let it burn for an hour, we get a big lazy flame everywhere and the burn pot fills up. But if I turn off the auger and then boost up the red dots (combustion blower?) the left side burns down but the right side doesn't. (Pic attached).
Another thing--the door. When I latch it shut, it is really easy to do. I barely have to push it. I've done the test with a piece of paper to check the gasket. There's a little resistance, but not a lot. The gasket hasn't been changed in 15+ years. Also over time the door keeps popping its bottom hinge out and we keep pounding it back in. It still sticks out because we never could get it back totally.
The flue pipe probably needs cleaning. We've removed the bottom of the clean out tee but we haven't yet tried to get a tool around the corner (I wanted a double clean out tee, but they don't make it in a 3-inch to 4-inch converter, which is what we needed).
So, all you experts out there...my theory is that their weird thing with the right half of the burn pot acting differently than the left has to do with the door. Shouldn't it be harder to latch it? Is there a way to adjust something so that it is a tighter fit? Do I need to replace the gasket?
Also our combustion fan blades are really caked with soot. Does that matter? Should I replace it or is there a way to clean it off?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Susie