Whitfield Advantage ii room blower going off and on....HELP!!!

[clincoln007]

Hi,

I have a Whitfield Advantage ii and every time the auger turns on the room blower goes off? Has anyone ever heard of this happening before? Any ideas how to fix it? HELP MY BASEMENTS FREEZING

 

[Mt Bob]

which controls do you have?And,has the current sensing relay been removed?

 

[clincoln007]

I have the manual controls 1 switch a button and 2 dials. I havent done anything, it was working great. End of last year I replaced the exaust blower. Al of a sudden it started doing this today. Where is the current sensing relay?

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[Mt Bob]

I have the manual controls 1 switch a button and 2 dials. I havent done anything, it was working great. End of last year I replaced the exaust blower. Al of a sudden it started doing this today. Where is the current sensing relay?

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

The current sensing relay should have been removed,long time ago,but yours may still have it,they sometimes caused problems.Maybe this can help. http://hearthtools.com/parts/whitfield_wire_diagrams.pdf

 

[clincoln007]

Thanks I'll check it when I get home tomorrow. Its running but the damn blower keeps going off and on sometimes it stays on but slows down but most of the time it just turns off then on.....Im going to keep it runni g to ight so I dont freeze to death but will check firat thing tomorrow. Is there anythi g else that can cause this?

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[Ssyko]

exhaust (combustion) or room blower (convection)? old motor? the motor could be overheating and shutting itself off, cools a bit turns back on and repeats

 

[clincoln007]

exhaust (combustion) or room blower (convection)? old motor? the motor could be overheating and shutting itself off, cools a bit turns back on and repeats

Convection, the combustion motor is less then a year old. The convection motor is turning off every time the auger light comes on...I thought the same thing you did until i realized.the lattern with the light

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[Ssyko]

Bobs your man with the Whitfield. he showed me the old wiring diag. and the relay hes refering to.

 

[Mt Bob]

Bobs your man with the Whitfield. he showed me the old wiring diag. and the relay hes refering to.

No there are 4 or 5 people here that know the Whitfields way better than I ever will,just appears not much help out there.

 

[clincoln007]

No there are 4 or 5 people here that know the Whitfields way better than I ever will,just appears not much help out there.

I appreciate the help!! Im going to work on it when I get home. Our bedroom is down where the stove is and it was freezing last night so I left it on even with the fan going on and off it was keeping it warm.

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[clincoln007]

I dont see that relay i've attached a photo. Also even with the auger off it still cuts off and on but only on low. If i turn it to high the motor doesnt move at all im going to try and upload a video.

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[clincoln007]

Heres a picture of the inside and a video of the motor cycling on an off and what happens when i turn it on high...any ideas?

 

[Mt Bob]

Heres a picture of the inside and a video of the motor cycling on an off and what happens when i turn it on high...any ideas?

i see a picture,no video,but,got a few minutes,will find my notes

 

[clincoln007]

i see a picture,no video,but,got a few minutes,will find my notes

The video keeps saying its too large

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[clincoln007]

The video keeps saying its too large

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

Basically in the video when the blowers on low it runs then rattles around and stops then runs and it will do that every 6 or 7 seconds on off and whenever the auger light comes on when its on if i put the room blower on high it rattles and hums but doesnt spin at all. Could it be the motor? That wouldnt explain the perfectly timed on and off though....i can email you the videos.if you want

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[Mt Bob]

Should be no "rattle",kinda sounds like blower is kaput,or is full fo dog hair,critters.You can remove it,and wire it directly to wall outlet,as a test,as it is 115 volt.Do it carefully

 

[Mt Bob]

Should be no "rattle",kinda sounds like blower is kaput,or is full fo dog hair,critters.You can remove it,and wire it directly to wall outlet,as a test,as it is 115 volt.Do it carefully

nah,skip the vids

 

[Stovensen]

clincoln007, my first car ( a 1969 Volvo Amazon sedan ) had an electrical issue, which I believe is of exactly the same nature as the one causing your auger to modulate your convection blower. When the indicator lights were turned on ( no matter what direction ) the red tail light would get dimmed every time the indicator light was blinking. The reason for this was simple: A bad ground connection to the chassis would limit the current and a voltage drop would build up over the bad connection, whenever the indicator light was blinking.

The most likely explanation to your "modulated blowers" would be a badly worn low limit switch, since this carries neutral to the entire stove, when stove has passed the warm up procedure. A worn low limit switch will act like a current limiting resistor. A voltage drop will rise over the low limit switch, when the load increases. This will make the switch hot, and as it gets hotter, the resistance will increase along with the voltage drop. Eventually the convection blower could almost stall.
If you have an ac-voltmeter, and some experience in measuring on equipment carrying line voltage, a simple measurement of the voltage drop across the low limit switch will tell us exactly what happens when the auger is "modulating" the convection blower: If the voltage drop increases significantly, when the auger is on, the low limit switch has to be faulty.
Take care, 120 Volt/60 Hz can be lethal!
The simple logical sequence of aforementioned warm up procedure can help us further to determine that the low limit switch is the culprit. You see, the low limit switch is bypassed by an on board relay ( controlled by a one shot 30 min. timer ) allowing the stove to warm up.
The low limit switch is also called a POF switch ( Proof Of Fire switch )
So one simple question: Does the convection blower run ok in the first 30 minutes? ( Stove must be all cold, when you make this test ). If it does, the low limit switch is most likely due to replacement.
Oxydation in the Molex plug, where the main supply ( both phase and neutral ) is connected to the control board, could also cause this issue. Unplugging/plugging the Molex plug a handful of times is often enough to clean the contacting surfaces of the metal. If you have some contact cleaner to spray inside the Molex, this will help deoxidizing the metal pins in the plug.

Good luck and take care. Keep us posted.

 

[clincoln007]

clincoln007, my first car ( a 1969 Volvo Amazon sedan ) had an electrical issue, which I believe is of exactly the same nature than the one causing your auger to modulate your convection blower. When the indicator lights were turned on ( no matter what direction ) the red tail light would get dimmed every time the indicator light was blinking. The reason for this was simple: A bad ground connection to the chassis would limit the current and a voltage drop would build up over the bad connection, whenever the indicator light was blinking.

The most likely explanation to your "modulated blowers" would be a badly worn low limit switch, since this carries neutral to the entire stove, when stove has passed the warm up procedure. A worn low limit switch will act like a current limiting resistor. A voltage drop will rise over the low limit switch, when the load increases. This will make the switch hot, and as it gets hotter, the resistance will increase along with the voltage drop. Eventually the convection blower could almost stall.
If you have an ac-voltmeter, and some experience in measuring on equipment carrying line voltage, a simple measurement of the voltage drop across the low limit switch will tell us exactly what happens when the auger is "modulating" the convection blower: If the voltage drop increases significantly, when the auger is on, the low limit switch has to be faulty.
Take care, 120 Volt/60 Hz can be lethal!
The simple logical sequence of aforementioned warm up procedure can help us further to determine that the low limit switch is the culprit. You see, the low limit switch is bypassed by an on board relay ( controlled by a one shot 30 min. timer ) allowing the stove to warm up.
The low limit switch is also called a POF switch ( Proof Of Fire switch )
So one simple question: Does the convection blower run ok in the first 30 minutes? ( Stove must be all cold, when you make this test ). If it does, the low limit switch is most likely due to replacement.
Oxydation in the Molex plug, where the main supply ( both phase and neutral ) is connected to the control board, could also cause this issue. Unplugging/plugging the Molex plug a handful of times is often enough to clean the contacting surfaces of the metal. If you have some contact cleaner to spray inside the Molex, this will help deoxidizing the metal pins in the plug.

Good luck and take care. Keep us posted.

It does it right when the stove is turned on I tried jumping the pof disk it didnt make a difference. Its so weird the molex looks clean i took ot off and put it back on nothing seems to work. Im going to check the voltages this weekend. Ive been using it because its the only heat we have downatairs but its driving me crazy

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[Stovensen]

It does it right when the stove is turned on I tried jumping the pof disk it didnt make a difference. Its so weird the molex looks clean i took ot off and put it back on nothing seems to work. Im going to check the voltages this weekend.

Good, you're on the right track trying to locate the weak link ( links? ) in the power chain. Our Whitfield stoves are getting old, so several places could be worn or corroded.

The terminal strip should also be inspected closely, as the common neutral is shared from terminal no. 6 on the strip.
A thick layer of dirt and dust has a tendency to hold humidity and if the dirt contains a slight amount of salts, it could even become conductive in the worst cases ( ask me how I know? ). In this situation 230 Volt is four times more dangerous than 115 Volt, though. Your pic and the wiring diagram:

A bad solder on the circuit board could be in need for a reflow?

Is this similar to your board?

Good luck and take care. Keep us posted

 

[clincoln007]

Good, you're on the right track trying to locate the weak link ( links? ) in the power chain. Our Whitfield stoves are getting old, so several places could be worn or corroded.

The terminal strip should also be inspected closely, as the common neutral is shared from terminal no. 6 on the strip.
A thick layer of dirt and dust has a tendency to hold humidity and if the dirt contains a slight amount of salts, it could even become conductive in the worst cases ( ask me how I know? ). In this situation 230 Volt is four times more dangerous than 115 Volt, though. Your pic and the wiring diagram:
View attachment 217318

A bad solder on the circuit board could be in need for a reflow?

Is this similar to your board?
View attachment 217319

Yes thats almost identical to my control panel

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[clincoln007]

Ok so I checked the voltage from the control board 120 i checked voltage to the pins the motor plugs into get 120 as soon as i plug the motor back in or another motor in it drops to 80 volts and almost stops? It only drops when the motors plugged in when the auger turns on no motor plugged in no voltage drop. Any ideas?

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[Mt Bob]

Ok so I checked the voltage from the control board 120 i checked voltage to the pins the motor plugs into get 120 as soon as i plug the motor back in or another motor in it drops to 80 volts and almost stops? It only drops when the motors plugged in when the auger turns on no motor plugged in no voltage drop. Any ideas?

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

Well that's different than you said before,np,but how low does it drop when auger kicks in?Not that it really matters,if you are trying 2 different motors,the motor control circuit on your board has a problem.Just my opinion.

 

[clincoln007]

Yea me and my brither in law spent a few hours checking everything tonight after work. It goes from 120 to 80 whenever the auger turns on. Weird thing is it doesnt drop at all when the motors not plugges in. No idea how it knows when it is. Wheres the blower control on the board is it the knob?

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[Mt Bob]

Yea me and my brither in law spent a few hours checking everything tonight after work. It goes from 120 to 80 whenever the auger turns on. Weird thing is it doesnt drop at all when the motors not plugges in. No idea how it knows when it is. Wheres the blower control on the board is it the knob?

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

A/C motors controlled this way,you may not see a voltage change,if not plugged in.I think an item on your circuit board itself is the problem,not one of the controls.There are places that repair them,as, I do not think a replacement is avalible for yours.