Newbie to buy Comfortbilt???

[Brightlee]

Here’s a pic of the display I snapped yesterday. Don’t know if it will help with identification or not.

 

[Brightlee]

@JRemington

Tonight I checked the vacuum switch and it is operating perfectly. I found the feed rate adjustments on my control panel and doubled the “On” rate of Level 5 and it worked well enough for a couple hours.

The stove just went out again though. I stuck my hand in the hopper with the lid switch depressed and felt for the auger to move when the light was on. With the vacuum light on and the feed light coming on signaling the auger was supposed to be turning... the auger did not turn. I think what I was witnessing was the slow death of my brand new stove’s auger motor.

I will be on the phone with Comfortbilt first thing tomorrow morning. Hope they can service Southeast Michigan quickly. Tonight’s low is 12 degrees.

 

[JRemington]

@JRemington

Tonight I checked the vacuum switch and it is operating perfectly. I found the feed rate adjustments on my control panel and doubled the “On” rate of Level 5 and it worked well enough for a couple hours.

The stove just went out again though. I stuck my hand in the hopper with the lid switch depressed and felt for the auger to move when the light was on. With the vacuum light on and the feed light coming on signaling the auger was supposed to be turning... the auger did not turn. I think what I was witnessing was the slow death of my brand new stove’s auger motor.

I will be on the phone with Comfortbilt first thing tomorrow morning. Hope they can service Southeast Michigan quickly. Tonight’s low is 12 degrees.

What is your feed rate set at on level five for on and off? Also, what is the cleaning cycle set at?

 

[Brightlee]

Level 5 Feed Rate: On 85 (was 46) Off 14 (no change from original)

Ash Cleaning: Time span 60 min Duration 30 sec
Smart Ash Cleaning: Off

 

[JRemington]

So you have the new generation two board. I would still jump the vacuum switch. I’ve had a few problems with them.

 

[Brightlee]

Went through diagnostics and the auger will feed in diagnostic mode. So after the stove cooled I restarted it. It’s working like it was earlier. Can I jump the vacuum switch while the stove is on?

 

[JRemington]

If you’re quick. The auger won’t run with it unplugged. I worked on a 22n tonight that was going out. The pellets were so soft a could break some up just squeezing them in my hand and the auger was filled with powder so there wasn’t a consistent pellet flow.

 

[Brightlee]

Okay. So the stove went out again and I took the opportunity to jump the vacuum switch. I have relit the stove and am waiting to see what happens, but it seems better already. Running on level three consistently! Fingers crossed

 

[JRemington]

Hopefully that will work

 

[Brightlee]

@JRemington Thank you for your help last night! I was almost ready to tear the stove out and return it.

I sat with it running for over an hour after jumping the vacuum switch and it seemed fine. It sputtered through the ash cleaning cycle, but recovered. I figured that was normal. Went to bed with it running, but woke up at 4:30 this morning to no fire and didn't find a hole in the pellets around the auger, don't know what may have caused it to go out. The burn pot was half full of un-burned pellets.

I restarted it and it was doing just fine, wife reported no issues as of 9:30 this morning. She topped the hopper off and left for work, so we'll see what the story is this afternoon when my son gets home from school.

I guess I should be in touch with Comfortbilt to get a replacement vacuum switch sent to me? Doesn't seem like jumping the switch is a permanent solution. If feed issues continue should I suspect the auger motor? I plan to turn the feed rate on level 5 back to its original setting. Should I consider tweaking the feed rates on all settings? It worked fine at factory settings for the first couple weeks. Thanks again for all your help!

 

[Brightlee]

@JRemington Well the gremlins are back again tonight. The stove was off when my son came home from school. Had him restart it and it went for an hour or so, but was off again by the time I got home this evening. I restarted it again when I got home and it ran again for about an hour before it stopped feeding and went out.

The vacuum switch is jumped but it’s feeding sporadically just like it was before I jumped it. Held down the hopper lid switch and stuck my hand in the hopper to see if the auger is turning when the light is lit indicating it should be and the auger is definitely not turning. The hopper is plenty full of pellets also.

When I put the stove in diagnostic mode after it cools the auger will turn when I test it. Seems like there is some other safety switch or something preventing it from feeding properly while the stove is lit? Any help with this round?

 

[JRemington]

There are certain applications where I don’t like the cleaning cycle. You are going into a liner vertically which gives more natural draft. On setting one and under the right circumstances there may not be enough fire left in the pot to ignite the pellets after a 30 second delay. We’ve sold over 100 of these but I’m still learning little things. We actually have a really good non failure rate with these stoves. If it shuts down again I’d take the cleaning cycle to 5 seconds every hour or drop the combustion blower voltage on setting one and two. Also make sure your or accumulating any powder in the base of the hopper.

 

[JRemington]

@JRemington Well the gremlins are back again tonight. The stove was off when my son came home from school. Had him restart it and it went for an hour or so, but was off again by the time I got home this evening. I restarted it again when I got home and it ran again for about an hour before it stopped feeding and went out.

The vacuum switch is jumped but it’s feeding sporadically just like it was before I jumped it. Held down the hopper lid switch and stuck my hand in the hopper to see if the auger is turning when the light is lit indicating it should be and the auger is definitely not turning. The hopper is plenty full of pellets also.

When I put the stove in diagnostic mode after it cools the auger will turn when I test it. Seems like there is some other safety switch or something preventing it from feeding properly while the stove is lit? Any help with this round?

When it’s off does it say check auger for pellets?

 

[JRemington]

What setting are you running it on when it goes out? And are you in manual or temp mode?

 

[Brightlee]

I just restarted it. I will bring the cleaning cycle down. I am going into a vertical liner and it was tall enough I went up to a four inch liner. It would seem that it does draft quite well. As for the hopper I have cleaned it out completely multiple times this week. And have cycled the auger clear each time also. I don’t think powder build up is my issue.
When it goes out it does not say anything about pellets. Just the low temperature alarm.

 

[JRemington]

You have two low limit switches on the combustion blower. Swap the wires over to the other one or better yet jump them if you can. There’s something stupid going on.

 

[JRemington]

I just thought of something else. The auger motor is connected to the shaft with I believe a 1/8th Allen wrench screw. I wonder if the screw is loose and sometimes spinning on the auger shaft.

 

[Brightlee]

I just thought of something else. The auger motor is connected to the shaft with I believe a 1/8th Allen wrench screw. I wonder if the screw is loose and sometimes spinning on the auger shaft.

I had that thought and checked it yesterday, everything is tight with the auger motor and the auger.

I turned down the ash cleaning cycle on all settings. Stove is running on level three for now. When/if it goes out I will look into the low limit switches on the combustion blower. Those would be on the right side of the insert, near the vacuum switch?

 

[JRemington]

I had that thought and checked it yesterday, everything is tight with the auger motor and the auger.

I turned down the ash cleaning cycle on all settings. Stove is running on level three for now. When/if it goes out I will look into the low limit switches on the combustion blower. Those would be on the right side of the insert, near the vacuum switch?

Yes

 

[Brightlee]

At the one hour mark again and it went out. Once it cools some I’ll try to jump the combustion blower limit switch and light it again.

 

[Brightlee]

@JRemington
Finally got the combustion (exhaust?) blower limit switch jumped. Stove goes straight to “fire off” with both blowers ( room and exhaust/combustion) running. Won’t go to ignition. If I try to go to “stop” it goes over to “heating”. Going to try the other limit switch on the exhaust/combustion blower and see what happens. Any other suggestions?

 

[Brightlee]

@JRemington
Finally got the combustion (exhaust?) blower limit switch jumped. Stove goes straight to “fire off” with both blowers ( room and exhaust/combustion) running. Won’t go to ignition. If I try to go to “stop” it goes over to “heating”. Going to try the other limit switch on the exhaust/combustion blower and see what happens. Any other suggestions?

Disregard this comment. I realized this morning that in my fatigue and frustration last night all I did was jump the proof of fire switch... what can I say, it’s been a long week with this stove. I will once again climb behind it tonight and see what I can do with the low limit switch on the combustion blower.

 

[JRemington]

Disregard this comment. I realized this morning that in my fatigue and frustration last night all I did was jump the proof of fire switch... what can I say, it’s been a long week with this stove. I will once again climb behind it tonight and see what I can do with the low limit switch on the combustion blower.

The proof of fire switch and the low limit snap switch are the same thing. Just different names for different people. On the combustion blower housing there are two identical switches next to each other. One has two wires connected to it. The other doesn’t. It’s meant as a spare. Makes no sense to me. The heat could destroy the spare just as easily as the one being used. Should just send the other in a bag as a spare. The best way to diagnose this is when the auger indicator light comes on and the auger isn’t turning is to check for voltage at the auger. If the indicator comes on and there’s 110 at the auger and it doesn’t turn then the auger is bad. To be honest I’m leaning towards that now. Call Comfortbilt today and tell them Jeff has been helping you with this and tell them I said you need a new auger motor. Ask for Jonathan.

 

[Brightlee]

I did change over to the spare proof of fire switch last night, and like I said it only ran for about an hour and quit. I did notice it quit at around the 52 minute mark, which meant to me that the cleaning cycle hadn't started and wasn't the issue.

The auger seems to run great when the stove starts or when I test it in diagnostic mode. Do you think whatever the issue the auger motor is having happens as it runs? Like it heats up over time and then fails?

I will contact Comfortbilt today for the auger motor. Do you still think the vacuum switch is a problem too? After I jumped the vacuum switch it went from quitting after a half hour to quitting after an hour. I feel like it should be replaced regardless.

Just for my peace of mind, there isn't another safety switch somewhere that could be affecting the auger turning? I feel like I'm into this so deep I might as well know all of the answers...

 

[JRemington]

I talked with them this morning and they need your address to ship you a new motor. I think the motor runs and is heating up and stopping. Call them and give them your name and address. The only other thing that could cause the problem would be the control board but I doubt that’s it or it would do it all the time.