07 Englander 25-PDVC Ignitor not lighting pellets! Cap On or Cap off?

[Don2222]

Hello

After fixing up this bad boy, I turned it on. Pellets were spitting out, the ignitor was red hot but No fire! :-(

I even put in a new ignitor and still no lite! :-(

I tried adjusting it but could not seem to get it right, looking at it from the burn box above the wear plate, the adjustment was way off! I could only see half the ignitor tip!

Finally I removed the burn box and found that there was very little left to the Lytherm gasket.

Then I could really see how far off the ignitor was! Also it was much easier to turn and assure it was in the center of the hole!

Then I cut a new gasket cleaned all the rust and gave it a good coat of Dry Moly spray!

Bingo, the pellets lit in 5 mins. with the cap or hole plug off the ignitor tube. That seemed to be better.

My question is:
Should this cap or hole plug be On or Off?

Pic 1 - Ignitor tube with cap on top left
Pic 2 - Cap on bench
Pic 3 - Cap off Ignitor tube allowing more air for ignitor.
Pic 4 - Ignitor works fine on bench
Pic 5 - tip of Ignitor shown from front with alignment way off - see lower left half of it!
Pic 6 - Ignitor with burn pot out of stove. Ignitor is touching the side of the tube. That's a No No !
Pic 7 - Tracing a new Lytherm burn pot gasket
Pic 8 - Gasket fits back of burn pot
Pic 9 - Ignitor alignment is now spot on! In exact center of tube and hole
Pic 10 - Fire ! ! !

Click on pic to enlarge:

 

[mralias]

I don't know this stove but just from the pics the ignitor does not look like it even touches the pellets in the burn pot. Could be the way the pic is taken but is that the way it is suppose to seat? As far as he cap goes, must be a reason for it being there so I would leave it in.

 

[Don2222]

I don't know this stove but just from the pics the ignitor does not look like it even touches the pellets in the burn pot. Could be the way the pic is taken but is that the way it is suppose to seat? As far as he cap goes, must be a reason for it being there so I would leave it in.

Hi MrAlias
Thanks for your reply. No the ignitor should not touch the pellets, the super heated air lights the pellets on fire. According to England Stove Works the ignitor should be back approx 1/8" to 1/4" from the hole so the air can circulate around the tip.

I worked on an old 25-PDV a while back and Englander told me to take the rubber hose off the ignitor tube that tried to deliver air from the air inlet pipe. This is why I posed this question. It looks like there is a built in air tube that pulls air from the intake air tube on the bottom of the ignitor tube. However this may be the same case where more air from the top will help lite the pellets faster. Englander knows best but thought someone with this stove ran into the same case?

I also know that these little designs change depending upon the year of the stove too.

 

[heat seeker]

Nice photos! Now I understand how Englanders are laid out, a bit better.

 

[Don2222]

Nice photos! Now I understand how Englanders are laid out, a bit better.

You are welcome, the new burn pot gasket makes it burn better too.

 

[mralias]

Thanks Don. I just love learning new stuff about pellet stoves. Your posts are so helpful and easy for a novice like me to understand. I have already used your gasket template you posted a while back on my CB1200i and it works great. Hope you get the answer you are looking for.

 

[MCPO]

Great closeups Don . Image 0559 shows the large hole in the burnpot under the burnplate to be full of ashes.

 

[Don2222]

Great closeups Don . Image 0559 shows the large hole in the burnpot under the burnplate to be full of ashes.

That is the air inlet pipe. Look closer, it is not full of ashes just dark inside.

 

[imacman]

That is the air inlet pipe. Look closer, it is not full of ashes just dark inside.

Sure looks like ashes to me.....the hole on the left side.

 

[MCPO]

That air channel left unattended can fill up with ashes and block all the air holes in the side of the burnpot
You have a choice Don, either admit to it and acknowledge your failure to clean it , or suffer the wrath of us forum police who will nit pik your usually informative posts to death.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

LOL, but seriously, thanks for all your help and comments on this and the related posts. As always, I learned alot too!

Here are the final pics
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/englander-25-pdvc-redo.108354/

 

[Don2222]

Hello

I got an answer on the cap on-off.

The top ignitor tube hole is there in order to drill the hole on the other side of the ignitor in the bottom of the tube into the fresh air intake tube. This was done when the stove was being built and then the top hole was capped off.

If the bottom hole becomes blocked, the cap and the ignitor must be removed to clean out the bottom hole. Some stoves may light better with the cap off and some with the cap on. That is the answer, clean the bottom hole and then try it both ways.

 

[Stewbass1]

Greetings,

I was also experiencing issues with the ignitor not lighting the stove, so I went through the stove and did the following procedure and wanted to share step by step what I did to address the situation.

1. Unplug stove and remove back panel (check vacuum lines for any degraded hoses, 1 of mine was bad and I replaced it)

2. Remove Blower motor by removing the 4 bolts.



Label motor connection wires for proper and correct re-assembly later.



3. Great time to examine and clean and PM motor (Preventive Maintenance) Mine was dirty and needed a thorough cleaning.



4. Now we have excellent access to the ignitor section of the stove, so I removed the ignitor and top air cap.
Now we can clean out the air passage to assure a good volume of air flow across the ignitor.



5. I went shopping to see what I could find to properly clean the air passage, and I found this product is the perfect length and diameter for this job (I found this product at Lowes)



6. Insert the brush into the top cap passage.



7. Push brush all the way in and spin a few times( This product works perfect, as almost if it was designed for this task) Pull brush out and re-insert a few more times to thoroughly clean the air passage.



8.Use the brush to clean the ignitor hole and any air passage that needs cleaning.



9. Blower motor cleaned and lubed using shop vacuum, shop towels, and old toothbrush.



10. Re-assemble parts back into stove and center ignitor and lock into place(I utilized a 2nd person to help me center the ignitor)

11. Test fire...All is well... Back to playing the bass...Hope this helps...