After being jolted out of sleep by the smell of burning paint & hot machinery I ran downstairs to find the firebox in my pellet stove to be a solid inferno and hot enough that it was difficult to be near for any length of time. I shut the auger off and left the exhaust running to bring it back to safety.
Just 4 hours earlier I had topped off the hopper only to find it more than half gone. The stove was set on "C" which typically gets us 14 hours per bag. The flames were very active getting plenty of oxygen and the stove floor was covered in pellets several inches deep.
The next day I attempted to find some answers and tried to eliminate variables.
Here's what I did:
Tonight, 3 hours after a cleaning and operating perfectly, it then started over feeding creating a huge flame and about a beer stein of pellets scattered about. Without thinking, I turned off the main switch momentarily and then back on to stop the auger. When the pellets burned themselves down, I hit the auger button to resume the feed and the stove has carried on perfectly again. I did not clean or adjust anything, just halted the feed for a few minutes and it went from inferno to proper. Had I been thinking, I would have taken a look at the auger motor to see if it was continuously running and furthermore if the control board was commanding it to do so but when the stove is snap crackle and stinking you kinda just want to get it under control as quick as possible.
The randomness seems just like a bad relay that arcs and sticks closed. Do these control boards ever fault and leave an auger running intermittently. I see that the controller is no longer available. What now?
Just 4 hours earlier I had topped off the hopper only to find it more than half gone. The stove was set on "C" which typically gets us 14 hours per bag. The flames were very active getting plenty of oxygen and the stove floor was covered in pellets several inches deep.
The next day I attempted to find some answers and tried to eliminate variables.
Here's what I did:
- Verified that each hole in the burn pot was reamed out
- No obstructions in the air intake to burn pot
- Damper functioning proper and clear
- Cleaned behind 4 service plates in firebox
- Brushed the fins on both exhaust fan blades and squirrel cage blower
- Verified clear exhaust passage to the outdoors
- Watched the blinking auger feed indicator (inside the circuit board) and verified proper rate
- Auger runs only when commanded by controller
Tonight, 3 hours after a cleaning and operating perfectly, it then started over feeding creating a huge flame and about a beer stein of pellets scattered about. Without thinking, I turned off the main switch momentarily and then back on to stop the auger. When the pellets burned themselves down, I hit the auger button to resume the feed and the stove has carried on perfectly again. I did not clean or adjust anything, just halted the feed for a few minutes and it went from inferno to proper. Had I been thinking, I would have taken a look at the auger motor to see if it was continuously running and furthermore if the control board was commanding it to do so but when the stove is snap crackle and stinking you kinda just want to get it under control as quick as possible.
The randomness seems just like a bad relay that arcs and sticks closed. Do these control boards ever fault and leave an auger running intermittently. I see that the controller is no longer available. What now?
