2006 Mt. V AE not auto cleaning

[Ely94]

This is an odd one
My 2006 Mt. V AE will not auto clean while running, but auto cleans when rebooted at the start up.
Oh and
Hey Kap
Long time
Hope all is well

Ely

 

[kappel15]

Hey Ely. Doing as good as can be expected I guess. lol What revision control board do you have?

 

[Ely94]

Kap
I still have the stock one. I never really had a problem with the stove. Igniters in the beginning, but that is it.
I will get you the number when I get home

 

[kappel15]

I need more info too. How do you know the stove is not auto cleaning? Come back and stove is cold and didn't dump? When it is at this point, is there any error codes or what stage of heating is it in ? Ready? Startup?

 

[Ely94]

I ran two bags through and it didn't dump at all. I empty the ash pan everyday and was surprised it didn't dump. I thought the autoclean motor to a crap. So I "rebooted" the stove. it worked fine. These was this weekend. Come home today and it dumped at least 3 times. So it's good to go.
I got other issues, like leaking vacuum. Its not burning clean. The fire is lazy. Its leaking around the fire box. So I gotta get some caulk. I also think its leaking around the door/glass. You can tell by the way the dust settles. Its 12 years old, I guess it time to do some maintenance. I did burn 60 tons of pellets through her and only changed igniters but those were the crapy ones.
Where is a good place to get parts. I'm going to start with the exhaust motor gaskets. They make a reusable one now, so I heard.

Ps
I see most of the gang from I burn corn are here. That really cool.

Ely

 

[kappel15]

How is it leaking around the firebox? That is all sealed at factory. Yes they have a reuseable gasket now that is orange in color. Any dealer can get you parts, or you get them online also. Stay warm. kap

 

[Ely94]

You can tell by the way the ash settles in the fire box. Around the edges you can see holes in the ash where the air is coming in.

 

[kappel15]

Yep

 

[Ely94]

Ok Kap It's not auto cleaning again. Cleaned the ashpan yesterday and today come home to a full pot and a empty ash pan. So here come some questions
What controls the timer?
Do you think a re-download of software would help.
Give me some troubleshooting things to look for.
I know the autoclean motor works, It worked good for two weeks and still works if I reboot.
I run it on sunflower seeds like I have been for years.

 

[kappel15]

After a fire, the firepot thermocouple has to read 550* before it will start an auto-dump sequence. I would check and make sure it is touching the inside end of the cover, I would make sure the cover is clear of any ash that could be insulating it. Make sure it is sticking in the pot an inch. Is it the original fptc? Could be the board too as they had updates from the first ones that came out. If the braided part of the tc gets bent too far, it can crack the coating on the wires and this can cause issues, without getting a fptc error. kap

 

[Ely94]

After a fire, the firepot thermocouple has to read 550* before it will start an auto-dump sequence. I would check and make sure it is touching the inside end of the cover, I would make sure the cover is clear of any ash that could be insulating it. Make sure it is sticking in the pot an inch. Is it the original fptc? Could be the board too as they had updates from the first ones that came out. If the braided part of the tc gets bent too far, it can crack the coating on the wires and this can cause issues, without getting a fptc error. kap

OK Thanks I will check it out... I think you are onto something

 

[Ely94]

Kap
You were spot on. Its the homedepot stove chow pellets. There are two things going on. They make kinkers that are not hard but sticky of sorts. When it goes into autoclean the ash does not fall down, it sticks to the pot. Also the ash sticks to everything even the firepot thermocouple. I have adjusted my routine and it's better. They must be too moist for this stove. Thank you so much for your help