25pdvc flame going out

[CamperWill]

As the title states, I have a 25pdvc and the flame keeps going out then coming back. It does not seem to be getting fed consistently, the heat range is currently on 1. I already tried clearing out the vacuum hole near the burn pot.

When I press the bottom buttons while the stove is on I get the following output.
low fuel feed: 6
Low burn air: 6
Air on temp: 1

 

[imacman]

Have you checked for blockages in the hopper? Is the stove really clean? Did you check to see that the entire vacuum hose is clean?

One way to tell is to jump the vacuum switch. Unplug stove, disconnect both leads to the switch & connect them together. If the feed returns to "normal", you know it's either the switch, or a dirty vacuum tube or the stove is dirty.

Also, run the stove in diagnostics mode to make sure augers are running correctly. A loose set screw on an auger could cause intermittent feed too.

 

[CamperWill]

Stove is clean and the hose is empty.

I jumped the vacuum switch per mike's instructions in another post and it's still happening.

How do you enter diag to test the augers?

 

[CamperWill]

Just as an update: when bypassing the vacuum switch the flame becomes smaller, previously it lost the flame completely until a good 'feed' came around. I'm not sure if this was a coincidence or not.

We were able to run it for about an hour with it cycling medium flame > small flame > medium flame with the vacuum bypassed.

Medium flame - Just above the burn pot
Small flame - Height of auger, sometimes half-height

 

[BrotherBart]

On a setting of one that is how my 25-PDVC runs and I don't think it unusual. The upper auger doesn't run all the time but intermittently according to the feed rate. So pellets arrive and the flame goes up and then goes down until the next delivery.

 

[imacman]

How do you enter diag to test the augers?

Look here:

www.englanderstoves.com/help/PelletStove/troubleshootingstart.html

 

[Don2222]

Just as an update: when bypassing the vacuum switch the flame becomes smaller, previously it lost the flame completely until a good 'feed' came around. I'm not sure if this was a coincidence or not.

We were able to run it for about an hour with it cycling medium flame > small flame > medium flame with the vacuum bypassed.

Medium flame - Just above the burn pot
Small flame - Height of auger, sometimes half-height

There are 2 vacuum switches. I just fixed a stove where they tested fine but BOTH failed after the stove warmed up. So try jumping both out. Also it is possible for the auger motor to fail when warmed up. How old is the stove?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

6 - 6 - 1 isn't that other than the default for that stove? Maybe you are burning the pellets up a bit faster than normal.

 

[CamperWill]

Stove is new, factory refurb from AMFM with a build date of 07/13.

The stove was 6-4-1 when it arrived, Mike mentioned that it may need to be 6 LBA because its venting through a chimney. I did try 4, 5, and 6 but didn't notice much difference.

 

[Don2222]

6 - 6 - 1 isn't that other than the default for that stove? Maybe you are burning the pellets up a bit faster than normal.

Correct Smoke

6-4-1 is the default which gives off alot of heat and burns through more pellets. Englander suggests using 4-6-1 to save pellets and give off a little less heat if you wish.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The LBA of 6 should send more air through the pellet pile which depending upon the pellet in the stove can cause it to burn the pellet just a bit too fast to maintain a steady fire.

But that all aside it is common for a fire to flare up and die down on low burns because the feeding of solid fuels doesn't deliver a constant amount of fuel. This only becomes a problem if the fire goes out.

Now several things besides the settings can also cause this.

If your augers aren't aligned or the fuel has a lot of length variation in it you can have a feed issue.

Also a build up of fines in the auger system can cause this by restricting the pellets being transported. For example on drop feed systems fines at the bottom of the hopper start blocking off the path for pellets.

If your stove has a feed gate it can also interfere with pellet flow if it is closed down too far..

Like Don has pointed out issues with the vacuum system can also cause erratic feed.

As can malfunctioning hooper lid switches if opening the hopper shuts off the pellet feed system.

 

[kenstogie]

On a setting of one that is how my 25-PDVC runs and I don't think it unusual. The upper auger doesn't run all the time but intermittently according to the feed rate. So pellets arrive and the flame goes up and then goes down until the next delivery.

That's how my 25PDVC used to burn too on 1. As I recall it depended a bit on the type of pellet I used too. Though that was an eternity ago or 8 months ago.... to me it's the same thing. LOL

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah I think Corey wanted a more consistent flame when he designed the EP, to keep all of that glass lit up. I would seriously like to take an EP insert for a test drive.

 

[Don2222]

Yeah I think Corey wanted a more consistent flame when he designed the EP, to keep all of that glass lit up. I would seriously like to take an EP insert for a test drive.

Hi BB
I recently sold and installed 2 of the 25-EP inserts in fireplaces of small homes. We put in a 4 inch liner for a flue and a 3 inch liner for the OAK. In one install, I also wired up a LUX LTX1500u Digital T-Stat in manual mode with the stove set to Auto-On/Off mode for the fall. Very impressive and very well built for the money!

 

[BrotherBart]

Yeah. Corey designed that stove in his first job out of college, we took up a collection to send him to HPBA that year, and did a hell of a job. He is now the engineer at Harman. Him and Dane Harman play with designing pretty good wood and pellet stoves. The EP is his baby.

(Posting this hoping it brings him back out of the woodwork. He was on here for years.)

 

[CamperWill]

Both vacuum switches appear to be working fine so maybe it's just the low setting

Here is a picture of it on setting 2 after about 5 minutes, it does flare back up like 30 seconds later


Another issue I seem to be having is that pellets are falling through the 2 holes near the auger when being pushed out causing them to sit in the bottom of the burn pot.

 

[bill3rail]

Are you missing the wear plate?
Did you remove it for the pictures?

http://www.englandsstoveworks.com/help/PelletStove/cleaning.html

Bill

 

[CamperWill]

The wear plate is installed in the first picture, I removed it for the second picture. The plate has two good size holes near the auger that the small pellets are falling through, it's a bit different then the picture on their website... but I'm guessing that is a much older one.

The pellets that fell through happened in 1-2 hours of the stove running