Ashley Pellet Stove APC1406 will not stay lit

[fatdad]

Hello,

I have been working on this stove for over year now after picking it up on the cheap. It is used in my seperate garage which also has my office upstairs. I have electric baseboard heat in my office, but would like to get to a point where I heat the entire garage.

The original issue, and why I got it cheap, was a mechanical issue between the motor and the auger, which I have resolved. I have a feeling this stove was originally a prototype...

I have replaced the low limit switch last year, but I still get the Err2 pretty consistently. I have cleaned it out very well, taken the fan out etc, super deep clean, but never seem to really get it going more than a few hours.

The fan seems suspect so I have ordered a new fan, but have not installed it yet. I thought I would step through some troubleshooting so I am sure to find the issue. The new fan I received does not seem to have the free spin on the bearings as the fan currently in the stove, so I haven't replaced it. (spinning it with a finger flick)

I have confirmed the motors are working and the vacuum line is clear as well.

Yesterday, I bought new pellets and it ran all day and evening on heat level 2. This is the longest I have every got it to run. So before going to bed near midnight I dropped it to heat level 1. In the morning after checking, it obviously died rather quickly. I do not believe it will run long on heat level one.

In every case the fire is dying out and not because of lack of fuel. There are usually plenty of pellets in the firebox.

So I am at a bit of a loss where to go next. Seems to me lack of air, but I have not found anything blocking it. Any suggestions on next steps? I have attached a few pictures and have read through the stickys many times over...

 

[Ssyko]

Is there supposed to be a vented burn pot in the box you have pictured?

APC1406 manual
https://www.tractorsupply.com/static/sites/TSC/downloads/ProdContentPDFs/1036554_Man1.pdf

 

[FirepotPete]

Is there supposed to be a vented burn pot in the box you have pictured?

APC1406 manual
https://www.tractorsupply.com/static/sites/TSC/downloads/ProdContentPDFs/1036554_Man1.pdf

Yes, there should be a burnpot and agitator installed. You can see the shaft for the agitator on the left.

This stove is basically the same as USSC 6039 and 6041.

So to the OP, do you have the burnpot and agitator installed? Then you need to run the factory system check, you will find a link to that in the Sticky area near the top of this forum main page. It will run diagnostics and maybe catch something. If it show everything running properly then you need to check the settings for the feed rate (PPH) and the exhaust rate (DF settings). Once you know the settings post them here and we can walk you through either changing them for a better low burn or returning them to the factory defaults and starting from scratch. DON'T change anything until you have written down what those setting are!

The picture also shows the OAK plug in place. If you have an OAK (FAK) installed, that cap needs to be removed or several 1/4" holes drilled in it to allow outside air into the burn chamber.

Behind the firebrick I see that the two holes are not plugged. If you don't have the knockout plugs to plug those holes you need to get them from a hardware store in the electrical dept. 1 1/2", two of them will cost you under two dollars at most places.

Edited: 1 1/4" to read 1 1/2". 1 1/2" is the correct size. Sorry for putting anyone out on this mistake. Hey, I'm over 60, give me a break.

 

[fatdad]

Yes it does have a burnpot and agitator.

I have ran the test before but will do so again and also record the settings. I was def curious about the FAK and tried to take it, not too forcefully as I didnt want to mess something up.

I will also get the caps for behind the firebrick. I would have done sooner but nothing in the manual about it.

Thanks so much, I will update soon.

 

[FirepotPete]

Yes it does have a burnpot and agitator.

I have ran the test before but will do so again and also record the settings. I was def curious about the FAK and tried to take it, not too forcefully as I didnt want to mess something up.

I will also get the caps for behind the firebrick. I would have done sooner but nothing in the manual about it.

Thanks so much, I will update soon.

As far as the OAK aka FAK, if you don't have an outside air pipe running from inside the stove to the outside of the building don't do anything with the cap. The cap is only to be removed or drilled out if there is an outside air connection.

As far as the settings, I'm talking about pushing the HR UP button and AUX UP button at the same time and holding for a couple of seconds until numbers flash on the board. You should see something like 5.5 pph, perhaps 6.0 pph. If the previous owner changed any of those you need to know those numbers. Those numbers can range from 0.5 to 6.5.

The same goes for the DF settings. DF UP button, AUX UP button at the same time. Then the DF DOWN button and AUX DOWN button. Each time they will flash a number, something like 230 or 270. Those numbers could range from 0-500. Write those down when you check them. If nothing else you will have to set the board back to the defaults and start from there.

 

[fatdad]

As far as the OAK aka FAK, if you don't have an outside air pipe running from inside the stove to the outside of the building don't do anything with the cap. The cap is only to be removed or drilled out if there is an outside air connection.

As far as the settings, I'm talking about pushing the HR UP button and AUX UP button at the same time and holding for a couple of seconds until numbers flash on the board. You should see something like 5.5 pph, perhaps 6.0 pph. If the previous owner changed any of those you need to know those numbers. Those numbers can range from 0.5 to 6.5.

The same goes for the DF settings. DF UP button, AUX UP button at the same time. Then the DF DOWN button and AUX DOWN button. Each time they will flash a number, something like 230 or 270. Those numbers could range from 0-500. Write those down when you check them. If nothing else you will have to set the board back to the defaults and start from there.

I do not have an outside air connection so I have it remained capped. I bought a coupld 1 1/4 knockouts, but they were too small. I will head out tomorrow to get some bigger ones. Actual dimension of the hole is 1 7/8 so I need 1 1/2 knockouts, should have checked first...I guess I am out $1.89. In your sticky it says 1 1/2 too, my bad.

I have performed a factory default command on the control board previously hoping that would run better. Regardless I ran the test as you suggested.

HR UP / AUX UP - 5.0
DF UP / AUX UP - 270
DF DN / AUX DN - 230

 

[FirepotPete]

I do not have an outside air connection so I have it remained capped. I bought a coupld 1 1/4 knockouts, but they were too small. I will head out tomorrow to get some bigger ones. Actual dimension of the hole is 1 7/8 so I need 1 1/2 knockouts, should have checked first...I guess I am out $1.89. In your sticky it says 1 1/2 too, my bad.

I have performed a factory default command on the control board previously hoping that would run better. Regardless I ran the test as you suggested.

HR UP / AUX UP - 5.0
DF UP / AUX UP - 270
DF DN / AUX DN - 230

Opps, sorry about the 1 1/4" in my post on this thread, I'm going to edit it so some other poor soul doesn't follow my advice into pellet stove purgatory.

So do you have a number for your HR1 setting? All the rest look about right for a starting point. You can get that number the same as the others just by pushing the DOWN on the HR and AUX Down. That will give you the lowest pph feed rate. Seems important considering you are having trouble on the lower heat settings at this point.

It can get a little tricky in that your pot is filled with pellets and going out. That could be a lack of air at that feed setting or it could be seen as too much fuel for the amount of air. Either way it's too much fuel for the amount of air. If it was the other way you'd find an almost empty pot from the fire burning faster than the pellets are fed.

And as far as those knockout plugs those can be added next time you clean the stove, they help but are not a must to run it, no safety type of issue.

 

[fatdad]

Opps, sorry about the 1 1/4" in my post on this thread, I'm going to edit it so some other poor soul doesn't follow my advice into pellet stove purgatory.

So do you have a number for your HR1 setting? All the rest look about right for a starting point. You can get that number the same as the others just by pushing the DOWN on the HR and AUX Down. That will give you the lowest pph feed rate. Seems important considering you are having trouble on the lower heat settings at this point.

It can get a little tricky in that your pot is filled with pellets and going out. That could be a lack of air at that feed setting or it could be seen as too much fuel for the amount of air. Either way it's too much fuel for the amount of air. If it was the other way you'd find an almost empty pot from the fire burning faster than the pellets are fed.

And as far as those knockout plugs those can be added next time you clean the stove, they help but are not a must to run it, no safety type of issue.

Not a problem, they had one a few at my local hadware store in town, so I just popped them in there. I checked the HR1, it is 2.0.

I found an empty pot many times, but it seems that more than likely the pellets smoldered away when I was out of the garage. Yesterday and today when it stopped, it was full or half full of half burnt pellets.