Auger did not feed this morning

[mlobitz]

So I woke up around 4:30 and noticed that the glow from the pellet stove was not coming from the living room. Hopped up outta bed and went over the stove to see what was up. I had just cleaned the burn pot the night before so everything should have been working. Normally when I see the flashing red light on the control panel it means the pellets did not ignite and it just keeps feeding pellets until it times out. This morning was different. I was ready to empty the pot and realign it when I noticed that the stove was cold and there weren't any pellets in the pot. Weird...so I turned off the stove and started it back up, it immediately began the ignition sequence and fired up. It's never done that before....I did adjust the damper yesterday, I cut down on the amount of air going into the burn pot. Could only get it to go in about an inch. I don't think that is the issue though. The pellet stove is on a thermostat. Winslow PI40 pellet insert. Any thoughts would be appreciated...

 

[briansol]

That happens occasionally on mine. Make sure when you put the burn pot back it that it is straight. if its a little crooked, the ignitor doesn't work as well for some reason. It happens on its own sometimes when its dirty too. be sure the holes in the bottom are clear. It's usually a one-off event, and a scoop out of the over flow and a re-ignite fires it right back up again.

completely off topic, but do you have an outside air kit on yours? i'm in a big fiasco and could use some pictures :D

 

[mlobitz]

That happens occasionally on mine. Make sure when you put the burn pot back it that it is straight. if its a little crooked, the ignitor doesn't work as well for some reason. It happens on its own sometimes when its dirty too. be sure the holes in the bottom are clear. It's usually a one-off event, and a scoop out of the over flow and a re-ignite fires it right back up again.

completely off topic, but do you have an outside air kit on yours? i'm in a big fiasco and could use some pictures :D

Sorry I don't have an OAK. Yes the burn pot is very tempermental with the the alignment to the ignitor. Have you ever had it where it didn't feed ANY pellets into the pot? I had a full hopper of pellets(well...90%) and it seems like it went through it's ignition sequence, it just didn't auger in any pellets. The pot was completely empty. I turned the stove off and then back to 4, then hit the starter button. Fired up no problem. I noticed that since I closed the damper on the stove an inch or so(that's as far as it would go) that the stove is burning much hotter than before. I did that because I used a 1/2" rope gasket instead of a 3/4" gasket(I got the 1/2" for free) so it's probably leaking through the gasket at the door. I cut down on the air to the pot by closing the damper a bit. Just wondering if you or anyone has had the stove be asked to turn on by a thermostat only to have it start the sequence, but not send any pellets into the burnpot.

Thanks!

 

[briansol]

The only time it never feeds for me is if it was run out of pellets. it takes about 2-3 ignition feed/start button pushes just to get the pellets to start falling again due to the auger length. I also use a thermostat.

I generally run my damper about 80-90% open.
wide open, it is cooler and burns more fuel.
half way closed, the flame gets lazy, the burn pot over flows after a day, and it's clinker city.
Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot of air.
your results may vary.


to my off topic question again, does the rear of your stove have this shroud? that goes from the area around the ignitor to the 2" oak pipe connector?

 

[imacman]

....I did adjust the damper yesterday, I cut down on the amount of air going into the burn pot. Could only get it to go in about an inch. I don't think that is the issue though.......

If it happens again, and you're sure the pot is aligned correctly, I'd go back and put the damper where it was before.

 

[briansol]

It only slides about 1.5" in total. Pulling it out (away from center) is open. it should be almost all the way here in most cases.

 

[stovelark]

Letting you guys know, adjusting the damper on a Winslow is not something to play with. It should be about 3/4 open, pushing it closed more will lead to vacuum switch shutdowns on lower feed levels (a and b) I found this out the hard way, after adjusting a customer's closed more. It may have been a sensitive vac sw on that unit, but learned my lesson, after a return trip to the customer's house. Ran fine on startup and c and d settings. From the factory there is a paint line on the damper, keep it there or open a hair more for best operability.

Stovelark
Enviro EF3 FS pellet
Enviro Empress FPI AC pellet
Enviro Kodiak 1700 FS wood

 

[briansol]

Manual states it ships wide open from the factory. I never got to see it as the installers adjusted it. 90% open is the sweet spot for me.

 

[mlobitz]

The only time it never feeds for me is if it was run out of pellets. it takes about 2-3 ignition feed/start button pushes just to get the pellets to start falling again due to the auger length. I also use a thermostat.

I generally run my damper about 80-90% open.
wide open, it is cooler and burns more fuel.
half way closed, the flame gets lazy, the burn pot over flows after a day, and it's clinker city.
Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot of air.
your results may vary.


to my off topic question again, does the rear of your stove have this shroud? that goes from the area around the ignitor to the 2" oak pipe connector?

My stove does not have the shroud. I have found, since I purchased my stove in 2003 when it was owned by Country, that the quality control on this particular stove has not been too good. I had my first stove replaced because the burnpot was badly out of alignment. To this day, on the new stove, I continue to have trouble with the alignment of the burnpot. I just ordered a new burnpot today because the bottom of it is cracked and falling apart. The last one had the side blow out. Not a cheap part $95...If I had to do it all over again, I seriously doubt I would buy a pellet stove and I do not recommend them to people unless they are the DIYer type.

I will probably reset my damper to the 80-90% open position. I am not noticing any problems so far.

 

[briansol]

I wouldn't blame it on pellet as a whole. And frankly, for the most part, the stove's been good to me. Sure, there's some tinkering involved, but most things are like this.

I've never replaced anything mechanical or strucutral on mine since 2007 except for a control board that I fried-- and it was my fault. I moved the stove and a wire got lose and grounded out, poped a fuse and fried the board.
fixed the wire, redid the board and its back to normal ever since.
The only real issue i have with it is the over-use of snap discs.


interesting that there isn't a shroud on yours either. My contact at lennox says this is a welded on part from the factory and should be on all stoves.

 

[mlobitz]

I wouldn't blame it on pellet as a whole. And frankly, for the most part, the stove's been good to me. Sure, there's some tinkering involved, but most things are like this.

I've never replaced anything mechanical or strucutral on mine since 2007 except for a control board that I fried-- and it was my fault. I moved the stove and a wire got lose and grounded out, poped a fuse and fried the board.
fixed the wire, redid the board and its back to normal ever since.
The only real issue i have with it is the over-use of snap discs.


interesting that there isn't a shroud on yours either. My contact at lennox says this is a welded on part from the factory and should be on all stoves.

That's funny, I did the same thing a few years ago. Fried the board on a loose wire. Again, not a cheap repair. You have to figure anything with moving parts is going to go at some time or another...