Bixby Corn/Pellet Stove Help

[theblane]

Hi everyone,

I bought a Bixby Maxfire 115 about 2 months ago and I have had problems. I burn wood. 1.2.3&7 lights blink but the igniters are good. I have new metal igniters also. The stove ran for a little on the corn setting but the temps dropped and now it runs well for about 2 hours and then just shuts down. I start it up again and it won't run so I have to wait, start again at 0,0 and adjust accordingly. Often doesn't run on any settings. Thermal coupler wire is attached, the motors are good, fan is good. Some of those lights change over the past month or so but I'm always getting a right igniter failure. Help?

 

[Bioburner]

PM rona. He wrangles Bixby stoves. May want to upgrade the firmware etc. That will allow the stove to self start on thermostat. Could be several simple issues. Like a poor door seal on the ash bin. Really like mine and with corn so cheap it still beats propane at 93 cents and once running it only needs to be shut down to clean once a month if running on lower settings and biscuits emptied once a week. About a fuss free as they get.
Welcome

 

[mustangwagz]

i second contacting Rona, dood deals with them allllllll the time. Im friends with him via other places, ill let em know he's needed. haha

 

[rona]

Hi everyone,

I bought a Bixby Maxfire 115 about 2 months ago and I have had problems. I burn wood. 1.2.3&7 lights blink but the igniters are good. I have new metal igniters also. The stove ran for a little on the corn setting but the temps dropped and now it runs well for about 2 hours and then just shuts down. I start it up again and it won't run so I have to wait, start again at 0,0 and adjust accordingly. Often doesn't run on any settings. Thermal coupler wire is attached, the motors are good, fan is good. Some of those lights change over the past month or so but I'm always getting a right igniter failure. Help?

123&7 mean internal error. Try disconnecting stove from the wall then plug it back in. Called re-booting and if you are lucky it will run again. But telling me you bought it two months ago probably means the stove had the problem before you bought it. Have you checked the new igniters with a ohm meter to make sure they are good?
There is other things to look at, When you say it ran for a little on the corn setting but now it runs for 2 hours and shuts down. Then you say you burn wood I assume wood pellets. Where do you have the settings when you are running it? Usually I suggest starting with exh fan in the middle position and work with the fuel.
I always tell people when buying a used stove to do a complete clean before anything else. Remove the two panels that protect the convection tubes and clean behind them and on the bottom of them where the exh runs. Then afte that remove one floor plate screw and remove the floor plates. Pull a couple pins and lift burn pot out then make sure all the little 1/8 inch holes are clean that are under the burn pot. reassemble the above items.
Next empty the fuel hopper and remove the plate that protects the feed wheel. Next remove the 4 small screws that have a spring and sleeve in them. Lift wheel out and vacuum all fines found in that area then put everything together.
Put fuel in hopper and turn it on then push 1 heat level it should cycle 3 times with fans running and shut down then it should drop fuel in the pot then igniters heat up and air pump makes noise it should run.
it will do a warm up run then slow down when the air pump stops but will pickup as the stoves warms up I would then increase heat level by pushing 2 3 4 5 6. The stove should ramp up to six. Do you run with a thermostat? if so remove it and put a jumper wire between the two thermostat screws. When you start it keep tract of the time and tell us when things happen. Most of the time diagnosing the problem is using your hands and eyes to tell us what is happening then we suggest different things until we find the problem.

 

[theblane]

Thanks for the quick replies gentlemen. I have 1-3 & 7 now and plugging it in results in a system check with lights 2,3 lighting and then another sweep of the lights and 1,2,3 & 7 staying lit. This results with the stove not responding to anything.

I am running wood pellets, I have cleaned most of the stove prior to starting as you mentioned Rona. I spoke with Blume in PA and I checked some things with him. I was running at 0,1.5 when it was working well.

Thanks guys!

 

[rona]

Thanks for the quick replies gentlemen. I have 1-3 & 7 now and plugging it in results in a system check with lights 2,3 lighting and then another sweep of the lights and 1,2,3 & 7 staying lit. This results with the stove not responding to anything.

I am running wood pellets, I have cleaned most of the stove prior to starting as you mentioned Rona. I spoke with Blume in PA and I checked some things with him. I was running at 0,1.5 when it was working well.

Thanks guys!

I am thinking 123&7 means a dead stove which sounds like your problem. Not being there I can only suggest doing what I suggested which was basically was a deep cleaning and while doing that you might have uncovered a problem such as a reason why the stove doesn't work. The reason I do that I have seen inexperienced new owners make a simple mistake and the result is a stove not working. A example is flipping the slicer upside down when re assembling and it won't work that way but will send some strange combination of flashing lights.
As a last resort we can say the board went bad and send it in but I have seen the lights flash as yours did and the board checked out so the customer wasted 100.00 and still had a stove that didn't work.
Send me a email at [email protected] and I will suggest a few more ideas.

 

[DOLLARBILL]

If you haven't figured out your problems yet giving Rona a call will help another person you may want to talk to is Ralph Blume ( I wish I still had his #! ) he sells parts for Bixbys or should I say( Fixmes) on Ebay ! Another good source is Mike @ bixbystoveparts.com, Mike worked at the bixby factory and can help with just about any problem ! If corn was cheap here in Maine Id probably still have a Bixby BUT I tried for 3 seasons to burn with wood pellets well the stove was anything but reliable!So now for four years Ive had a smile on my face and my Harman just keeps a running !
Good Luck to you ! i do think the Bixby burning corn is a good stove !

 

[theblane]

Ralph Blume helped me find the problem! I really appreciate all of your guy's help also. I ended up sending him my board and got a new board back which fixed all the error codes but the stove still wasn't working.
I ended up calling Ralph back and during conversation Ralph mentioned a seal in the hopper and making sure it was good.. that raised a flag because I had not seen a seal when I did the deep clean you suggested. I removed the 2 bolts from the upper auger cleanout deal and found that all was there was the metal plate; no springs, no gasket, nothing!
Ralph sent me a prototype which I drilled 2 more holes and used the piece of rubber to create a seal above the pellet drop hole. Stove runs great!

 

[Bioburner]

Good to hear. I went to the new wiper seal when I used pellets for a winter. Never could get the proper cycling of the biscuit using pellets. Runs great with corn and that's what it will probably use till it dies. Primary heater here with corn at around $3.60/bu still beats propane.
Will fire the Harman using half corn with crosslink to put heat in the basement slab when temps get ugly and that's tonight with single digits for the next few days and even got the Elena sealed up and running.
Stay warm and safe. Minnesota is having a big spike in deaths due to fires this season

 

[theblane]

Hey guys, I ran into another problem.
Stove was running great and then I lost power. Started it up again and it hasn't worked. I did a deep clean again and no fuses are blown. It starts up and just keeps dumping pellets into the burn pot but it starts at the 3.5 mark. After 6-10 minutes the fan shuts off and the flame goes down..then poof the igniters fire again and a huge flame for 20 minutes until the burn pot overflows with pellets. I checked the vents and they are clear, the wiper seal is working well, and no error codes until it shuts down and then is blinks 3 & 5. I checked ash door and that shuts tight with no leak.
The pellets are dumping way to fast even if a put the knob all the way down.

Anyone have thus issue before? I really hope the board didn't crap out again on me. I feel defeated so some encouraging words would be nice too.

 

[Bioburner]

You didn't have the stove connected to a good UPS or surge protector? There was a good sale on a UPS yesterday for -$140
We stress the need for them on the site to protect the stoves almost on a daily basis enforcing what manufactures recommend, some will not honor warranties unless stove is hooked up to one. Have you tried a hard reset?
I just put the new corn in the hopper this AM and hoping to have the Bixby fine tuned by the weekends cold blast.
Good luck

 

[theblane]

Hi,
I did not have it connected to a surge protector. I'm not completely sure how to do a hard reset. Could you explain? Thanks.

 

[Bioburner]

Hard reset, unplug the unit and wait for a period of time. The Bixby has a huge capacitor so I would let it sit unplugged for 10 minutes or so.

 

[rona]

You called Ralph Blume once and he got you on track maybe its time to give him another call. Its possible you could reinstall the software and that would solve your problem. Sounds like the software is corrupt. I've had that problem and solved it by reinstalling the software. It sounds like it lost power while working. Sometimes just unplugging it and allowing it to reboot will solve the problem, Worst case scenario remove the board and send it in to a Bixby tech who is trained to go over the board repair it and install the new software. That will ensure any damaged parts on the board are replaced and it comes back with a warranty.

 

[theblane]

Rona,

I tried the hard reset and still the same problem so I shut it off. Turned on next day, plugged in all night, and it ran until yesterday. Power went out, still waiting on UPS (our UPS doesn't work because we have an old house with no real ground to the outlet) and it turned off. When we started it up the feeder wheel will just start dumping pellets constantly once the flame started. In minutes the burn pot is filled up and dies. It doesn't shut down though it just smokes and smoke comes out through the ash bin and right side. I cleaned the entire thing, made sure airways are clear and I get no error codes. Everything runs as planned except the feed wheel dumping.
Anyone have a cable and software to try that?

Thanks everyone!

 

[rona]

Rona,

I tried the hard reset and still the same problem so I shut it off. Turned on next day, plugged in all night, and it ran until yesterday. Power went out, still waiting on UPS (our UPS doesn't work because we have an old house with no real ground to the outlet) and it turned off. When we started it up the feeder wheel will just start dumping pellets constantly once the flame started. In minutes the burn pot is filled up and dies. It doesn't shut down though it just smokes and smoke comes out through the ash bin and right side. I cleaned the entire thing, made sure airways are clear and I get no error codes. Everything runs as planned except the feed wheel dumping.
Anyone have a cable and software to try that?

Thanks everyone!

Sounds like you have two choices. You can buy a cable and software from Ralph and try reprogramming the board yourself or you can send the board to Ralph and him send it in for repairs and it will come back with new software. I think either choice will cost about the same. The feeder wheel runs but is not being controlled. To me that is a board issue but If there was damage done to the board there isn't much use trying to reinstall the software.

 

[theblane]

I'll get in touch with Ralph. Does anyone have the software? Any reason BixCheck isn't available to download?

Thanks Rona. Where in MN do you live again? I work in Albert Lea and we live in Northwood, IA.

 

[Bioburner]

Hope you have invested in a UPS. Hate to get all fixed and the next storm comes and your back again

 

[theblane]

I do have an UPS and the stove is plugged into it, that's the frustrating part. Our house was built in 1913 and for some brilliant reason most of my outlets aren't grounded. The UPS is essentially useless as it has a red light that stays on indicating it won't work because of the faulty ground. We moved in July so we will get the wiring fixed soon.

 

[rona]

What happened between Jan 8 and now Jan 26? Did it run for a few days? Oh I sent you a PM

 

[theblane]

I tried hard resetting it, that didn't work at the time. Then a day or so later I just tried it and it ran fine until the other day. After Jan 8 I put an UPS there but that didn't work.

 

[Bioburner]

I do have an UPS and the stove is plugged into it, that's the frustrating part. Our house was built in 1913 and for some brilliant reason most of my outlets aren't grounded. The UPS is essentially useless as it has a red light that stays on indicating it won't work because of the faulty ground. We moved in July so we will get the wiring fixed soon.

I too had a old farm home and the place had been upgraded with electric baseboards etc. Signed off by state inspector. The cheap*%$# clipped all the ground wires at the sockets. I ran ground wires to circuits and to an outside ground rod. When I got a new home I still added additional grounding wires with extra ground rods. I live in the middle of a couple sections with little trees except for the homestead and the poor ash trees are getting cooked. Hope to erect a tower with big ground wire to help. No electrical problems due to lightening thou.

 

[vanyo]

I think I'm having the same problem.

Background: I've had the Bixby Maxfire 115 since August 2007, and upgraded the firmware in 2011. I have the laptop cable and BixCheck software running, but have to find my instructions on how to use it. I've been burning wood pellets (tried corn, but too expensive where I live).

The stove starts fine, though lights 1 and 7 blink (left igniter), and seems to be functioning fine for a while, but the after a while (30 minutes to 2 hours?), the flame dies down (no visible flame), lights 1,2,3 and 7 are blinking, the other lights are dark, and it's making that sound like when the igniters are running. To get it running again, I have to do the hard reset (unplug for quite a while, then restart).

I've done all the "usual" maintenance (with lots of help from the old iburncorn.com forum), but this particular problem is a new one for me. What can I try next?

 

[Bioburner]

I think I'm having the same problem.

Background: I've had the Bixby Maxfire 115 since August 2007, and upgraded the firmware in 2011. I have the laptop cable and BixCheck software running, but have to find my instructions on how to use it. I've been burning wood pellets (tried corn, but too expensive where I live).

The stove starts fine, though lights 1 and 7 blink (left igniter), and seems to be functioning fine for a while, but the after a while (30 minutes to 2 hours?), the flame dies down (no visible flame), lights 1,2,3 and 7 are blinking, the other lights are dark, and it's making that sound like when the igniters are running. To get it running again, I have to do the hard reset (unplug for quite a while, then restart).

I've done all the "usual" maintenance (with lots of help from the old iburncorn.com forum), but this particular problem is a new one for me. What can I try next?

Have you taken the gasket plate off in the hopper and inspected it? They do wear. I went with the loop gasket as its better for the sharper pellets when corn went to over $7 and the pellets tore up the original.

 

[vanyo]

Yeah, did all that. The little round plate on the drive shaft that the feeder wheel attaches to had worked it's way up a tiny bit, but I fixed that, and I've been using the red silicone rubber loop gasket for a long time now, and just replaced that. But ...

Reading the stuff above about using a UPS got me thinking about the electricity. I'm not sure, but it's been running fine now for about 3 1/2 hours now (longer than usual), and the only thing different is I unplugged a sodium lamp that I have on a fish tank sharing the same outlet. I think I had them on the same outlet last year, but maybe the lamp is going bad and interfering. I'll have to let it run a while and see. I'll feel kind of silly if that's all it was, but I'm hoping so.

It certainly seems like an electrical / software issue, as resetting it always works (if I wait long enough).

I was looking into a UPS, but the label on the stove says it take 10 amps on startup, which I think would require a pretty beefy UPS.