Bixby maxfire exhaust error

[Skiddy]

Good morning
I have a Bixby maxfire corn stove that I bought used back in November and it’s worked perfect untill a couple days ago. Got home from work and stove was out. Error light 6 was flashing, hit the off and on buttons, it started doing its startup cycle then light 6 started flashing again. Unplugged the stove let it sit overnight, plug it back in and same thing, removed exhaust fan side cover cleaned out and start stove and the exhaust fan comes on but the error light is still flashing and stove does not start.
I’m fairly new to these stoves and looking for advise, reading online there’s suppose to be some software? I see a usb cord but I have no software as it was bough used
Hopefully you can help me get it going
Thanks

 

[OpenMaxFire]

Hey Skiddy, this reply is several years late, but I came across your post while researching these stoves.

Oddly enough, the exhaust fan turning is only half the story. The motherboard powers the fan, while a separate sensor tells it how fast the fan is actually turning. If that signal disappears, the stove assumes the exhaust fan has failed and flashes light 6.

We have since confirmed this behavior in the actual Bixby firmware. Repeatedly receiving little or no speed feedback causes the controller to stop startup and report the exhaust error.

The good news is that this does not automatically mean your motherboard is fried. With the stove unplugged, I would check:

• The small exhaust sensor connector at J10
• The wiring between J10 and the fan
• Whether the sensor has shifted away from the motor cooling blades
• Dirt around the sensor or cooling blades
• Rough bearings or a fan that sounds slower than it used to

Since you mentioned having a USB cable, BixCheck may be very useful here. Its Checkout screen can run the exhaust fan at full power, half power, and off while checking the sensor response.

If the fan turns but BixCheck sees no speed, the likely problem is the sensor, its wiring, its position, or the sensor circuit on the motherboard. If all three tests pass, I would then check the MaxFire 115 high output fan selection and startup fan calibration.

I have preserved the original software here:

• BixCheck 5.0.21 and firmware 2.06
• BixCheck 5.5.00 and firmware 2.70
• BixCheck 5.5.01 and firmware 2.71

I would identify the installed firmware and save the stove configuration before changing anything. I would not reload firmware just to troubleshoot this error.

The larger preservation and repair project is available at OpenMaxFire.com.

We are also searching for a surviving copy of firmware 2.73. If anyone still has it on an old computer, disc, USB drive, or email attachment, please contact us at contact@openmaxfire.com. Thanks!