Bixby problem....

[Orin]

Hi everyone, I have a Bixby 115 that I've had for a while that I burn corn in. The stove has treated me nice until last night and when I got the stove I read all the bad things that were out there so I went into this with knowledge that some love them and some hate them.
The stove has been running very well up till last night. Got home and about 45 min the pot cycled and jammed whith it does every once an awhile. I hadn't cleaned it in about 10 days so I shut it down and let it cool. I cleaned it like I have in the past and turned it back on. It lit and ran for 8-10 min and the fire went out with lights 2&3 flashing which I know means a blocked flue or no fuel. Took the whole chimney apart and the fan side cover and cleaned everything but it does the same thing. Call a guy in Rutland vt that's is suppose to work on them, he said the flue is block and when I started to tell him that I had it all apart and cleaned it he hung up on me and won't take my call.... So I need some help here. Also rescaled the two top plates because somewhere else it was said to be a problem. Please help it suppose to be very cold tonight and I need to figure this out. Thank you,
Orin

 

[Bioburner]

TAke a good look at the board and track down the exhaust temp probe wire to the back of the board. It has a very small clip to connect it to the board and has been a nightmare for many and me but with a faster outcome. It will work loose and then the stove thinks no heat so wants to shut things down. I would like to post a picture but its a pretty hard place to photo well. Like the Harman the exhaust sensor is pretty important to manage the stove. Tip on keeping the stove auto clean feature running smoothly I have found is to dust the plates and burn pot surfaces with powdered graphite.
Welcome and good luck.

 

[Orin]

I have messed around with that wire also, when I put it back into the stove, how far should it go into the hole? It doesn't seem to be bad tried pulling it out while the stove was lite and the room fan slowed down so I assume it is functioning. It's kinda frustrating, revealed the square door on the fan as the gasket was looking bad and seeing if that makes a difference. Is there anyone that I could talk to that knows these stoves?

 

[Bioburner]

I was trying to get you to go to where the wire hooks to the board. If the probe is in the stream it should work but because that wire it so stiff it works out of its socket and becomes loose and gives so much grief.
Rona has a good collection of the stoves.

 

[ohbix]

As bioburner suggests, check that the thermocouple wire is snug on the board. Been there, done that. It slips off easily. fyi the thermocouple wire should have a US flag sticker on it.

 

[Bioburner]

Another issue that slowly creeps up and bites one is the flat gasket around the lip that holds the upper fire chamber plates. When it gets hard it starts letting in more air around it and then the pot doesn't get what it should and extra air around it goes out the exhaust and is not as hot and can trigger low temp shut down too.

 

[rona]

Hi everyone, I have a Bixby 115 that I've had for a while that I burn corn in. The stove has treated me nice until last night and when I got the stove I read all the bad things that were out there so I went into this with knowledge that some love them and some hate them.
The stove has been running very well up till last night. Got home and about 45 min the pot cycled and jammed whith it does every once an awhile. I hadn't cleaned it in about 10 days so I shut it down and let it cool. I cleaned it like I have in the past and turned it back on. It lit and ran for 8-10 min and the fire went out with lights 2&3 flashing which I know means a blocked flue or no fuel. Took the whole chimney apart and the fan side cover and cleaned everything but it does the same thing. Call a guy in Rutland vt that's is suppose to work on them, he said the flue is block and when I started to tell him that I had it all apart and cleaned it he hung up on me and won't take my call.... So I need some help here. Also rescaled the two top plates because somewhere else it was said to be a problem. Please help it suppose to be very cold tonight and I need to figure this out. Thank you,
Orin

The guy in Rutland shouldn't bother to answer his phone. As others have said that brown stiff thermo couple wire can and does slip out of position due to vibration and often is a cause for this type of problem. The 23 flashing lights can also be caused by running to lean and when the stove quits there is nothing in the pot. This is a common occurrence when it gets real cold and you are burning straight corn. The answer is increase your feed rate or add pellets to the mix as it will soften the clinker and prevent jams.
That thermal wire should be about a inch into the hole but your problem is on the other end where it connects onto the board, As others have said you can bend this wire so it applies pressure to the connection.
The third possible reason for the 2-3 lights might be a buildup of fines in the hopper and under the wheel. When this happens the wheel will lift going over the corn so it can't dump a full slot full of corn as it rotates. This can be cured by removing the shield that protects the wheel and after cleaning as much corn as possible out of the hopper remove the 4 screws that have a sleeve and spring under them and lift the wheel out of the hopper. Vacumn all the fines out and replace the wheel and wheel cover. While doing that look at the feeder wheel gasket and if its in sad shape replace it. I make a newer style called a "loop" style which lasts longer then the older ones or can make the same as the older ones.

 

[rona]

The guy in Rutland shouldn't bother to answer his phone. As others have said that brown stiff thermo couple wire can and does slip out of position due to vibration and often is a cause for this type of problem. The 23 flashing lights can also be caused by running to lean and when the stove quits there is nothing in the pot. This is a common occurrence when it gets real cold and you are burning straight corn. The answer is increase your feed rate or add pellets to the mix as it will soften the clinker and prevent jams.
That thermal wire should be about a inch into the hole but your problem is on the other end where it connects onto the board, As others have said you can bend this wire so it applies pressure to the connection.
The third possible reason for the 2-3 lights might be a buildup of fines in the hopper and under the wheel. When this happens the wheel will lift going over the corn so it can't dump a full slot full of corn as it rotates. This can be cured by removing the shield that protects the wheel and after cleaning as much corn as possible out of the hopper remove the 4 screws that have a sleeve and spring under them and lift the wheel out of the hopper. Vacumn all the fines out and replace the wheel and wheel cover. While doing that look at the feeder wheel gasket and if its in sad shape replace it. I make a newer style called a "loop" style which lasts longer then the older ones or can make the same as the older ones.

Bio, Tell us more about the graphite trick as these stoves sound like a constipated horse when slicing a hard clinker.

 

[Bioburner]

All the plates that move and the burn pot bottom I blast with a shot of graphite and with a gloved finger just burnish-rub in and just dust another shot over everything every time I clean. If it moves or rubs I give it some graphite. Stuff is cheap at the farm store or at implement store. Been pretty rare to have issue after using it and a quart of pellets to a bucket of corn for several years.

 

[Orin]

Thank you for all for your suggestions, I vacuumed the hopper out and mixed some pellets into the corn and it seems to be burning ok so far. I did all that before reading all the suggestions so I didn't take the feed wheel off, I will do that the next time I clean it and see what it looks like. As far as the thermocouple plug, I had taken the wire completely out of the stove and when I removed it, it had seemed to be on real well. I have a complete Bixby that came with this one for parts so I had taken the thermocouple off of that one but that didn't change anything. I'm thinking that the corn might be a little to damp and the pellets are helping. I'm going to take a sample and see what the moisture is. Thank you all again, this was really nice to have all of those helpful suggestions and the house is starting to feel livable again. Orin

 

[Orin]

Thank you all for the help, got home and vacuumed out the hopper and mixed some pellets in there and it's burning good. Tested the corn and it tested at 16.7% so a bit wet, had burned it for the last three months but the cold and cleaning must have been enough to make the stove not work. Thank you again, the house is warm again and that's a great feeling! Orin