Breckwell Big E not feeding enough pellets

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samerickson89

New Member
Nov 29, 2023
3
Longview, IL
I have a Breckwell P1000 Big E (possibly an older one since it doesn't have the removable ash pan, hopefully not a knockoff) that doesn't seem to be feeding enough pellets to maintain a flame. The auger seemed a little clogged up with dust so I cleaned it out and it spins freely now. The motor turns at right around 1rpm which I believe is the correct speed.

It has a new convection blower and the combustion blower seems to be working fine. When I first moved in back in 2015 (the stove came with the house) I couldn't even keep the stove at level 5 because the burn pot would overfill. But now after about 5 or 10 minutes of burning on heat level 5, the burn pot goes almost empty and there's barely a flame left until more pellets are fed in. I have to hold down the manual feed button for at least a minute to get enough pellets for a proper flame, but then another 5-10 minutes and it dies down again.

My understanding is that the "reset trim" feature only changes the feed rate for heat level 1, so I don't think that's my solution. Should pellets be feeding almost constantly when I hold the manual feed button, or is it normal to still have them only fall intermittently? Could this be a feed rate issue, and if so can that be adjusted for heat levels other than 1? Could something about the pellet size be causing this? Are there any possible mechanical issues other than the ones I've ruled out (bad motor and clogged auger)?

Thanks!
 
This manual will give you the cycle times for the auger on each heat setting.
May give you some clue as to what is happening. page 24
Thanks! So if the time for heat level 5 is 12 seconds and the total cycle time is 14.5, does that mean it should be on for 12 and off for 2.5?
[Hearth.com] Breckwell Big E not feeding enough pellets
 
This manual will give you the cycle times for the auger on each heat setting.
May give you some clue as to what is happening. page 24
This was exactly what I needed! I timed the auger cycling and it was cycling as if it was set to heat level 1. That led me to do a little further digging, and it turns out the thermostat switch had been bumped to high/low instead of manual. Apparently when you use a thermostat setting without a thermostat, it defaults to assuming it's reached the temperature setpoint. Feeling a little silly, but at least this whole ordeal gave me an excuse to clean the auger!
 
just a FYI you should not run the stove above 3 for more than 20 min.. That is right in the manual as the stove gets to hot and will warp the interior. The big E is a bullet proof stove i have the same one its ugly but works well
 
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