Breckwell Blazer blowing air from front corner down toward floor

[MaryMack]

This is crazy, but my old Breckwell Blazer (1994) has air escaping from the front left corner blowing down toward the floor ! This is not coming from the door, but from the lower corner of the stove. Bought the stove off of Craigslist for cheap, hooked it up and it worked great for a couple months, then quit.
The auger won't feed automatically, only manually. I have jumped all the discs and the vacuum switch individually and they check out fine. While troubleshooting all the components, I discovered this air blowing out the corner. Suspect this means the firebox is cracked or damaged ? I've gotten a lot of helpful advice on this forum, and welcome any suggestions you might have.

 

[Roadstar]

Something doesn't make sense to be. The firebox is under negative pressure due to the exhaust fan pulling air out of the firebox. It's hard for me to imagine air being forced out from inside the firebox either through the door or the side glass panels. If anything air would be sucked in. That doesn't mean it isn't possible but I don't see how.

As far as the auger not working properly I would be sure the plug behind the left side panel is plugged in all the way. Perhaps wiggle it a little. Does the auger light go on when you press the auger button?

Sorry I'm not much help. It's kind of difficult to troubleshoot when you're not in front of it.

Good luck

 

[MaryMack]

This is crazy, but my old Breckwell Blazer (1994) has air escaping from the front left corner blowing down toward the floor ! This is not coming from the door, but from the lower corner of the stove. Bought the stove off of Craigslist for cheap, hooked it up and it worked great for a couple months, then quit.
The auger won't feed automatically, only manually. I have jumped all the discs and the vacuum switch individually and they check out fine. While troubleshooting all the components, I discovered this air blowing out the corner. Suspect this means the firebox is cracked or damaged ? I've gotten a lot of helpful advice on this forum, and welcome any suggestions you might have.

Something doesn't make sense to be. The firebox is under negative pressure due to the exhaust fan pulling air out of the firebox. It's hard for me to imagine air being forced out from inside the firebox either through the door or the side glass panels. If anything air would be sucked in. That doesn't mean it isn't possible but I don't see how.

As far as the auger not working properly I would be sure the plug behind the left side panel is plugged in all the way. Perhaps wiggle it a little. Does the auger light go on when you press the auger button?

Sorry I'm not much help. It's kind of difficult to troubleshoot when you're not in front of it.

Good luck

Thanks, Roadstar, yes I've checked all the electrical connections and it's all good. We get the green light after pressing the auger button, but it won't feed automatically, just manually if I press the manual feed button. So, to me, this would suggest that the auger motor is ok. After jumping all the thermodiscs and the vacuum switch with no luck, I'm thinking it might be the control board has gone bad.
Your reminder that the firebox is under negative pressure was very helpful ! Wherever that air is coming from, it's certainly not the firebox.

 

[MaryMack]

Thanks, Roadstar, yes I've checked all the electrical connections and it's all good. We get the green light after pressing the auger button, but it won't feed automatically, just manually if I press the manual feed button. So, to me, this would suggest that the auger motor is ok. After jumping all the thermodiscs and the vacuum switch with no luck, I'm thinking it might be the control board has gone bad.
Your reminder that the firebox is under negative pressure was very helpful ! Wherever that air is coming from, it's certainly not the firebox.

Also, I have cleaned the stove thoroughly, behind the ash doors in the firebox, up in the exhaust, everywhere I can reach. Used rubber mallet to thump on sides and knock more ash down. It was pretty clean, since I also did all of this prior to installing it two months ago.

 

[Roadstar]

When my stove was new it used to take a while once a fire was started before the auger motor started dropping pellets. I believe it had to reach a certain temperature before it kicked in. For some reason it doesn't act like that now, pellets drop fairly quickly. I'm also not on the original control board. I assume your auger just started acting up recently. Stabbing in the dark; load up the burn pot and get a good blaze going to see if it triggers the auger to turn on. I also assume your control board is an analog board and your stove does not have an igniter. You can get those boards rebuilt. I had one of mine rebuilt a few years back.

If you think you might want to get your board repaired see if this guy is still doing them:

David Boyce
[email protected]

[email protected]

Skype: pcbrepairs

He lives in Eastern Canada, probably just above you.

 

[MaryMack]

When my stove was new it used to take a while once a fire was started before the auger motor started dropping pellets. I believe it had to reach a certain temperature before it kicked in. For some reason it doesn't act like that now, pellets drop fairly quickly. I',m also not on the original control board. I assume your auger just started acting up recently. Stabbing in the dark; load up the burn pot and get a good blaze going to see if it triggers the auger to turn on. I also assume your control board is an analog board and your stove does not have an igniter. You can get those boards rebuilt. I had one of mine rebuilt a few years back.

If you think you might want to get your board repaired see if this guy is still doing them:

David Boyce
[email protected]

[email protected]

Skype: pcbrepairs

He lives in Eastern Canada, probably just above you.

Oh, good, I'll definitely try contacting him about a rebuild. I know you can upgrade to the digital control board with a kit that costs about $500, but I'm old school and kind of like the simplicity of the old analog board.
I know what you're saying about the auger beginning to feed only after the fire is going well enough to trigger the proof of fire (low limit thermodisc). Sadly, it just won't feed no matter how hot I get that thing blazing. I've sat there feeding it manually for 45 minutes hoping it would do the trick.