Convection fan shuts off during full fire

[Jafo]

Hey, it's a new season! Glad to be back, and I hope everyone had a great summer!

I am having an issue with my Astoria Bay insert. Right in the middle of burning, sometimes the convection fan just stops while the fire is burning 100%. Sometimes it will click back on for less than a second and then shut off. It sometimes comes back on, but that that point the maint light starts blinking. Last year when I had it serviced (towards the end of the season) the dealer said it was because of all the ash in the cleanout. He cleaned the entire unit (and showed me how to) and the problem did subside a little, but a couple days later it crept back. It was the end of the season and I had bigger fish to fry.

This year before I even burned a bag through it, I went through and cleaned it the exact same way the dealer did. The problem is still happening. It feels to me like it is a problem with the exhaust sensor. I mentioned that to the dealer when he was here the first time and he said it was rare for that sensor to go, and again, it was most likely the ash build up. He said if it happened again, I could try disconnecting the wires to the sensor, tie the ends together with a clip and see if the fan stops and starts still. The only problem with that in my mind is that the fan will ALWAYS be on unless I unplug the stove yeah?

What do you guys think? The sensor? Something else?

 

[Bkins]

The putting the wires together is just a test to rule out the sensor and is a very common way to try to figure out what is wrong. You don't leave it that way but rather just use it as a way of finding out what the heck is wrong. This can and is done on numereous other spots on the stove also. It sounds like you have a bad snap disk that is cutting out on over temp and then resetting back on. If it is truely a over temp situation you need to find out why and get it fixed before running the stove more then a test session.

 

[Jafo]

Hmm, so you think it may be the sensor attached to the hopper? Would disconnecting that during a test session be helpful in diagnosing that? Meaning if it runs normally afterwards then that is the most likely culprit.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

It could also be the convection blower motor's thermal protection that is shutting it off. If the blower can be lubricated how long has it been since it was last lubricated?

Usually shortly after the motor thermal trips the over fire detection system in the stove will shut it down, but not always, sometimes the stove can still dump enough heat to stay running (lower firing rate only).

 

[Jafo]

I am emailing the dealer today about it and he wondered if it may be the vacuum switch.. I noticed when he was here doing the cleaning he never even looked at that part. If you look at the owners manual on page 31 it says to run a pipe cleaner through it.. I know nobody has ever done that, so I took the tube off and the nipple was jammed with flyash. I hit it with the vac and then ran a pipe cleaner through it, then hit it with the vac again. I did that to both sides. I am running a session now to see if it changes anything..

I am not even sure what that flow tube does?

 

[Jafo]

The dealer called me and we walked through a few things with the stove. They seem to be pretty convinced that the convection fan is overheating. It is covered under warranty so I am going to take it off tonight and swap it out.. We shall see..

 

[Jafo]

I just installed the new convection fan.. Guess we will have to wait and see.

 

[Jafo]

It has been so warm up here I hadn't been able to use the stove until last night and this morning.. Same issue. The fan would just click on and off sporadically. I got back with the dealer and they had me clip those two wires together from the snap disc connected to the exhaust fan. I was able to run the stove for 2 hours straight without any issues. I stopped by their shop and they gave me a new one for free and I installed it. Still too warm to use the stove but at some point tonight it will come on and I should know. Where the insert is mounted, it is inside a wall on the other side of my bedroom so I can hear when the convection fan kicks on and off. Hopefully this will solve the issue.

 

[Jafo]

It ran all weekend perfect, just like it did when it was first installed. So in the end it was the snap disc all along.