Do I need to clean the blower? What else should I look for?

[mfglickman]

My XXV was installed in February. We've put maybe a ton of pellets through it (I'd say 50 bags at most). Every week I shut it down, scrape the burn pot, brush down the inside, empty the ash bin (sometimes twice a week) and shop vac the interior.

A couple of weeks ago, I had it on room temp, the therm is now about 5 feet off the ground and 2 feet to the right of the stove, and it had shut down as the room had hit temp (I had it set at 60). When I wanted to bump heat, I bumped up the temp to 70 and it started dropping pellets but did not ignite. I'd knock the ash layer into the ash pan, scrape the pot, try again. No ignite. Unplug and plug back in - it would ignite. By then about a cup or so of Barefoots would have passed, warm/hot but not burning, into the ash pan.

So I took off the panel that covers the ignitor, brushed around in there and then vacuumed it. That seems to have fixed the ignitor problem...but now the blower/fan is not always coming on. Meaning that sometimes it does what I expect and increases fan speed when I turn it up, but sometimes (especially when starting up) it just won't blow. The fire starts but hot air does not blow forcefully out of the vent in front.

I thought the blower only needed to be cleaned a couple of times a season, and didn't think that one ton would cause trouble to this extent. But I could absolutely be wrong on that - advice please?

Thanks!

Mary

 

[newf lover]

You should not have to clean the blower after one ton. My fan doesn't come on right away; it takes a few minutes and when the fire really gets going it comes on. This weather is not good for playing with a pellet stove, too warm! We put ours on in the morning to take the chill out, and it hits the desired temp in about 15 minutes, then starts cycling down. I clean the ignitor area every week.

 

[Lousyweather]

yea, the distribution fan wont come on until the ESP probe reads 155 degrees. So, you can imagine if the ESP is dirty or faulty, that it directly affects alot of things, distribution blower, feeder, ignition cycle, etc. That said, unless its in TEST mode, the distribution fan shouldnt come on until there is a fire in the pot, thereby causing the ESP to read about 155 degrees or so. Nice newfies, BTW!

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Here are some pics and info on how I did mine. Different stove but you will get the idea.

Wood Pellet Stove Yearly Cleaning - Convection Blower
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/60351/

Wood Pellet Stove Yearly Cleaning - Exhaust Blower
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/60251/

 

[mfglickman]

So it gets weirder...now the stove is shutting down on its own. Last night we had it cranking in stove mode before bed, then I turned the blower to low and the temp/heat dial down to about a 3/65 degrees for the night. I heard the fan lower when I turned it, as expected. This morning I came down to a very chilly room and the stove off. First thought it was out of pellets but the hopper was over 50% full. No error lights/flashing. Turned stove off, then back on, and it started right up.

Ghosts???

 

[gbreda]

Did you keep it in stove mode? Or possibly move it to room temp while in Auto?
I only ask this because I was in Stove/Auto last night. At bedtime and half awake, turned it down to 55/Room Temp so it would not go out, but forgot to switch back to manual. Woke to a cold house.

 

[Lousyweather]

could also be a pellet "bridge" in the hopper....more common on slower feeds....but I bleive there would have been a status blink on that....usually a 5 blinker, I believe.