I purchased an ecofan a few months ago used. It ran fine for about 2 months, but over the last few weeks it has been inconsistent. Sometimes stove temps are 300-400 degrees and it is literally stopped. Other times at those same stove top temps it is spinning normally. Is this the motor going out or could it be another issue?
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Could be the motor, the teg, or the wiring. Throw a meter across the motor inputs and see if you can drop the voltage by wiggling the wires around. If not, see if the teg hasn't delaminated from whatever thermal transfer pad/goo is being used to keep the hot and cold sides in contact with the heat sinks.
None of the parts in those things are real expensive.
None of the parts in those things are real expensive.
PistolPeets
Member
I have limited knowledge of these, but some have a metal tab on the bottom that lifts the fan in the event the stove top gets too hot. Could be worth looking at that tab.
Any idea what the resistance should be across the motor when at room temp?
I also read that some others replaced the thermal compound between the fan and heat sink and that fixed the issue.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Mineral oil is nonconductive and should last a while in a light duty application like that.
I wouldn't even bother ohming out the motor unless you are going to take it out of circuit first. Just see if it's getting power, which will point you towards troubleshooting the teg or the motor.
I let everything cool to about 225-250ish, the fan is supposed to spin and thus create voltage above 185 Fahrenheit. On the solder points on the back of the motor I was only getting 0.017 V AC. The fan does spin periodically but generally only with stove temps above 350ish.
It has a 2 year warranty. Call the Customer Service Department at 1-800-567-3556 to obtain a return authorization code and mailing instructions.
I actually did that a few weeks back. They sent me a replacement. I was hoping it was something else and to save the motor when it dies in the future.
Is that voltage way under spec?
Is that voltage way under spec?
Woody5506
Minister of Fire
Sometimes mine stops or is kinda weak at those temps. I've lifted them up before and set back down and they get going.
Kinda surprised I haven't burned mine out yet, it's constantly sitting in the middle of a 600+ degree stove top.
Kinda surprised I haven't burned mine out yet, it's constantly sitting in the middle of a 600+ degree stove top.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
You can't measure resistance across most things when they're in circuit, and measuring voltage requires knowledge of the circuit to know what you're looking at.
.02v is not enough to run pretty much any kind of fan, but the TEG could be putting out a much higher voltage and the fan is shorted internally, and you'd see nothing across the fan.
Unplug the fan and measure the teg's output at temperature. If it doesn't rise to its spec output, check its thermal transfer goo and secure its physical connection to the heatsinks. If it still doesn't put out proper voltage, the module is probably bad.
.02v is not enough to run pretty much any kind of fan, but the TEG could be putting out a much higher voltage and the fan is shorted internally, and you'd see nothing across the fan.
Unplug the fan and measure the teg's output at temperature. If it doesn't rise to its spec output, check its thermal transfer goo and secure its physical connection to the heatsinks. If it still doesn't put out proper voltage, the module is probably bad.
I put our Ecofan through all sorts of abuse. At times, for short periods it was on an 800º stove top when I had it on the F602. It just kept going year after year. I have a 1 yr old cheapy from Amazon now. It normally sits on the trivet of the T6 so it had stayed under 500º. Lately it seemed to be slowing down. I put it on the stove top at 600º and it perked up, but now won't self start on the trivet unless the stove top is at 700º. I think you get what you pay for in this case.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Apparently that's often a simple case of the thermal transfer compound on the teg drying out. There are lots of reports of people fixing their slow/dead tegfans by fixing the thermal goo.
Pull the heat sinks off, scrape the heat sinks and teg with soft plastic (I use home depot store credit cards for heatsink scraping because they're soft and I usually have one in my wallet). Clean all 4 surfaces with rubbing alcohol, apply a thin layer of thermal goo to all 4 surfaces using your plastic scraper as a spreader, and put them tightly together again. You want metal to module contact, not a sixteenth inch of excess goo between the two.
Thermal goo on amazon
Yes, I have put in TEGs before and lots of CPUs. I probably have some Arctic Silver hanging around. I more suspect it is a cheap motor bearing failure, but can check the thermal paste.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
I couldn't find mine this winter and had an overheating crisis on a game machine one night. So now I have a CPU that is heatsinked with Loctite brand copper anti-sieze, which I have a 100 year supply of for stove lube. I told myself I was going to fix it properly asap, but of course I didn't and it's still working fine.
(Do not try this at home- thermal goo like Arctic Silver is electrically nonconductive and I doubt you can say the same for copper antisieze, so if it gets where it shouldn't, Bad Things will happen. Should be pretty safe for a tegfan though, if you don't use so much that it gets on the sides or contacts of the teg.)
Similar threads
