Englander 25 pdv top auger cutting in and out

[Chrisnow86]

My stove is just over one year old always maintain it well.. And tonight my top auger is cutting out.. Fire dies down and it starts again.. I cleaned the vaccuum hole on the side of the fire box but it still keeps happining.. Input would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Lake Girl]

Any codes showing up? When was the last time you cleaned venting and exhaust internals? Outside air hooked up? Checked that hopper lid switch is contacting and functioning (just had this happen to me). Door safety switch? Make sure connections are OK...Confirm heat sensor is connected and not damaged? Make sure unit is unplugged when working in the cabinet.

Checked vacuum lines are undamaged? Connections to switches are secure?

Company website troubleshooting guides:
(broken link removed to http://www.heatredefined.com/fuel-feed-related-problems)
(broken link removed to http://www.heatredefined.com/support/troubleshooting-guide/pu-cb04-wiring-chart)

You might want to reach out to Mike Holton, head tech at England Stove Works... Keep us posted.

 

[BUBIBEAR]

Top auger is a metering auger .It is suppose to operate on and off . Are your pellets bridging .

 

[Cedarjunki]

Have you changed pellets lately? Pellets on the longer side will cause this in these stoves.

 

[DrewBoogie]

do you think it's getting stuck, or no? if it is, it'd be worth sliding it out and getting some dry molly in there. My auger got stuck on a big pellet this year for the first time. I just wiggled the motor around enough to unclog it. That's easy enough of a tester. I assume none of the wires are melted or anything. did you check connections for it too? You could also always try flipping the augers and seeing if it will consistently spin since the bottom auger is always turning.

 

[Chrisnow86]

Not getting any codes.. its only doing it when the stove is on high.. i know the top auger runs intermittently, but the fire should not die out on high lol...

Called Englander this am and spoke to someone about it, my question was, can the stove over heat and stop feeding pellets without throwing a E-3 code?.. he said no, but to check the vacuum line from the fire box, and make sure there is no cracks disrupting the vacuum.. when the fire box gets really hot the air gets thinner and can trip the switch..

He said to also check the venting just make sure there is no blockage.. Im pretty confident there isn't, it was cleaned out about a month ago.. but i will look anyway.

im also gonna clean out the convection blower I'm sure it has dust in it...


one thing i asked is.. im cracking into my 3 ton of pellets, and these are on the smaller side, same brand burn really hot but these are smaller in size.. im not getting a auger jam because the motor moves freely all the time.. but being smaller pellets when it feeds them out it will be a more dense volume.. so more fuel more heat..


And ran the stove all night on 5 wake up at 3 am house was a little cool and bumped it up to 6, and its been running fine since.. My wife is keeping me updated while im at work lol

 

[Cedarjunki]

its only doing it when the stove is on high.. i know the top auger runs intermittently, but the fire should not die out on high lol...

This info wasnt included in the original post. Mine dies down on the lower settings because of the randomness in pellet lengths... but now that you say on high... i would start with a thorough cleaning of stove and vent along with cleaning the vacuum ports and lines.

 

[Lake Girl]

but being smaller pellets when it feeds them out it will be a more dense volume.. so more fuel more heat..

You've got that portion right!

Three tons and one cleaning ...I usually clean every ton JIC. Have you pulled the exhaust fan and cleaned that? Likely need a new gasket. Vacuumed, or better, blown out windings on exhaust blower with compressed air?

Check all your sealing surfaces - door and hopper ... dollar bill test.

 

[Chrisnow86]

You've got that portion right!

Three tons and one cleaning ...I usually clean every ton JIC. Have you pulled the exhaust fan and cleaned that? Likely need a new gasket. Vacuumed, or better, blown out windings on exhaust blower with compressed air?

Check all your sealing surfaces - door and hopper ... dollar bill test.[/QUOT

You've got that portion right!

Three tons and one cleaning ...I usually clean every ton JIC. Have you pulled the exhaust fan and cleaned that? Likely need a new gasket. Vacuumed, or better, blown out windings on exhaust blower with compressed air?

Check all your sealing surfaces - door and hopper ... dollar bill test.

Ive given the stove 3 thorough cleanings since October.. thats including behind the backing plate of the fire box "with a 3 ft pc of small hose hooked up to my vacuum" axhaust pipe out the back of the stove.. "cleaned the flue last spring when i was done and that is clear its easy to check" I mean i keep this stove very clean..

 

[Chrisnow86]

This info wasnt included in the original post. Mine dies down on the lower settings because of the randomness in pellet lengths... but now that you say on high... i would start with a thorough cleaning of stove and vent along with cleaning the vacuum ports and lines.

sorry about the pretty vague breakdown last night.. i was more frustrated then anything.. was also thinking of a small pc of wire with aligator clips to jump the vacuum switch to see if that is where my issue is before take the hose off and all that stuff

 

[Chrisnow86]

So my question now is, has any one ever seen a loss in vacuum when the stove gets really hot? another thing is my flame is nice and sharp no soot on the class keeps is nice and clean.. that tells me its breathing easy.

 

[Cedarjunki]

Personally, i would start with cleaning it.

 

[Chrisnow86]

and this is where i get confused lol this quote I got off the englander website, says nothing about a code, but this is what my stove is doing to a T.


"Another possibility could be the over temperature limit protection in the control board. This will stop the top auger if the unit reads as being too hot, the auger will start moving again if the unit cools to an acceptable temperature however and generally will continue to operate."

 

[Cedarjunki]

What heat mode are you in? Do you have ir thermometer?

 

[Chrisnow86]

its in mode c bottom three are 6-4-1 and no thermometer.

 

[Cedarjunki]

Over temp limit in mode c is 385 degrees. Without a thermometer you have no way of determining if it is actually near that temp.

Have you cleaned either one of the blowers? I mean by removing them and cleaning not shooting them with canned air.

What are you burning for pellets??

 

[Lake Girl]

Try checking wires on or replacing the thermal sensor?

 

[Chrisnow86]

cleaned the combustion blower in the spring at the end of the burning season, Im going to clean the convection blower this weekend.. and correction i will be borrowing a IR thermometer from my shop..

using the IR thermometer where should i be taking my readings from?

 

[Chrisnow86]

Try checking wires on or replacing the thermal sensor?

checked the thermal wire nice and tight and good clean contact..

 

[Cedarjunki]

Right above the door in the center is the hottest spot on mine. I would say above the door and the top of the stove but these will not be perfectly accurate with actual internal temps but it will give a general idea.

 

[Chrisnow86]

ok cool i will do that tonight.. and my wife just told me the stove is running fine no issues.. so thats about 9 hours on feed rate 6 no issues..

 

[Cedarjunki]

Wonder if a hair dryer would heat the probe area enough to simulate a over heat scenario.. this way you could rule out one or the other if it actually throws a code.. just a thought

 

[Chrisnow86]

well now i have a idea, i think i will sit behind my stove put it on 9 and point the lazer right at the back of the fire box where the thermal hook up is and see what the temp gets too.. and see if it hits 385

 

[Cedarjunki]

Well this is interesting. Front above the door is 310. Top center is 300. The bolt connecting the probe is only 150. Guess my convection blower is doing a pretty good job...The probe reading is going vary depending on the blower settings as well.

 

[Chrisnow86]

Is your stove in C mode?