Englander 25 PDVC loud snap

[Jigger]

I clean my stove out every weekend. Which I did last week. After I cleaned the stove out. I cleaned out the chimney with the leaf blower. After I put it back together I fired up the stove. Shortly after the pellets started to light. I heard a very loud snap come from the stove. I did not notice anything till about an hour later. I saw that the stove had a lazy flame and the burn pot was full of smoldering embers. Which had me baffled due to the fact I'm burning pine pellets. I turned down the feed to the stove and it continued to burn like this all week. It still kept putting out ample amounts of heat. Today I shut the stove off for cleaning. I would have done it soon but I was busy trying to search for a reason plus work got in the way. After cleaning out the stove as usual and doing the leaf blower trick. I fired up the stove. Well after the stove started to light. I heard a loud snap come from the stove. Now the stove is burning nice and clean with an active flame. I don't know what the snap sound was.

 

[Chrisnow86]

Sometimes I get a snap sound, I think it's when a pellet is long and half way in the auger and hopper and gets cut in half..

 

[Jigger]

I had a lazy flame all week. I've heard the snaps from long pellets before. But this snap was very loud. I'm wondering if the snap sound I heard could have been one of the vacuum sensors closing and opening. But going from a lazy flame to and active flame has me wondering of why all of a sudden a dramatic change.

 

[Mcot1016]

My stove turns on and burns and very little heat blows from the 4 front holes on my Englander. Ive taken the back off and now not sure if its the blower on the left or the right. Any help will be helpful. It feels like once the stove starts up the blower wants to turn over but it just like hums. Very little heat blows out and it smells. Should I shut down stove or is it safe to keep on and get some heat in my house. BTW what should the settings be on I have them set at 4-4-1 left to right looking from the side. Thanks so much for your help 25-pvd

 

[Chrisnow86]

If it was a vacuum sensor the stove would shut down... Maybe somthing got blocked in the heat exchanger for the week... I'm looking at my stove now thinking on what it could be. I'm lost lol

 

[Chrisnow86]

My stove turns on and burns and very little heat blows from the 4 front holes on my Englander. Ive taken the back off and now not sure if its the blower on the left or the right. Any help will be helpful. It feels like once the stove starts up the blower wants to turn over but it just like hums. Very little heat blows out and it smells. Should I shut down stove or is it safe to keep on and get some heat in my house. BTW what should the settings be on I have them set at 4-4-1 left to right looking from the side. Thanks so much for your help 25-pvd

Somthing is definitely wrong with your convection blower... Bearings seased or somthin

 

[SidecarFlip]

The only things that go 'snap' on any stove is the snap discs for the RA fan to energize and the high limit snap disc to shut it off should the firebox reach a pre set high temperature.

I can faintly hear my RA snap disc 'snap' if I'm on the control board side, next to the side panel...faintly.

I'd have to agree with the previous poster abiut a lazy flame and the possibility of the CA fan starting to fail, either from bad bearings or the cavity is filled with ash. Nornal cleaning won't remove that ash buildup and even a leaf blower on the cleanout Tee won't always remove ash buildup in the CA cavity where the transition to venting pipe occurs.

You need to pull the side panel and have a close look at your CA blower to one, inspect the bearings and/or oil them and/or replace the CA fan if the bearings are tight and two, if the CA fan turns freely, pull it and clean the cavity, something I do every year without fail in the spring. You can get replacement gaskets from your stove manufacturer but if you are careful and use a putty knife, most times you can remove the CA blower assembly without destroying the gasket.

I didn't manage to get the gasket to come free the first time I did mine so I just reset my CA blower assembly with Hi-Temp red RTV, but thats my choice and may not be yours.

Additionally, if the RA fan just hums or turns over slowly, the bearings are probably dry or siezed. Try a drop of light machine oil or 3-1 on each end bearing and see if that frees them up but even if it does, time to order a new RA fan, yours is on borrowed time.

 

[Jigger]

If your convection blower is smelling. I'd shut the stove down and open up the back and take a look at it. If you can get your hand in there see if the squirrel cage moves freely and then move it from side to side or up and down and see if there is any play in it. As there should be none. Presently with the pine pellets I'm running my lower 3 at 1-5-1 and my upper numbers at 6-9. I'm getting close to 19 hours with a full hopper.

 

[Mcot1016]

Somthing is definitely wrong with your convection blower... Bearings seased or somthin

Now that's the one on the right correct? Convection Blower-Part Number: PU-4C447 ??/

It does get a lot of dust inside of it but I cleaned it twice today. Maybe I will order another but also take my stove apart one more time and take out the blower. Is the blower easy to take out and put back in? Now when I replaced a auger I tilted the stove a little bit should I do that for the blower as well or just work str8 from the back of the stove w/o titling?

 

[Mcot1016]

If your convection blower is smelling. I'd shut the stove down and open up the back and take a look at it. If you can get your hand in there see if the squirrel cage moves freely and then move it from side to side or up and down and see if there is any play in it. As there should be none. Presently with the pine pellets I'm running my lower 3 at 1-5-1 and my upper numbers at 6-9. I'm getting close to 19 hours with a full hopper.

I have a blower that I use to blow out dust and stuff I blew it on the blower that you are talking about and that squirrel cage thing had dust on it so I had a wipe and cleaned it off but with my blower I noticed the wheel inside didn't move. I burn maine wood pellets. $275/ton

 

[CladMaster]

I'll stop the confusion here and now .... the 25-PDVC does not have snap discs. It uses vacuum switches, two of them, one for the exhaust blower that kills the stove if the exhaust blower fails and one for the firebox for when the door is opened or there is a leaking door / window gasket, the third safety is the thermal sensor on the firebox for POF / overheat, it does both, if the stove fails to get to a preset temperature it will shut down, it the stove gets too hot it will shut down. The other safety is the hopper switch when the hopper is open fuel is not fed to the lower auger.

 

[BrotherBart]

The other safety is the hopper switch when the hopper is open fuel is not fed to the lower auger.

After the 2006 model. Before that it didn't have a hopper switch.

 

[CladMaster]

After the 2006 model. Before that it didn't have a hopper switch.

Thanks for that Bart, I was unsure of the year, I thought it was 2005, so thanks for the info.

 

[jss227]

I have a blower that I use to blow out dust and stuff I blew it on the blower that you are talking about and that squirrel cage thing had dust on it so I had a wipe and cleaned it off but with my blower I noticed the wheel inside didn't move. I burn maine wood pellets. $275/ton

If the blower cage did not move when you cleaned it,it is seized and you need a new convection blower. (Unless you are handy and can replace the bearings.)