Englander 55-SHPEP Pellet Feed Rate doesn't change

[WinterMother]

Hello,

This is our second season using an Englander pellet stove. We acquired it used from a family friend. I'm not 100% sure of the model number, but it looks just like the pictures of the 55-SHPEP and 55-TRPEP I can see online. Our stove only has one auger and auger motor, if this provides clues as to its model. The installation and operation manual that came with the stove is for the 25-EP, 55-SHPEP and 55-TRPEP models. The name label on the inside of the hopper lid has many model numbers but none of the boxes are checked. (See photo) The stove was manufactured in September 2010.

The stove has worked great until now. We use it as our main source of heat and burn 7-15 bags of pellets a week in it, during the winter.

The trouble is that the feed rate will not increase. The fire is very small and eventually the stove goes out. After the start up cycle, we can up the "heat range" setting, but the feed rate of the pellets never increases.

We ran in diagnostic test mode and the auger runs rotates continuously during the auger motor test phase. There is nothing stopping the auger, no jammed pellets or foreign material.

The previous owners happened to have a new control panel and a new auger motor which they gave us with the unit. (At one point they had believed to have a problem and Englander sent them these parts, turned out their air intake was clogged.)

We changed out the control panel thinking that it must not be sending the signal to increase the feed rate to the auger motor. It made no difference. The exact same problem is still occurring.

Should we just go ahead and change the auger motor? It kind of doesn't make sense to us that the motor is bad due to the fact that it can run continuously, smoothly, with no problem during the diagnostic test.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Jason845845]

Is there a jumper where the thermostat gets plugged in on the control board?

 

[WinterMother]

Is there a jumper where the thermostat gets plugged in on the control board?

Yes. It's not in use because we don't have the thermostat.

 

[Jason845845]

Do you know what your "bottom 3 numbers" are?

 

[WinterMother]

Do you know what your "bottom 3 numbers" are?

1 4 1

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Yes. It's not in use because we don't have the thermostat.

Which of the two is not in use. If you do not use a thermostat you must have that jumper installed.

 

[WinterMother]

Which of the two is not in use. If you do not use a thermostat you must have that jumper installed.

The thermostat is not in use. This is what the inside of the control panel looks like. (I apologize that I don't know exactly what the jumper is.)

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

If the screws are tight everything should be fine, it is hard to tell from a picture but the lower of the two screws looks like it might not be making a good connection you might want to check it and be certain the stove is off, cold, and unplugged.

The stove not changing feed rates indicates a missing t-stat jumper, a t-stat circuit not calling for heat or damaged, or a problem with the control board.

There is a test procedure to check that thermostat circuit to see if it is seeing the t-stat or jumper, however I don't know what the magic button presses are to activate it and to go through the various tests.

I suspect that your stove thinks it is running on a t-stat that isn't calling for heat.

 

[Jason845845]

If the screws are tight everything should be fine, it is hard to tell from a picture but the lower of the two screws looks like it might not be making a good connection you might want to check it and be certain the stove is off, cold, and unplugged.

The stove not changing feed rates indicates a missing t-stat jumper, a t-stat circuit not calling for heat or damaged, or a problem with the control board.

There is a test procedure to check that thermostat circuit to see if it is seeing the t-stat or jumper, however I don't know what the magic button presses are to activate it and to go through the various tests.

I suspect that your stove thinks it is running on a t-stat that isn't calling for heat.

If she switches from "on-off" to "hi-low" , the stove should maintain a low burn instead of shutting off, correct?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

See page 31 in the manual and let us know what mode the t-stat circuit is in.

.

 

[WinterMother]

We tightened the jumper and all seems good! I'm not sure how it came loose, but I'm not complaining. Thank you so much.