Enviro Empress 2013 - need help, whats next?

[SWVTIC]

Hello and thank you in advance for any words of wisdom.

Here is what happened:
Bought a house January 2020 that came with an Enviro Empress 2013 FS. Clearly hadn't had a loving previous owner, but it ran ok and I wasn't going to turn it off mid-winter. This fall, had the local company come out and give it a good going over (a couple weeks ago). This company had been responsible for the service in the past and is also where I get my pellets; the technician is a good guy who always gives me the run down when I ask. Stove was running much better - hotter and more efficient. Last week the fire went out and was flashing that the high temp sensor had tripped so I reset it but didn't feel any click when I pushed the little red button. Stove ran for another day then was flashing that the low temp sensor had tripped. Stove turns on, auger doesn't run, blower fan doesn't run (but turns as it should with a gentle push), exhaust fan does run.

When I plug-in the stove I hear two audible clicks about 3 seconds apart..my instincts tell me the second click is a sensor tripping.
I run the stove on manual.

Here is what I have done (in chronological order):
Checked fuse on control board. It's good.
Replaced high and low temp sensors. Problem persists with no changes. (Wish I had just done a by-pass first!)
By-passed the vacuum sensor. Problem persists with no changes.
Bench tested the auger. It turns as it should.
By-passed the low temp sensor. Second click gone on plug in; stove turns itself on, exhaust fan and combustion fan turn; auger does not turn.
I've checked every connection I can get my hands on to make sure they are snug. I've double checked connections against the wiring diagram as well.

What's next? Something painfully obvious that I should have done first?

Thanks,
SWVTIC

 

[johneh]

Welcome to the forum
If you feed the auger does it feed pellets to the burn pot?
Does the control board flash any codes?
Is the vac hose and connection at the stove clean
Has the firebox been disassembled and cleaned
has the exhaust from the combustion fan to the chimney top been cleaned?
Have the passages between the combustion motor and the firebox been cleaned?

 

[SWVTIC]

Responding to your questions in the order you posed them:

If you feed the auger does it feed pellets to the burn pot? When I powered it pellets dropped into the burn pot.
Does the control board flash any codes? Yes, #2 code.
Is the vac hose and connection at the stove clean? Yes? I could blow through it easily.
Has the firebox been disassembled and cleaned? Technician gave it a good clean out a few weeks ago.
Has the exhaust from the combustion fan to the chimney top been cleaned? I assumed the technician did this, but I will double check. My stove is a direct vent - out the back of the stove, quick turn up then quick turn back to horizontal to exit the house.
Have the passages between the combustion motor and the firebox been cleaned? I don't know; I would hope this was part of the service I got from the technician.

Thanks for responding; I'll report back in the AM about the exhaust hose, chimney, and firebox passages.

 

[johneh]

See pages 17 and 18 of this manual

http://www.hearthtools.com/parts/2004enviroTrouble.pdf

 

[MalcolmH]

This one might be better for an Empress, but the convection fan should not turn on until the fire box is up to temp, are you sure you have the correct hi and low limit switches, low would tell the convection fans to turn on once up to temp and Hi would shut the stove down in an over heat condition, and the one in the combustion fan is for overheat due to exhaust plugged, if you are not using the thermostat and switch to manual but it was hooked up to the thermostat previously you would need to change the jumper on the board usually depending on what board you have. Other possibilities are stuck control board switches. I think Empress fixed the vacuum port location in this model, but make sure it is completely clear where it enters the burn box, these stoves are best cleaned using the leaf blower trick by sucking the stove clean through the exhaust vent cap.

https://enviro.com/custom_content/docs/manuals/C-12145%20Instruction%20PELLET%20Service%20Manual.pdf

 

[SWVTIC]

Sent the ash vacuum hose down the exhaust from the outside, cleaned out a lot of crap.
Vacuum tube is clear on both ends, barb is clear, port on the vacuum sensor is clear.

No change in operation when no sensors are by-passed. Pretty sure the new sensors are the correct ones; put the "old" ones back in; still no change in operation. Plug-in, two easily audible clicks about 3 seconds apart, press "on", start-up procedure moves ahead except that the auger doesn't turn. Everything as described about the start-up sequence happens except that the auger doesn't turn.

Stove has run fine for the last year and half with a thermostat hooked up to it (from previous owner, I have no idea where the control for it is) in manual mode. Don't know if something needed that long to manifest.

Looks like I'm venturing towards some disassembly or buying a Magnahelic gauge. Or, potentially the worst case scenario, shelling out for the technician to come and fix it.

How hard is it to push the high temp sensor reset?
Does model have an auger timing control module? I haven't seen one when poking around.

Thanks again for the wisdom at a distance.