Freezin in Wheaton....25-PDVC

[K.L. Martinez]

Hello! New to the group, hoping to find some help on troubleshooting My New England Stove (Manufactured 2008), believe it's a 25-PDVC-55

My stove hasn't been working for almost two weeks now. Last Night, after throughly cleaning it (Burn Pot, Ash, removed baffle plate) with a shop vac, removing the vacumn tube on the vacumn switch to the top auger, cleaning the port on the firebox with a drill bit, then with the vacumn tube disconnected, shop vac'in the port, I got the following:

I turned the machine on, placed it on 7 for both heat and blower, air on is at 1, low fuel feed is at 5, low burn air at 4, and the machine began to feed pellets into the burn pot, I watched the bottom auger turn continously, and with the back open watched the top auger turn, the auto ignite began to work and soon I had a very nice flame going. Blower came on, it was great, It filled me full of hope that my house would not be 30 degrees.

I watched it for approximately thirty minutes, waiting for the top auger to feed more pellets into the burn pot to keep my now dying fire lit. Finally it died.

I waited a short time, emptied the ash, and tried again with the same results. Only this time at the dying of the fire flashed a E-2

Finally Upon the third time, when it E-2 coded, i pushed on again, and about three minutes later recieved a E-1 code.

Help. Please.

 

[Don2222]

Hello
You most likely have a bad bladder in your vacuum switch or a cracked or loose fitting vacuum hose. It also could be a bad top auger motor that quits when it gets warm

 

[imacman]

First of all, when was the last time the stove was taken apart and given a DEEP cleaning? Removed the combuation blower and cleaned that and exhaust plenum? Banged on the rear wall with a mallet to dislodge hidden ash? Exhaust pipe 100% clean from stove to outlet cap?

Second, you lower button settings for that stove are way off. The AOT should NEVER be on 4. Reset the lower buttons to 4-6-1 after the stove is completely clean as I mentioned above. If that fixes it, and more heat is needed, raise LFF to 5 or 6.

Do you have the impingement plate installed correctly?

Another great thing, to give the stove a "final touch", is to use a leaf blower to get the final last bit of ash out. Do a search for "leaf blower trick" on this forum.

BTW, was this stove new to you, or bought used? How many tons of pellets burned before the cleaning I mentioned above?

 

[MCPO]

Mac,
Read his post again. His AOT is on 1 , LFF on 5 and LBA is on 4. That`s pretty close to the factory recomended 6-4-1.
The first thing (simplest) I`d do is reverse the two auger motors to find any discrepancies there , then I`d follow Don`s advice .

 

[imacman]

Mac,
Read his post again. His AOT is on 1 , LFF on 5 and LBA is on 4. That`s pretty close to the factory recomended 6-4-1.
The first thing (simplest) I`d do is reverse the two auger motors to find any discrepancies there , then I`d follow Don`s advice .

Yep, thanks MCPO...... I read it, but didn't realize he had the AOT # at the beginning....I'm so used to reading it the way it is on the panel. I'd still swap the LFF & LBA numbers. IMO, the air should always be higher than the fuel feed....always seems to burn best for me that way.

That said, sounds like a dirty stove, or vacuum hose plugged.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

Think horses not zebras. After handling the vac hoses he has an E2. Before I would start surgery or CPR I would check the tubing or try jumpering the vac switch.

 

[K.L. Martinez]

Update:

Still Freezing:

To Answer some questions and hopefully get some trouble shooting advice:

I did notice the vac hose on the vac switch was a little lose, used a hose complaint to tighten to snug but not restricting on the tube going into the vent port into the firebox and tightened the hose on the grey vacumn switch nozzle (thingy?)

the Landlord (yes, I know...) was of little mechanical skill either and did not seem to be able to assist in helping me fix the stove or finding a repair man. My landlord bought this thing used, from whom or where I know not. So i cannot answer care, maintence or cleaning issues before I had it. However admittedly, it was solely the firebox that was cleaned out when first fire was ignited. Also admittedly same mechanically challanged (but good intentioned and good woman) installed the flue system into a preexisting flue (believe it was a natural gas stove before that)

The first three weeks the fire has gone out for various reasons, unknown exact reasoning before my current troubles.

I did take the exhaust blower out and clean as deeply as I could without taking it entirely apart and never getting it put back together again. Honestly, there was some ash but not enough to make me thing It could reasonably be plugging up the vacumn on the vent blower.

I called englander, the poor tech guy treated me like an idiot (which in all fairness, I AM an idiot when it comes to these things) and suggested that it had to be a pluged vacumn hose (both are clean, and clear and now very snugly tight) or a dirty stove

I have recleaned:

The Fire Box
The Ash Conainer beside the firepot
The Firepot
The Intake Pipe
Taken the baffle plate off
Cleaned around what I believe is the impingment plate
Placed my hand and vacumn down the two ports on either side of the impingment plate and removed as much ash as I could from there
And the Exhaust blower, the internals.

Again, as admitted, I am a idiot when it comes to these things, so take my thoughts with a grain of...ash....

They (englander) was pretty insistant the vacumn switches do not usually go out
the hoses are now on tightly to prevent loss of vacumn

The top auger will come on to feed pellets into firepot during Start Up but will usually stop about ten to fifteen minutes into Start Up

If I attempt to manually light the fire, IE chuck pellets into the fire, when it's just coals, it will work for perhaps ten minutes then throw up a E-2, then E-1

I do hear a "clicking" which I believe to be coming from the top auger motor, but never see it rotate after the intital startup

I am also dirt poor. A New Auger motor is perhaps one hundred dollars, so I want to make sure, that is truely what I need before I go without paying a bill this week.

 

[imacman]

Did you bang on the back wall with a mallet or small hammer to dislodge any hidden crud while cleaning out behind the impingment plate and ports?

Also, if this doesn't help, the fact that the auger motor runs during startup means it's not bad....you don't need a new one.

To test the vacuum system, (turn stove OFF and unplug!),try disconnecting the 2 wires that go to the vacuum switch, and connect them together and insulate w/ tape. If the stove continues running after startup, you have your problem.....a dirty stove/exhaust system, or a bad vacuum hose or switch.

Have you checked the door gasket? Easy test is using a dollar bill.....open door (obviously NOT while it's burning), place dollar bill at different locations around the door and close & latch the door....the dollar should VERY difficult, if not impossible, to slide out w/o tearing it.

 

[K.L. Martinez]

Yep, While I'm not "freezin" anymore (Missouri's temps have been in the sixties finally), I still am without a working pellet stove

I have disconnected the vacumn switch wires and wired them together

It does feed vast amount of pellets but alas after thirty minutes, it shuts off to a E-1 Error Code

I'm guessing I still have a dirty stove. Do I need to hand wash the entire thing, am I missing a secret port...Yes I know, I really am that clueless.

Thanks

 

[Don2222]

Hello

You now need to do the super auger service to those augers!

See my Pimp My Auger Pics!
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...-little-auger-burs-pimp-my-auger-pics.102423/

 

[imacman]

The fact that you bypassed the vacuum switch and it still threw an "E-1" code is weird. AFAIK, that code is strictly for vacuum loss, which is only sensed by the switch you bypassed. Did the stove start burning for a while before the E-1? Did the burnpot start overflowing, or anything close to that?

Typically, I'd be saying that you need to clean your stove better, but I'm not sure about it this time. Are you sure the wires from the vacuum switch are firmly connected to the control board?

If all of that seems OK, I'd give Mike Holten & his Tech Service crew at Englander a call tomorrow and run the problem by them.

OH, BTW, the fact that the stove was feeding "vast amounts of pellets" means that you do NOT need to do anything to the augers.

 

[MCPO]

In an earlier post Don suggested it could be an auger motor that quits after it get hot. I see this stove is in a rental unit so I`d like to see a picture of the venting .
This statement by the OP might say a lot: "Also admittedly same mechanically challanged (but good intentioned and good woman) installed the flue system into a preexisting flue (believe it was a natural gas stove before that)"

 

[slvrblkk]

If memory serves, there should be two vacuum switches on your stove...one for the firebox and one on the combustion blower. Which one did you bypass?

 

[imacman]

If memory serves, there should be two vacuum switches on your stove...one for the firebox and one on the combustion blower. Which one did you bypass?

Good catch! I never knew they had 2 vac switches.

 

[Don2222]

The fact that you bypassed the vacuum switch and it still threw an "E-1" code is weird. AFAIK, that code is strictly for vacuum loss, which is only sensed by the switch you bypassed. Did the stove start burning for a while before the E-1? Did the burnpot start overflowing, or anything close to that?

Typically, I'd be saying that you need to clean your stove better, but I'm not sure about it this time. Are you sure the wires from the vacuum switch are firmly connected to the control board?

If all of that seems OK, I'd give Mike Holten & his Tech Service crew at Englander a call tomorrow and run the problem by them.

OH, BTW, the fact that the stove was feeding "vast amounts of pellets" means that you do NOT need to do anything to the augers.

The 25-PDVC has 2 vacuum switches, one for the fire box and one for the exhaust blower plenum. Which one did you by pass? ?

 

[DexterDay]

They have 2 vac switches?

 

[Don2222]

They have 2 vac switches?

Oh, yes!

 

[stoveguy2esw]

there are 2 vac switchs on that model, one is wired through the top auger circuit , this will stop the top auger if the front door is opened, the other vac switch is wired to the bottom of the control board and will shut the unit down with an E-1 if the switch opens. the vac switch causing the issue is this one not the top auger one. what you will need to check is this , the flue (im sure its cleaned already but this is one of the things of which i will list all). the vac hose (a leak can cause this) the metal sleeve that the hose connects to on the top of the exhaust chamber it goes straight down into the exhaust chamber then bends towards the back of the chamber (if this tube is restricted the switch could drop also, shoot some air through this metal tube into the exhaust to blow it clear. DO NOT BLOW TOWARDS THE VAC SWITCH! exhaust blower dying could bue it as well though it seems not to be the case with this stove. or a loose wire connection between the vac switch and the control board.

now, if none of the above mentioned possibilities pan out the only thing left is the vac switch itself. its pretty rare for them to go bad but it does happen occasionally

 

[K.L. Martinez]

The Vac Switch I bypassed was the Top Auger Motor one.

I have just now reread all the replies, printing them out and will be posting on the outcomes a little later tomorrow.

I want to say thank you to all the guys/gals who have tried to help me with the troubleshooting, it truely means alot.

Thanks

Sorta Freezin, Because Missouri temps. change every hour, but not as bad as two weeks ago.

 

[kenstogie]

The Vac Switch I bypassed was the Top Auger Motor one.

I have just now reread all the replies, printing them out and will be posting on the outcomes a little later tomorrow.

I want to say thank you to all the guys/gals who have tried to help me with the troubleshooting, it truely means alot.

Thanks

Sorta Freezin, Because Missouri temps. change every hour, but not as bad as two weeks ago.

Please do report back. I read every one of the 25PDVC/Summers Heat threads so I can diagnose anything (hopefully) that goes wrong with my stove. I too had the dreaded E-1 code a couple of times. For me it was dirty pipes (just like my mind) and then it was poor hose or electrical connection. I always clean the pipes first because it it doesn't need it now it will later and plus it will usually burn a little bit better (more air flow) at least that's been my experience anyway. GOOD LUCK!

 

[K.L. Martinez]

Finally saved up enough money to buy a can of compressed air, shot air through the port and through the little L shapped vacum pipe (but first disconnected the vacum hoses!)

Cleaned the stove (Including the hopper!!)

And finally put it all back together again.

And it immediately sent a E-2, E-1 message

So retwisted the wires to the Top Auger vacum control switch back

The results were... The Top Auger Runs! But failed to feed any pellets to the stove. After manually throwing some pellets in there, it got the blessed green light...and died after lack of pellets.

So Im guessing there is something jammed in the auger??

 

[imacman]

Remove both augers from the feeder pot and make sure there is not a blockage in the slot from the top auger to the bottom. If it's clear, then replace the augers & motors back in the stove. Make sure the correct wiring is going to the correct auger. The bottom auger runs constantly, the top intermittently.

You also need to make sure the auger itself is turning, not just the motor. Check the connection between the two (the locking collar)....it must be secure & set screw tight.