My FS stove is 11 years old. This year it decided not to feed the pellets into the burn pot. The feeder motor light comes on. I bypassed the low psi switch and the auger works. I replaced the switch then, but it still won't feed the pellets. The auger will work if I put my hand over the air intake, creating more vacuum. I have cleaned the chimney, cleaned the stove, replaced the gaskets for the door and glass, resealed the air box on the side panel and where it connects to the hopper but nothing seems to help. I have smoked test, dollar bill test, and ran the combustion motor directly from the wall outlet and everything seems to be alright. I have replaced the feeder and combustion motors a couple of times through the years but this is the first time I have had this kind of problem. Is it time for a new stove??
Harman Accentra stove won't feed the pellets
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Bioburner
Moderator
Bioburner
Moderator
Only thing I can think is the exhaust fan is going south and maybe the bearings are going bad creating enough drag to not get enough vacuum. Motor and fan is around $120. 11 year old stove is not that old. Our Bixby is 9. Have a WP1 Whitfield over 30 and a Quest over 20.
Does the hopper lid have a seal?
Does the hopper lid have a seal?
The bearings in my sons roller blades worked perfect in the exhaust fan. ABEC 7s I have a whole house full of them.
I replaced the exhaust fan motor just last year but it was one I ordered off of ebay. I'm starting to think that's the only thing that is left that could be bad. I'm going to order an oe motor and hope for the best. Thanks for the help, I'll keep you posted.
Check around here to see if there is an equivalent motor available from a supply house, probably much less than OEM, but good quality. Who knows what you got on ebay unless it was a name brand motor.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Lake Girl
Moderator
That's one I haven't thought of (hopper knob)
But since the hopper is also part of the vacuum system, makes sense.The knob is still on and the gasket seems good. I cleaned the chimney twice. I took it apart half way to check for any restrictions. I even disconnected the stove from the chimney and cleaned the flange pipe and replaced the gasket.
Bioburner
Moderator
Throw a bag of pellets on the lid, the added weight may make the lid seal better if the seal is going bad. Been two p series this fall with bad lid seals on this site.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Pull the back plate and make sure the impeller is tight on motor shaft.If ok wire motor direct and listen to it.Put back together put in test mode and see if sounds the same.Also sometimes the impellers lose a fin or two.You could wire motor direct and try to start stove,if auger does not come on,may have lost a corner gasket(very rare but did you move stove around?)Very rare the hopper to feeder gasket bad.
I tried putting more weight on the lid with no luck. I also check the fan. It's tight on the shaft and has all of it's blades. I ran the motor in test mode and on direct current. There might have been a slight difference, but not much and the auger still wouldn't move. How do you check for a corner gasket gone bad? I started a fire in the stove and got a lot of smoke, but I couldn't see any place wear it was leaking out. I only moved the stove to check it out once I started having this problem. Thanks so far for all of the suggestions. It just seems weird to me that it worked last year and then this year the auger won't move from day 1 because the sensor doesn't sense vacuum?
Lake Girl
Moderator
Have you checked the auger flight to make sure nothing is stuck in there?
Edit: Scrap that as it turns when you block intake... Is there a draft control in the air intake that could be stuck open?
Edit: Scrap that as it turns when you block intake... Is there a draft control in the air intake that could be stuck open?
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
The right next step would be to check vacuum with a magnahelic gauge,but try blowing back through the air hose that plugs into the switch,it may have sucked something in.Also make sure flapper in inlet is free.
I checked the air hose and it's alright. The flapper on the inlet is moving up and down. I ordered a new exhaust motor, so I should know by this weekend if that's the problem.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
dhall28
Burning Hunk
without a vacuum gauge sometimes i just lay a dollar bill down and long ways in the harman pot and see how hard it makes it fly up, good air movement it should shoot up against the flame guide, also you can have a restricted or cracked vacuum hose or connection, you may want to try blowing through the vacuum line to make sure it is clear and visually check it also for cracks.
I tried the dollar bill trick and it flies up and stays right up to the flame guard. I have checked the hose and it appears fine. I replaced the combustion (exhaust) motor and I still have the same problem. I bypassed the low psi switch, started a fire and the stove heats the house just as good as it always has. If the vacuum in the stove wasn't right, would it still burn as good as it does? I'm at my wits end with this thing!
On your stove, where is the air flow switch taking it's air from? From the plug in the hopper or from the intake area where the air wash splits off?
Not sure if it's possible BUT.... Can your flow switch be wired normally closed and when the combustion blower kicks on the switch is opening? And when you cover it up it closes? You said you replaced it and maybe it was bad but the new one got wired wrong. What about the igniter? The feed motor and the igniter share the common off the switch so I imagine the igniter would be affected too.
Also kinda taking for granted but are all of the baffles and housing plates installed back in the firebox? Motor cannot create enough pressure if the bottom housing cover isn't installed.
Lake Girl
Moderator
The Harman switches I think only have one port but I cannot remember of there are 3 poles...then again if it is a differential switch it would make sense that there would be a port for each side of the diaphragm, good call lake girl
The air hose goes in through the air box and down into the metal air tube that leads into the front of the stove. The plates and cover are all installed in the firebox. The flow switch completes the circuit when I put my hand over the air inlet so it seems to be working.
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