We posted about our busted stove in an earlier thread asking about the possibility of expired pellets. Looks like we have the stove fixed now and I just wanted to share the process . Here's the story :
Our 4th season on this stove that we purchased new. Middle of the night, smokey house, dead stove . 3 blink error (esp probe) . That had happened a few times over the years requiring a simple reboot. Reboot didn't cut it this time. Did a thorough cleaning inside and out . Lots of fines in the fine catcher and the exhaust pipe was pretty dirty even though I cleaned it at the end of last season and hadn't used a half ton of pellets since (premium grade Dry Creek brand) . Took out the esp probe and cleaned it off, it looked brand new so I put it back. The error message blinks went away but the stove wouldn't go. In test mode the distribution blower was the only thing operating even though the feed motor and combustion blower lights were lit. Explained all of the above to my dealer tech over the phone and he had me take off the auger motor and see if I could hand turn the auger- I could . He also had me blow out the vacuum switch, which took me a while to figure out because my stove is installed in a corner and doing anything back there is tight. Finally cut up a bendy straw to fit over the top of the switch intake . Put everything back together and still no go . The tech suggested that the combustion motor was broken and met me with a new one tonight . I installed it and presto ! Warm house.
Next time I work on this thing I am going to de-tatch the exhaust collar and turn it around ! Sharp sheet metal . Sharp zip tie ends . No room for my claustraphobic non mechanical self back there ! The wire connectors are not that easy to separate either.
Anyway I learned a bunch about our stove and I will be cleaning it better from now on. I thought I was doing a pretty good job cleaning and I don't know for sure if the dirt level caused the blown motor but I feel like keeping the thing clean is where it's at . I also re-learned the hard way that I should be wearing gloves and a mask when working on this dusty sharp hunk o metal.
The only thing chapping me now is that the stove has a new annoying high frequency coming from it that I am hoping is the new motor pre- break in period . Any ideas there ?
Don't know about the warranty coverage yet .
Kenny
Our 4th season on this stove that we purchased new. Middle of the night, smokey house, dead stove . 3 blink error (esp probe) . That had happened a few times over the years requiring a simple reboot. Reboot didn't cut it this time. Did a thorough cleaning inside and out . Lots of fines in the fine catcher and the exhaust pipe was pretty dirty even though I cleaned it at the end of last season and hadn't used a half ton of pellets since (premium grade Dry Creek brand) . Took out the esp probe and cleaned it off, it looked brand new so I put it back. The error message blinks went away but the stove wouldn't go. In test mode the distribution blower was the only thing operating even though the feed motor and combustion blower lights were lit. Explained all of the above to my dealer tech over the phone and he had me take off the auger motor and see if I could hand turn the auger- I could . He also had me blow out the vacuum switch, which took me a while to figure out because my stove is installed in a corner and doing anything back there is tight. Finally cut up a bendy straw to fit over the top of the switch intake . Put everything back together and still no go . The tech suggested that the combustion motor was broken and met me with a new one tonight . I installed it and presto ! Warm house.
Next time I work on this thing I am going to de-tatch the exhaust collar and turn it around ! Sharp sheet metal . Sharp zip tie ends . No room for my claustraphobic non mechanical self back there ! The wire connectors are not that easy to separate either.
Anyway I learned a bunch about our stove and I will be cleaning it better from now on. I thought I was doing a pretty good job cleaning and I don't know for sure if the dirt level caused the blown motor but I feel like keeping the thing clean is where it's at . I also re-learned the hard way that I should be wearing gloves and a mask when working on this dusty sharp hunk o metal.
The only thing chapping me now is that the stove has a new annoying high frequency coming from it that I am hoping is the new motor pre- break in period . Any ideas there ?
Don't know about the warranty coverage yet .
Kenny
