Hi all. After being a "taker" from this invaluable forum since my first pellet season last year, I figured I'd be a "giver" for a change.
Got through the last polar vortex fine & dandy with both stoves running, but back down to zero last night and I woke to trouble! Wife's super sniffer picked up on some kind of burning smell, and sure enough the XXV was running hot & heavy but with no distribution blower running - not a good scenario, especially running on Stove Temp mode (which I never do, but for some reason decided last night was the time to try it). Outside of the stove was wicked hot to the touch. Initiated shutdown at 06:30, did a search of this forum, and started diagnosing. 1. Distribution blower not running; 2. Light on indicating power to blower; 3. labored buzzy sound when put to Test; 4. Burning smell eerily similar to last year's seized-up combustion blower (before I appreciated a proper cleaning regimen).
Once shut down, dropped the distribution fan out & had a look-see. Yup, corroded with dust bunnies and probably a generous coating of the previous homeowners doghair. Cleaned it out, reconnected leads & put to test mode - got a 1/4 turn out of it, but was clearly defunct, very "gummy" when spun manually.
Luckily, my stove shop had a replacement in stock. Picked it up by 9:30, to the tune of $203, and had the stove back in business by 11:00. Replacement came with the wire conversion kit (which I read somewhere on here is needed for some older stoves), from which I only needed a few zip ties & the full-color, very thorough directions for replacement.
One shiny new distribution blower & another thing I need to make sure to clean prior to heating season! Bonus is, now I know what that HI-LO switch is all about!
The P61A was a real champ down the basement, kept the house in the mid-sixties throughout, even with single digits & wind.
Happy Heating!
Got through the last polar vortex fine & dandy with both stoves running, but back down to zero last night and I woke to trouble! Wife's super sniffer picked up on some kind of burning smell, and sure enough the XXV was running hot & heavy but with no distribution blower running - not a good scenario, especially running on Stove Temp mode (which I never do, but for some reason decided last night was the time to try it). Outside of the stove was wicked hot to the touch. Initiated shutdown at 06:30, did a search of this forum, and started diagnosing. 1. Distribution blower not running; 2. Light on indicating power to blower; 3. labored buzzy sound when put to Test; 4. Burning smell eerily similar to last year's seized-up combustion blower (before I appreciated a proper cleaning regimen).
Once shut down, dropped the distribution fan out & had a look-see. Yup, corroded with dust bunnies and probably a generous coating of the previous homeowners doghair. Cleaned it out, reconnected leads & put to test mode - got a 1/4 turn out of it, but was clearly defunct, very "gummy" when spun manually.
Luckily, my stove shop had a replacement in stock. Picked it up by 9:30, to the tune of $203, and had the stove back in business by 11:00. Replacement came with the wire conversion kit (which I read somewhere on here is needed for some older stoves), from which I only needed a few zip ties & the full-color, very thorough directions for replacement.
One shiny new distribution blower & another thing I need to make sure to clean prior to heating season! Bonus is, now I know what that HI-LO switch is all about!
The P61A was a real champ down the basement, kept the house in the mid-sixties throughout, even with single digits & wind.
Happy Heating!
