Help - AustroFlamm Integra (1994) Room blower

[mariohere]

Hello there,

I have been using Pellet stoves to heat my house for about 4 years now. I have a new-to-me Austroflamm Integra. It's a 1994. It is running well, but I think the room blower could be set to a higher flow rate when I am using the stove on the low to medium heat range setting(Power Knob).

Is there anyway to increase the room blower speed? I noticed if I turn the "Power Knob" selector up to high then back to my desired setting then the room blower will increase for about 5 minutes but then go back down.

I also noticed another adjustment below the Power knob that requires a small screw driver to turn. I haven't adjusted it yet. Does anyone know what this is for? Can I turn it down to give the stove less fuel (pellets) and therefore "trick" it into a higher room blower speed by turning the Power knob up?

 

[RKBAGUY]

It's hard to say from a subjective description such as yours as to whether or not your convection fan is running too slowly. In other words, it may be running perfectly, but is it possible you just THINK it should be running faster? Is it working differently this year than in previous years?

The user manual is somewhere here on the forum. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll attach it here tomorrow morning. In it, you'll find a troubleshooting guide that will help diagnose problems (including the convection fan), but you'll need a volt meter to do so.

Regarding the little screw on the user control panel, that's a trim potentiometer used to adjust the balance between pellet feed rate and combustion fan RPM so you can fine-tune your stove's burn rate based on factors such as altitude. Think of it as a the equivalent of adjusting the fuel/air mix on a carburetor. However, I don't think it'll have the effect on your fan speed that you hope, but why not give it a try? Worst that can happen is you change it back if you don't get the results you hope for.

Anyway, I hope this gives you a starting point. I've got a '91 that's having a hissy-fit, probably needs a new logic board. The good news about these stoves is that they're fairly easy to diagnose and repair if you have a little patience. There's much help to be found in this forum.

Talk to you soon!


Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[mariohere]

Well sure it's possible that the room blower is running at ideal speed - perhaps AustroFlamm knows what they are doing?! haha. But it seams like it could be increased to get more heat out of the stove. I read through my manual. I don't think adjusting the trim potentiometer will have the effect that I'm looking for. There doesn't seam to be many adjustments on this stove so I suppose I will have to leave well enough alone. Besides the room blower fan not being adjustable, I'm really happy with this stove so far!

It's hard to say from a subjective description such as yours as to whether or not your convection fan is running too slowly. In other words, it may be running perfectly, but is it possible you just THINK it should be running faster? Is it working differently this year than in previous years?

The user manual is somewhere here on the forum. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll attach it here tomorrow morning. In it, you'll find a troubleshooting guide that will help diagnose problems (including the convection fan), but you'll need a volt meter to do so.

Regarding the little screw on the user control panel, that's a trim potentiometer used to adjust the balance between pellet feed rate and combustion fan RPM so you can fine-tune your stove's burn rate based on factors such as altitude. Think of it as a the equivalent of adjusting the fuel/air mix on a carburetor. However, I don't think it'll have the effect on your fan speed that you hope, but why not give it a try? Worst that can happen is you change it back if you don't get the results you hope for.

Anyway, I hope this gives you a starting point. I've got a '91 that's having a hissy-fit, probably needs a new logic board. The good news about these stoves is that they're fairly easy to diagnose and repair if you have a little patience. There's much help to be found in this forum.

Talk to you soon!


Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[RKBAGUY]

Ah. Ok, now I understand where you're going with the question. I don't disagree with that observation. I also have wondered if the convection fan ought not to be putting out more volume and have experimented with various ideas such as placing a cheapo fan underneath the stove, and pointing it upwards or sideways to benefit from the radiant heat of the stove body.

Another idea is something like this Self-Powered Fan I found on eBay (or Amazon).

Well sure it's possible that the room blower is running at ideal speed - perhaps AustroFlamm knows what they are doing?! haha. But it seams like it could be increased to get more heat out of the stove. I read through my manual. I don't think adjusting the trim potentiometer will have the effect that I'm looking for. There doesn't seam to be many adjustments on this stove so I suppose I will have to leave well enough alone. Besides the room blower fan not being adjustable, I'm really happy with this stove so far!

 

[mariohere]

I'm sure that there is a way to bypass the automatic room fan circuitry, and connect a potentiometer to the fan for manual control. I'm just not sure that I want to go there. As you suggested, simply blowing an external fan over the stove might do it.
I like those little fans like the one you linked too on ebay, but those don't move enough air for pellet stove guy needs. They are ok on wood stoves that don't have blower fans - in a better than nothing kind of way.
I have another question for you. Sometimes when I first turn on the stove the red light blinks and I hear a noise like momentary electricity to the combustion blower but nothing happens. It seams like the stove goes into this state after running out of pellets. Usually I turn it off and on a few times and let it sit there for a few minutes and it resets itself - then the combustion blower comes on and I can light it. Is there anyway to speed up this process?

Ah. Ok, now I understand where you're going with the question. I don't disagree with that observation. I also have wondered if the convection fan ought not to be putting out more volume and have experimented with various ideas such as placing a cheapo fan underneath the stove, and pointing it upwards or sideways to benefit from the radiant heat of the stove body.

Another idea is something like this Self-Powered Fan I found on eBay (or Amazon).

 

[RKBAGUY]

There's a condition on these stoves called 'logic lock' where the startup process just gets stuck. The only remedy I know of is exactly what you did.

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[Mt Bob]

Yes,no,and maybe. Anything below 1/2 on the heat setting,room blower may not get to high speed.If you cool down the firebox too much,you end up with lots of crap buildup.In my experience,if the heat setting is above 1/2,and stove has been running a while,you will have to stand 3 feet away from the stove.Never considered changing the room blower format,but I did put in a different potentiometer,where the hole is,I have a shaft sticking out,with a knob.I also changed the other pot on the board,and have a shaft and knob for it.It controls the combustion blower.And,yea,no feed/prime button on them,if I run hopper dry,I light the pot,after a bit,throw in a handful of pellets,usually 2 times,that is enought to fill auger.Takes about one beer.And,welcome.HIYA RKB,long time.