Help with St Croix Afton Bay

[lil_geek]

We put a St Croix Afton Bay stove in last winter. Had it installed by a reputable company and serviced (and cleaned) by the same company in the spring. We have only been running it mornings and evenings to take the chill off since mid October.....

Last week we went away. FIL decided to come start the stove to warm the house for us a few hours before we got home. Called us 3 times with questions on how to start it..... (push the on button!!). I have no idea what he may have done. He couldn't get it to burn and when we came home it was on T-Stat (we have no thermostat connected to it)......

Anyway - I flipped it back to Manual and got it running but the room fan doesn't want to kick on. We had it running great one night, then the next, again no room fan. And when we tried to turn the stove off, the flame grew, the box filled with smoke and the smoke started pouring into the house (out the air intake, hopper, etc.). I was seriously scared the thing was on fire!

The only 'code' flashing is that the on/off switch is flashing (even after turning it off). The manual only states....

The ON/OFF light is always blinking and the stove only runs on with a low fire, even
though I have the Heat Level on #5.
If the stove is operating on a Thermostat, this usually indicates a problem in the Thermostat
circuit. There is either a bad connection in the wires or the Thermostat itself has a problem.
Troubleshoot all of the components in the system.

If the stove is not operating on a Thermostat, make sure the slide switch on the control board is in
the “Manual” position.

But it IS in Manual! I have tried calling for service but they can't get out for a week - any suggestions would be great! I am freezing!

 

[Oilhater]

Possibly plugged with ash? Give it a good cleaning...don't forget the 2 ash traps behind the removable little plates. If you have the fake metal fire brick, take that out and rap on the vertical plate with a rubber mallet. You should see a bunch of ash fall into those 2 ash trap doors.

 

[bbfarm]

Check your exhaust fan. Ours did the same thing

When they cleaned it did they pull the fan out and clean under it and replace the gasket? Does it spin freely?

A bunch of junk accumulates under there. See photos of before and after