I splashed water on the back of my stove and it malfunctioned.

[Mairs]

Hi. A friend of mine is on this site and I have now joined too. We both have PelPro 130s, and we both use them in greehouses. This was my first winter using a pellet stove in a greenhouse. I live at 7,000ft elevation in zone 5.

My problem is that I accidentally splashed water on the back of the stove while it was running. It started making a clicking noise and the blower went off and then back on a couple of times, then stayed on. It kept running, but it won't stop dropping pellets. I had to unplug it to get it to stop, as the dial no longer works either. The stove and house filled up with smoke as well.

I let it cool down and cleaned it out and started it up again a couple of days later to see if drying it out would solve the problem, but it did the same thing. It started up fine, the starting sequence works, but it kept dropping pellets and I had to unplug it again.

I am wondering if the control board was ruined and it needs to be replaced. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you!

 

[Don2222]

The control board is mounted to the back of the stove. The back has air vents so water could have easily hit the control board and shorted it out. :-(

 

[Lake Girl]

Is the stove still unresponsive to controls or just the feed motor? Does the feed motor shut off when you just lift the hopper lid? It should as that is a safety feature. Manual states to replace board if feed motor does not shut off ...
http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/PP130 Pellet Stove Manual.pdf

There are repair services available: http://pelletblowers.com/bbandp/product_info.php/products_id/54
Bruner's Bits & Pieces but contact first to ensure that they can service the board ... not a brand they specifically mention.

 

[Mairs]

The control board is mounted to the back of the stove. The back has air vents so water could have easily hit the control board and shorted it out. :-(

Don, I think that's what happened. The water did hit the area on the back where the vents are over the board.

 

[Mairs]

Is the stove still unresponsive to controls or just the feed motor? Does the feed motor shut off when you just lift the hopper lid? It should as that is a safety feature. Manual states to replace board if feed motor does not shut off ...
http://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/PP130 Pellet Stove Manual.pdf

There are repair services available: http://pelletblowers.com/bbandp/product_info.php/products_id/54
Bruner's Bits & Pieces but contact first to ensure that they can service the board ... not a brand they specifically mention.

I have a hopper extension installed so I don't have the shut off function for the lid. Thanks for the info. That is very helpful!

 

[Lake Girl]

Bruner's is only one service ... search the forum for board repair to find others. Keep us posted!

 

[Mairs]

Bruner's is only one service ... search the forum for board repair to find others. Keep us posted!

I will do that Lake Girl, thanks.

 

[jzm2cc]

I'd try pulling off the right access panel and taking a hair dryer ( low setting ) to the control board to dry it off. Get surrounding sheet metal warm but not hot to the touch, don't want to melt components. Circuit boards can usually get wet and dried (low temp ovens or convection air) without damage if unpowered which wasn't your case unfortunately. I suspect the transistor (mosfet) that powers the auger motor is shorted. If thats the case it should be easy to fix. But more trouble shooting is required for correct repair though.

I have a fixer upper pp130 myself. See similarities to the Heatilator Cab50 in design that i use to heat house. They are both owned by same company.

 

[Don2222]

I
I have a fixer upper pp130 myself. See similarities to the Heatilator Cab50 in design that i use to heat house. They are both owned by same company.

The new auger system is HHT's design since they bought Danson's Pelpro to have a product in the Big Box stores and hardware stores. The reversing motor they use works well in the quadrafire stoves where it is top mounted on a spring type auger that does not jam. However having that small inexpensive motor on the bottom of a regular top feed solid auger shaft may not be the best design. The old Pelpro Design with the heavy 2 RPM gearbox auger motor and really nice high temperature nylon top and bottom bearings was an excellent reliable design! Just my 2 cents.

 

[jzm2cc]

Don, not sure what to make of that new auger motor design on the PP130 other than it looks quite small, but Quadrafire motors are tiny and hold up well with their gear reduction and wire auger style.

Time will tell if it the Pp130 auger assembly holds up like the old "standard" Pelpro motor and reduction box design. Haven't taken PP130 style auger out yet to see what type of bushings are used.