Ignition problems

[steelerdog]

Hello, I am new to the site so if I am repeating this topic I apologize. I have ignition problems and am hoping some of you may have expeienced the same. I have a Breckwell P22 pellet stove that is 6 years old. I have been having problems with ignition that have ben on and off for a year or so but seem to be more prevalent now. It seems the burn pot fills up to almost full before the ignitor kicks in. This causes a lot of smoke build up. Sometimes the fire does not light at all and sometimes the fire flames up but then goes out. There are also times when the fire flames up goes out, flames up, then goes out again and either lightsd or doesnt light. I have tried cleaning out the whole system pipes and all and it will work for a few days but goes right back to having the same problem. Has anyone experienced this or have any idea on what is causing this?

All help is greatly appreciated.
Glenn

 

[ronlat]

Have you watched to see if the ignitor is glowing, if the room is dark enough you can see the red glow from the ignitor? If the ignitor is glowing when the burn pot is half full or less my quess would be the pellets, (some pellets are harder to light vs. others), or your damper may be set too far open to build enough heat from the ignitor to start the pellets. The manual states if pellets are slow to start close damper all the way and open as soon as fire starts.

 

[steelerdog]

Hi, thanks for the reply. Sorry I took so long to get to it. I had my email address mispelled and didnt realize anyone replied.

I do watch as it is lighting and it seems like it is feeding to many pellets in before the ignotor starts glowing, seemingly smothering the fire and not allowing enough air to get the flame going. Most times it is half full before I start to see the smoke building up as it is trying to light. I took the stove a part this weekend and cleaned the combustion fan blades. There seems to be A LOT more air going through the burn pot now This morning there was a tremendous amount of smoke that filled the chamber of the stove but I could see the flame still glowing. it finally lit with a bang and all the smoke disappeared. The ignition/start up just does not seem right. I am wondering if the ignitor is not coming on soon enough nor getting hot enough to light before to many pelletts are fed in. Also wondeirng if maybe it is the fuel.

Also another issue that came up is after start up while running the stove on the number 3 feed rate setting for about a 1/2 hour the fan cut itself back to the normal number 1 setting speed and I couldnot adjust the feed rate or fan speed until the stove cooled down and everything went back to normal. is this normal?

 

[ronlat]

Hi, thanks for the reply. Sorry I took so long to get to it. I had my email address mispelled and didnt realize anyone replied.

I do watch as it is lighting and it seems like it is feeding to many pellets in before the ignotor starts glowing, seemingly smothering the fire and not allowing enough air to get the flame going. Most times it is half full before I start to see the smoke building up as it is trying to light. I took the stove a part this weekend and cleaned the combustion fan blades. There seems to be A LOT more air going through the burn pot now This morning there was a tremendous amount of smoke that filled the chamber of the stove but I could see the flame still glowing. it finally lit with a bang and all the smoke disappeared. The ignition/start up just does not seem right. I am wondering if the ignitor is not coming on soon enough nor getting hot enough to light before to many pelletts are fed in. Also wondeirng if maybe it is the fuel.

Also another issue that came up is after start up while running the stove on the number 3 feed rate setting for about a 1/2 hour the fan cut itself back to the normal number 1 setting speed and I couldnot adjust the feed rate or fan speed until the stove cooled down and everything went back to normal. is this normal?

I have 2 Breckwell stoves, a Big-E in my shop and a P2000FS in my house. Both stoves will fill burn pot to around 1/2 full before igniting (and yes it's normal for alot of smoke before fire breaks out). I have noticed by closing the damper all the way until fire lights will speed this up a bit, too much air cools the pellets near the ignitor. The type of sawdust used in the pellets will make a difference on how readily the pellets will start, for example oak is harder to start while pine is easier. The ignitor starts up based on time not fuel amount in burn pot as the control board has no way of knowing how much or how many pellets are in the burn pot.

Regarding the second issue I am not sure what might be going on here, stove may have sensed a problem and went into diagnostic mode, after diagnostic was complete the control panel was cleared for user input. If the problem continues I would send an email to breckwell tech department. [email protected]

Ron

 

[kinsmanstoves]

On the lighting issue try different damper settings some stoves need it open and some closed. I found 1/2 way works the best.

On the switching from 3 to 1 setting. What position are you running the toggle switch in? Did you loss power or it "flicker"?

Eric

 

[steelerdog]

Hey guys thanks for the replies. I do notice since I cleaned the combusution blower fan and changed the door gasket it seems a lot more air flows throguh there. it is almost to much air even with the dmaper all the way closed. I also notice that with the way the door hinge is attached and sits on the stove it keeps the door pushed away from the metal door trim that it close onto. The latch side sits tight while the hinge side I can see the gap. I am not sure if to much air is getting in through the door or not. I have had the stove for 6 years and I beleive the door has always been like this as I have not made any adjustments to it. I do not see any way to adjust it.

As for the fan speed and feed rate issue. It did not lose power and it didnt flicker. I am not sure what you mean about the toggle switch. I had the feed rate set to 3 for abot 30 minutes and it reset itself to the number 1 setting. After a while I was able to adjust the fed rate again.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

On your digital control panel is a 3 way toggle switch in the upper right corner. It indicates manual on/off and high low. I am sorry. At 6 yrs old you will have the analog board. That is a different animal. Please disregard.


Eric