Kozi 100 Pellet - blower (CIRCULATION) fan not working

[newbieinCT]

Ok. Need help...if anyone is out there

Up until today, our Kozi stove was working fine (fine enough for an older stove). We inherited it when we purchased the house, so we know little about it other than the user manual.

Today, we started it up and the circulation / blower fan (the one that pushes air out the front of the stove into the room) will not turn on. The auger works, pellets will light but the blower fan will not turn on. We have stopped/started it a few times. Let it cool down and started again. A few times it started and shut down but hasn't stayed on for more than a few seconds at a time. It did seem to start up one time after the stove shut off but then, it too, turned off again.

My husband vacuumed everything out - but still nothing. Anything thoughts? Suggestions?
It worked this morning...

I'm in CT and it's freakin' cold here! Any ideas are appreciated! I googled around a bit but couldn't figure it out...

Meg

ps: did I mention I asked Santa for a new stove for Christmas? I think this is how the house ghosts are re-paying me!

 

[newbieinCT]

So, we investigated a bit more. The stove is a Kozi XL, I believe. We are piecing together info we find not the internet, so we aren't exactly sure. The fan that pushed the air into the room is definitely not working. We have cleaned, oiled, check connections, did the ol' Fonzi hit to the side of it. Everything we can think of it it's officially dead. Temps were COLD last night - we slept with hats on and dogs in the beds at heaters!

Next, I have no clue what to do. I don't even know where to go to get the fan. I do have the fan model number, so hopefully I can google search something. I'm not even sure if it is the fan....I just know it doesnt work. Any suggestions on how to tell if it is a bad sensor or a bad fan? Anything you can throw my direction, I appreciate. All of this is going on while bringing in another contractor to get insulation (bought an old house, no insulation...it's drafty in here...) and squeeze in a road trip to see Grandma...talk about an insane weekend!

Thanks
meg

 

[Lake Girl]

Kozi stoves are made not far from here relatively speaking... 5 hour drive Check your local hearth shop or call the company to find nearest dealer (bottom of the page) http://www.kozistoves.com/

Good luck!

PS these folks seem to have Kozi convection blowers ...
(broken link removed)

 

[David Holmes]

There should be a thermal disk close to the convection blower. The thermal disk turns the fan on and off as per the amount of heat in the heat exchanger. The speed of the fan could be controlled by an electronic board. If someone is knowledgeable in electricity that disk could be checked for continuity.

 

[Lake Girl]

Generic Kozi Stove Manual in case you don't have one...
(broken link removed to http://www.kozistoves.com/Manuals/MXAll.pdf)

 

[David Holmes]

I would check item no. 1 on page 36. When the stove reach's a preset temp this thermal disk will turn the circulating fan on. The speed is controlled by the board setting.

 

[RKBAGUY]

Just throwing the easy things out here for sake of discussion:

1) Have you jumped the sensor to see if the blower will run without it? Have you directly powered the blower motor (if possible) to confirm the motor itself is working?

2) Are you sure you let the stove get to temperature high enough and long enough to have the thermal switch kick the fan on? As soon as the fan starts going, it's pulling cold air across the thermocouple, and that might be what's causing the convection fan to run, then stop. The stove just hasn't absorbed enough heat to resist the cold air coming in.

3) Defective thermal disc. One way to test would be to remove it from the stove, hit it with a hair dryer and see if it trips the convection fan.

 

[Lake Girl]

Neat trick with the hair dryer on the thermal disc

 

[David Holmes]

Yes never thought of that. The Kozi model 100 and the baywin are really basic not much in bells and whistles. That electric schematic covers several different models. Make sure you know what you are doing.

 

[newbieinCT]

Hi everyone,
My apologies for not writing sooner but I appreciate all the replies. I've been reading them but I haven't had much time to sit at the computer to write back with everything that's going on. It's been pretty cold here (we are too cheap/stubborn to put the oil heat on very high in this old leaky house). On top of the pellet stove (our main source of heat) crapping out and the snowstorm/cold temps here in CT the past few days, the washing mashing line got a clog or something so there was cold water exploding all over the laundry room - not fun when you have little heat and are snowed in!! We are also scrambling to finalize insulation and air sealing options with energizeCT. We get $1 off / sq foot of insulation for walls/attic areas but of course, we are trying to figure out how much to do and what works best. It's a one time shot so our original plan of air sealing and insulating attics and then the walls in the spring if the house was still too chilly didn't pan out...so we are trying to figure out what to do. Foam, injectible foam, fiberglass, cellulose. All have their pros and cons...I think that my head might explode soon. Such a learning curve!!

anyway, sorry about the little b*tchfest...it's just so overwhelming to a new homeowner. Of course, we don't have a newer home with a lot of that done already - we have a house where half is from 1894 and the other half from 1984...talk about a difference in construction

I have printed out the suggestions, unfortunately, both my husband and I are wary of electrical stuff, so we are heading the warning of "be knowledgable" before trying anything. We are willing to do a lot of things...but starting messing with electrical isn't our thing. Not sure if we should just bring someone in to figure it out...it might be the best way, at this point. I looked up the fan online, it's about $200. We are already on planning on purchasing a new stove this week, we have been saving up for a while but it is for a different area of the house that will probably work better. I guess $200-300 for a new fan (if that is the issue) isn't that bad compared to buying a new stove

Meg

 

[newbieinCT]

Generic Kozi Stove Manual in case you don't have one...
(broken link removed to http://www.kozistoves.com/Manuals/MXAll.pdf)

Thank you

 

[newbieinCT]

There should be a thermal disk close to the convection blower. The thermal disk turns the fan on and off as per the amount of heat in the heat exchanger. The speed of the fan could be controlled by an electronic board. If someone is knowledgeable in electricity that disk could be checked for continuity.

This is the post that made us stop what we were doing and think again...I'm hoping we can get someone in tomorrow to check things out. I see the disks and they even have a part in the manual about how to reset it (we tried that) and nothing worked. We don't want to mess anything else up so we are on hold with the fix-it-yourself part....thanks for the warning

 

[newbieinCT]

Just throwing the easy things out here for sake of discussion:

1) Have you jumped the sensor to see if the blower will run without it? Have you directly powered the blower motor (if possible) to confirm the motor itself is working?

2) Are you sure you let the stove get to temperature high enough and long enough to have the thermal switch kick the fan on? As soon as the fan starts going, it's pulling cold air across the thermocouple, and that might be what's causing the convection fan to run, then stop. The stove just hasn't absorbed enough heat to resist the cold air coming in.

3) Defective thermal disc. One way to test would be to remove it from the stove, hit it with a hair dryer and see if it trips the convection fan.

Hey RKBAGUY,
thanks for the ideas. I think I covered our electrical 'skilllessness' in my previous post but electric anything and me are not a good mix. I just don't know enough. I don't know how to jump the sensor or directly powering the motor. I limit my skills to changing outlets - which so far, so good, no issues with.

I do think the temp of the stove is high enough to have the thermal switch kick on b/c the fire in the box has been pretty big and it normally kicks on by that point. It's definitely not acting the same as usual. Unfortunately, since the first time or two we tried on Thursday, we haven't heard the convection fan start at all. It was only after that initial time we tried to re-start. Like it just petered out and there was nothing left...

Love the thermal disc trick - is it okay to try that before testing the sensor? I don't know how to check sensor but I'm pretty sure we can handle removing the disk and using a hair dryer on it

Thanks for the suggestions...everyone. It's really helpful and I'm learning a lot as we go along this journey in the new house!
Meg'