M55 Lid Sensor Malfunction

[martinstove]

Came home tonight to a loud clicking on my 1 year old M55 insert.

When I open the lid, it stops. When I close the lid, it starts up again. Makes no difference if it's on Manual, Hi/Lo, Auto/Off.

It sounds like the sensor for the lid keeps switching back and forth very rapidly. I have an audio recording, but seems I can't upload it to the thread.

I can shimmy/wiggle/bang the stove around and it might stop for a few minutes, but then randomly it seems to start up again.

Dealer was here a few days ago for the yearly cleaning. That's a whole other story as the tech managed to get a fine layer of ash on every single surface of the 1st floor by shooting his brush up the vent too quickly and not putting anything at the bottom to catch the ash except a vacuum that clearly wasn't doing the job. Might give them a call tomorrow, but don't have a ton of faith in them at the moment.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Overfired]

The sound may actually be coming from your auger assembly. The lid sensor just interrupts power to the auger motor when the lid is open (or if it can't sense the magnet on the lid for some other reason.) If it is loud and rapid, you may have a worn/stripped gear on your auger motor's gearbox. You could also have a bur or piece of debris grinding inside the auger tube - perhaps something that was dinged or dislodged during the cleaning. Perhaps they dropped a screw in there?

 

[martinstove]

It's definitely the lid sensor. The sound comes from right beneath the control board. When the lid is closed on this stove (and the magnet aligns), it makes a kind of clicking noise - this is normal. But when I close the lid on mine, it makes this same clicking noise very rapidly (as if I'm closing/opening the lid multiple times/second). When I open the lid (thereby removing the magnet, the clicking stops).

Also started to get a flashing #2 today (which came back 3 times, even after shutting it down for a few hours). According to the manual, this is from: "vacuum switch contacts have been open for more than fifteen (15) seconds." And a smokey smell on the first floor as well (don't know if that's related to the above or the ash/dust that the tech managed to send into the house/air when cleaning the vent).

So I shut it down for good and am waiting to hear from the dealer on Monday after they're able to talk to Enviro.

Never had any of these issues before...

 

[heat seeker]

The #2 is probably because your combustion blower stopped, or your venting is clogged. That would also allow smoke to seep into your house.

The clicking sound might be a relay that the door sensor controls. Perhaps the sensor and magnet are misaligned, or too far apart, as if the door wasn't fully closed.

 

[Overfired]

Is the hopper lid properly seated onto the sliding tracks? It just lifts off, and if it isn't firmly seated on the tracks, nothing lines-up correctly. The side panels also just lift off, and then you can see the sliding tracks better. Your lack of vacuum pressure could be a simple matter of an improperly set draft control (behind the left side lift-off panel, small flat rod to the bottom left.) If the technician bumped it after setting it, or didn't bother setting it, it may be causing way too much restriction and dropping your vacuum pressure too low.

 

[smwilliamson]

It's just a proximity switch activated by a magnet. Put a powerfule magnet on top of the control board to the left of where the lights are for the fuel selector with the lid open and you should hear it. If it won't hold with a stationary magnet then most likely the switch is shot, personally I'd just bypass it, it's run in series with the high limit located under the control board. I have a feeling that your switch is fine but your slider rails are getting sloppy or the brackets that connect the lid to the rails are loose or out of alignment and the magnet under the hopper lid is not centered over the switch.

 

[martinstove]

Is the hopper lid properly seated onto the sliding tracks? It just lifts off, and if it isn't firmly seated on the tracks, nothing lines-up correctly. The side panels also just lift off, and then you can see the sliding tracks better. Your lack of vacuum pressure could be a simple matter of an improperly set draft control (behind the left side lift-off panel, small flat rod to the bottom left.) If the technician bumped it after setting it, or didn't bother setting it, it may be causing way too much restriction and dropping your vacuum pressure too low.

Hopper lid appears to be sliding/seating properly. Tracks on side look fine. Checked the draft control - it was wide open, just about where it was previously.

It's just a proximity switch activated by a magnet. Put a powerfule magnet on top of the control board to the left of where the lights are for the fuel selector with the lid open and you should hear it. If it won't hold with a stationary magnet then most likely the switch is shot, personally I'd just bypass it, it's run in series with the high limit located under the control board. I have a feeling that your switch is fine but your slider rails are getting sloppy or the brackets that connect the lid to the rails are loose or out of alignment and the magnet under the hopper lid is not centered over the switch.

At the dealer's suggestion yesterday, I placed a refrigerator magnet on top of the control board/lid sensor. The dealer was trying to isolate if it was a problem with the lid magnet/alignment. But after a short period of time (seems to be between a couple and ~20 minutes), the same clicking came back. This was with the lid half open and the fridge magnet (about the size of a quarter) stuck to the sensor...

btw, thanks for the thoughts/suggestions.

 

[martinstove]

Had the stove off/unplugged all night.

Fired it up this morning - everything was fine for ~25 minutes, then the clicking came back. As well as the flashing #2. Seems like the malfunctions only occur when the stove is hot. [btw I've never had the overheating limit switch, to my knowledge]

 

[smwilliamson]

Number 2 that's the vac switch, makes more sense, the diagram in the switch is leaking

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

My bet is that the tech who cleaned the stove plugged it up as much as he cleaned it.

But hell who knows.

 

[martinstove]

Number 2 that's the vac switch, makes more sense, the diagram in the switch is leaking

I'm not sure what that means - the diagram in the switch is leaking?

My bet is that the tech who cleaned the stove plugged it up as much as he cleaned it.

But hell who knows.

I've thought the same thing. We have a 30ft chimney - don't know if he had enough rods to get all the way up there. I watched as he started and watched plumes of smoke/dust come up around him. I think that's what the smokey smell in the house is from - when the circulation fan starts up, it throws out a lot of dust/smoke/ash that settled in the fireplace after the vent was 'cleaned.' Will have to take a look/clean it up when I pull the stove out.

Will wait to hear from the dealer tomorrow.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

diagram = diaphragm in Scott's post. He is saying he thinks that the vacuum switch is shot in this case.

 

[smwilliamson]

Tech = hack

 

[martinstove]

diagram = diaphragm in Scott's post. He is saying he thinks that the vacuum switch is shot in this case.

Ah, I see - thank you. Is this something that goes on its own, or could the tech/cleaning have done something to cause this?

Tech = hack

Maybe. Maybe not. Unfortunately I'm not expert enough to know if he was just messy, or if he messed something up on the stove.

 

[martinstove]

Directions from Enviro:

Bypass the hopper lid sensor. Disconnect the black wire from the high limit then attach the orange wire from the proximity switch to the high limit. If no more clicking then they need 50-2052 HOPPER SWITCH. If it continues to click then they need the Mother board only.

#2 Vacuum - check mag and check seals for breach (probably related to the cleaning)

Smoke is usually in the venting (positive pressure) but if the vacuum is that low then it could be escaping from the unit. Get the mag up and check venting.

Unfortunately the dealer is not available for almost 2 weeks. So I might give this a shot myself... [at least the wiring part...don't have a mag] If anyone has any diagrams/pictures/advice, that would be greatly appreciated!

Looks like the rep is talking about the section below in red - although they both say Orange, not black (like the rep mentioned). Also assuming 'proximity switch' means 'hopper switch.' Maybe this will make more sense when I pull the stove out...

 

[smwilliamson]

The hopper switch is the proximity switch and has black wires coming off it that plug into the Orange ones

 

[martinstove]

Pulled out the stove last night, found the 2 orange wires going up under the control panel (i think 1 is High limit and the other is the hopper switch). But I wasn't sure how to access where the wires actually terminated. Didn't know which screws/plates to remove and was worried I would mess something up...so I just left it alone. Wasn't able to find any diagrams/videos showing this...

 

[smwilliamson]

Try just disconnecting the Orange wires from the black ones which is the hopper switch and out both Orange on high limit. This will bypass hopper switch then give it actry

 

[martinstove]

Tech bypassed the lid sensor and that did the trick. So I guess it went bad.

Haven't had it replaced yet.