Pellet stove issue

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JohnL48

New Member
Feb 21, 2014
15
NJ
Ok pellet stove guru's, I have a Whitfield free standing stove. When the thermostat calls for heat the stove kicks on, pellets load in the hopper and lights as it's supposed to, then the pellets stop loading and the fire goes out. The stove goes into fault mode. When I press the button the stove comes on and works normally all day until the thermostats kicks it off and the fault sequence starts again. If I turn the thermostat all the way up the stove will work all day without any faults, Any thoughts ?

Thank you
 
depending on the model, it sounds like it's either the low temp snap switch is dirty, or the photoeye is dirty/obstructed. The stove doesn't "see" the fire. Why it doesn't react the same way if you turn it all the way up? I dunno.
Which model is it? Advantage, Optima, Profile, ect?
 
Jump the thermostat and see what happens. Take that variable away to see if it is the photo eye out low limit based on model as stated above
 
Model # is T300P series. I cleaned the photo eye which wasnt really dirty. Then this morning I went into the shop and the power light was blinking on fault mode again. hit the power button and the stove has been on all morning. It just seems to happen when the thermostat kicks it off then turns it back on when it calls for heat.
 
JohnL48 said:
Model # is T300P series. I cleaned the photo eye which wasnt really dirty. Then this morning I went into the shop and the power light was blinking on fault mode again. hit the power button and the stove has been on all morning. It just seems to happen when the thermostat kicks it off then turns it back on when it calls for heat.
Click to expand...
I'm gonna guess that on restart, there arn't enough pellets to get it up to temp to kick in the auger and more pellets...open your feed gate a little...are you using a new pellet that may be a bit longer...this from a quadrafire background...don't really kinow your stove....thanks for listening...I've had two cups of coffee this morn...it's still snowing in vermont...
 
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rbart46 said:
I'm gonna guess that on restart, there arn't enough pellets to get it up to temp to kick in the auger and more pellets...open your feed gate a little...are you using a new pellet that may be a bit longer...this from a quadrafire background...don't really kinow your stove....thanks for listening...I've had two cups of coffee this morn...it's still snowing in vermont...
Click to expand...

Actually using a new pellet thats half the length of last yrs. Using same on my stove in the house with no issues. There is no feed gate on my stove.
 
ye old t300. could be you have the damper open just a tiny bit too far, burning out the initial pellet dump at startup before the photoeye has a chance to see it. not totally uncommon. not a bad idea to take the thermostat out of the equation either.
 
Delta-T said:
ye old t300. could be you have the damper open just a tiny bit too far, burning out the initial pellet dump at startup before the photoeye has a chance to see it. not totally uncommon. not a bad idea to take the thermostat out of the equation either.
Click to expand...


I've tried different damper settings. It's very strange, if I manually turn the thermostat down to shut the stove off (to clean the stove) then manually turn the thermo up, the stove starts and runs fine it's just when I dont touch the thermo and it kicks off and on by itself is when I get the fault
 
what type of thermostat is it? have you tried jumping it out to see if it will consistently start up when requested?
 
It doesn't sound like a thermostat but that's always my first thing to check. Its easy and hands don't get dirty!
 
I can try jumping the thermostat but not sure what it will tell me. The stove works perfect when I manually adjust thermostat up and down as well as when I press the power button after it faults, so the stove will light and stay on that way. I only have the issue when the thermostat is left alone to cycle itself.
 
The stove came on fine just like it did when I turned up the thermostat manually. I am playing with the damper settings now but its been warm here so the thermostat hasnt been kicking it on much.
 
An update. it seems if I keep the damper so closed the door soots up within a couple of hrs the stove will stay lit (but not all the time) and I have to clean the clinkers every day. When I open the damper slightly the stove will go out after start up as noted (again not all the time) so I dont konw if this is related. I have noticed a few times while working in my shop the stove will be running with a good flame then the combustion fan (not exhaust) just shuts off and the power light starts blinking. If I dont press the button to turn on the fan/stove it will go out.
 
The combustion/exhaust fan on that stove is one and the same. The other is the convection/room fan.

If the convection/room fan is the one that is shutting down the stove may go into over heat.

If the combustion/exhaust fan shuts down the stove will vacuum fault.
 
I don't know if the motor has a internal over temp switch. I would get the air hose and try and blow the dust bunnies out of motors windings and see if the motor has oil ports to give a couple drops of oil for the bearings. The other thing is that the room fan is controlled in part by a snap switch sensing a high enough temp to turn on and distribute air. I just don't remember if it that way on your particular stove.
 
If the stove was still firing then bioburner has the most likely reason that being crud in the blowers motor such that it can't cool itself and is going out on its thermal protection or there is the bushing/bearings running out of lub, and the ever popular dog/cat/fines/dust in the squirrel cage. They all lead to overheating of something in one manner or another, it becomes a race to a high limit trip if the stove is not firing at a low rate.

If the stove hasn't got a mess in the blower department you need to look a little further like to any thermo-discs in the blower circuit, they may not be seeing the heat and may need a cleaning or the area behind where they mount against.

Remember, stove, off, cold, and unplugged.
 
Still having issues with the fan shutting off. Also noticed when i stuck my hand into the hopper it was very warm, the metal was to hot to hold my hand on it for more than 10 seconds, is this normal? Also the firebrick lining is crumbling in spots, can this cause the hopper to be hot and if so what can i line it with other than paying $200.00 for new firebrick ? Sorry for all the questions :-/
 
The Whitfield hoppers, especially at the top get pretty warm as you describe.
 
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