pellets not feeding englander 25-pdv

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

oklasteve1962

New Member
Feb 3, 2007
9
hi to all.this is my first time here and i really need some help.i have an england pellet stove model 25-pvd.it has been running great but now all of a sudden when i build a fire in it the pellets feed for just a minute and then stop.once the fire is almost dead they start feeding again.it just cycles this way and never feeds the way it should.i am wondering if the switch that protects it from overheating could be going out.is there any way to test this switch?i was thinking about jumpering it to see if that would make it work again.the stove is not overheating at all.it barely gets warm enough to keep the rom air blower going.and no i am not going to jumper it and leave it that way.just long enough to check it and order a new one if that is the problem.so any ideas?can the overheat safety switch be jumped temporarily?here is a picture of the overheat safety switch.it is the what looks like a white wire on the top of the picture.thanks for the help.
 

Attachments

  • fuseloc.jpg
    fuseloc.jpg
    55.9 KB · Views: 945
Have you contacted their excellent tech support? Mike should pick up on the thread soon, but it may get attention faster if you add Englander 25-pvd to the title.

From the sounds of it, I wouldn't suspect the overheat sensor. Are you seeing an E for error on the control panel? I would suspect the thermal sensor on the back of the firebox that checks to make sure their is fire in the burnpot before augering in more pellets. Is that sensor clean and in the correct position? The other sensor I would check is the vacuum switch. Give me a moment to check the manual if Mike doesn't chime in shortly.

PS: Whay was the control box pulled out?
 
no it just started doing it yesterday and there tech support is cloosed until monday.and no erroe codes are showing.and if i can figure out how i will add englander to the title.and the control box pic is one i got off the englander website.
 
Ok, can we assume that the stove was cleaned and serviced in the fall and there is no blockage in the flue?

If yes, check all sensor connections first, make sure the connectors haven't come loose or off. It looks like there is a thermal sensor on the back of the firebox that should be checked. And there are vacuum switches that should be checked. I am guessing at the circuitry here, but usually the vacuum switch is normally open. Check continuity with the stove off to confirm. Then, AS A TEST ONLY, you can try shorting out the connection on the vacuum switch. If that works, it needs to be determined if a switch has failed or if there is a vacuum leak in the system. Often this can be a door that is no longer sealing tightly due to aged gaskets. Also inspect the vacuum hose for cracks.

http://www.englanderstoves.com/manuals/ReplacingtheVacuumSwitch_pre06.pdf
 
yeah i actually had a problem about a month ago with it not blowing any room air.so i cleaned it all out very well.i also inspected all the vacuum hoses and connections then.the reason i was thinking it might be the over temp limit protection is something i read on the englander website. "another possiblity could be the over temperature limit protection in the control board.this will stop the top auger if the unit reads as being too hot,the auger will start moving again if the unit cools to an acceptable temperature however and generally will contine to operate." and this describes what is happening exactly.it feeds pellets for a few minutes until there is a good fire and then it stops feeding pellets until it cools down some.
 
oklasteve1962 said:
it barely gets warm enough to keep the rom air blower going.and no i am not going to jumper it and leave it that way.just long enough to check it and order a new one if that is the problem.so any ideas?

I'm a bit confused, is the stove getting hot or isn't it? Very temporarily jumpering it as a test should be ok, assuming that the switch is normally closed. But if it's normally open, then the opposite is required. Try a continuity check on the switch first when the stove is completely cold. See if it's NO or NC with no heat.
 
sorry i may not have made myself clear.the stove is barley getting warm and then it stops feeding pellets.once it cools off some it starts feeding pellets again.that is why i think it might be the over temp safety is just going out.and i can do a continuity test on when i get home form work tonight.
 
so here is another question.does pellet size matter?i was using pine pellets that were about a third as big around as a normal sixed number 2 pencil. now all i can find are oak pellets that are almost as big around as a number 2 pencil.could that be the problem?and if so do i just need to increase the burner feed speed?
 
Has the fire in the burnpot been kind of puny since switching to the oak pellets? Changing pellets to a dramatically different size will often require resetting auger feed rate. So yes, this might be the issue. If the heat sensor is not detecting a hot burnbox after xx minutes, it will stop feeding the stove. What setting are you starting the stove at?
 
i really don't have any idea what brand either of them are.my wife would say the first ones were in a white bag and these are in an orange one.lol
 
I just checked the manual on line the diagram shows 2 vacuum switches one on the back of the fiebox and one checking the comb blower.
Which one to check?????????????/
Now by thorough cleaning what was done on this.

The wear plate did you clean out the ash underneath this thing? (It's that plate with the holes in it)
Are you getting any error codes?
How old is the Unit?
How many bags or tons have you burned?
 
Also are you using an external thermostat?
The condition you mentioned in the beginning (1st post) it sounds like a maintenance burn situation. Harmans do this I don't know about Englander
 
well i had my wife completely empty the hopper.we had one bag of the smaller pine pellets left so i had her load the hopper with them.then she re-lit the stove.now it is burning fine.so it must be something to do with the size difference of the pellets.i think.
 
well we had one bag of the pine pellets left so i had my wife clean out the hopper and start fresh with the pine pellets.now it is burning just fine.si it must have something to do with the size of the pellets.i think i need to increase the low burn speed to run the larger oak pellets.
 
There ya go. Try bumping up the feed rate for the oak pellets. If that doesn't work maybe return them for some more pine pellets. BTW, if the white bagged pellets were Lignetics pine, that's a good brand to stick with.
 
oklasteve1962 said:
well i had my wife completely empty the hopper......... i had her load the hopper.................

Way to go oaklasteve!! I cant rememer the last time my wife dumped a bag of coal in the stove, let alone empty and clean it! She doesnt mind turning it up though!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.