After 4 years of having this stove, I still just don't understand it. It has been running fine all season so far. Fired right up this fall after sitting all summer. Cleaned it today as I do every 7-10 days and it wont feed pellets. There are no blinking error lights. The combustion blower comes and and then nothing happens. What could have happen when I cleaned it?
Pellets won't feed after cleaning Harman
- Thread starter Mackdog
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first thing is check the lockouts even if you don't get a trouble light, something obviously changed, check any loose parts which were removed and re installed during the cleaning process. check your manual look for any descriptions of holes or ports which may be connected to a fail safe switch. make sure any openings such as ash drawers or ash dumps which can be left unsealed are seated properly
Bioburner
Moderator
Check your door seals. Sometimes something can stick on the gasket or its seal surface and you lose the vacuum that tells the board to feed pellets and start the fire. Do the dollar test on them as they may be getting flat or worn. I just went through this with someone who bought a used Quad Santa fe and it was the door gasket failing and had him take a pliers and gently plump the gasket to temporairly get the stove to run till he got new gasket installed. Good luck
Bioburner
Moderator
If you have a volt meter you could check to see if feed motor is getting juice to rule out stuck auger. Did you clean the fines box? Also need to know your stove model to get better handle on the problem.
What happens in test mode? Did you by chance forget to tighten the burn pot cleanout plate? Something must be opened or loose.....
It's a P68. We did clean out the fines box. Absolutely nothing happens in test mode. The blower comes on in test but then nothing else happens. We checked the burn pot plate 3 times. Checked hopper lid 3 times. Emptied hopper and re-vacuumed. We did do the dollar bill test and I can pull it out but I suspect it has been like that for some time and it still worked. (changed gasket2 years ago. ) Don't have a volt meter.
Is the light coming on for auger in test mode? if it is not check the draft differential pressure switch, or the hopper lid switch as they are both in line to feed power to the feed motor. If one of these 2 switches are not closing the feed motor will not operate. - Try feeding power directly to the feed motor to verify operation. if it is working with direct power it is probably one of the switches or worst case a board.
with the hopper empty , does the auger have any "wiggle" usually her will be a slight bit of wiggle in the auger. if it feels like its "welded in place" its probably a jam. kinda odd though shutting down normally and jamming on restart so take this with a grain of salt.
You probably already tried this, but if not, unplug it for a couple of minutes. You also might want to pull off the back cover and make sure all of your wires and harnesses are tightly connected. Good luck.
Do not worry about blinking lights. Check the hopper lid, ash pan, and door. Turn on unit in room mode and exactly what lights come on?
Did you clean the vent? Where is the stove in the house? Go outside and check the cap again.
Lets start at the beginning.
Eric
Did you clean the vent? Where is the stove in the house? Go outside and check the cap again.
Lets start at the beginning.
Eric
Verify cover for fines catcher is lined up and snug. Will cause vacuum drop if leaking and as I remember screwed up the test mode results. Also verify hopper lid is closed and secure. My Wife checked pellet level the other day and forgot to latch lid = no pellet feed.
This would be my guess of a plugged vent. I have personally had this one happen to me, and a friend of mine.
We checked all openings, everything was secure. We messed with it till 12:30 am as we only get propane once yearly and not till feb and don't have much to use the furnace. My husband checked the auger and it isn't jammed. We cleaned the fines box after it was already not working but will check the plate cover again. I cleaned the vent pipe in August, I can't imagine a clog but I guess anything is possible. The confusing thing is, it has been running fine all season and running consistently for around a month other then cleanings. What could have happened in the 45 minutes that I cleaned it? Could it be the ESP probe. I do stick the vacuum hose through that opening every cleaning but I have always done that and I'm always careful to keep it low not coming in contact with the ESP?
Double check the venting do not assume. Start with the cap and go back. How is this stove vented?
The stove is in a first floor family room. I clean the vent pipe ever year. Did this in August but going to take the cap off the clean out...interior. We use stove temp but in room temp all light come on except distribution blower, same thing as stove temp but then after a while feed motor light shuts off. Hate to call dealer but might have to. They charge 100.00 just to show up. Ugh!
Please tell me what the venting is and it can be clogged since Aug. I am trying to help instead of you paying $100 but I need your help to help me.
Please. Put on your shoes and coat and go outside. Walk to the vent and remove the outside cap. Tap the pipe, remove the tee cap and clean the pipe. Put it all back together and go inside. Remove the ashpan and remove the combustion blower cover. clean that out. reassemble and attempt to light. I am trying to help but you do not want to do as I am suggesting.
Oh but I do want to do it and I am...one thing at a time and also kids dogs and coming back here to check...doing inside first then going outside then will be back...with no error lights is that is what is telling you it's an air or seal issue?
If the vent is blocked there will be NO error lights. Thew stove will shut down as it is made to do if the vent is blocked or there is an air leak. This is in the owners manual. The other option is to call someone to fix it and pay the money.
Ok this is getting more weird. Husband cleaned outside I did inside. Came in and tried to start, no go. He then put in test mode ans it did not do this last night but auger was clunking...we never heard pellets drop and all of a sudden it lit. You don't at all hear the clunky pellet sound as they feed...just an unnatural clunking sound of the auger turning. None of this happened last night and makes not sense still because there was no clogs in the vent when we cleaned it.
What is making the noise as the auger turns is a little arm like thing to the left of the that whole contraption. I was no where near this back part of the stove when cleaning so no clue what, if anything happened to that. After the stove would not work, my husband was looking around back there but didn't touch anything other then vacuum the fine box.
The whole thing moves as the auger turns and makes the clunking sound as it get back to beginning position. It's working but not properly. We will see what happens. Hate to pay propane prices but love the ease of setting the furnace and forgetting it. 4 years old and might be becoming a money pit. Have had other problems too but able to figure out from help from hearth and appreciate it. Had the dealer out last fall for a problem was still under warranty but 100.00 service call. Wanted to do an outdoor furnace but on a slab. Sigh
The whole thing moves as the auger turns and makes the clunking sound as it get back to beginning position. It's working but not properly. We will see what happens. Hate to pay propane prices but love the ease of setting the furnace and forgetting it. 4 years old and might be becoming a money pit. Have had other problems too but able to figure out from help from hearth and appreciate it. Had the dealer out last fall for a problem was still under warranty but 100.00 service call. Wanted to do an outdoor furnace but on a slab. Sigh
Maybe a refresher in reading the owners manual? Generally a four year old unit will not have problems with the feeder assembly. There is a ham or something in that area. Not saying nothing can break but very unlikely. 90% of stove problems are maintenance and installation. Those are always the first things to check. Glad it is working. Stay away from the outdoor units. They are great if done right and a nightmare if wrong.
The Ds
Feeling the Heat
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