Hi all , having an issue with my pelpro pp130b , i bought it about 1 1/2 months ago from tractor supply , and its been fine up until about 1 and half weeks ago. Firstly i live in goodview va, and its now finally getting into the high 30s at night, and the stove is installed in a 36x40 metal garage , that is insullated with 2 inch thick wall insulation and insulation is in the ceiling as well, it has a concrete floor. Now the problem is the stove wont stay lit on the low setting, and the alarm light blinks 1 red flash, which indicates empty hopper, but the hopper is not empty. I have removed the pellets from the hopper twice and checked for a jam, nothing! I have changed brands , that changed nothing. I talked to pelpro , they say that exhaust probe could be getting a draft and not calling for pellets which makes no sense to me, it would look like if the probe saw a drop in temp. It would call for more pellets, but im not sure how it maintains its self on low tho, please help thanks.
Pelpro pp130b wont stay lit on low setting
- Thread starter mwallace87
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I am not sure what could be causing this, but I am interested since I also have a PP130.
What does your flame look like while running on low. I picture of mine it below. My best guess on how the stove tells if the hopper is empty is that it stops registering a flame while still calling for the auger to operate.
I know that there is a flame sensor attached/screwed to the outside of the exhaust housing just below where the exhaust fan is. It is on the side facing the room fan. I have had the issue with it where ash will get built up on the inside of the exhaust and insulate it enough that the sensor does not register that the stove lights even though it does. It then will shut the stove down and give an ignition failure code.
I wonder if this same sensor is not registering the heat from your flame while running on low and shutting down thinking you are out of pellets. Maybe pull the exhaust fan and scrape the inside of the housing really well. Also follow the wires for the sensor and make sure they are securely connected to the control board. I am not sure how to actually test the sensor, but if I remember correctly the sensor is not very expensive to replace.
With the unit being new, I wouldn't think you would have an ash problem yet. Maybe PP was saying a draft is hitting the sensor and not allowing it to register the heat from the exhaust?!?!?
I would definitely call and press them some more. They should handle it for you under warranty. Maybe see if they will send you a new sensor.
![[Hearth.com] Pelpro pp130b wont stay lit on low setting](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_7060-webp.305191/ "[Hearth.com] Pelpro pp130b wont stay lit on low setting")
What does your flame look like while running on low. I picture of mine it below. My best guess on how the stove tells if the hopper is empty is that it stops registering a flame while still calling for the auger to operate.
I know that there is a flame sensor attached/screwed to the outside of the exhaust housing just below where the exhaust fan is. It is on the side facing the room fan. I have had the issue with it where ash will get built up on the inside of the exhaust and insulate it enough that the sensor does not register that the stove lights even though it does. It then will shut the stove down and give an ignition failure code.
I wonder if this same sensor is not registering the heat from your flame while running on low and shutting down thinking you are out of pellets. Maybe pull the exhaust fan and scrape the inside of the housing really well. Also follow the wires for the sensor and make sure they are securely connected to the control board. I am not sure how to actually test the sensor, but if I remember correctly the sensor is not very expensive to replace.
With the unit being new, I wouldn't think you would have an ash problem yet. Maybe PP was saying a draft is hitting the sensor and not allowing it to register the heat from the exhaust?!?!?
I would definitely call and press them some more. They should handle it for you under warranty. Maybe see if they will send you a new sensor.
Yea, i think that is what happened to mine, because this morning before work i cleaned out the whole stove again and took air and blew through the combustion chamber , relit and boom , its been running all morning according to my wife, no problems. My guess is during the week my stove just idles so im assuming there isnt enough fan pressure on low setting to keep the exhaust probe clean and the soot builds up and gives a flame failure then a hopper empty alarm i have been told that they get dirtier on low anyway, i hope it fixed , it would be nice to figure out a way to bypass the exhaust probe on low , so you wouldnt have that problem, now this is all theoretical.
It definitely gets dirtier when constantly running on low. As far as cleaning it, I usually pull the exhaust fan and scrape the inside of the housing once a season. Besides that I vac out the inside of the stove (removing the back plates occasionally when the flame looks bad) and I use a leaf blower (shown below) to suck all the ash out from the exhaust piping. I heat with 2 stoves and do it with both of them. Works great. Much better than trying to blow it out. A more powerful/higher cfm leaf blower would work even better, but I had this one extra laying around.
So the leaf blower has a reverse function? Can I ask you where you got the attachments? Do you have to block off part of the exhaust liner or do your attachments fit snugly? Thank you I have not cleaned my liner yet, have only burned one ton in my new stove.
I used a plumbing reducer and taped it to the bottom of the blower where is sucks the air in. I take the cap off the outside exhaust pipe and the plumbing reducer fits inside the pipe. Turn in the leaf blower and it ducks the ash out. A leaf blower that is also a leaf vac works well.
Just make sure you he stove door is propped open or you can damage your stove vac switch.
If you search on YouTube there are quite a few videos showing what I am talking about.
Gosh thank you for telling me I would need to leave my door open! I'm glad you have it all dialed in! I will look for some YouTubes before I take on this task
It works well and is a lot easier then trying to vac or brush it out.
I just leave my door cracked an inch or so. I turn the handle and use the latch to prop it open
Open the door all the way the leaf blower will suck a lot of air and blow the vac. switch
very quickly. Ask me how I know LOL
It blew your Vac switch with the door open, but only an inch or 2?
It's been 2 years and I haven't had an issue, although it could be because the leaf blower I am using is less than optimal. It is not rated at as high of CFM as a lot of them.
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