Please Help Before My Wife Kills Me!!

[clincoln007]

I have a Whitfield Advantage ii. I can't keep it running and the pressure switch isn't work right. If I bypass the pressure switch the auger will turn and it will drop pellets, if I dont the auger wont turn. I "think" I have cleaned out everywhere I cleaned behind the fire bricks left and right, on mine the fire brick in the middle when you take it out its just a solid wall. I took out and spent too much money replacing the combustion motor and it STILL wont keep a good fire and the pressure switch still needs to be by passed. What am I missing? The door gaskets seem ok but they wouldnt cause the stove to back up and burn like crap. I really need to fix this, its our only source of heat downstairs and up until a few months ago worked great! Any Ideas!? HELP

 

[Lake Girl]

Behind the back wall of the fire box on these stoves can collect ash ... some use a rubber mallet on the back wall once the fire brick is removed. Hard enough to loosen ash but not to dent... Many use an adapter on a shop vac (with drywall bag) so they can attach a hose that they can snake into the ash traps and across the back wall. Some use a bottle brush, some use a coat hanger, I use a dryer vent brush, to clean fly ash off the walls of the internal exhaust pathways.
Cleaned the exhaust venting? When did you replace the combustion blower? If you have access to a leaf blower/vac, you can use them to clean the exhaust pathways and venting ... just have to disconnect the vac switch hose first.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/leaf-blower-trick-equipment.157431/

As to the vac switch, have you cleaned the connection barb on the stove? Checked the hose to make sure it is not cracked or broken? Checked all the gaskets (door, hopper, ash pan as appropriate) to make sure they pass the dollar bill test? (Dollar or similar paper closed in the door, if it pulls out easily, gaskets need changing). Vac switches themselves can fail also... but it is rare. Usually a cleaning problem...

 

[heat seeker]

You don't mention cleaning your venting - that's part of cleaning the stove. Sounds like you're not getting enough airflow, perhaps due to clogged pipes or vent cap. You also need to clean ALL of the passages in the stove. You could (should) do the Leaf Blower Trick, too.

 

[clincoln007]

Can the door gaskers cause a problem like rhis? I just changed the motor tonight. rheres NO access to the area behind the back fire brick. Theres a channel on the left and right but they are vertical, theres no way to get behind the back fire brick. I have removed and checked the lressure switch hose and air at all makes my pressure switch turn kff, but with it ypassed a bad pressure switch shouldnt cause a bad burn

 

[Lake Girl]

Little slots on left and right run behind the back wall of the fire box ... why I mentioned the coat hanger and shop vac with the tube or the leaf blower trick (and unhooking vac switch). Another option I can think of is to haul the stove outside and shoot compressed air through those slots... while wearing a dust mask!

Did you try vacuuming through the combustion blower housing into the body of the stove when you changed out the blower?

http://www.butkus.org/whitfield_operate/whitfield_cleaning/cleaning_a_pellet_stove.htm

Door gaskets that are failing can cause the poor burn. Tried the dollar bill test?

 

[Bioburner]

One can also test to see if gaskets are leaking by playing a long flame from a BBQ lighter around the door. If its leaking while running it will suck the flame in the bad spot. Gasket kit is cheap at around $10 at home improvement stores. Bring in a piece of the old gasket to make sure to get right size.
After a very good cleaning the second thing I do to a stove I bring into the shop is replace the door gaskets. Remember the stove is 20 plus years old. I find most of the old white door gaskets really don't hold well past 4 years. Love the graphite impregnated gasket material. Seems to keep it form and function way better.

 

[clincoln007]

Tonight I am tearing it completely apart and looking for ANY ash i can find, maybe I missed a channel? I cleaned out the chimney vent, it's the pellet vent kit on the side of the house. Cleaned the whole inside. I'm also going to replace the door gasket, question is I look up online and it says 1/2 inch rope but Lowes only has 5/8 and 3/8. Will the 3/8 work? It's so weird it worked great the last 2 years and now it's giving me all these issues. THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP AND LAKE GIRL THANK YOU FOR THE LINK THOSE PICTURES SHOULD HELP

 

[Lake Girl]

Good luck on the quest for answers ... keep us posted on what you find, what works, what doesn't. If you find a good method of getting the void behind the back wall of the fire box cleaned, let us know! Pics are helpful too

Damper adjustment on that stove? When cleaning, make sure you can move the slide and it is not rusted in fixed position.

 

[Bioburner]

You May be able to take and stretch the 5/8 to make it slimmer. I would keep searching at stove stores, farm stores too.
Gaskets can take a set and if the door was not left unlocked in off season in compresses and may not have come back enough to seal well

 

[clincoln007]

Thanks! I found the 1/2 at tractor supply, Im going to try to get there after work before they close and then tear the entire stove apart. Does anyone know why the preassure switch stops the auger with even the smallest amount of air? Should no aire be coming out of the hose?

 

[Bioburner]

I can't remember but Whits employed both pressure and vacuum switches depending on model. Most stoves have went to vacuum and tap into the burn chamber instead of somewhere on the fan or exhaust. Vacuum is more sensitive to door seal loss and can prevent more issues IMO

 

[clincoln007]

I can't remember but Whits employed both pressure and vacuum switches depending on model. Most stoves have went to vacuum and tap into the burn chamber instead of somewhere on the fan or exhaust. Vacuum is more sensitive to door seal loss and can prevent more issues IMO

Mines definately a preasure switch. It goes right from the exhaust blower to the switch with a small hose, just putting the hose up to it makes it click off. Im thinking if there was more airflow would it now be coming out the hose at all? Is that how it works?

 

[Bioburner]

Its making the switch close and that allows the auger circuit to be complete at least until the proof of fire switch hopefully closes in the allowed time. If the POF does not get to temp then the board shuts the auger down and then the stove

 

[clincoln007]

Its making the switch close and that allows the auger circuit to be complete at least until the proof of fire switch hopefully closes in the allowed time. If the POF does not get to temp then the board shuts the auger down and then the stove

No mines the opposite, the switch goes on when theres air and stops the auger, if I bypass it the auger works fine, the fire burns like crap or goes out but the auger works. Their doesnt need to be a fire to keep the auger going, at least there never had to be before

 

[Bioburner]

Did the auger stop when you opened to door to clean ash etc?

 

[clincoln007]

No, the auger never stops, unless i flip the switch to off, its an old analog contol with an on off switch and knobs......BUT....you guys were right! Check out the pictures! I found the "hidden" chamber I never knew existed I have NEVER cleaned it in 2 years, this would be the third. The previous owner never told me about them. They were packed. Im going to vaccum it out, BUT I broke the fire brick and need to put it back together with stove cement so I wont be able to test it intil tomorrow. Ill keep you posted. Its a great stove when its running

 

[Bioburner]

Nothing like a constipated stove and not knowing the cure. Good luck.
I am going to cast a new firebrick for mine when I remember to track down some angel hair

 

[MButkus]

There is a metal shield behind the brick. There are two screws (very top, very bottom) that holds the two side shields there. They allow you to get a better shot at the two exhaust holes. I just take the scraper and bang around in there. I now have a Sears Ash Vacuum ($80) and it works wonders.
Is your chimney clean ? The vacuum control looks at the exhaust and sees if there is pressure (bad) so it is in-line with the overheat switch to cut the fuel if the stove over-heats or the chimney is blocked. Very important safety switch. Plus, if your chimney is blocked with ash. You cannot push air out and create the vacuum in the fire box to get a "dancing fire".

With all that ash gone, it'll run good, once the chimney is clean too.

 

[clincoln007]

Im lost, I tore the stove alart cleaned inside and behind the part Ive never cleaned before, installed a new combustion blower, replaced the door gasket, and it was still burning like crap. Better then before and I still had to bypass the preasure switch, let it run for 30 minutes came down stairs and the room was full of smoke and the fire was out. WHAT AM I MISSING!

 

[Tails1]

Im lost, I tore the stove alart cleaned inside and behind the part Ive never cleaned before, installed a new combustion blower, replaced the door gasket, and it was still burning like crap. Better then before and I still had to bypass the preasure switch, let it run for 30 minutes came down stairs and the room was full of smoke and the fire was out. WHAT AM I MISSING!

Are you sure no part of the chimney is obstructed?

 

[Lake Girl]

Damper? Since it is an older stove, does it still move freely? Adjusted properly?

If you are still having to by-pass vac switch, likely should change that out.

Issues with current sensing relay that was installed in the original models between serial # 18145 to 38080? Page 10 in the pdf explains how to remove it if it is there. Not sure how big of a problem that has been but if there is a service sheet on it, likely created enough headaches ...

If you figure it is a control board problem, there are repair services that they can be sent out to.

 

[alternativeheat]

It's too late, I think his wife shot him last night at sundown LOL

Seriously though, Smoke in the room sure sounds like there is still a clog somewhere, collapsed vent pipe or serious vacuum leak. But I'm always leery when we read about these cases where there is still trouble with the stove and it's the kind of stove with hidden passages that the owner is not fully in tune with or experienced at..You gotta wonder, did he get all the ash out from behind that wall ?

 

[MButkus]

30 min is the "proof of flame" timer. Stove does not close the snap switch and shuts off the stove while it's running. I'm still thinking chimney.

 

[clincoln007]

It's ALIVE! You guys were right, I cleaned the chimney a month and a half ago and then the motor died. I replaced the motor and the gasket and it still wouldnt work. Cleaned the back that I didnt know about still wouldnt work. There was a freaking mouse nest in the chimney! Thanks for all the help, I hoestly never would have cleaned it right without the link you sent me!!

 

[alternativeheat]

It's ALIVE! You guys were right, I cleaned the chimney a month and a half ago and then the motor died. I replaced the motor and the gasket and it still wouldnt work. Cleaned the back that I didnt know about still wouldnt work. There was a freaking mouse nest in the chimney! Thanks for all the help, I hoestly never would have cleaned it right without the link you sent me!!

YAY !

You probably should invest in some sort of screened termination.