Promotional Image vs. Reality! Need to know the correct flame height for a Lennox t300p Pellet stove

[Nicolas]

Hey guys, been combing through the threads and although I have found similar symptoms I have yet to find a concrete solution.

I recently purchased a used t300p lennox pellet stove. It works great for 10-15 minutes and then puts out. I cleaned the thing top to bottom prior to installation. I just cleaned the photoeye today however (though I could NOT reach the inner filter as described in the manual.

Well, now I have a flame that's huge and reaches the top of the combustion chamber. It burns again, for 10-15 minutes and then goes out. I was worried about the size of the flame until googling returned these images:

(broken link removed to http://c0524912.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/t300p-2-t300.jpg)

(link to t300p-2 PDF)
http://www.woodpelletheat.com/T300P-2Brochure.pdf

Is this really how large the flame gets? mine would be similair... it looks like a fireplace. I'm used to seeing (in a friends different model) the flame being 8 in MAX.

-the auguer keeps feeding
-green fault light goes on
-dampener all the way closed still has a HUGE flame
-no thermostat

THANKS
nick.

I have pictures but can't upload them until I get home.

 

[Delta-T]

if it stops feeding pellets at that 10-15 minute mark, chances are that the phooeye is not recognizing the fire. is your photoeye located in the hopper (odd trapedoizal shaped steel plate at top of the auger) or begind the firewall (forcing you to take half the machine appart to locate it)?

 

[Delta-T]

disregard all poor spelling...is not my strong suite.

 

[briansol]

sounds like proof of fire snap switch is hosed. its never seeing that its burning and it shuts it down. my lennox eats one every year or so...

your flame should be white-ish, not orange-ish, and be TIGHT bouncy, not lazy.

if its orange and lazy, you need more air or need to reduce fuel (if adjustable gate). make sure the damper is opened up. I run mine wide open.

 

[Nicolas]

UPDATE: The stove just made a "plop" and something dropped (assuming a huge wad of pellets) into the grate. The grate took off and smoke started billowing into the house. Pulled the plug, had the extinguisher ready and nursed the fire under control, that was a first and pretty scary.

 

[Nicolas]

disregard all poor spelling...is not my strong suite.

Well, the photoeye was just cleaned but the filter under it was inaccessible (removed the trapazoid housing in the hopper). I can't wrap my head around it. I just had the fire nice and tight only two days ago.

 

[MountainSean]

Sounds like a bad Photo Eye. On the back of the control board you have two yellow wires that run to matching yellow wires coming from the photo eye. Unplug those wires where the photo eye ties in and then jump the wires going to the control board together. If the stove runs like normal (except it won't turn off) then the problem is your photo eye. You should be able to get to that from a little dog house in the hopper. held on by a few screws and some silicon, take that out and make sure it is clean. If it is dirty, clean it and try it again. If it looks good then you probably need a new one.

 

[Nicolas]

Sounds like a bad Photo Eye. On the back of the control board you have two yellow wires that run to matching yellow wires coming from the photo eye. Unplug those wires where the photo eye ties in and then jump the wires going to the control board together. If the stove runs like normal (except it won't turn off) then the problem is your photo eye. You should be able to get to that from a little dog house in the hopper. held on by a few screws and some silicon, take that out and make sure it is clean. If it is dirty, clean it and try it again. If it looks good then you probably need a new one.

Will report back with my findings, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[krooser]

Many, if not most, pellet stoves are sold when they start to get so dirty that they no longer perform properly... the owners give up on them and sell 'em.

When you cleaned the stove did you remove the fans and clean them? Did you use the leaf blower trick to get the stove clean? We have seen many, many new stove owners get a deal on a used stove only to have trouble with them on install... even after they "clean" them... a plugged up stove can mimic what you are going thru.

 

[Delta-T]

i havn't worked on a T300 for a bit, but if you have the photoey in the hopper you should be able to undo the bracket for the photoeye, and unscrew the 2 nuts that hold the filter bracket in place.

 

[Nicolas]

Many, if not most, pellet stoves are sold when they start to get so dirty that they no longer perform properly... the owners give up on them and sell 'em.

When you cleaned the stove did you remove the fans and clean them? Did you use the leaf blower trick to get the stove clean? We have seen many, many new stove owners get a deal on a used stove only to have trouble with them on install... even after they "clean" them... a plugged up stove can mimic what you are going thru.

Going to try the leafblower trick this week. As for opening it and cleaning the fans, I'll give it a shot. Going to look for those threads

 

[turbosporsche]

Don't waist your time cleaning for replacing parts. It's probably the photo eye. Before you pull it out or do anything drastic see if the eye is working . Every simple test. Follow the two yellow wires that go into the control board. Unplug them hook up a multimeter and set to ohms. Next place a small candle or flashlight so it shoots up the feed shout. The multimeter should move. If not then the eye is not seeing light. U can now remove the eye completely and place a flashlight in front of it. If the meter moves then the eye is good and it's the position it's sitting in in the stove.

 

[Nicolas]

Don't waist your time cleaning for replacing parts. It's probably the photo eye. Before you pull it out or do anything drastic see if the eye is working . Every simple test. Follow the two yellow wires that go into the control board. Unplug them hook up a multimeter and set to ohms. Next place a small candle or flashlight so it shoots up the feed shout. The multimeter should move. If not then the eye is not seeing light. U can now remove the eye completely and place a flashlight in front of it. If the meter moves then the eye is good and it's the position it's sitting in in the stove.

Will this be a two person job? Last time I was in there it was a pain to move things around. Thanks for the help, I'll make up a writeup once this is figured out.

Any suggestions for replacing the glass? It was cracked on my flashlight and I have it sealed with thermal glue. I also noticed when the flame got out of control like I mentioned happened after my first post that there was smoke coming out of the top of the door. Should I replace the gasket as well?

 

[Delta-T]

hmmm, stove should be under negative pressure, making it difficult for smoke to come out of door. you should absolutely replace the glass. Don't expect that glass to be easy to find or cheap. IIRC most, if not all the whitfields had the top piece of gasket missing from the glass to act as an airwash, but I could be wrong on the T300P. Cleaning the eye should not be a 2 person job.

 

[Nicolas]

Don't waist your time cleaning for replacing parts. It's probably the photo eye. Before you pull it out or do anything drastic see if the eye is working . Every simple test. Follow the two yellow wires that go into the control board. Unplug them hook up a multimeter and set to ohms. Next place a small candle or flashlight so it shoots up the feed shout. The multimeter should move. If not then the eye is not seeing light. U can now remove the eye completely and place a flashlight in front of it. If the meter moves then the eye is good and it's the position it's sitting in in the stove.

OK Here are my findings, and the photos along the way to make sure I did this correctly.
NO movement from the omhmeter @2000k and 200. I tried it first here:

Behind the board, looking from the bottom left of the back:

Those two yellow wires were what I disconnected and tested first.

Two Wires:

basically i turned the ohmmeter on and touched the black and red into either slot going TO the photoeye. Got 0 on the meter with light goin up the chute.

Removed the photoeye:

This is the photoeye removed from the housing. unfortunately the filter underneath is inaccessible with the limited room, and my limited tools.

Ah shiii....

Nothing, can I assume it's dead or are there any other ways to try it out.

MountainSean mentioned just jumping the two wires at the board together. Will this allow normal operation for when I'm home as a temporary fix?


here are some other photos from the back: Fans dirty, I should try and remove it to clean it. Is that a factory weld on the intake duct?

The journey continues as the days get colder...

 

[ericofmaine]

Something else you might try, if your stove is set up for it... I have a Whitfield Profile 30 insert that also uses the photo eye. My plan, if or when it ever craps out, is to replace it with a snap disc. The exhaust piping (in the vicinity of the combustion blower) has a hole covered with a blank for just this purpose. In that case, you don't need to worry about having to clean or replace a faulty photo eye. There was a thread on here at one time that mentioned the type of snap disc one would need.

HTH,

Eric

 

[Nicolas]

Something else you might try, if your stove is set up for it... I have a Whitfield Profile 30 insert that also uses the photo eye. My plan, if or when it ever craps out, is to replace it with a snap disc. The exhaust piping (in the vicinity of the combustion blower) has a hole covered with a blank for just this purpose. In that case, you don't need to worry about having to clean or replace a faulty photo eye. There was a thread on here at one time that mentioned the type of snap disc one would need.

HTH,

Eric

http://www.pellet-stove-parts-4less.com/Whitfield_High_Limit_250_degree_Snap_Switch_p/12147705.htm perhaps this is the snap disk you speak of? I'm having a hard time visualizing where the placement is within the stove though. A new photoeye is $120 or $130 depending on the site, but really doesn't sound like a bad deal...

 

[turbosporsche]

OK Here are my findings, and the photos along the way to make sure I did this correctly.
NO movement from the omhmeter @2000k and 200. I tried it first here:

Behind the board, looking from the bottom left of the back:

Those two yellow wires were what I disconnected and tested first.

Two Wires:

basically i turned the ohmmeter on and touched the black and red into either slot going TO the photoeye. Got 0 on the meter with light goin up the chute.

Removed the photoeye:

This is the photoeye removed from the housing. unfortunately the filter underneath is inaccessible with the limited room, and my limited tools.

Ah shiii....

Nothing, can I assume it's dead or are there any other ways to try it out.

MountainSean mentioned just jumping the two wires at the board together. Will this allow normal operation for when I'm home as a temporary fix?


here are some other photos from the back: Fans dirty, I should try and remove it to clean it. Is that a factory weld on the intake duct?

The journey continues as the days get colder...

Hook up the meter again and point a flashlight at the eye. Then remove light and repoint at eye. If meter doesn't move they the eye is bad. Here's a link for just the eye. The eyes are made by Honeywell . U can also go to your local heating company to get one.

http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-P...well-130367/dp/B004P646DC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_2

 

[MountainSean]

http://www.pellet-stove-parts-4less.com/Whitfield_High_Limit_250_degree_Snap_Switch_p/12147705.htm perhaps this is the snap disk you speak of? I'm having a hard time visualizing where the placement is within the stove though. A new photoeye is $120 or $130 depending on the site, but really doesn't sound like a bad deal...

That disc in the link you gave is a high limit open on rise and wouldn't work. He would need an Exhaust Heat Sensor or Low Limit Disc if he wanted to convert over to using a thermodisc instead of the photo eye. The photo eye itself can be found for right around $60.

Yes, you can jump the photo eye leads coming from board together as a way to temporarily make the stove work while waiting for a replacement. However you do not want to leave the stove unattended while doing that as the photo eye is an important safety sensor. Smoke leakage out of the corner of the door shouldn't be happening and indicates a blockage in your exhaust system somewhere being the most likely cause and you definitely want to replace that cracked glass asap.

 

[turbosporsche]

That disc in the link you gave is a high limit open on rise and wouldn't work. He would need an Exhaust Heat Sensor or Low Limit Disc if he wanted to convert over to using a thermodisc instead of the photo eye. The photo eye itself can be found for right around $60.

Yes, you can jump the photo eye leads coming from board together as a way to temporarily make the stove work while waiting for a replacement. However you do not want to leave the stove unattended while doing that as the photo eye is an important safety sensor. Smoke leakage out of the corner of the door shouldn't be happening and indicates a blockage in your exhaust system somewhere being the most likely cause and you definitely want to replace that cracked glass asap.

Photo eye costs 10$. Don't get ripped by paying for over priced factory parts. You just need the eye not the houseing

 

[Nicolas]

Photo eye costs 10$. Don't get ripped by paying for over priced factory parts. You just need the eye not the houseing

Actually I was pretty happy with the purchase of the photoeye! I was able to buy it local AND with the housing it was only $15 AND it was honeywell name brand (it's all chinese in the end anyway right?)

question though: I hooked up the new one to an auto digital multimeter at my buddys garage, the readings were all over the place. However, I tried it at home with the multimeter I have and i still get a 0 reading. Ideas? I have it set to 200 ohms and when why fingers touch it it jumps around, and it zeros correctly on needle touch. Is there a chance it's been my busted meter all along? I'm not really familiar with analog meters.

 

[turbosporsche]

The only Way is to check old and new eye on both meters.

Second I fixed a whitfield 20 for a friend that he couldn't keep running . Eye tested good all Sensors good. Turned out that the disconnect connector on the eye was not making good contact. I cut both ends off and put new disconnects back on. Working ever since.

I've read to many posts on here where people say that these stoves need to be completly clean to work and that u need to do that stupid leaf blower trick. All u need to do is a simple scrape. Vac it up and that's it. Any other questions please ask. I also have a the service manual for these stoves I can email u

 

[Nicolas]

The only Way is to check old and new eye on both meters.

Second I fixed a whitfield 20 for a friend that he couldn't keep running . Eye tested good all Sensors good. Turned out that the disconnect connector on the eye was not making good contact. I cut both ends off and put new disconnects back on. Working ever since.

I've read to many posts on here where people say that these stoves need to be completly clean to work and that u need to do that stupid leaf blower trick. All u need to do is a simple scrape. Vac it up and that's it. Any other questions please ask. I also have a the service manual for these stoves I can email u

I'd like a copy of those, I think i'm close to getting it working. Going to pick up a new multimeter today, hopefully I can find an auto digital under $30

 

[ericofmaine]

http://www.pellet-stove-parts-4less.com/Whitfield_High_Limit_250_degree_Snap_Switch_p/12147705.htm perhaps this is the snap disk you speak of? I'm having a hard time visualizing where the placement is within the stove though. A new photoeye is $120 or $130 depending on the site, but really doesn't sound like a bad deal...

Nicolas, sorry for the delay in getting back, but it has been crazy here... anyways, I took a pic of my Whitfield and the spot for my snap disk is actually right on the combustion motor housing. See the attached pic (hopefully it works!).

 

[turbosporsche]

You don't have a snap disk u have a photo eye. U can remove the eye and install the disk. Just stay with the eye.