Question on Breckwell Stove

[PBrady]

Hey everyone, i have been trying to find some info that might help with my stove but havent had any luck. Hopefully you guys can stear me in the right direction. We bought a house with a breckwell P32 insert from 1992. When the stove is lit everything performs perfectly (auger, fire box gets plenty of air, gaskets are good) the only thing is that it doesnt throw off heat! The only time heat comes from the stove is when i set the fan speed on the analog panel to "MAX". Even then it is not that warm. I called breckwell (no help there) so i decided to clean everything. Pulled the insert out, took apart the blowers, oiled them, cleaned them, detached it from the exhaust pipe and cleaned it out, cleaned everything in the sove. Put it back together and still the same thing.... No heat unless on MAX. I was told that it could be a bad convection blower, bad control panel or low heat thermacels. Any ideas?? Thank you for your time and help.

 

[The Ds]

Has the venting been cleaned?

 

[PBrady]

Yes, had the pipes swept when we first bought the house in May.

 

[Lake Girl]

It could be a few things - Pellet quality is the easiest. What are you burning? Exhaust venting should be cleaned after every ton (at least vacuum out at the bottom of the exhaust behind the unit). Next would be to make sure there are no air leaks. Ash pan seated properly, door gasket, hopper gasket if it has one. Manifolds are seated properly (page 8 in manual).

(broken link removed to http://breckwell.com/Manuals/P20-P32_1991-1992_Manual.pdf)

Let us know what you find...

 

[Roadstar]

I don't know what your control board looks like. Do you have an analog board or has your stove been rewired for digital? On my analog board 'LOW' through 'MAX" are feed rate settings, not blower speed. The blower will increase output once a certain setting is set, I believe it's 'C', perhaps 'D'. The is also a manual feed/high fan switch on mine. Pushing the high fan switch will keep the fan at it's maximum without having to set a certain feed rate.



I assume your flame increases with each successive increase of the feed rate setting, 'Low' through 'MAX'?

 

[Lake Girl]

I'm thinking the manual will help in understanding the controls too if that is an issue. If you pulled the combustion blower, make sure the gasket is still good so you don't have exhaust leaks. Do you have a CO detector and surge protector on the pellet stove?

 

[PBrady]

Not sure of the exact brand (at work right now), but when i tore the whole thing down i disconnected the exhaust vent from the combustion blower and vacuumed both the stove side and pipe side. glass and door are sealed properly (did the dollar test). after i was displeased with my cleaning efforts not working i started to remember that the previous owner mentioned at settlement that the stove only ever worked on "MAX" for him. On the MAX setting i get warm air to come into the room but on any other setting it is just blows cold air.

 

[homebrewz]

Have you brushed the combustion tubes? Ash accumulation on these surfaces will reduce temps.

You can also put a probe thermometer in each vent and check the temperature... I have an old thread on here where I checked mine on a few settings to compare with others.

 

[PBrady]

oh yeah, i brushed every single part inside the combustion air chamber, fire box, combustion tube and heat exchanger. i pulled everything apart on the unit. That is why i am so baffled at what it could be and am wondering if a faulty convection blower, thermodisk or control panel could possibly cause this.

 

[homebrewz]

You're getting some air blowing out the front of the unit, but not much? If so, it could be the convection blower, or the thermistor(?)/components that control when the blower kicks on and how much it blows. Sometimes those things get very dirty and fail (I know you cleaned everything) or just fail outright.

However, if its blowing a lot and you're not getting much heat, that is a strange problem. In any event, if its anything like my P23, these older Breckwells are pretty easy to work on. I've contacted Breckwell a few times directly to discuss different problems, and they've always been great with their suggestions and help.

 

[PBrady]

I get what seems to be the proper amount of air flow coming out of the stove for each setting on the analog panel. its just the heat that doesnt come out unless it is on full blast. everything inside the stove works properly no matter the setting... pellets burn fully, auger works, flame never goes out, and burn pot holes are getting air flow to them

 

[PBrady]

Roadstar, i do have the old analog control that goes from "LOW"-B-C-D-E-"MAX". when i move the dial from low to any other higher setting the blower seems to increase in speed as well and blow harder at each higher setting increasing the feed rate as well

 

[homebrewz]

Maybe check the pellet feed rate. On the highest settings pellets should be dropping into the burn pot every couple of seconds. Maybe the auger is not turning as much as it should be.. that would decrease the pellet supply and lower the heat output.

The only other thing I can think of is the brand of pellets.. read some of the reviews on here and try a bag or two of a high quality pellet.

 

[Lake Girl]

No problem with flame in burn pot? Very curious as to what your burning...

 

[Mt Bob]

Did you remove the fire box baffle and clean behind?(4 bolts)