Slow starting exhaust blower - Avalon Astoria Bay PI

[FlyAsh]

Hi everyone, what do you think of this?

About halfway through the heating season this year, once every few weeks my stove would fail to start. It would drop pellets normally, but after a couple of minutes the "maintenance" light would begin blinking and the auger would stop. I'd turn it off, unplug it, plug it back in, start in manual mode again, and it would start up fine. After a couple months, it would begin doing this more often. Finally, it began happening every time. I did notice that the exhaust blower would not start up when I pressed manual start.

I found a work-around to get it started :

From a cold or warm start :

1. Switch to Manual mode (as usual), and push "Manual Start"
2. Auger begins to drop pellets, but exhaust blower does not start.
3. After a couple of minutes, auger stops and maintenance light blinks.
4. I let it sit for about 5 minutes in this state.
5. Finally the exhaust blower comes on, but since we're in a "maintenance" state,
the auger stays off.
6. I switch the mode to "Off", and in a few seconds the "maintenance" light stops blinking.
7. The exhaust blower is still running, (I assume it's now in it's shutdown process).
8. I move the mode switch back to "manual" and the auger begins dropping pellets.
9. The stove will continue on to start normally now.

This method has worked without fail for the last couple of weeks, but it's obviously
not right and I'd like to fix it. My thought was that I'd need to replace the exhaust blower,
but a friend said he thinks it sounds like the snap switches. Anyone have any other thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Lake Girl]

Welcome to the forum and sorry no one got back to you sooner.

How old is the stove and what kind of cleaning routine do you have? Last time exhaust blower was cleaned? No info in manual on oiling but some motors do need lubrication... Have you tried setting up a test wire to connect exhaust blower directly to power outlet? Test wire is just an electrical cord with appropriate spade connectors to mate to blower connections. Always unplug when working in the stove cabinet.

Edit: when was the last time the motor windings were treated to compressed air to evict the dust bunnies?

To bypass the snap discs with spade connections, same idea as the test cord above ... small piece of wire with male spade connectors on each end. If the exhaust blower is sluggish, more likely a problem with the blower motor which then creates vacuum problems so the auger stops.

Keep us posted...

 

[FlyAsh]

No problem, I appreciate your reply!

The stove is about 7 years old, and I clean it very regularly. I empty the tray every day, and do a full cleaning weekly.
I forgot to mention the previous troubleshooting steps I had taken. The maintenance light that blinks is #2, which indicates
a blower problem according to the service manual. I usually take the blower apart and blow/vacuum it out once a year, along with
the clean out under the stove pipe, but I did it again last week to see if it was the problem. I also removed the vacuum hose from
the vacuum switch and cleaned that out, along with the nipple on the back of the stove.
Now it's all nice and clean, and the stove acts exactly the same, so I don't think it's airflow.

Another thing I noticed was that if I turned the stove off after running properly for awhile, and then back on again
as soon as I finished cleaned it, (it being still warm) the exhaust blower will sometimes start right up. But from a cold start,
it never does.

I'm not home now, but I will try and do the electrical tests soon...

Welcome to the forum and sorry no one got back to you sooner.

How old is the stove and what kind of cleaning routine do you have? Last time exhaust blower was cleaned? No info in manual on oiling but some motors do need lubrication... Have you tried setting up a test wire to connect exhaust blower directly to power outlet? Test wire is just an electrical cord with appropriate spade connectors to mate to blower connections. Always unplug when working in the stove cabinet.

Edit: when was the last time the motor windings were treated to compressed air to evict the dust bunnies?

To bypass the snap discs with spade connections, same idea as the test cord above ... small piece of wire with male spade connectors on each end. If the exhaust blower is sluggish, more likely a problem with the blower motor which then creates vacuum problems so the auger stops.

Keep us posted...

 

[Lake Girl]

Forgot to caution that by-passing the snap disc is temporary only ... not to be run that way. Want to keep everyone safe

 

[muzzo909]

I’ve recently had this same problem. Did you find a solution? I’m thinking it’s the blower motor. I want to order a new part but want to make sure that’s the problem!
Thanks,
Nick

 

[checkthisout]

I’ve recently had this same problem. Did you find a solution? I’m thinking it’s the blower motor. I want to order a new part but want to make sure that’s the problem!
Thanks,
Nick

Pull the motor out when it's cold and see how much friction there is.

Before doing that though, if you can get the motor to run at times, remove the rubber plug from the end and apply lube like motor oil.