Smoke at startup

[Wamp]

Hi,
I have a Whitfield advantage II that is giving me trouble at startup. The combustion fan starts, but it seems it is too slow at startup. The pellets will ignite, but the flame is lazy and smoke fills the room. After several minutes I can hear the combustion fan kick up to a higher speed and then it runs fine, but not before the house fills with smoke. Does that sound like a control board problem? There isn't a thermostat that could cause a problem like that, is there? I have already cleaned the chimney, checked the flue, checked for loose connections, etc... Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[TimfromMA]

Does the stove door pass the dollar bill test?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

When was the last time that the stove was completely cleaned and yes this means removing things like the combustion blower and so forth?

When was the last time that any of the motors that are on the stove were cleaned and oiled according to the motor makers recommendation on the motor?

 

[Bioburner]

Wires are easy enough to probe to check voltage to fan. Stove probably needs a serious cleaning and motors serviced and as Tim said gaskets in serious need of replacement. Pretty unbelievable of how poor the gaskets can be on a Whit.

 

[stellep]

When my exhaust fan ran slowly at startup, a drop of oil in the motor oil ports fixed it up. Now I oil the motor every six months. The problem never came back. I think that was four or five winters ago. YMMV.

 

[Wamp]

Thanks for the replies. Had a full tune-up from the stove guy with motor removal etc last year. The gasket probably could be replaced, but certainly the stove produces more smoke than it should at startup, and once I hear the combustion fan really kick in the smoke goes away and the flame livens right up.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

How many bags of pellets have you burned since that service was done?

 

[Ranger72]

Which control board do you have? When you press the start button the stove should go into 3/3 mode. It should not speed up or slow down on its own, only when you or an attached thermostat tells it too. Unless you have burned less than 15 bags since last year, it needs to be deep cleaned. The motors need oil every 6 months.