Tonight my stove was burning fine then all of a sudden the flame start " dulling" out and smoke start coming out of the bottom somewhere and then smoke poured out of my air intake hole. I clean my stove religiously so I am Stumped
St.croix Afton Bay issue. What happened?
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Do you clean the (outside) exhaust vent too. Where it exits the house. Could be plugged there. Do the leaf blower trick too.matt85bears said:
Either the combustion blower siezed up (quite providing negative draft) or the venting is plugged. You need to completely clean the venting ever couple months. I take mine apart once yearly in the spring and clean it with detergent and a water hose as well.
so i just got done taking off the venting that connects to the stove and there is not that much ash or soot in it. I think my fan maybe burnt out. Would a crappy door gasket cause this? smoke came from the front somewhere ( i didnt see where) but then started pouring out of the air intake spot. this sucks. what does a new fan usaullly cost? i only got the stove 1.5 years ago it has only see maybe 8 tons.
It is also possible that your combustion fan thermaled off due to an overload of ash in the blower cavity or on the fan blades.
With the stove off and unplugged remove the combustion blower and see what is in the cavity and on the blades.
A crappy door gasket usually causes a bad burn. However if the gasket is crappy and the combustion blower cuts out it is possible for smoke to exit past the crappy part of the gasket.
ETA: If you have a totally sealed air intake system one of those much maligned OAKs would have prevented the release of smoke via the air intake.
With the stove off and unplugged remove the combustion blower and see what is in the cavity and on the blades.
A crappy door gasket usually causes a bad burn. However if the gasket is crappy and the combustion blower cuts out it is possible for smoke to exit past the crappy part of the gasket.
ETA: If you have a totally sealed air intake system one of those much maligned OAKs would have prevented the release of smoke via the air intake.
Isn't an OAK a tree? You mean fresh air intake right?
Most combustion air blowers are shaded pole and most aren't thermally protected. Shaded pole motors don't develop much more residual heat in a locked rotor condition than they do in free rotation as the heat produced is in the external windings and is disapaited by the laminations. A shaded pole motor rarely 'burns out'. They sieze up because by their nature, thhy produce very little starting torque, consequently, the rotation has to be virtually frictionless or the armatute slows and eventually stops.
I would first (before pulling the combustion fan body) see, if, in fact the armature turns freely. That should be easily done by carefully inserting something pointed against the armature end and moving the armature. I shot of PB Blaster on the bearings followed by some light machine oil will free things up and get you by.
I'd be pulling the blower at season's end and eiter replacing it or trplacing the bearings, if sleeve type, with skate bearings or if already shielded ball, replacing them with new. Even the shielded ball types get tight with fly ash ingress in the ambient air in the cabinet.
Any unit, no matter how it's vented, if it looses it's combustion air fan, will smoke a bit. It's inherent in the physical design. Poor door gaskets or improper venting will exacerbate the problem.
Most combustion air blowers are shaded pole and most aren't thermally protected. Shaded pole motors don't develop much more residual heat in a locked rotor condition than they do in free rotation as the heat produced is in the external windings and is disapaited by the laminations. A shaded pole motor rarely 'burns out'. They sieze up because by their nature, thhy produce very little starting torque, consequently, the rotation has to be virtually frictionless or the armatute slows and eventually stops.
I would first (before pulling the combustion fan body) see, if, in fact the armature turns freely. That should be easily done by carefully inserting something pointed against the armature end and moving the armature. I shot of PB Blaster on the bearings followed by some light machine oil will free things up and get you by.
I'd be pulling the blower at season's end and eiter replacing it or trplacing the bearings, if sleeve type, with skate bearings or if already shielded ball, replacing them with new. Even the shielded ball types get tight with fly ash ingress in the ambient air in the cabinet.
Any unit, no matter how it's vented, if it looses it's combustion air fan, will smoke a bit. It's inherent in the physical design. Poor door gaskets or improper venting will exacerbate the problem.
SidecarFlip said:
OAK = Outside Air Kit.
You might want to update the protection circuit data for motors you are referencing as a lot of combustion and convection motors are thermally protected these days and they will and do shut down. Ask me how I know.
I'd pull the blower now and clean it if you haven't done
so over the course of those 8 tons.
OAK stands for outside air kit :lol:
so over the course of those 8 tons.
OAK stands for outside air kit :lol:
Tell me, I'm all ears.
I'm referring to the common shaded pole variety. Not a capacitor start capacitor run or capacitor start induction run, wound armature motor. Probably 90% of the motors used in solid fuel appliances are of the shaded pole variety.
They might be physically fused on the circuit board but in normal practice, shaded pole motors aren't thermally protected, they don't have to be by their very nature. In a locked rotor situation, the motor pulls no more or no less power than a free rotor situation. The fuse merely protects the circuit in the event of an electrical short.
I'm referring to the common shaded pole variety. Not a capacitor start capacitor run or capacitor start induction run, wound armature motor. Probably 90% of the motors used in solid fuel appliances are of the shaded pole variety.
They might be physically fused on the circuit board but in normal practice, shaded pole motors aren't thermally protected, they don't have to be by their very nature. In a locked rotor situation, the motor pulls no more or no less power than a free rotor situation. The fuse merely protects the circuit in the event of an electrical short.
SidecarFlip said:
Because I've had to replace three motors that were in fact thermaling off one was a combustion blower and the other two were convection blowers. No fuse involved auto reset systems up to a point.
and your point is?
My reply is, were your motors shaded pole and if they were, did they have sleeve bearings or ball bearings. I'm not familiar with your unit. I am very familiar with shaded pole drives however.
Getting back to the scenario at hand. All the poster has to do is ascertain if the rotor turns freely and it if does, is the motor powered. It's 110 volt frequency chopped (that's how you control the speed of a non-synchronuous shaded ploe motor), so a multimeter will diagnose the power circuit easily. if it turns freely without binding, check in the inline fuse on the control board.
I'll bet it's the bearings or the inline fuse. I've been wrong before so I'll digress. If it is the inline fuse, the primary windings are shorted and it's new motor time, unless you are handy with lacquered magnet wire and a soldering gun.
My reply is, were your motors shaded pole and if they were, did they have sleeve bearings or ball bearings. I'm not familiar with your unit. I am very familiar with shaded pole drives however.
Getting back to the scenario at hand. All the poster has to do is ascertain if the rotor turns freely and it if does, is the motor powered. It's 110 volt frequency chopped (that's how you control the speed of a non-synchronuous shaded ploe motor), so a multimeter will diagnose the power circuit easily. if it turns freely without binding, check in the inline fuse on the control board.
I'll bet it's the bearings or the inline fuse. I've been wrong before so I'll digress. If it is the inline fuse, the primary windings are shorted and it's new motor time, unless you are handy with lacquered magnet wire and a soldering gun.
The blowers that are on the St Croix units are not shaded pole blowers. They are thermally protected. For the origianl poster, you might want to take the combusiton blower off the unit and clean it out with compressed air and the put some light oil down the shaft (the bearings are sealed)
It is not the door gaskets. If the unit was going to shut down because of the gasketing, it would shut down on an #2 Error code, but your combustion fan and convection fan would continue to run until the unit cools down to expell all of the exhuast out of your stove...hope this helps!!
Happy Cleaning
It is not the door gaskets. If the unit was going to shut down because of the gasketing, it would shut down on an #2 Error code, but your combustion fan and convection fan would continue to run until the unit cools down to expell all of the exhuast out of your stove...hope this helps!!
Happy Cleaning
My Advantage has a sleave bearing setup on the exhaust blower and sealed ball bearings on the room air fan.
Very likely the combustion fan motor stopped due to ???
All the previous advice is good stuff for sure.
Snowy
Very likely the combustion fan motor stopped due to ???
All the previous advice is good stuff for sure.
Snowy
I would presume that appliance manufacturers source components from various suppliers just like I do so it's possible that the same model of stove could have various bearing configurations, or, even various motor configurations.
No manufacturer of appliances builds a complete unit in the sense of 100% in house. They all source components from other manufacturers that specialize in them. That's how business is done.
Having said that but not being intimately familiar with the particular unit, I'd say it's quite probable that it could have either sealed ball or oil impregnated sintered bronze bearings. Only a close inspection will reveal the actual configuration.
No manufacturer of appliances builds a complete unit in the sense of 100% in house. They all source components from other manufacturers that specialize in them. That's how business is done.
Having said that but not being intimately familiar with the particular unit, I'd say it's quite probable that it could have either sealed ball or oil impregnated sintered bronze bearings. Only a close inspection will reveal the actual configuration.
I have a afton bay and have had no issues with mine except the ignitor. You must take off the combustion blower and bench test it, clean it,lube it (if possible) clean off all buildup on blades. If you have not done the proper maint. then that is why you have issues.
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