Yesterday was a quite one generally and started off with clearing the burn pot and filling the little Whit with shells.
About noon things got sideways.
I was sitting quietly on the computer doing some bills and SNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
I smell the acrid odor of burning paint.
Following the smell leads me to the Little Whitfield where the fire has filled the firebox and the vent is cooking hot.
A quick check reveals that the draft booster fan is not running.
I shut the stove off (unplugged it) and wrapped the vent pipe with a wet towel to cool it off.
First order is to pull the inside thimble loose from the wall and make sure there is no issues in the wall.
All was fine there, just a tad hotter than I like to see.
Checked things further as the stove cooled down, and the silicone sealer where the 4 bolt adapter flange is goo'ed into the pellet pipe is bubbling goo.
Decided to unhook the stove and check the pipe.
No real issue, just needed to clean things up, check the pipe, re goop and re install bolt flange.
Stove is no worse for the wear and no damage done.
The next thing is to figure out what caused the fan to stop running.
Turned out that one wire that runs to the booster fan had broke off at the crimped slip on connector.
Fatigue just where the wire exits the metal crimp most likely.
Replaced the entire wire harness with new and slightly larger wires and new connectors.
Results
The booster fan quit and without the draft inducer the fire became lazy and the pot over filled.
The fire still had air being fed by the shunt from the plenum (convection fan feeds fire pot combustion air)
The fire pot became so full that there was fire all the way out through the heat exchanger and into the vent pipe.
The sad thing is that the stove over temp snaps did not trip.
They are not in a place where this failure got them hot (Auger tube )
The vacuum switch measures pressure in the air plenum, and as long as the conv fan was blowing it was happy.
I am thinking that the addition of a snap switch on the vent may be in order.
Anyway.
4 hours down, a good going over, re seal the vent adapter and we are off to the races again.
Had the "Widdle" stove back online by late afternoon.
Reason for failure
Broken wire due in part to it's small gauge (20) and it has 14 now.
Had this been our only stove and the weather colder, life would have sucked.
All is well.
Snowy
About noon things got sideways.
I was sitting quietly on the computer doing some bills and SNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
I smell the acrid odor of burning paint.Following the smell leads me to the Little Whitfield where the fire has filled the firebox and the vent is cooking hot.
A quick check reveals that the draft booster fan is not running.
I shut the stove off (unplugged it) and wrapped the vent pipe with a wet towel to cool it off.
First order is to pull the inside thimble loose from the wall and make sure there is no issues in the wall.
All was fine there, just a tad hotter than I like to see.
Checked things further as the stove cooled down, and the silicone sealer where the 4 bolt adapter flange is goo'ed into the pellet pipe is bubbling goo.
Decided to unhook the stove and check the pipe.
No real issue, just needed to clean things up, check the pipe, re goop and re install bolt flange.
Stove is no worse for the wear and no damage done.
The next thing is to figure out what caused the fan to stop running.
Turned out that one wire that runs to the booster fan had broke off at the crimped slip on connector.
Fatigue just where the wire exits the metal crimp most likely.
Replaced the entire wire harness with new and slightly larger wires and new connectors.
Results
The booster fan quit and without the draft inducer the fire became lazy and the pot over filled.
The fire still had air being fed by the shunt from the plenum (convection fan feeds fire pot combustion air)
The fire pot became so full that there was fire all the way out through the heat exchanger and into the vent pipe.
The sad thing is that the stove over temp snaps did not trip.
They are not in a place where this failure got them hot (Auger tube )
The vacuum switch measures pressure in the air plenum, and as long as the conv fan was blowing it was happy.
I am thinking that the addition of a snap switch on the vent may be in order.
Anyway.
4 hours down, a good going over, re seal the vent adapter and we are off to the races again.
Had the "Widdle" stove back online by late afternoon.
Reason for failure
Broken wire due in part to it's small gauge (20) and it has 14 now.
Had this been our only stove and the weather colder, life would have sucked.
All is well.
Snowy
