thoughts on the old broken Kozi XL

[newbieinCT]

While we were making a decision on pellet stove #1 (we went with a Harman p61a), the original pellet stove that came with the house stopped working. After some advice on here and from the local stove guy, we have tried a few things. Thought we fixed it and now there is a new problem (or maybe an extension of the old problem)...wondering if anyone had any thoughts...

My apologies in advance - I don't know much about stoves and we are just trying to get this one to work for another year or two. Unfortunately, we can't find anyone to come in and check out the stove b/c no one wants to work on Kozis :/

With that said...we thought it the circulation fan was shot, but the Harman stove dealer and a few people on the forum thought the fan was probably fine and it was the thermal disk. The fire would start up but the fan wouldn't kick on. The dealer recommended we test to see if it really was a fan issue by bypassing the circulation fan snap disc and connecting the two wires. It worked! The fan runs fine, so we need a new snap disc.

We are ordering the new disc but unfortunately, the problem doesn't end there. Now, when we turn on the stove (with the wires connected, no snap disc, fan is running from the start), the stove starts a fire but unless we sit and tend to it and continually push the auger button, the fire goes out very quickly. We did a completely cleaning of the stove and cleaned out the hopper and vacuumed out any of the pellet dust but it is still happening. We thought it might be an air issue, so we played with the damper but that didn't work either. Once the fire has started, we basically have to sit and keep the auger going at all times and even then, it doesn't seem like enough. It seems like it's not getting enough pellets, although it had been working fine before the issue with the snap disc

Any ideas?
Thanks in advance,
Meg

 

[David Holmes]

How long, in minuets did you keep your finger on the auger button?? The damper should be pushed all the way in then pull it out about an inch, flame should have sharp tips and not be lazy.

 

[Mt Bob]

Look for another snap switch.If convection fan quit running stove may have overheated,and the other snap switch has to be reset manualy,look for button in center of switch.

 

[newbieinCT]

How long, in minuets did you keep your finger on the auger button?? The damper should be pushed all the way in then pull it out about an inch, flame should have sharp tips and not be lazy.

Hi
We normally can start the stove without the auger button. Since this issue happened, it will start up on it's own but it will not feed at a fast enough rate. We have held the auger button in for varying amounts of time (from 30 seconds to 4 minutes). I will check the damper again but once we had trouble keeping the fire lit, we pushed it in and pulled it out only a little bit (about an inch). We have played with the damper a bit but I will retry tonight. Thanks for the reminder on the sharp tips - we had the before the disc died - after that they are lazier and more flowy, rather than sharp and high. Can't seem to get it right

 

[newbieinCT]

Look for another snap switch.If convection fan quit running stove may have overheated,and the other snap switch has to be reset manualy,look for button in center of switch.

There is another one right below it, it has a reset button. We have already pushed it to reset but I will try again when I go home tonight and play with it again....thanks for the info. I thought we reset it but it's always good to check.

 

[peirhead]

Perhaps your thermocouple isn't closing......make sure it is pushed all the way into the ceramic cover.

 

[David Holmes]

The kozi when first turned on will run in start up mode, that last for 10 minuets. After that things speed up to the setting you have chosen. If your fire is going out your damper is opened to far, the manual reads 3/4 to 7/8 inch from the fully closed position as a starter, move it to set the fire, not to aggressive, not to lazy either. The manual, can't find it right now, explains how to slightly increase auger feed when on low fire, setting#1. Now you can start it on say #3 setting but it won't take effect for 10 minuets then the auger will speed up to the programed settings providing the temp is high enough.

 

[David Holmes]

Also toss in the fire pot a handfull of pellets before you hit the start button, the damper setting can be fussy.

 

[Lake Girl]

Manual under download section - Model 100?
http://www.kozistoves.com/

 

[newbieinCT]

Thanks for the info, everyone. I will check out the manual and see if it's the same one we have. I guess we do have a Kozi 100 - somewhere on stove it also says XL, so I thought that was the name.

I played around with everything, including the damper, as suggested.

Here is what we have figured out:

It does take abut 10 minutes to start up - just like before we had this issue. We are starting it exactly the same as before (pushing on button, using Auger button when needed) - the only difference is that we are routing around the snap disc so the fan is constantly running (rewired) when plugged in. this isn't a perm fix, just temp till we can get new snap disc. We are waiting to hear back from someone about ordering a new one. I guess the woman we were speaking to has the flu and we are trying to find someone else to order us the part b/c it's been 5 days now - we were trying to be patient b/c of the holiday.

Start up is normal - damper pushed almost all the way in - out about 3/4". We've played a bit with the settings but that seems to work the best for startup. Fire starts, setting goes to 3, then starts to die down. From what we read, we thought that meant it needed less air, so we decreased a bit (hard to tell but probably to about 1/2"). That doesn't work, so we hit the Auger button to increase the feed. According the manual, the other way would be to use the TRIM button but we don't notice a difference so we haven't used it after trying it a few times and failing. If we hold the auger button in (for about 2 minutes at a time) we get a big flame - not lazy at all. Looks like what we remember it looking like.

That's where our success ends. The fire will go out. Again, we have played with the damper settings at this point but the only thing that seems to keep the fire going is holding the auger in - but then the fire box seems full of pellets and they burn but we can't keep it going.

One thing we noticed is that after a while, if the fire is going (only b/c we are sitting with it nursing the damper and auger to keep it alive, barely. can't leave it for more than 30 seconds), the auger button stops working. We push it and it doesn't do anything. Seems to be in shut down mode. We can get it all started again if we turn it on/off and start it all over again. We've done this a few times just to see but can't seem to figure it out.

At this point, we are past DIY but can't find anyone to call to fix it for us. We don't even like this stove that much - but it's what we have and it's 6 degrees out, so we have to like it

So frustrating...
Meg

 

[newbieinCT]

I am not going to jinx anything...but there is a SLIGHT possibility that my husband fixed it.

if he did, I will be so grateful....and so freakin' mad! He was asking me about the trim button - I explained what it did and that I had pushed it and tried and it didn't work.
I did push it - just not that hard. Something he did worked - he held it in longer than I did I guess?

The stove has been running for the past 10 minutes without any help from us. Totally nuts! It would make sense if the trim was on...but I promise you, I have pushed that button a bunch of times. I guess this ol' clunker needed a bigger push than I though.

Fingers crossed that was the issue. Not happy about the oil we wasted for such a simple issue...but if this works, that's the past. I'm not going to complain. I'm going to sit in front of the stove and warm up. We are in ski hats and blankets trying to stay warm. Fortunately, the dogs are good heaters

 

[BigJohnfromCT]

Meg, glad you got the stove up and running.

 

[Lake Girl]

Glad to hear it's running smoother - Get that snap disc fixed ASAP though

 

[newbieinCT]

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to send an update on the stove - you were all so helpful in trying to figure out the problem. I definitely had a crash course in Stove Fixin' 101!
The trim button was definitely part of the issue. With our stove, there is no way to see if the trim is on/off, so when I was pushing it, I guess I didn't hold it in long enough to make a difference. My husband said he held it in for about 3 seconds and I was only doing it for a second or so. That fixed the problem of the slow pellet feed and now the fire stays lit. Neither of us remember pushing the trim button when the stove broke initially but we must have since somehow, it was turned on and now that we fixed it, it's running perfectly fine...just in time for the warmer weather

The other problem, of the bad snap disc, was fixed when we ordered the new switch and it arrived the other day. My husband hooked it up and the fan is turning on/off perfectly. Thank you to everyone who helped diagnose and fix the issue!! We still have a week or so before the new stove arrives and the mornings are still a bit chilly here if we don't have the heat (oil..YUCK) or the old kozi.

A side note: we learned the hard way about frozen pipes. A day or two after the stove started working, it was bitterly cold. We cranked the stove and put the heat on very low. Unfortunately, the genius who owned the house before us had the thermostat in the same room as the stove. So the heat never kicked on at all - and the crawlspace with the pipes to the washer and kitchen sink froze. Fun times. The house is old and not well insulated but we made the mistake of thinking we were safe b/c of the stove and b/c how could the guy who lived here before have survived here 18 years without his pipes freezing...so we trusted that it would be ok. Bad mistake. Nothing burst but husband and I spend most of the day in the old dirt/cobblestone basement reinsulating. Then he put in a respirator and went under the house into the crawlspace. We are still working on a gazillion other projects, so we didn't tackle the crawlspace yet - so there was falling down fiberglass insulation. He had to crawl on his belly to the pipes and remove an old blanket that was used for insulation. The other one had horsehair for insulation. No wonder they froze! On the foundation of the crawlspace a rock or two had fallen out and he was able to see the backside of the shingles and a good view of the patio outside. How did the previous owner survive here all these years??? He never used the oil!

Anyway, it's been an adventure, but fortunately, the Kozi stove is fixed. It's loud but it works and we are so thankful to all the help from you guys!
Have a great day

 

[newbieinCT]

Oh..I meant to mention..while he was down in the crawlspace, my husband found some old bones and a broken whiskey bottle! Creepy!
I asked my anthropologist friend - she say cow or pig bones, chewed by another animal, probably dog. They must have been here for a long long time b/c there is no access to the crawlspace by a dog. We think there was originally a backporch there and they built over it...either way...creepy stuff to find when you are digging in the dirt under your house

 

[Lake Girl]

Spray foam insulation can be your friend in the crawl space - just use the right respirator for fumes!

 

[jmart]

You might want to consider a Tyvek suit for that crawl space.
I used one when I sealed/insulated my attic and it was great.

 

[newbieinCT]

tyvek is a great idea! So is the spray foam We used two cans of it filling the cracks - didn't think we needed more. Boy, were we wrong! Just spoke to the guy who is doing our insulation install. We might have him finish it up by air sealing the foundation - we'll see what he says. If it's not too much more, we will have them do it. We don't have a ton of money but the amount of time, effort and stress crawling around under there makes outsourcing a good option Thanks for the ideas!