I have a US Stove 5500m wood pellet stove. I actually have 2, one in my primary home and one in a home I rent out. The one in my rental unit is having igniter problems. When I first put the stove in 3 years ago my tenant complained that the stove would not ignite properly, but he would just light it manually with firestarter gel and a lighter so he didn't care and I left it alone. I did call US Stove and they mailed me a new igniter, but I just put it on the shelf for the past 3 years.
Now I have new tenants, an older couple, and I want to get the electric auto igniter working again. So a month ago I installed the replacement igniter. After I put the stove back together I turned it on and it fired right up first try. Success! So I thought...
Now my tenant is having trouble with it again. I just went to look at the stove and I noticed the igniter will intermittently not heat up during the start up process. I sat next to the stove with the glass door open, and hopper door open (so the auger wouldn't turn), and the burn pot out so I could see the igniter clearly. I hit the on button, the draft fan turned on, but the igniter did not heat up. I watched it for close to ten minutes and the igniter did not light up at all.
Then I hit the off button. And then the on button again just a few seconds later. The draft fan turned on, and within about 20 seconds the igniter started to heat up and turned bright cherry red pretty quickly. Then I turned the stove off, and back on again, and the igniter wouldn't heat up at all.
Then I used the diagnostic menu to test the igniter 5 times in a row, and each time the igniter would get red hot within 20-30 seconds.
Then I tried starting the stove with the glass door closed because I thought maybe the stove was detecting some kind of draft or air pressure issue that would cause it to not start the electric igniter. On the first try it the igniter did not heat up, on the second try it did.
US Stove tech support suggested I clean out the draft fan and if that doesn't work get a new control board. Would a dirty draft effect if the ignitor gets heated up or not during the regular startup process? The fact that it heats up every time using the diagnostic menu, but only intermittently during regular startup makes me think it's the control board.
I plan to go back to the house this weekend to clean out all the fans really well (It's 3 years old and I've never taken the fans out of their housing to give them a proper clean out so I figure that's gotta be done anyway), is there a chance that's actually related to the ignitor not heating up? Or am I doomed to buying a replacement control board?
Now I have new tenants, an older couple, and I want to get the electric auto igniter working again. So a month ago I installed the replacement igniter. After I put the stove back together I turned it on and it fired right up first try. Success! So I thought...
Now my tenant is having trouble with it again. I just went to look at the stove and I noticed the igniter will intermittently not heat up during the start up process. I sat next to the stove with the glass door open, and hopper door open (so the auger wouldn't turn), and the burn pot out so I could see the igniter clearly. I hit the on button, the draft fan turned on, but the igniter did not heat up. I watched it for close to ten minutes and the igniter did not light up at all.
Then I hit the off button. And then the on button again just a few seconds later. The draft fan turned on, and within about 20 seconds the igniter started to heat up and turned bright cherry red pretty quickly. Then I turned the stove off, and back on again, and the igniter wouldn't heat up at all.
Then I used the diagnostic menu to test the igniter 5 times in a row, and each time the igniter would get red hot within 20-30 seconds.
Then I tried starting the stove with the glass door closed because I thought maybe the stove was detecting some kind of draft or air pressure issue that would cause it to not start the electric igniter. On the first try it the igniter did not heat up, on the second try it did.
US Stove tech support suggested I clean out the draft fan and if that doesn't work get a new control board. Would a dirty draft effect if the ignitor gets heated up or not during the regular startup process? The fact that it heats up every time using the diagnostic menu, but only intermittently during regular startup makes me think it's the control board.
I plan to go back to the house this weekend to clean out all the fans really well (It's 3 years old and I've never taken the fans out of their housing to give them a proper clean out so I figure that's gotta be done anyway), is there a chance that's actually related to the ignitor not heating up? Or am I doomed to buying a replacement control board?
Make sure you unplug before working in the cabinet. Is it on a surge protector? They can also be a potential source of problems... so can not having one.
