USA stove 5660 won't keep burning

[Steve Boone]

I have a USA stove 5660 stove that keeps going out after the ignition cycle completes. It seems to light fine when first started. The fire starts and the fans all start and run as they should. When the panel lights indicate that the start cycle has completed the fire slowly goes down and within 1/2 hour or less it goes out and begins to smolder and fill the room with smoke. When the fire goes out all the fans shut off so there is no exhaust fan running to clear the smoke. I opened the door and removed the burn pot with pliers and there was at least a half cup of unburned pellets in the pot that were just smoldering and making smoke. From this I assume that it is getting pellets and for some other reason the fire goes out. Any ideas what causes this?

 

[johnpma]

don't know the stove but do know the on a Whitfield pellet stove I had I had a similar situation. Ended up being a clogged silicone tube which was connected to a sensor within the circuit of the stove. Cleaned the tube by blowing air thru it and it fired right up.

Good luck

 

[pell it]

When was the last full cleaning? (Venting and all exhaust passages etc)

What type of pellets are you using?

What heat setting are you running at when it shuts down?

It sounds like the proof of fire (low temp snap switch located on the exhaust blower) switch is not seeing enough heat and opening. Have you removed the exhaust blower and cleaned the cavity recently? Also try removing the snap switch and cleaning it off. The stuck on fly ash can insulate it. The stove thinks the fire went out and shuts down.

 

[Steve Boone]

I have had this stove apart more times than I can count, it has been cleaned inside and out. I have cleaned the low temp switch and I have bypassed the low temp switch as directed by the service dept at USA stove. The stove goes out on any heat setting from 1 to 5. I have removed and cleaned the air intake pipe and the exhaust pipe. I have removed the fan and cleaned it. I have tried 3 different brands of pellets from 3 different vendors.

 

[Owen1508]

Might want to also try by passing the pressure switch. The one with the silocone hose. If ALL the fans go on then the pof switch is working fine. sounds like a vacuum issue. Checking the silicone hose like suggested above if by passing the switch works.

 

[Steve Boone]

Finally called a stove tech, he found that there was no way to limit the amount of air being fed into the stove by the blower. The pellets were being burned faster than the stove could feed them. We restricted the end of the air intake with duct tape and now the stove burns better than ever. I eventually will make a valve to regulate the air intake so I can fine tune the fire. This seems way to simple to me but it seems to work fine now.

 

[Brewer]

Hey steve,
I think us stoves has an intake piece for that stove that has a butterfly valve in it, and i think i read somewhere that if you call and ask, they will send you one. Worth a shot, anyway.
Also, just curious, if the pellets were being burned faster than they were being fed, why were there Unburned pellets smoldering in the pot?

 

[Owen1508]

Yes the butterfly damper kit is part # 892076 and is sent out free of charge

 

[Bioburner]

Why not if the stove is a dumb stove, put a fan speed control in and have better control of draft? Butterfly control can be very temperamental.

 

[Owen1508]

Point noted Bioburner. I just get to help these babies to operate I don't get to create them

 

[Bioburner]

Point noted Bioburner. I just get to help these babies to operate I don't get to create them

Try and kick the idea to where it counts! Switch would probably be cheaper to get and cheaper to ship etc. and give a better control improvement. Major problem would be the in field implementation.

 

[Owen1508]

Not sure where the idea of that control panel came from. With the addtion of Breckwell and Vogelzang some new ideas have fluxed in the the last few years. I know some changes are coming this summer.

 

[Steve Boone]

Owen1508, Are you a tech from US Stove Company? If so, now that I have this stove burning as it should, how do I get the blower noise down to an acceptable level? The fan that circulates the heated air is so loud that my wife calls it torture to sit in the same room with it. I would expect this to make some noise but this thing sounds like a airplane running in my kitchen. Is there any way to quiet this down? I have cleaned the blower and tightened all the mounting hardware. There is a high pitched noise that comes from it that is very annoying.

 

[Owen1508]

Owen1508, Are you a tech from US Stove Company? If so, now that I have this stove burning as it should, how do I get the blower noise down to an acceptable level? The fan that circulates the heated air is so loud that my wife calls it torture to sit in the same room with it. I would expect this to make some noise but this thing sounds like a airplane running in my kitchen. Is there any way to quiet this down? I have cleaned the blower and tightened all the mounting hardware. There is a high pitched noise that comes from it that is very annoying.

Yes i work in the tech support center at US Stove. You can try squirting the motor shaft with 10d40 or 3 in 1 or even anit seeze lube. If that doesn't work call into the parts line and request a replacement through warranty if under the 1 year mark.