Waiting for a call from SBI... Can anyone help?

[TCZON]

Hey folks!

So the other night I was noticing that the flame was getting lazy on my Drolet Eco 45, and the burn pot was filling up. Since I had just done a full maintenance a day or two before, I was wondering what was up. I decided to turn the stove off, and while it was cooling, popped open the right side panel, so I could take a look at the air intake side of the combex blower, and see if there were any obstructions that could be causing our issues.

I didn't see anything major, so I closed the door. Unfortunately it banged a bit as I was trying to get the latch to catch, and at that point, the control panel lights went out and all fans etc stopped functioning. Thankfully the stove was getting near the end of its shutdown, it just took a bit longer to cool, but nothing major.

I figured that the banging of the side panel may have blown a fuse. I took out the control panel, and sure enough, while the one fuse didn't look blown, it didn't look great either. I rushed into town so I could get some diesel for the furnace (we weren't out of oil, but it was low, and hubby was out of town for the night), and I picked up some fuses. I replaced the f2 fuse, 7.5amp, but still nothing showing on the control panel. At that point I gave up and went to bed, to the sound of the oil furnace humming away.

In the morning I looked again, and remembered a high temp thermodisk that could be manually reset. It wasn't tripped, and that had no effect. I have now left message for SBI to call me back, because I'm thinking that maybe the control board is fried. Any other suggestions of what I could look at?

I'm also wondering if the combex blower is running at full RPM, but the manual says this requires a tech to check it. Since we have no local dealer, I'm not sure how to check this, once we get the stove back to functioning.

I shouldn't have to do the full tear down every week, but it seems like I have to to maintain a good burn. This is not how it ran last winter/spring when we got it.

This is a used stove that we got. Apparently the combex blower/exhaust was replaced by the previous owners, but I don't know what the lifespan of one should be.

I have half a tank of oil on order, hopefully to be delivered today. Hopefully we can get the stove up and running again before its gone...

 

[johninwi]

the flame was getting lazy

I had just done a full maintenance a day or two before

Is the damper adjustment in it's usual spot?
What was the last thing you did...
As a person that's wrenched on things for years one of the most difficult things to learn and accept is that if it worked before i touched it and now it doesn't, then I broke it. It's humbeling.

Unfortunately it banged a bit as I was trying to get the latch to catch, and at that point, the control panel lights went out

To me this imply's a loose electrical connection, finding it will be tough but if the entire stove blinked it would at least point you toward main power rather than fans or other controled items.

For the combex blower, if it spins freely and you can't feel lateral play in the bushings you're probably ok.

 

[bcarton]

Is the control panel mounted on the door that you closed? If so, take a very close look at the wiring harness. If the door was difficult to close you might have pinched a wire or two. First thing you should do is unplug the stove.

 

[pell it]

Did it trip the breaker for the outlet?

 

[hossthehermit]

First thing you should do is unplug the stove.

Second thing is wait 5 minutes, plug it back in and try it again ..................

 

[bcarton]

Sorry, what I meant was to unplug the stove before opening the door to inspect the wiring. If, on the off chance, the wiring is damaged it wouldn't be good to have any live wires in there while handling the wiring harness for inspection. My concern is this: the stove had been serviced a day or two before, there was no previous experience with the door being difficult to close, the door "banged" when it closed and now there's an electrical problem. Points to at least the possibility that something electrical got mechanically damaged.

 

[hossthehermit]

Sorry, what I meant was yes, unplug it, then wait, then plug it back in, many brands need an unplug/ replug to reset ..............

 

[Charlie0664]

I have the same stove as you but luckily I have never had that problem (but I've had every other problem). I've talked to the Guy's at SBI a couple of times and they are good people (the Guy I talked to). They
should be able to help you out, they pretty much know that stoves inside out. Try this number (418-878-3071), it might be the same number you have?

 

[TCZON]

Thanks everyone. Let me try to address everyone.

Talked to SBI, they are puzzled as well. Things I have done so far, both before and during the call to SBI

Unplug stove, check all connections, and look for loose/worn/pinched wires. All look fine.

Unplug and replug in wiring harnesses to control panel. Plug unit back in, no response.

Changed F2 fuse. Nothing.

SBI wants us to test all components by jumpering them individually, to make sure they are all functioning properly. Hubby is to be on that job tomorrow. We want to rule out a short with all components before taking the step of replacing the control board.

Once hubby checks everything, we'll reconnect it all, an extra check of connection, and then try again.

I do think the control board was getting flakey. When the stove and room would get warm, the inverted polarity warning would flicker. The outlet has been rewired for this stove and tested. Possibly there is a loose connection when the stove gets warm that is causing this, but it seems quite strange. Hopefully unplugging and replugging all connections will eliminate the possibility of a touchy connection.

Now, I'm off to work for a delightful 12hr shift. The oil truck was by this afternoon to deliver 1/2 tank of oil, so we have some time to get this properly diagnosed and the right parts in if necessary.

I've been having a rough week, breaking the stove didn't help! At least we are still warm... Thanks for all your suggestions!

 

[Charlie0664]

Keep us posted, I'm very interested to know the problem (just in case it ever happens to me).

 

[TCZON]

Just to finally update, the new control board was installed last night, and we finally have fire again. We had a moment of panic when the new board was plugged in, and nothing lit up, but with the testing, the connection for main power in the wiring harness got spread out, and they weren't making proper contact. I was able to get them bent back together, and voila, life is warm again!

Now to look up instructions for the new model of control panel, since this one has some updates and upgrades from the original. Best thing about it is the removable back cover! The old one needed to be almost completely dismantled to do any testing on it, which was really frustrating.

 

[funflyer]

the connection for main power in the wiring harness got spread out, and they weren't making proper contact. I was able to get them bent back together,

Are you sure this wasn't the problem with the old board? Sounds like it may have been overlooked during your troubleshooting. I think i'd try the old board again to see if this was the case, worst case you still have a bad board, but you also might find you have a good spare.

 

[TCZON]

We will be retesting the old board, but the situation that caused the outage (the side panel banging against the stove) seems to rule out the connection, where my hubby shoving the leads of the meter to check power seems a much likelier cause of this particular issue.

 

[Charlie0664]

Good deal. glad you got it up and running again.