Well I just might cry. Help?

[Hobokenkitchen]

We just had a brand new pellet stove installed in place of our old crappy Whitfield stove. However the Whitfield has been working pretty well (inefficient use of pellets but heating well) so we decided to reinstall it into our living room for which we paid an additional $400 to have the chimney and stove cleaned and reinstalled.

The installers left and our new stove is running great while the old one keeps shutting off. After 5 minutes it stops feeding pellets. Then after the flame has died it feeds more, starts again for 2 mins and the dies again. Installer says there is nothing he can do - it's the control panel which worked fine until half an hour ago.

It's not even that I doubt him and I know the stove is WAY past it's sell by date but UGH. $400 and now we have a not very attractive, dead pellet stove in the living room and we can't even build a wood fire. The control panels for these stoves seem to cost $400 on eBay and it's not worth pouring that kind of money into such an old unit.

Does anyone have any suggestions and if not commiserations? I'm so disappointed.

 

[Bioburner]

May want to put in signature or thread the Model etc of stove. Whits have been around forever in the pellet world. In fact the first! Fair number of Whit owners here. I have probably more than a fair share.
Welcome.

 

[Doug Doty]

Are you capable of some self diagnostics to see if it is really the control ?? maybe the flu is done differently and not venting well and overheating and shutting off or maybe low draft now and not closing the pressure switch or something else !!

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

Darn I don't know the model. Something 35 rings a bell? Maybe?

If someone can advise on any testing to do I can set my husband to it.
He's slightly better at these things than I am although honestly neither of us is great.

We have tried doing different calibrations (from the lowest through the highest) and moving the damper.

It gets a HUGE flame (initial over feeding?) and then just stops feeding.

The glass is also completely black. Not sure what if anything that tells us.

 

[Bioburner]

Give use a picture of stove and control?

 

[Doug Doty]

Are you familiar with what your flu output volume of air is, such that you could go outside during a start up attempt to see if it is drafting. almost sounds like the draft blower is not coming on to black up that fast. Bioburner here will be good help if you can answer the questions coming your way.

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

Here is a pic. Do you need a close up or is this good enough?

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

Wrong one. And it's sideways. I'm on a roll here. Lol.

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

Are you familiar with what your flu output volume of air is, such that you could go outside during a start up attempt to see if it is drafting. almost sounds like the draft blower is not coming on to black up that fast. Bioburner here will be good help if you can answer the questions coming your way.

No I don't know about this. I think it's on the roof?

 

[Bioburner]

Looks to be a profile series. Have to see what I have in the computer for manuals.

 

[Doug Doty]

I see your pictures, yes, obviously a chimney out the roof arrangement. Sounds like you are familiar with running this stove, could you verify the combustion blower is running and does it seem to be drawing, ..... I can tell a difference in the sound of mine when I close the door tight -vs- opening it. also you can see a significant difference in the flame cracking the door open when it first starts to fire up, fire is very lazy with door open and the draft really makes it stand up and gives it direction when the door closes and seals. This is not scientific but kind of a crude way of checking for normal flu draft when you are familiar with your stove... Silly question but there is no chimney cap slowing the exhaust is there ??

 

[rona]

We just had a brand new pellet stove installed in place of our old crappy Whitfield stove. However the Whitfield has been working pretty well (inefficient use of pellets but heating well) so we decided to reinstall it into our living room for which we paid an additional $400 to have the chimney and stove cleaned and reinstalled.

The installers left and our new stove is running great while the old one keeps shutting off. After 5 minutes it stops feeding pellets. Then after the flame has died it feeds more, starts again for 2 mins and the dies again. Installer says there is nothing he can do - it's the control panel which worked fine until half an hour ago.

It's not even that I doubt him and I know the stove is WAY past it's sell by date but UGH. $400 and now we have a not very attractive, dead pellet stove in the living room and we can't even build a wood fire. The control panels for these stoves seem to cost $400 on eBay and it's not worth pouring that kind of money into such an old unit.

Does anyone have any suggestions and if not commiserations? I'm so disappointed.

Are you going into a brick chimney or is there a 4 inch pipe running up the inside of the chimney. If that chimney is cold it can take 3 or 4 tries to get the smoke up to the top and and create a draft. Our chimney is 8X10 and the experts want a 4 inch pipe inside it as it draws better and being small it warms up faster. Having said that it can take 3 tries before our stove will keep going because of the large chimney opening.

 

[Bioburner]

Can't find the manual for the Profile. Found the manual for the food processor though. Whits have a funky draft sensor in that it senses pressure of the exhaust fan not vacuum of the fire chamber. Could try and do a search using the function in the upper right corner if we can't get your answer. Someone certainly will have a manual.
If its having a hard time lighting it will build a fair amount of pellets before ignition making for a high fire.

 

[Wilbur Feral]

Hard to tell from pic (please upload better ones, with lights on or flash) but I thought it might be a Quest, similar to one I have. Open hopper and see if anything written on underside of lid (sticker).

Writing from iPad now so cannot get manual to upload, but am skeptical it's the board. You say it runs for 5 min, then stops and restarts? Please give more specific info. Count (or use stopwatch) to tell us # seconds between auger turns. How long does it stay running, specifically (5 min sounds like an estimate). Exactly how long off until reigniting? Exactly how long does it stay relit? And please describe flame, etc., while this is going on, in detail. And when was stove last thoroughly cleaned?

 

[Bioburner]

Think the Quest has a heavy cast door?

 

[Bioburner]

My ugly camp stove a Profile 20

 

[bcarton]

Found the manual for the food processor though.

That is funny, that right there.

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

Better pics - will answer other questions in a sec

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

Are you going into a brick chimney or is there a 4 inch pipe running up the inside of the chimney. If that chimney is cold it can take 3 or 4 tries to get the smoke up to the top and and create a draft. Our chimney is 8X10 and the experts want a 4 inch pipe inside it as it draws better and being small it warms up faster. Having said that it can take 3 tries before our stove will keep going because of the large chimney opening.

He moved the 4 inch pipe from the old chimney to this one so I know for sure it has the 4 inch pipe.

 

[Bioburner]

Has the room fan started? If has not maybe a loose wire and the stove is trying to not over heat itself by shutting the feed auger down.

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

Starting it again now. It hasn't lot yet but the hopper is FULL of pellets which is not normal for this stove. It's always dropped too many to start, but maybe a quarter full. This is pretty much totally full which I guess explains the huge initial flames.

Waiting for it to start to get timings.

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

First pellet drop was in 27 seconds. Drop continued for 30 seconds. Burn pot totally full, some I burned pellets falling over burn pot sides.

Only 1 pellet drop before it burned out (burn pot mostly empty). Burn time was almost 8 minutes.

This time it hasn't restarted but has gone straight to fault mode.
The last two times it died the whole way down and then dropped more pellets and recovered before dying again.

This is a hopper fire waiting to happen, yes?

That happened once before after a professional clean and burned the label off the lid. He came back and re cleaned and it didn't do it again but these flames are fierce and licking the passage back to the pellets. : (

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

Has the room fan started? If has not maybe a loose wire and the stove is trying to not over heat itself by shutting the feed auger down.

Yes the fan is definitely on. It's pretty loud!

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

Can't find the manual for the Profile. Found the manual for the food processor though. Whits have a funky draft sensor in that it senses pressure of the exhaust fan not vacuum of the fire chamber. Could try and do a search using the function in the upper right corner if we can't get your answer. Someone certainly will have a manual.
If its having a hard time lighting it will build a fair amount of pellets before ignition making for a high fire.

It was taking two shots to light when things were going well.
Now it's lighting first time but with triple or quadruple the number of pellets.

 

[Hobokenkitchen]

I see your pictures, yes, obviously a chimney out the roof arrangement. Sounds like you are familiar with running this stove, could you verify the combustion blower is running and does it seem to be drawing, ..... I can tell a difference in the sound of mine when I close the door tight -vs- opening it. also you can see a significant difference in the flame cracking the door open when it first starts to fire up, fire is very lazy with door open and the draft really makes it stand up and gives it direction when the door closes and seals. This is not scientific but kind of a crude way of checking for normal flu draft when you are familiar with your stove... Silly question but there is no chimney cap slowing the exhaust is there ??

I'll try your test this time.
I don't know about the chimney cap. Maybe? I could ask the installer.

I'm trying starting it on low (it's never performed well on low) and then changing to medium or high but it's still dumping a ridiculous number of pellets.