Whitfield Advantage I

[shafer14]

We are pellet stove newbies....we have suffered a flood in our area which took out our boiler and fuel tank in September and have received a Whitfield Avantage I. We are having a problem with the pellets getting stuck in the tube that the pellets come out of after about 35 min of burning this happens even if the heat output is on 3,2 or 1. I have been searching forums for two days and all I can seem to find is problems with the pellets not coming out. If anyone has any ideas it would be so appreciated. Going to get cold here in upstate NY real soon and we wont be able to leave the stove on when we go to work with this problem.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Welcome to the forum.

Exactly where in the feed system are the pellets getting jammed up and are we talking about many different brands of pellets or only one?

 

[smwilliamson]

We are pellet stove newbies....we have suffered a flood in our area which took out our boiler and fuel tank in September and have received a Whitfield Avantage I. We are having a problem with the pellets getting stuck in the tube that the pellets come out of after about 35 min of burning this happens even if the heat output is on 3,2 or 1. I have been searching forums for two days and all I can seem to find is problems with the pellets not coming out. If anyone has any ideas it would be so appreciated. Going to get cold here in upstate NY real soon and we wont be able to leave the stove on when we go to work with this problem.

I betchya the knock off pin is missing at the top of the auger. Take out the auger and look for the pin as pictured below. You may be able to look up the feed chute with a mirror and flash light too.

Yo udo not need to buy a new auger shaft id it is missing...just install a new compression pin 1 1/2" long through the hole.

 

[shafer14]

Wow you guys are fast,,,,,,the pellets get stuck right at the bottom of the tube and sit there and build up, pretty soon the fire reaches them and starts burning the pellets in the tube. I'm going to check on that pin, have to scoop out all the pellets first, thanks

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Are you saying the pellets are piling up inside the drop chute which opens just above the burn pot?

 

[shafer14]

Yes that is were they are getting stuck

 

[shafer14]

so sorry, how do you remove that?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

When you got the stove did you remove the ash trap covers and completely brush and vacuum all of the ash out?

The number one issue with getting older used stoves running is that they are usually packed full of ash, on some stoves there are multiple ash traps and there are covers that are taken off to allow the stoves to be cleaned.

Your description sounds to me like it is burn pot build up, this results in pellets piling up in the burn pot and that in turn prevents the pellets in the drop chute from entering the burn pot and eventually the fire enters the drop chute, from there it may get smothered or start the hopper smoldering (opening the hopper lid at this point can lead to a hopper fire with flame).

Burn pot build up (and resulting niceties) is usually caused by improper damper settings or a dirty air path.

 

[shafer14]

Yes I thought I got them all.....I took off two side plates and vac'd, took the grate off the front and opened that door and cleaned that plate....butwhat you are describing is the exact problem it is doing.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

OK,

Did you also take the combustion blower out and clean it and all of the exhaust system?

Did you lubricate the blower motors (if they are able to be lubricated, depends upon the blower installed on the stove) with the proper oil?

How did you set the damper on the stove?

 

[shafer14]

There is an outside air intake pipe behind this stove, people told me that we dont have to worry about getting a pipe for that, that it's just for a bigger flame is that right?

 

[shafer14]

No none of those were cleaned or oiled....the damper was stuck and finally we are able to move it, we have it about 3/4 inch out and had a beautiful fire, lots of heat and then the pellets started building up.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Hey Scott how many ash traps on each side does that Advantage I have (some of the stoves had two on each side folks would remove and clean one of the two ash traps on each side and miss the second one)?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

There is an outside air intake pipe behind this stove, people told me that we dont have to worry about getting a pipe for that, that it's just for a bigger flame is that right?

No that outside air pipe is used to obtain the combustion air from outside of the house, it really has nothing to due with flame size.

In tight houses and mobile homes it is required that you obtain outside air for combustion.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Did you also clean the area just below and above the heat exchanger tubes on each side of the stove?

 

[shafer14]

Ok, that's good our house is not tight that's for sure.

 

[shafer14]

yes with the rod that is right in front of the stove, moved it back and forth to clean.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Another thing to check is the door gasket, when the door is closed (remember stove off and cold before doing this) on a dollar bill is should present resistance when you pull it out, you should do this "dollar bill" test on two separate spots spaced a few inches from each of the corners on all four sides of the door, if the dollar bill doesn't present resistance you need to replace the door gasket. There is also a gasket that seals the window glass to the door frame, check this gasket for wear and if worn replace it.

I'm not familiar with the ash pan area of that stove, frequently there are gaskets in that area on a lot of stoves.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

yes with the rod that is right in front of the stove, moved it back and forth to clean.

And does that clean things all the way over on each side? If not (only cleans the tubes there can be crud on either side where the ash traps actually start.

Would you tell us, starting at the stove adapter what each piece of vent is, size, angles, and length (nosy aren't we?).