Whitfield Advantage II Pellets Backing Up Clogging Tube HELP!

[clincoln008]

I hope someone here has an answer for this. I installed this stove yesterday, I know it's old but it was in really good shape. I was told the combustion / exhaust blower neeeded to be oiled every year and supposedly it had been and I oiled it before starting it up. The fans seems to blow out pretty strong and it comes on. The ash pan and the inside of the stove "look" clean. I got a decent enough flame I think and the stove was putting out great heat on 1. I got up this morning and the burn pot was over flowing and the pellets were jammed all the way up the tube. There wasn't really any smoke and the front glass was still clean but the side glass was getting black. I did notice adjusting the damper didn't seem to do much for the flame. Does anyone know what can cause this? The auger seemed to be working ok turning on and dropping pellets at the normal rate? HELP!

 

[JDenyer236]

I assume this is a used stove. Did you clean the entire stove before installing? Combustion blowers and ash traps are notorious for getting plugged up. Because they are hidden they are often times forgotten during cleaning.

 

[clincoln008]

Yes it was a used stove. I bought it from a guy across town, we have electric heat and we needed to do something! The inside looked clean but I didn't take off the fake brick wall and look behind it. Is there anything specific I should clean tonight? Any help would be HUGE!

 

[JDenyer236]

Do you have the owners manual? Here is a link with how and what to clean on that stove. You will need to remove the brick to get back into the exhaust passages. You should also remove the combustion blower to clean the fan blades. You may want to have a spare gasket for this as they are rather fragile. The symptoms that you describe are classic to a stove plugged with ash. Especially the air damper having no effect on the fire. Click on all the links on the site to show various places to clean. Hope this helps.
http://www.butkus.org/whitfield_operate/whitfield_cleaning/cleaning_a_pellet_stove.htm

 

[Bioburner]

Drop a PM to Stovenson. He seems to have a good library of Whit stove manuals if the above link does not get your problem solved. Now it may take a few hours to get reply as he's from Norway

 

[JDenyer236]

Found the manual. Cleaning instructions begin on page 8.
http://www.ncsg.org/wcmedia/documents/InstallationManuals/Advantage II-T Operating Manual.PDF

 

[Ranger72]

I have a Whitfield Advantage II-T. Like others said, make sure the baffles are clean. Make sure your dampner rod is set right. Also check the trims on the control board. Put then both back to zero for now.

 

[Ranger72]

To me, it sounds like you need a good cleaning

 

[clincoln008]

This is great advice guys THANKS! I wish I could work on it now but have to wait until tonight. The link with the pictures is a big help. The fire board in the back looks confusing to pull out and it says it's VERY VERY FRAGILE. Is it that difficult to pull out? If it breaks can the stove operate without it? Thats the only part that has me nervous now.

 

[Ranger72]

The fire bricks practically fall out. Really simple. There are two different ash trap baffle set ups. The older stoves, like mine, have another panel on each side which needs to be removed too.

 

[Ranger72]

this is the older version.

 

[Ranger72]

And the newer.

 

[clincoln008]

Thanks I'm pretty sure I have one of the older ones, the grate looks identical and it's manual start. Hopefully tonight I clean it all out and it works! It seems like a great stove even for it's age, time will tell.

 

[Ranger72]

Mine was manufactured in 1990. Runs great

 

[Ranger72]

Get her up and running? Make sure your damper is set properly. It is 2 1/4" from base of Stove to the inside of the set collar.

 

[Wilbur Feral]

Do NOT operate without the firebricks! Very unsafe!

As for the pellet backup, we had this in our Whitfield Quest. Yes, a good cleaning is always the first place to start. But if problem continues it may be a matter of the damper not operating well (cable can bind), which happened with us. This can cause the damper to stick open, and then if you turn your pellet feed rate too low the stove consumes fuel so fast that it can't maintain a flame. The result is that the fire goes out but the pellets keep feeding for a while, and you get what happened with your stove. The danger is that sometimes those pellets then reignite if there is an ember at the bottom, and that of course can be bad because there is a lot of fuel now present, going up the drop tube. Bad...

We solved our problem by operating the stove at a high enough pellet feed rate to keep the fire going, for the first year we had our old Whit. Then this second year I figured out the cable problem and can now turn the stove all the way down to lowest pellet feed rate because I have good control of the damper. I have this stove and a fancy, newer Quad MVAE. I think I prefer the old Whit in many ways, except tfor the need to manually start it and clean it more often. A real workhorse of a stove!

 

[clincoln008]

Yes I got it up and running, it was completely clogged behind the fire brick. I couldn;t get the firebrick in the center to come out the ones on the side where easy. I ran a bag of pellets through it on 1 and let it go until it was out of pellets and shut down, no back up. How do I adjust the damper? I thought the damper was adjusted by the handle on the side?

 

[clincoln008]

Oh and thanks for all the help you guys have been great!

 

[Ranger72]

The little collar on the damper has a set screw. That is how to adjust it. First check if it is out of factory adjustment. Pull it all the way out and measure from the inside edge of the collar to the side of the stove. It should measure 2 1/4".

 

[Wilbur Feral]

I think Ranger72 has you covered. I have a Quest, not an Advantage, so my damper control is diffferent (operates with a cable and no collar adjustment). But the principle is the same - poor control can mean excessive burn rate of pellets.

I am surprised you cannot remove middle firebrick. They are designed to be removed on my stove and mine comes out easily once the retaining screws / bracket are removed (but again, I have a Quest). But be careful with this... They are very fragile (brittle), break easily, and are expensive to replace.

 

[Ranger72]

Once I take the side plates off, my bricks want to fall out. Haha.

 

[clincoln008]

Yea I don't know the middle brick seemed like something was holding it in place the side ones came right out. I didn't see the damper though. When I opened the side were the handle I thought was the damper i seem the exhaust motor that I oiled. Is the damper behind that? Or are you talking about the set screw on the handle. I have it pushed all the way in, when I pulled it all the way out it seemed like it was getting too much air. I went through almost a whole bag of pellets on 1 and the middle of the burn put looks like theres a lump of coal but the pellets don't seem to be backing up just not bruning fast enough. I'm shocked how much heat it puts out though!

 

[Ranger72]

Yes, on the damper rod on the left of the stove. Do you see the little collar on the rod itself? I get well, WELL over 24 hrs on setting 1 out of a bag

 

[Ranger72]

that is it. 2 1/4" from side of unit to inside of collar

 

[Ranger72]

The pellet ash patty in the pot is more than likely just a trait of the brand pellets you are burning. Give it a scrape as you see fit.