Whitfield Advantage II Turns On and Off

[B Bots]

Greetings, and thank you in advance for any help. What a great forum!

I have a Whitefield Advantage II pellet stove that's been quite a hassle these last couple of years. Over the summer I replaced the convection and blower fans, and the stove has been working pretty well this (very cold) winter. But of a sudden, it's started acting erratically.

Sometimes after a power cycle (we loose power almost daily) the stove won't start. I press the start button, I get a hum, but the fans don't kick on. Other times it starts, but every time the auger kicks on--as indicated by a red light on the control board--the two fans turn off. So, on the middle setting (3), the fans turn off every three seconds. As best I can tell, this only happens when the stove is hot. If I wait an hour, it works again.

Everything is clean. I inspected all the wiring as best I could, and there is no corrosion or anything. I took out the control board for a visual inspection: lo and behold, there's a pretty large burnt spot on the board next to one of the resistors. It looks like there's a short on the board. I'm guessing here, but I suspect that when the board gets hot some of the solder expands and causes a short.

Anyway, I bought a new board, part number 12055902. It's digital instead of my old rotary, but as I understand it, it aught to work in my stove. I plugged it in and pressed start. The fans kicked on for a second, then turned off. I pressed start again, same thing. I pressed start again, and the lights lit up (1, 2, and 3 on both the fan speed and auger speed), but the fans did not come on. No hum; silence. Now, with the new board, the fans won't come on at all. Just the three lights. The fuse on the board looks good. The thermostat jumper is connected.

I have the old board connected for the moment, and I'm not sure what to try. I feel like the new board might be defective, but I'm not positive and returning it is kind of a hassle (it was $325, too!). As far as I can tell from the wiring diagram, the low- and high-limit switches only control power to the auger, although the wiring diagram is ambiguous regarding the HL switch. Anyway, I would think that if it were one of those two components, then the fans would still turn on.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[B Bots]

I have another control board on the way, scheduled to be delivered today. I think that the one I received last week was defective. Either that or it may have burnt out when I plugged it in and attempted to turn it on due to bad wiring.

I located wiring diagrams for the various Whitfield stoves via one of the posts on these boards. Here's the link: http://www.hearthtools.com/parts/whitfield_wire_diagrams.pdf The serial number on my stove is 34346. I'm somewhat confused on the wiring diagrams. Wiring is not my strong suit!

On page 3 of the linked document it shows a diagram using the new control board (my stove currently has the original, rotary control board). My stove was not wired up in quite the same fashion; rather, it was wired up as shown on page 6. See, in the diagram on page 3, the auger motor is plugged in to pin 6, but in my stove the auger motor was plugged in to pin 5. The circuit went from pin 5, to the auger motor, to the pressure switch, through the inlet high limit, then to pin 6. In other words, the circuit on page 3 which goes from pin 5 and finishes at pin 6 was backwards in my stove, and I swapped the two plugs to make it match the diagram.

Is it possible that having that circuit backwards would have burnt out the board I received last week? Is page 3 the correct diagram from my stove when using the new control board? Also, is page 6 the correct wiring for my stove with the rotary controls? (This stove evidently shipped with a current sensing relay (CSR), but it was deleted from my stove and must have been rewired thereafter. There is no CSR in my stove, and my wiring did not match page 8.)

Any help is much appreciated.

 

[DneprDave]

One of my Whitfields has the push button control board, sometimes it acts just as you described, I have found that if I unplug the stove for about ten minutes and then plug it back in, I will hear two clicks from the stove and then it will start normally. I suspect a sticky relay, but it happens infrequently and I can always get it started, so I have't bothered to delve into the problem any deeper.

 

[B Bots]

Interesting, @DneprDave. There's another thread on these forums where the poster had the same problem (https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/whitfield-advantage-ii-room-blower-going-off-and-on-help.165048/). Unfortunately there is no resolution in that thread.

At any rate, my issue isn't as sporadic as yours. I can pretty reliably reproduce the issue by waiting until the stove is hot, then unplugging it and plugging it back in. In my area the power goes out so frequently (thanks PG&E!) that it's a major hassle.

Right now my main concern is whether or not the control board that I ordered was defective, or if it blew out when I plugged it in. I don't want to blow out the new one, because it costs $299 plus shipping! Do you happen to know if your stove is wired up the same way as mine (page 3 of the linked document), and if your model number falls in the same range?

 

[Mt Bob]

I think you should call someone,perhaps pellethead,or stove parts unlimited,they both give over the phone service.I think what you will find is some of the Whits have to have the wiring switched around,to use the newer control board,which is what that bulletin is for.

 

[B Bots]

Thanks @bob bare. I ordered this part from pellet-stove-parts-4less.com, and I actually did speak with two different technicians. The first told me that a DOA board is rare, and that I should double check my wiring. I've checked the wiring to the best of my abilities, and, as mentioned, reconfigured it a bit. I thought someone on these forums might confirm that I've indeed wired it correctly.

The second tech asked me to measure and verify the ohms on each component, which I've since done. All good.

Anyway, I reckon I'll plug this board in after work and see how she goes. Thanks for the help.

 

[B Bots]

All right, the new board fixed it. Stove's purring; house's warm; clothing optional. =)

 

[MButkus]

If you loose power, I would get a UPS. The surges in power with it going on/off is not good.