Whitfield Optima 3: Igniter voltage???

[fortisi876]

Hey Gents!

Before I toss this stove out to the curb, I wanted to ask one quick question. I thought I had another bad igniter but it appears to be something more since it appears as if I'm only getting 6-7volts out of the leads that run to the igniter. Is this indicative to a faulty Control Board?

If yes ($400), I'm done with this freaking unit, it's just not worth the headache any longer.

Any guidance/tips would be appreciated!

 

[Bioburner]

Manual light till you find a replacement? Still stoves made without a igniter! I Have a Profile that we never bother with igniter. Great little camp stove.

 

[heat seeker]

Check all the fuses. If it's a bad triac or relay, the repair is inexpensive if you do it yourself, or a local electronics guy.

 

[fortisi876]

I DID find a blown glass fuse (6A/120V) which is inline to one of the igniter leads. I only had 5A fuse to replace it with and it hasn't blown yet so not sure what's going on there.

A few yrs back, my home was struck by lightning, stove stopped functioning, had it checked out by a tech and they replaced the CB, that was about 4-5 yrs. Well, I broke out the old CB and just for the heck of it, I swapped them out and with that one I was getting 120v at the igniter leads. Problem was, it didn't seem to want to turn off when I'd hit the off button AND the fans/auger weren't coming on during start up mode. Swapped them back, still only getting 6-7volts at the igniter leads but everything else seems to work as it should. I tried to manually light it tonight, I can here the auger churn dropping pellets at the very beginning but 10-15minutes later it's out....I don't know if there's a gap of pellets in the auger or if the auger is working intermittently???

Is there any troubleshooting tests I can perform to check the auger performance?

Also, any special tools needed or directions for the calibrating access panel at the bottom of the CB?

 

[fortisi876]

Check all the fuses. If it's a bad triac or relay, the repair is inexpensive if you do it yourself, or a local electronics guy.

Where's the triac/relay?

 

[heat seeker]

If you got 120v at the ignitor with the old CB, I'd say there's nothing wrong with the triac/relay. Is the item you swapped really a circuit breaker, or a multipole switch, or a single pole switch, or ???

 

[fortisi876]

If you got 120v at the ignitor with the old CB, I'd say there's nothing wrong with the triac/relay. Is the item you swapped really a circuit breaker, or a multipole switch, or a single pole switch, or ???

I apologize, when I mentioned CB above, I was referring to the control board. Is that what you are asking?

 

[heat seeker]

Sorry, my bad assumption! It appears to me that you have a problem with whatever drives the ignitor on your newer board. This could be a triac or a relay, or other electronic item. You could closely examine the traces on the board for burn marks or open spots.

Now you know that the ignitor circuit is good on your old board, you could take the appropriate parts from the old board and install on the new board. If you cannot solder, perhaps someone you know can. You could find out where the ignitor connects to the board and follow that trace to the relay or triac, and replace that item. That's the most likely suspect, other than a bad connector or connection on the board.

Did the ignitor get hot with the old board installed? If not, it might be shorted, which took out the fuse and perhaps the relay/triac.

Anyway, that's where I would start. (Assuming that all your fuses are still good. You might want to check them again.)

 

[fortisi876]

TY very much heat seeker!

Sounds like a good plan, I did open them up but I didn't take the circuit board out, I might have to try that....the manual does provide the needed info to trace out that path.

As for your question, if the igniter would get hot, I didn't but suspect it would as I tested it with an extension cord and it did begin to get warm immediately after just a second or two. Might swap them out one more time just to see.