Whitfield Optima 3 shuts off after cleaning

[hutch761p]

I picked up an old Whitfield optima 3. It ran well until I cleaned it. It shuts off after 30 minutes. Thinking that I may have dirtied the photo eye when trying to blow out the ducts. Anyone changed or accessed the photo eye in this machine, it looks like it is in the hopper.

any suggestions are welcome

 

[smwilliamson]

remove the photo-eye from inside the hopper, the culprit may be the filter (amber glass) under the eye, all can be removed with a 11/32 socket, clean the filter lens, remove the eye from the solenoid and make sure it seats back in. The control board is sending a 5v signal to the solenoid, the fire allows the eye to generate enough power to close the solenoid. Common part to fail,,,but its usually a dirty lens OR faulty eye. The solenoid is usually ok but the eye isnt generating power. Eyes and solenoids canbe bought on Amazon.com for under $20....dealer price will be over $135

 

[Delta-T]

I find the 30 minutes to be curious. usually see the photo-eye fault at about 10 minutes. when it goes out are there still pellets in the burnpot burning?

 

[hutch761p]

I picked up an old Whitfield optima 3. It ran well until I cleaned it. It shuts off after 30 minutes. Thinking that I may have dirtied the photo eye when trying to blow out the ducts. Anyone changed or accessed the photo eye in this machine, it looks like it is in the hopper.

any suggestions are welcome

-

 

[hutch761p]

remove the photo-eye from inside the hopper, the culprit may be the filter (amber glass) under the eye, all can be removed with a 11/32 socket, clean the filter lens, remove the eye from the solenoid and make sure it seats back in. The control board is sending a 5v signal to the solenoid, the fire allows the eye to generate enough power to close the solenoid. Common part to fail,,,but its usually a dirty lens OR faulty eye. The solenoid is usually ok but the eye isnt generating power. Eyes and solenoids canbe bought on Amazon.com for under $20....dealer price will be over $135

I picked up an old Whitfield optima 3. It ran well until I cleaned it. It shuts off after 30 minutes. Thinking that I may have dirtied the photo eye when trying to blow out the ducts. Anyone changed or accessed the photo eye in this machine, it looks like it is in the hopper.

any suggestions are welcome

After inspection the Eye looks clean. I actually have 2 problems it turns out-
1) When the stove ignites it will only dispense pellets once or twice and then burn out or
2) After the stove ignites it feeds normal and shortly after the blower turns off it goes into fault

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

In issue #2 what blower is turning off and when?.


In issue #1 did you hit or move the damper setting by any chance?

 

[hutch761p]

In issue #2 what blower is turning off and when?.


In issue #1 did you hit or move the damper setting by any chance?

#1 - The stove was given to me, I think it is about 8 or 10 years old. I read on these forums how to clean the chambers for the damper. When I opened them up they were so full of ash there was only a quarter size space for air. I cleaned them out and then (yes) messed with the damper.
#2 - when you turn on the stove a blower comes on until about 10 minutes, after which the blower can be adjusted by the controls. So for #2 , the start up blower tuns off and the stove functions normally and then shuts down.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Well if it is the stove shuting down after lighting either the POF isn't seeing the flame (bad sensor) or the control started its normal poll of the vacuum switch and isn't liking what it sees and shuts things down. If it is the sensor system and you are certain it is free of dirt then you you are faced with a bad sensor, if it is the vacuum switch not being seen the way the controller wants it you can jump the switch and see if it then continues to run. After which you might need do a bit more cleaning with the vacuum, firebox thumping, and brushes and retrying before settling on a possible vacuum switch replacement.

I suspect your #2 is caused by a bad photo cell or loose wire or dirty lens or ash between the lens and the burn pot.

It is very possible that #1 is the same as #2 and is vacuum related.

I'd start by seeing if jumping the vacuum switch allows the stove to run, remember this is for a test only and do not leave the stove. Please report back here after trying this and if the stove runs let it run for about twice the time it has in the past but no longer until you get at the real problem. The vacuum switch is a primary stove safety device and the stove shouldn't be run with it jumped without constant attention.

Used stoves usually are packed with ash and it can take several attempts at cleaning to get all of the mess out they also may have set around long enough the the various quick connects on the wiring have corroded and could use a little attention in the cleaning department as well. Nothing like flaky connections to cause headaches.

 

[Delta-T]

might be some sawdust in the pellet chute blocking the eye as well....sneaky sawdust.

 

[hutch761p]

Thanks for the help, I missed a key part.....photo eye filter!!. I removed the eye it looked clean, wiped it down and same results. I hit the forum again and realized I was looking for the filter, the filter was completely black. Cleaned the filter and so far so good. Thanks again.