Whitfield Profile 30 Control Panel Question

[JonBon]

Hello everybody, I'm new here. My Son just bought a used Whitfield Profile 30. I believe the old owner used a thermostat. I have not tried to put a thermostat on it (will try later today) but when we jumpered the terminals in the back, it makes the control board flash on and off about every second with a slight ticking noise. Does anybody know what this means and have we blown the control board? We took the jumper off and the lights come on the panel, but nothing happens, no motors, fans, anything. Just steady lights. Prior to this the fans would at least come on. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ssyko]

if there isn’t a tstat there needs to be a wire connected to the 2 tstat screws in the back of thee stove. Did you make connections while the stove was plugged in? In my experience the profile 20/30 boards are the most sensitive to electrical changes as any i have worked on. So lets hope its a fluke. Always unplug when you do maintenance. Try unplugging and adding tstat jumper plug in and see if it works

 

[JonBon]

Thanks for the help Ssyko, after all of our trouble shooting today, it appears we have been bitten by the dreaded photo eye. A new one is on its way, probably won't do the bypass with the snap disc right now. Thanks again.

 

[Ssyko]

Ah yes they are a problem with that model. I have never had one not show life in the board when bad. But anything is possible

 

[ericofmaine]

From my experience when I had a Profile 30, replace the photo-eye with a snap disc. Its ridiculously easy and you'll thank yourself in the long run. I think there's even a thread on here on how to do it.

Eric

 

[JonBon]

I looked at the thread for wiring in a snap disc. I agree it would be very simple and probably a lot less frustrating, did you have a thermostat attached when you had your Profile 30? Are there any downsides to running a snap disc with a thermostat? Thanks.

 

[ericofmaine]

I did for about a minute, but after I realized how quick it was killing my igniter, I disconnected it. Running a thermostat and snap disc are completely independent and have nothing to do with each other. The snap disc just replaces the photo-eye for proof of fire.

Eric

 

[MButkus]

If your controller is blinking... that means the back part for the thermostat is not shorted. Once shorted, it will run continuously. A theromstat will "open" that circuit and put it into "low" mode and flash the lights at whatever the side panel buttons were set at. I am assuming that is what is happening.
Oh yes...do the snap disk.
Unplug the stove for 2 min. Then plug it in with the back wires with the jumper. It should start in high mode.. then after 15 seconds go to normal speed, no feed.
That board is pretty old, but there is someone that can fix it.

 

[JonBon]

When the "blinking" happens there is an audible "tick" noise, as you here this noise it kicks the fan on for about as long as the tick happens, it's just enough to barely kick the fan forward. After about 2 minutes it starts to go into what I presume to be the start up mode. The photo eye is bad, but when we either jumper the photo wires or hold a lighter up close to the photo eye the fans come on and the auger starts spitting pellets out. We have lit a fire in the fire pot and tried the process but the photo eye apparently isn't strong enough anymore to see the flame, the photo glass lens has been thoroughly cleaned and you can see all the way down, so I know it should see the flame. The manual does't talk about all the flashing going on, since I'm new to pellet stoves I didn't know if this is normal on this particular model. I have had limited experience with a Quadrafire CB1200 but it just started up and worked. Thanks.

 

[Ssyko]

The clicking noise is a relay on the board. There is a thread here about changing the eye over to a snap disc, that may be an option but without fixing the eye it won’t work correctly

 

[JonBon]

Thanks for everybody's input, we have the parts on order. I have studied the photo eye to snap disc thread. Hopefully this will fix the problem and she'll run like a champ. Hope you guys have a Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[Ssyko]

Cool let us know how you make out. And You and yours have a great thanksgiving too.