Whitfield Profile-30 insert, Board issues?

[Defiant]

Went to service the above stove, jumped the auger motor and it worked fine. Bypassed vacuum switch and auger did not work, bypassed door and high limit switch still no auger action. Stove has jumper in place (not using thermostat). Since I mostly work on Harmans and not to familiar with Whits I suspect the board needs to be replaced (heard this is common with this make). Both combustion and distribution fans work, gaskets good and liner clean, but auger will not move. What's left ? Replace board? Thanks for any input.

 

[Stovensen]

The Profile 30 INS is different from my Quest Plus in many ways... still, I may have a hint for you to work on. You see, on mine there are two high limit switches... one in the hopper area and one in the burn pot area. You may have missed one.
I know inserts are more difficult to work on as for access and such, but with a small mirror and a lamp you could be lucky and find it.

Below pictures of schematics and pcb of a Quest plus.

I've scrutinized the pcb and the only component that is a non standard type is the ic "PS1000-64" . It's probably a custom taylored microcontroller of some sort. Impossible neither get any information on nor to buy a single piece of anywhere.

Microcontrollers however, very rarely "go south", so in case of a malfunctioning auger motor, I would trace where it's connected to the pcb and change the involved component/-s on the board.
Triacs and relays are prone to malfunction sooner or later. On the Quests Plus the Triacs all are the "MAC 228" and the relays "AZ941-1CT" are also standard on the shelf types.
Also, solderings and connectors should be scrutinized with lamp and magnifying glass.

But, let's hope that you find an extra high limit switch hidden somewhere. That's most likely the culprit.

Good luck and take care

Bo

 

[Defiant]

Thanks Bo, I will follow your advice.

Joe

 

[Defiant]

Any local advice? I am not going to play with the board.

Thanks Joe

 

[Delta-T]

photoeye.....did you bypass the photoeye? depending on when it was built, or if it was modified it will either be installed directly behind the firewall under the auger, or up in the hopper looking down the pellet slide. If its behinf the firewall its looking through a slot about as wide as a butter knife at the fire, if there is ash in the slot it cannot see. If its in the hopper, it will be mounted in a trapezoid shaped box, looking through an amber colored lense into the fire. If dust gets on the lens it cannot see. Photoeye works just like a Proof of Fire switch.

 

[Defiant]

Thanks Delta,
I did not, the manual for this stove mentions the photo eye, next visit I will explore further before we condemn the board.
Thanks a million,
Joe

 

[Stovensen]

Photoeye works just like a Proof of Fire switch.

Delta-T, A faulty low limit switch ( POF switch ) that remains open after the start up procedure ( 30 min. ) will make the stove shut down, when the 30 min. bypass cycle has ended. And from what you inform us in your post, so will a dirty photoeye blinded by soot/fly ash.

This issue... a stuck open POF switch or a dirty photoeye at start up, may very well cause some smoke in the room where the stove is placed, since it takes some time for the small amount of burning pellets in the pot to burn out and with the combustion blower shut down, there's only the natural draft left in the flue ( if any! ) to pull out the smoke.
Of course this smoke may cause some concern, but there is no way I can imagine that the fire should be able to find its way to the hopper. At least not in a freestanding stove. Inserts installed in an old masonry fireplace with a lot of draught in the space behind the stove, well, this could be dangerous if there's no liner all the way up inside the chimney.

Defiant, did you find both high limit switches? The Profile does have two installed.

One is placed between the hopper and the convection blower, and the other is placed in the in-let area behind the burn pot. See pics of my Quest Plus.

Now, I know it may be very difficult to get access to both high limit switches and have them tested, since it's an insert you're working on.
It's much easier to test for a proper Auger "on" voltage at the control board. I've attached a pic of a Profile 30 controlboard and wiring diagram below.

The Auger "on" voltage should be present at the two brown wires shown in the diagram. Take care... 120 V / 60 Hz can be dangerous. It's an intermittent voltage controlled by the onboard feed cycle timer.

If no voltage is present there at any time, then... you can condemn the controlboard and since you stated in an earlier post that you don't want to fiddle with the electronics inside the CB, well, purchase a new one.

Good luck and take care

Keep us posted
Bo

 

[Defiant]

Visiting customer tomorrow, will keep you posted

 

[Stovensen]

The testing of the auger "on" pulses is a whole lot easier if you can find the on-board test points like those on my stove. See photo below.

Test points for the three output voltages from the control board are normally very service friendly placed on the front of the control board ( securely hidden by nylon plugs ).
However, the photo of the Profile 30 control board that I posted doesn't seem to have these four nylon plugs at the bottom like the control board in my Quest Plus ( and many other Whits ).

On page 38 in the Profile 30 owners manual ( fig. 19 ) there's an illustration of the control board WITH the four nylon plugs, so maybe they are hidden under a small lid or different versions/upgrades exist of the control panel. I don't know.

Profile 20 / 30 owners manual:

http://www.whitfield.com/resources/manual/Lennox_Hearth_Profile_Installation_Operation_775023M.pdf

Good luck and take care. Looking forward to hear what you discover.