Whitfield Quest - Pellets piling up in burn pot - Upgraded Fix.

[Don2222]

Hello

This is a 1994 Quest Plus. The exhaust and fire box and exhaust blower was clean but pellets kept building up in burn pot until fire went out. It would not work on heat level 2 or 3 anymore. On heat level 1 with the damper open all the way it worked but the glass and walls in firebox got black with soot real quick! Just not enough air to burn properly.

So I went in and drilled 2 cleanout holes in the right side of the stove. The holes went into the ash chamber behind the fire wall that is otherwise incassable. Then a Stainless Steel self tapping screw is used to seal it.
The area up top on each side of the heat tubes is the only opening where the hot air goes into the back chamber and these opening were constricted from build up of ash and white calcium deposits.
Has anyone seen this problem?

A 150 PSI compressor blasted the back chamber clean and blasted the heat tubes clean in the fire box.

Then a high current 1.75 amp exhaust blower was installed on the 7" mounting plate with a 5 inch double paddle fan bladed. The blades and hub were sprayed with "Dry Moly" to give a nice protective coating.

No more pellet pile up!

See pics

Pic 1 - High current 1.75 amp open frame quiet blower
Pic 2 - 5" Double paddle blade to keep ash from forming a mound under the blades and keep air flowing better.
Pic 3 - Drill out cleaning holes - 1 close to the top and one close to the bottom in back of the fire wall
Pic 4 - blasting out with a compressor
Pic 5 - Control Panel set at 3 heat level and 3 room blower speed
Pic 6 - startup flame
Pic 7 - run flame
Pic 8 - stove with fire
Pic 9-10 Flame on heat level 3 - embers fly and pot is not building up

 

[Bioburner]

I am sure Bo, our Dane friend would be interested as this is his Whit model

 

[Don2222]

I am sure Bo, our Dane friend would be interested as this is his Whit model

Yes and the stove runs better than new with the big 5" double paddle blade!

 

[Stovensen]

Excellent job, Don. Thanks for posting. You have inspired me by this. I have one obstacle, though: My Quest Plus in on the third floor of an old four store house, so cleaning with compressed air will be difficult. I mean, I would have to take the stove outside for each cleaning. Alternatively I could carry my 40 pound compressor all the way up the stairs and then do the blasting in the room... this would really make a mess all over the place.
So a vac is needed in my situation, meaning that the clean-out ports will have to be made big enough for the vac hose to be inserted.
Don, don't you think that there is space enough on the Quest to make the clean-out ports as big as those we find on e.g. a Lennox Winslow?
The Winslow is a different stove, I know, but the upper clean-out ports would be great to have on the Quest Plus to make cleaning easier.

Drawing of Winslow clean-out ports:


And a question about the open frame quiet blower: Do you know where to find this for 230 Volt, 50 Hz?

 

[Don2222]

Excellent job, Don. Thanks for posting. You have inspired me by this. I have one obstacle, though: My Quest Plus in on the third floor of an old four store house, so cleaning with compressed air will be difficult. I mean, I would have to take the stove outside for each cleaning. Alternatively I could carry my 40 pound compressor all the way up the stairs and then do the blasting in the room... this would really make a mess all over the place.
So a vac is needed in my situation, meaning that the clean-out ports will have to be made big enough for the vac hose to be inserted.
Don, don't you think that there is space enough on the Quest to make the clean-out ports as big as those we find on e.g. a Lennox Winslow?
The Winslow is a different stove, I know, but the upper clean-out ports would be great to have on the Quest Plus to make cleaning easier.

Drawing of Winslow clean-out ports:

View attachment 155155
And a question about the open frame quiet blower: Do you know where to find this for 230 Volt, 50 Hz?

Hello Stovensen

Thanks for your good comments

There is not much room for a cleanout cover, the width of that chamber is ver small.

The good news is that my motor maker can make that upgraded blower in 240 VAC 50 HZ ! ! ! - PC me with your email for more info.

 

[Stovensen]

There is not much room for a cleanout cover, the width of that chamber is ver small.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the Profile 20 and the Quest Plus stoves have the same fire box? If so, then it should be possible to make clean-out ports on a Quest Plus the same place as on the Profile 20-2. It should be easy to make those ports with a jig saw.

Here's a drawing of the clean-out ports on a Profile 20-2:


And Don, here's your picture of the clean-out ports, when you tested a profile 20-2 after "the photo eye surgery". The fire brick panel is removed, otherwise the clean-out ports would not be visible:




We can also see that the only thing covering the clean-out ports on a Profile 20-2 is the firebrick panel. On the bigger Profile 30 there is a proper metal cover on each clean-out port held in place by screws.
What puzzles me is that the clean-out ports on the Profile 20-2 are covered only by the firebrick panel... Is this really air tight? One should suspect that false air from the burn pot area would enter the exhaust directly instead of via the heat exchanger??
My Quest Plus needs a deep clean soon and then I'll examine the firebox in order to find out where to make the clean-out ports.

 

[Bioburner]

Your Quest is not the only stove that has only the firebrick to try and stop the cleanouts. The Countryside and the USSC 6039-41 both have holes behind the fireboard that many find plugging with knockout plugs help getting more heat out of the stove and not out the exhaust. So maybe instead of a square holes drill a round ones and use knock out plugs from electrical supply?

 

[Stovensen]

So maybe instead of a square holes drill a round ones and use knock out plugs from electrical supply?

Brilliant idea, I have a hole saw kit for steel. The first step will be to find the right spots on the stove to drill the holes. Next will be to find a knock out plug with a diameter that matches the diameter of the hole saw. A diameter of one inch should be enough to insert the bottle brush and vacuum hose for cleaning.
Yes, this could really work

In my search for a supplier of these knock out plugs I saw of picture of an alternative use of the knock out plugs... if you lose the plastic center hub caps on your car wheels, a set of knock out plugs is a very elegant fix to this.

 

[Bioburner]

You don't have a local electrician to get a couple from? I can just about any time find a crew sitting at the local café having coffee.

 

[Stovensen]

You don't have a local electrician to get a couple from?

Actually, one of my close relatives is electrician. I'll ask him about the plugs.

I can just about any time find a crew sitting at the local café having coffee.

LOL, now that's good to know... should the brewing machine blow a fuse, then there's help near by

 

[SidecarFlip]

The 39-41 series USSC's also have 2 'proper' metal slide doors on each side of the burn pot cradle for clean out as well as the 'immerdiately plugged with electrical knockouts' holes behind the brickboard panel. I believe the 2 OEM holes in the back panel are for fixturing the HX when fabbing it, not meant for cleanouts really.