Why didn't my pellet stove stay lit?

[latichever]

I have a Breckwell p2000 fireplace insert pellet stove. First season. It's been running great, and continuously for the last couple of months, except for yesterday. I had to start the fire quite a few times before it stayed lit. It would ignite but stay at a low level and go out. I tried several damper and feed settings. None of the diagnostic lights went on, and everything seemed to be functioning normally. Pellets were feeding, fans were going, etc., and I had just done my weekly cleaning--complete vacuuming out of the ashes, and the burn pot had been thoroughly cleaned too. I wondered if the pellets had been damp, so I emptied out most of the hopper. For some reason this worked. But oddly the possibly suspect pellets were still in the augur when the fire went on and stayed lit--since yesterday as I write this. Moreover, once I got the fire going I refed some of the pellets I had removed and no problem.

Is this just a quirk for which I will never find the answer--kind of like when my wireless network mysteriously goes down and then just as mysteriously comes back?

Any thoughts would be appreciated? Anyone else experience this kind of problem?

 

[GVA]

Not 100% sure but I would lean towards the thermocouple signaling that the stove has fire. Don't know where yours is......Quads are in the burnpot while Harmans are in the exhaust flue.
That is assuming that it took a couple of attempts to get it started but once running it stayed running....

 

[begreen]

So no change in pellets correct? Did you try to pack a really full load into the hopper? Sometimes that can cause bridging in the auger and it won't be able to feed.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

the stove may need a good cleaning, lots of possibilities, but a dirty stove is a common culprit of malfunction pellet stoves.

 

[restorer]

It sounds like two problems. One, not fully lighting, and second, weak flame.

How much pellets have you run through the stove? Are you doing the maintenance according to the owners manual. Cleaning ALL the air passages? When you clean are you making sure the igniter is clean?

The weak flame is probably from insufficient combustion air. That could be anything from a blocked flue to an obstructed intake. Are you using an Outside Air Kit?

If your call for the igniter by the control board takes too long the heat sensor will shut things down thinking there is no flame or insufficient pellets being fed.

NOW, with all that said, if your stove is like mine, it's manual start and the feed rate and combustion air are operator controlled. I have traced almost all my problems with poor performance to the operator, including using maintenance quick steps. Bad operator, Bad operator.

 

[latichever]

So far I lean towards BeGreen's answer, since I could only get it to stay lit once I emptied out most of the hopper. I've been cleaning regularly. I may get more info later today when I shut it down, briefly, and restart it.

thanks for your replies.

 

[latichever]

Just stopped my fire, did my daily cleaning of the burnpot and glass, and it started and stayed on just fine. (I do all the scheduled cleaning quite scrupulously.) I guess it will have to go down as one of those mysteries like who killed the Black Dahlia or why does a piece of toast always fall butter side down.

 

[hearthtools]

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