Help with pellet stove diag

[mustangmike6996]

Long story short: My mother in law has a cottage 4 hours away, we get up north and find that the pellet stove will not start. It hasnt been utilized in 6 weeks but has run flawlessly for the past 5+ years.

I found the instruction manual and followed the failure/cause of failure points to try and diag (with very little tools). All of my diag points to a bad control module which is about $250

It is a Heatilator EcoChoice PN: ECO-ADV-PS35 (im fairly certain).


I cleaned the exhaust pipe and ensured it was free flowing, as well as ensured there were pellets in the feed. I took the side cover off and found that the call light never illuminates to go thru the startup process. It calls out a bad T-stat and some switches. There is no T-stat hooked to this unit, they used T-stat wiring to a switch box with a household light switch. I used a piece of wire and was able to jump the vacuum switch, all 3 cutoff switches and the T-stat wiring but couldnt get it to attempt to ignite or get the call light to come on. The unit does have power and the glass fuse is good (removing and installing the fuse will cause the exhaust fan to run for 20 min as well as the control unit to flash 4 time which is standard).

This unit only runs a few hours a day when people are in the cottage (which is why they had the switch installed in place of a T-stat, I guess. I did suggest using an actual T-stat once the unit is repaired.


Any input for more diagnosis? I dont want to jump to buy her a control unit if I might have missed something small and less expensive.

 

[ransil]

The t stats for stoves are just like a light switch on/off, Getting one wont help.

Is the ignitor bad? Take a propane torch light the pellets in the pot or the alcohol gell stuff from Wal-Mart.

Could be a temp limit switch bad. Mine has 2.



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[Bretny]

The pellet stove i owned could never light the pellets its self. I used a propane torch. Il take a wood stove over one of these anyday.

 

[wirt]

My stoves have been heating my home for almost ten years and the only thing that I ever replaced is the igniters. Is the stove dumping pellets?

 

[jayoldschool]

Sign up at hearth.com and post it in their forums.

Super knowledgeable, very helpful people. Like here. Just really good at heating stuff.

 

[mustangmike6996]

Thanks for the input.

I jumped all of the temp limit switches (snap discs) and it didnt make a difference. I tried to depress the manual reset buttons on the ones that had them.

It is not feeding pellets or igniting the pellets that I put in the burn tray. From what I can tell, the call light never illuminates so there would be no reason for the stove to feed pellets or ignite. I didnt see a way to bypass the control board and manually turn on the call light/start sequence other than me jumpering the T-stat wiring (which didnt put the stove into startup)

 

[hedtedjr]

If you can, verify that you have a complete circuit (and the correct voltage) at the thermostat wiring. Also on some models (not super familiar with the one you have) the vacuum switch cannot be closed (IE jumped) before the blower motor starts. I doubt it is an igniter problem, based on what you are describing for an issue. It definitely sounds like a low voltage problem to me. If you can pull the board out and look at it, look for any dark spots or burned areas as those would be a dead give away. I suspect you are right in your diagnosis.

 

[Carford]

Good

 

[mustangmike6996]

If you can, verify that you have a complete circuit (and the correct voltage) at the thermostat wiring. Also on some models (not super familiar with the one you have) the vacuum switch cannot be closed (IE jumped) before the blower motor starts. I doubt it is an igniter problem, based on what you are describing for an issue. It definitely sounds like a low voltage problem to me. If you can pull the board out and look at it, look for any dark spots or burned areas as those would be a dead give away. I suspect you are right in your diagnosis.

I did not have a multimeter when I was up there, its about a 4 hour trip (1 way) so I'll have to check voltage next time. I pulled the control module but didnt pull the cover (warranty seal was still intact but I'm pretty sure the warranty is expired). I didnt see any burned components on the board. If I order a new board, I plan on diagnosing the faulty board and replacing the bad components.

Good

Good? what do you mean?