# Englander pellet stoves issues....Exhaust Blower Pressure Switch



## midiman (Mar 31, 2011)

On my Englander pellet Stove I believe the Pressure Switch for the Exhaust Blower may be faulty. I read somewhere that you can take the 2 Wires and connect them together to Bypass it? It Shuts off Always giving a E1 Code. The Flue is Cleaned Weekly. And I Clean out the little HOLE inside the combustion Chamber as well, where the other Pressure Switch hose connects to. And I keep Changing the Hose (clipping off the ends) and re attaching the Hose to the Blower and Switch. then it seems to work about 3 days, then Shuts down again! Re-Clip the ends every time, till it shuts down again! The hose sometimes does NOT appear to be Cracked from heat. But I always have to have the Clamp Very Tight on the ends, which seems to help. I heard the Vacuum Pressure coming from the Nipple where the Hose connects at the Blower end, when hose is off. It has a Pulsating Vacuum noise, up and down. Is there suppose to be a Steady Vacuum Noise and Pressure?? Perhaps the Blower itself Needs to be taken apart and thoroughly Cleaned?? I have never done that yet. I bought this stove Used 2 winters ago. Does anyone know where I can get the Blower pressure Switch Cheaper than the Englander Stove Works store? Seems to me there has to be another place? It says Honeywell on the switch, with Numbers MP2168, Is22017055F, 0.17 WC PF.
Again, in the Above about Bypassing the Switch. Is it the correct way I have written Above?? Thanks for any help!


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## SmokeyTheBear (Mar 31, 2011)

Ever clean the ash out of the stove using a leaf blower or at least clean the combustion blower and its cavity (you need a gasket before you start this cleaning).

The variation in vacuum could be ash on one of vanes of the combustion blower.

Vacuum switches rarely fail, it is more likely there is ash in the works.

As for a cheaper place for the vacuum switch you might do a search at Grainger.


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## smwilliamson (Mar 31, 2011)

The lowest pressure switch Grainger sells is a .2 WC 

I bet you the switch is fine but the hose is cracked or the barb inside the exhaust housing is clogged.


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## Panhandler (Mar 31, 2011)

You can  replace that hose with 1/4 fuel line from an auto parts store. I keep about 4 ft on hand.


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## midiman (Apr 1, 2011)

Smokey...what are the "Vanes" in the combustion chamber? As I mentioned I never cleaned the Blower Motor yet, but I will this Summer!! I Tried Grainger looking up the Pressure Switch, none Found! But I did see the Auger Motors there. That I don't need.....................Yet! I will get the Gasket (for combustion chamber) at Englander Stoves Store, correct? Thank You for the Replies!


SMW....I will be checking the Exhaust Housing as well this summer. Don't want to take this all apart Yet, while it's still cold. I will make Do, till then like I have been. I do check the Hose each time it shuts off. 9 times out of 10 it is Not cracked. Thanks for the Replies!!


Panhandler.....I did try the Fuel Hose, took a piece off from my car cause I had none around. It Ignited when I installed it on the stove!! April Fools!! Kidding! But I did try Hose from an auto parts store. usually the hose there I found out is NOT a High Temp Hose. Tried that hose a few times, it Cracked in a week. I now buy the Hose that came with the pellet stove when they are made at the Factory. I buy it Direct (hose) from the company, 25 foot roll is the Smallest But it's the FEDERAL HOSE (Blue). Says Federal right on the hose too! It withstands Temps up to 500 degrees. The whole roll costs about $42.00 minus shipping. So thats about $1.68 a foot only. Great Hose that lasts Longer than any other. Thanks for the info though!!

What Sucks too with Englander Stove Works Store, they charge a Lot of money for Shipping, even if the item being sent is Light in weight. I wanted just a CD/DVD which was Free, but the shipping was $12.00 I think the guy on the phone said all items ship for $12.00, no matter the size. I could be wrong. It was $12.00 or More, I can't remember exactly.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Apr 1, 2011)

Grainger has some 600+ pressure switches in their catalog, they are called pressure differential switches IIRC (don't hold me to that I'm very old and after running many searches I sometimes forget the exact query I used.  Scott is likely correct, but it still pays to verify.

There is a fan (impeller) on the combustion blower, the fan has vanes that actually move the air.   If you have burned more than two ton of pellets (a lot of us prefer cleaning after one ton), there will likely be a mess in the combustion blower cavity and on the vanes it only takes a small amount to have a large impact.  This in turn can cause excess heat in certain areas of the exhaust system which can lead to other problems. 

Both blowers on a pellet stove need regular cleaning and some even require proper periodic lubrication.


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## Panhandler (Apr 1, 2011)

midiman said:
			
		

> Smokey...what are the "Vanes" in the combustion chamber? As I mentioned I never cleaned the Blower Motor yet, but I will this Summer!! I Tried Grainger looking up the Pressure Switch, none Found! But I did see the Auger Motors there. That I don't need.....................Yet! I will get the Gasket (for combustion chamber) at Englander Stoves Store, correct? Thank You for the Replies!
> 
> 
> SMW....I will be checking the Exhaust Housing as well this summer. Don't want to take this all apart Yet, while it's still cold. I will make Do, till then like I have been. I do check the Hose each time it shuts off. 9 times out of 10 it is Not cracked. Thanks for the Replies!!
> ...



Interesting, I've been running the same piece of fuel  hose for over 2 years. Good luck! Yes the shipping charges are a shame. You can probably find some gasket material locally to avoid those charges.


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## midiman (Apr 16, 2011)

Can anyone tell me if it's True that you can Bypass the Exhaust Blower Pressure Switch by Connecting to (2) wires together that are on the switch? I read that somewhere, can't remember where. Just wanting to confirm this. I still have that Problem with the stove Shutting Down with a E1 code all the time. In my case it keeps pointing to the Switch, because I checked everything else and it's all OK. Then all I do each time it Snip Off the end of the Hose that goes to the blower end, where it gets very Hot. Then the stove will run again for about a week before shutting down again. I always have to make sure that, that end is Very Tight (hose) on the Nipple of the Blower. I figure with just a Tiny bit of Vacuum leak, when the hose may Not be very tight, it shuts down! But each time I make Sure it's tight, using a hose clamp as well. The Worm Type clamp it has to be. Someone lease Help about the Bypassing of the switch! Thanks!!

Oh, one more thing about Bypassing the switch. When I do connect the 2 wires together, if true, do I still leave the Hose Connected on both ends, blower nipple and switch?


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## SmokeyTheBear (Apr 17, 2011)

midiman said:
			
		

> Can anyone tell me if it's True that you can Bypass the Exhaust Blower Pressure Switch by Connecting to (2) wires together that are on the switch? I read that somewhere, can't remember where. Just wanting to confirm this. I still have that Problem with the stove Shutting Down with a E1 code all the time. In my case it keeps pointing to the Switch, because I checked everything else and it's all OK. Then all I do each time it Snip Off the end of the Hose that goes to the blower end, where it gets very Hot. Then the stove will run again for about a week before shutting down again. I always have to make sure that, that end is Very Tight (hose) on the Nipple of the Blower. I figure with just a Tiny bit of Vacuum leak, when the hose may Not be very tight, it shuts down! But each time I make Sure it's tight, using a hose clamp as well. The Worm Type clamp it has to be. Someone lease Help about the Bypassing of the switch! Thanks!!
> 
> Oh, one more thing about Bypassing the switch. When I do connect the 2 wires together, if true, do I still leave the Hose Connected on both ends, blower nipple and switch?



Yes, you can bypass the vacuum switch in that manner, however doing so leaves your stove in a dangerous state.  The hose should be connected at all times (but is only a block for a possible small air leak if not connected).   

That vacuum switch is an extremely important safety device on the stove.

There is  no valid reason for ever running a stove with a vacuum switch bypassed .  

Replace the blasted switch if it is in fact bad (highly unlikely, but possible).

You need to rule out all possible causes of the E1 the controller is tossing.


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