# Napoleon NPS 45- red light blinking and can not restart unit



## CMRINDA (Nov 8, 2010)

We installed the unit last week and it work great. Now the light is blinking red and I called Napoleon and they suggest that I contact the seller to troubleshoot.. OF course I bought this offline and local dealers will not service or look at this unit.  The manual said that a service tech needs to reset but of course can't find a service tech and they would not tell me how to reset.. I am really frustrated.. If anyone lives in Northwest MA and know of someone that can service it that would great or can help me to reset that would be great also..  

Thanks


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## jtakeman (Nov 8, 2010)

The reset should be discribed in the manual. Its usually called high limit switch. You can also try unplugging it for a minute or so. I would need to download the manual to help anymore. Someone will come along in a bit for you.

What ever you do to it make sure you unplug it first for safety. No need to get a shock from it.


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## deprayb (Nov 8, 2010)

I have a NPS45 and the same thing happened to me when I first bought it. What I do is if you turn it on and the red light is blinking all I do is turn it off let it sit for a minute and turn it back on. In the manual it says that if when you start your stove you get a blinking red light just restart the stove and it should work. Mine did just fine and I only had to do it a couple times.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 8, 2010)

Which red light is blinking?


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## CMRINDA (Nov 8, 2010)

It the #4 light that is flashing.

here is the link for the manual with page #46. 
http://www.napoleonfireplaces.com/Tech/installation_manuals/NPS45_NPI45.pdf

Its says .....My heater stopped and the #4 red light (feed light) is flashing?
A. The flashing red light indicates a high limit failure. This is a manual re-set switch but should be done by a qualified
technician once the cause of failure has been determined.  We tried unplugging it last night and turning it on this morning and its still flashing. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Now I understand why its important to buy from a local store...


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 8, 2010)

CMRINDA said:
			
		

> It the #4 light that is flashing.
> 
> here is the link for the manual with page #46.
> http://www.napoleonfireplaces.com/Tech/installation_manuals/NPS45_NPI45.pdf
> ...



That is item #2 on the stove's exploded view in the manual, you should be able to locate it by using that diagram and find it on your stove.  There should be a red button on it.  Press it, it should go in a wee bit and stay there.

Now before getting all fired up, you need to understand why that SAFETY shut down your stove.   It is very important to find out exactly why the stove thinks it was overheating.

Usually this indicates a failing convection blower motor.  However that isn't the only possible cause of the shutdown.  A faulty or damaged high limit switch can also cause the problem.

I have another question for you.

What was the heat selector set at when this happened and do you normally get a good air flow out of the convection vents?


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## CMRINDA (Nov 8, 2010)

Usually this indicates a failing convection blower motor.  However that isn’t the only possible cause of the shutdown.  A faulty or damaged high limit switch can also cause the problem.

I have another question for you.

What was the heat selector set at when this happened and do you normally get a good air flow out of the convection vents? 

The heater selector was set to 4 and the vents work fine except I notice that the left side seems hotter.. Is that normal?  I was going to bring that to the attention of customer care before they told me to talk to my dealer..  Many thanks for your suggestions!  I will try your recommendations to see if that works and to see if can locate a dealer willing to look at this unit..."sigh"!


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## geek (Nov 8, 2010)

deprayb said:
			
		

> I have a NPS45 and the same thing happened to me when I first bought it. What I do is if you turn it on and the red light is blinking all I do is turn it off let it sit for a minute and turn it back on. In the manual it says that if when you start your stove you get a blinking red light just restart the stove and it should work. Mine did just fine and I only had to do it a couple times.



Brian is correct, when i first did a test on my unit it failed with that light flashing (forgot if #2 or which one), i got nervous but then read the manual again and just turned it off and then back on and finally got the first ignition just fine.

Same thing happened on another unit we did a test on (brand new out of box).


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 8, 2010)

CMRINDA said:
			
		

> Usually this indicates a failing convection blower motor.  However that isn’t the only possible cause of the shutdown.  A faulty or damaged high limit switch can also cause the problem.
> 
> I have another question for you.
> 
> ...



Depending upon the pellets being burned and the actual weight of the pellets being fed into the burn pot at firing rate 4 you may not have a high enough air flow through the convection system (the fan is not moving enough air) frequently there are cautions in the manuals about how high and/or for how long at a firing rate you can operate your stove.

Using a good pellet I have to run my convection fan at high in order to use firing rate 4 for any long period of time.


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## CMRINDA (Nov 8, 2010)

NOW we are getting a #3 blinking light then it turns off the blower.. The fan continues to run.. I have cleaned the pot so what next..

Thanks


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 8, 2010)

CMRINDA said:
			
		

> NOW we are getting a #3 blinking light then it turns off the blower.. The fan continues to run.. I have cleaned the pot so what next..
> 
> Thanks



Try page 48 in the manual.


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## geek (Nov 9, 2010)

i'm missing something here. What happens if you just unplug the unit, check burn pot is aligned with igniter, wait a minute, plug back in, turn it on......

I mean what's the sequence of things that happen before the flashing light (but making sure you start from scratch)?


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 9, 2010)

geek, the OP had a #4 flashing light at first and needed to reset the high limit snap disc.

Now he is getting a #3 flashing light, he has a list of things to run down that can cause the #3 light to flash.  They are all laid out on page 48 of his manual.

Of course that one is sort of a catch all in terms of what can cause it.


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## geek (Nov 9, 2010)

BTW - do you have the insert or free standing? Not that it should matter, just curiosity.

Also, where did you buy it online?

I got mine at Dynamitebuys.com


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## CMRINDA (Nov 9, 2010)

ITS the Napoleon freestanding.  

Step 1. I opened the unit clicked the reset button. 
Step 2. After I clicked the reset button, It started up, and fan goes on, then blower goes on.
Step. 3. Then as the fires gets really large then the blower goes off and its looks like its putting out the fire.
THen I noticed that the #3 light was blinking.

I followed the directions on page 48.  Got down to checking the exhaust system to make sure it was not blocked.. I vacuumed it out and restarted the stove again.

I repeat step 3 and  The pellets continue to burn but  the blower is not blowing any warm air out.The pellets will continue to burn until the are finished.

The fan will continue to run until the pellet have burn completely.. I check the fuse and it looks fine.. Right now the stove is burning but not blowing any warm air out.  The stove feeds pellets intitally but then stops feeding when cycling itself off.  The fan will continue to run until I turn it off.  

As I am typing response the stove blower just jumped on and now is starting to blow air.. The problem is the air is luke warm and the pellets are barley lit.  What does it MEAN?  Is it a switch or control panel.  


Thanks for your suggestions!


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## geek (Nov 9, 2010)

I am going to let the experts help from here, another question i have (maybe a dumb one...) did you check that the ash pan on the bottom is closed tight? I remember i opened the ash pan on mine and removed like a card the testers leave approving the unit passed the tests, i took that out and closed the pan tightly with the latches.

Don't feel disappointed, hopefully this will be figured out soon with more input from the veterans here. 
I can tell you that once the issue is resolved (hopefully soon and quickly) you will be very happy with the unit. I installed my NPS45 last month, ran about 15 bags of pellets and i am VERY happy with its performance, knock on wood...


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## CMRINDA (Nov 9, 2010)

I am troubleshoot out tonight- I will check the trays tomorrow.  I will check the drawer and make sure the seal on the door is tight   My feeling is that anything new, the kinks have to be worked out.  We bought a new car last year and still working out the kinks.. Stupid problems keep popping up like rattling door handles, visor that comes loose while driving just to name a few.  

Anyway, I really appreciate the  help you have offered me.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 9, 2010)

Also the hopper lid needs to depress a switch, that is what I don't like about catch all error indicators.

IBM used to be fond of saying things such as unspecified syntactical error.  Yep really helpful message.


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## save$ (Nov 9, 2010)

while I do like the Napoleon stove,  I think the company is way off when it won’t help and then  depends on sending the consumer back to the local dealer.   Napoleon is aware that many of their stoves are sold over the internet.   I found that Napoleon is a but one line of stoves a big Canadian steel company.   Customer service doesn’t  seem to exist at the company level. 
My experience is that, if the local dealer won't help you, you should try to contact the Napoleon rep. who sells to the retailers in your area.  I had a family member who briefly sold stoves.   That was during the time there were  many new stove owners who had problems with their blowers being very noisy.   The company rep was the one who had a lot of insight  and was able to help out a lot of the disgruntle stove owners.   In the meantime, there seems to be a lot of good pointers coming your way from experienced stove technicians and forum members. Good luck.


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## geek (Nov 9, 2010)

SmokeyTheBear said:
			
		

> Also the hopper lid needs to depress a switch, that is what I don't like about catch all error indicators.
> 
> IBM used to be fond of saying things such as unspecified syntactical error.  Yep really helpful message.



I forgot this and is a good point from smokey, I'd make sure pellets are feeding properly, maybe leave some pellets in hopper and press the switch so you can see the auger turning and feeding to the pot.

..


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## CMRINDA (Nov 9, 2010)

Here's the new thing.. Woke up this morning and press the on button and it feeds pellets in then turns itself off.. I press the on button again and its been burning since..  I turned it off and let it cool down tried restarting and had to push the start button twice after it shuts itself off for it to stay on...

I will try locating a rep or go back to customer service to voice my complaint about the lac of support.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks


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## geek (Nov 9, 2010)

did you mention the position of the switch in the control board? do you have a thermostat or you're running the unit in "Manual" mode?


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## CMRINDA (Nov 9, 2010)

I don't know what position its in because the controller is broken..I do not have a remote or a thermostat, I ordered a remote but have not received it yet.  That is what I need to talk to the dealer about.. I did have a very interesting conversation with the USA rep for Napoleon today...  He wants me to send him photos of the stove and its setup inside and out and a pic of the BROKEN controller... he is willing to work with me to set some additional HELP!  Anything you can offer along this process is greatly appreciated...


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 9, 2010)

CMRINDA said:
			
		

> I don't know what position its in because the controller is broken..I do not have a remote or a thermostat, I ordered a remote but have not received it yet.  That is what I need to talk to the dealer about.. I did have a very interesting conversation with the USA rep for Napoleon today...  He wants me to send him photos of the stove and its setup inside and out and a pic of the BROKEN controller... he is willing to work with me to set some additional HELP!  Anything you can offer along this process is greatly appreciated...



Why are you trying to run that stove if there is a damaged control board?????


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## jtakeman (Nov 9, 2010)

If the control board was damaged when you recieved it. That should have been claimed with either the shipping company or the company you ordered the stove from. Then trying to run the stove with said damaged board??? I don't see how this has anything to do with Napoleon and there service dept.

Besides anyone that orders an Internet stove or purchases at the local bigbox should be prepaired to be the service tech. I wouldn't expect anything from the seller or manufacture except replacement parts as far as service goes. Some will require said part to be returned at owners expense for analysis ta boot. I would be on the horn to where the stove was purchase.


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## CMRINDA (Nov 9, 2010)

We received the stove on 10/24 and installed it last week.. I bought 2 bags of pellets from Home depot to try in the stove. I opened the control panel door for the first time on Sat as I was going to run the stove and realized that the button was loose.  So I wanted to to still run the stove. I put in a call & email to the online store because most place that sell Napoleon will not fix the stove.   I will continue to email and harass them as I am within my warranty period.. If all else fails I will put in a dispute with my credit card company & let them handle it.. I want that to be the last option because I am a responsible person and I want try and resolve the problem honestly.  The Napoleon rep said to try a high quality pellet so now I am searching for a high quality pellet.  I will read through the pellet reviews.


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 9, 2010)

There is likely more than a button loose, get that control board replaced before you even think of turning that stove on again.

Every single problem you have had so far could have been caused by that control board.  The controller could have sent the stove into over fire mode causing the blinking #4 light and it also might not be reliably seeing any of the other items on the stove and signaling false error indications.


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## nosaudioil (Nov 9, 2010)

it's always the blue wire!


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## SmokeyTheBear (Nov 9, 2010)

nosaudioil said:
			
		

> it's always the blue wire!



Boom, sorry, it was the purple one.


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## geek (Nov 9, 2010)

if he would tell us up front about that broken board......


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## CMRINDA (Nov 10, 2010)

I mentioned something about the manual switch being broken.. I think it was buried in other posts.  I should have realized that could affect the stove..Thank you all for your assistance.  I will have a couple more calls into the dealer.. Now the USA napoleon rep has pics and plans on getting some assistance for me.  I will you all posted as I wait for this to play out.


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## jtakeman (Nov 10, 2010)

CMRINDA,

I hope everything goes well and the issue is resolved quickly for you. Then you can enjoy the new stove!


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## geek (Nov 10, 2010)

ok, keep us posted...!!

..


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