# pellet stove shut down problems



## Cdean68 (Nov 24, 2013)

I have an Englander Pellet Stove and trying just about everything to get it working. The stove starts. Both motors, exhaust bower, room air blower, igniter all working properly. The top auger works properly... intermittent and bottom auger runs continuously. Problem is stove keeps shutting down. What happens is the top auger will stop feeding pellets... the fire will go out... then, when the temp drops the auger may kick back on and feed some pellets through but too late so it ends up going into shut down, no error codes. Restarts fine but then eventually same thing will happen. I replaced the vac switch that connects to the control board, top auger/motor. I replaced and properly clamped both vac hoses to both switches ( exhaust and one connected to the fire box). I cleaned out the flu, behind baffle plate, and everywhere else. There are no jams in the pellets. I checked all wiring which looks correct. I ran diagnostics and everything normal. I adjusted the plate at the bottom of hopper so it is where recommended (slightly more than half open). I am thinking that there is something wrong with the thermal sensor although in diagnostic it reads 9 in heat range like it should. Seems like the stove thinks it is too hot and is shutting itself down and when cools starts pushing pellets but they dont ignite bc the fire is out in the burn pot. Anybody have any thoughts? Oh the heat sensor was very dusty, wiped clean with a dry cloth detached and reattached to control board.


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## Dgopetactical (Nov 24, 2013)

Did you try running it on a lower setting? Do you have a stat hooked to your stove? If not is the stat jumper on the control board making contact?


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## Dgopetactical (Nov 24, 2013)

I'm thinking if your stove thinks it's too hot and shutting down you should be getting a code. When it shuts down is it actually going into shutdown mode "sd"?


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## Cdean68 (Nov 24, 2013)

i wasnt aware that there is a stat jumper on the control board. I do not have a thermostat. The problem recurs no matter what settings i use. I have gone as low as 1 -2. and as high as 5 - 8.  i will need to research this stat jumper a bit more, I have not explored this. Thanks for the info.


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## Cdean68 (Nov 24, 2013)

Dgopetactical said:


> I'm thinking if your stove thinks it's too hot and shutting down you should be getting a code. When it shuts down is it actually going into shutdown mode "sd"?


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## Cdean68 (Nov 24, 2013)

I am not getting any error codes. The stove  goes into standard shut down mode as if it ran out of pellets. I had to watch it constantly to figure out what was happening before learning that the stove would just stop  feeding pellets mid burn for long enough so that flames die out and then it starts feeding again but the pellets dont catch fire and goes into shutdown mode. If I catch it and hit the start button... the igniter goes back on and all the unburned pellets will fire up.


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## Cdean68 (Nov 24, 2013)

The last thing I did was to wipe a good deal of dust off the control board and the thermal sensor. I unplugged the thermal sensor at the control board and plugged back in. It has been running for a couple hours but not getting my hopes up. I love my stove and dont use oil but may have no choice if i cant troubleshoot this. I need my stove to run through the night so I can sleep for a few hours straight instead of hitting the start button every couple of hours. Tired and a bit chilly here in the northeast. Nursing my stove like a newborn for a couple weeks.


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## Harvey Schneider (Nov 25, 2013)

If your stove uses snap disks for over temp sensing, it may be that the snap disk is intermittent. One of the problems with snap disks is that the contacts sometimes squirm as the temperature changes and they momentarily go open circuit when they should be closed. 
Also check to see if your stove has a hopper lid switch that might be interrupting pellet delivery.
I remember reading on this forum of an auger motor with a bad connector that caused symptoms similar to what you are experiencing.
Final thought is that it could be the pressure switch that is in series with the auger motor. That could include tubing or anything else that would result in a loss of vacuum in the fire box.
It might be helpful if you describe the flame characteristics of a normal burn and the flame characteristics just before the shutdown occurs.


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## Cdean68 (Nov 25, 2013)

m


Harvey Schneider said:


> If your stove uses snap disks for over temp sensing, it may be that the snap disk is intermittent. One of the problems with snap disks is that the contacts sometimes squirm as the temperature changes and they momentarily go open circuit when they should be closed.
> Also check to see if your stove has a hopper lid switch that might be interrupting pellet delivery.
> I remember reading on this forum of an auger motor with a bad connector that caused symptoms similar to what you are experiencing.
> Final thought is that it could be the pressure switch that is in series with the auger motor. That could include tubing or anything else that would result in a loss of vacuum in the fire box.
> It might be helpful if you describe the flame characteristics of a normal burn and the flame characteristics just before the shutdown occurs.


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## Cdean68 (Nov 25, 2013)

Thanks. My stove does not use snap disks and no hopper lid switch. Not sure if this is the solution but told to clean a tiny hole located on the back wall below the impingement plate on right. Seems to be working fine now. Time will tell. Pisted new thread to try and figure out what the little hole does as I never noticed it before.


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## Harvey Schneider (Nov 25, 2013)

Cdean68 said:


> Thanks. My stove does not use snap disks and no hopper lid switch. Not sure if this is the solution but told to clean a tiny hole located on the back wall below the impingement plate on right. Seems to be working fine now. Time will tell. Pisted new thread to try and figure out what the little hole does as I never noticed it before.


If it is like my Englander, that hole goes to the pressure switch that enables the upper auger motor.

Edit

If the hole was clogged, the hose leading to the switch may be partly clogged. Be careful not to apply vacuum to the switch, that might break it.


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## BrotherBart (Nov 25, 2013)

Closing this one. The solution is in his latest thread.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/englander-stove-what-is-this-tiny-hole.118336/


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## HOXSTRIPER (Dec 30, 2014)

Cdean68 said:


> I have an Englander Pellet Stove and trying just about everything to get it working. The stove starts. Both motors, exhaust bower, room air blower, igniter all working properly. The top auger works properly... intermittent and bottom auger runs continuously. Problem is stove keeps shutting down. What happens is the top auger will stop feeding pellets... the fire will go out... then, when the temp drops the auger may kick back on and feed some pellets through but too late so it ends up going into shut down, no error codes. Restarts fine but then eventually same thing will happen. I replaced the vac switch that connects to the control board, top auger/motor. I replaced and properly clamped both vac hoses to both switches ( exhaust and one connected to the fire box). I cleaned out the flu, behind baffle plate, and everywhere else. There are no jams in the pellets. I checked all wiring which looks correct. I ran diagnostics and everything normal. I adjusted the plate at the bottom of hopper so it is where recommended (slightly more than half open). I am thinking that there is something wrong with the thermal sensor although in diagnostic it reads 9 in heat range like it should. Seems like the stove thinks it is too hot and is shutting itself down and when cools starts pushing pellets but they dont ignite bc the fire is out in the burn pot. Anybody have any thoughts? Oh the heat sensor was very dusty, wiped clean with a dry cloth detached and reattached to control board.



I am having the exact problem.  Stove goes out and pellets pile into hopper. Clean it out and will re start.  What did you do to fix this problem?


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## pen (Dec 30, 2014)

HOXSTRIPER said:


> I am having the exact problem.  Stove goes out and pellets pile into hopper. Clean it out and will re start.  What did you do to fix this problem?



Did you check out the followup thread that brotherbart posted?  
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/englander-stove-what-is-this-tiny-hole.118336/


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## Cdean68 (Jan 6, 2015)

HOXSTRIPER said:


> I am having the exact problem.  Stove goes out and pellets pile into hopper. Clean it out and will re start.  What did you do to fix this problem?



I went through every troubleshooting guide and tried everything but it was the top auger that needed to be replaced. It had not died completely but was shutting down intermittently and pellets would pile up. i didn't think it was the auger because it would work for a while, shut down, then start up again. After trying every possible troubleshooting idea, it finally stopped working completely and then it was obvious it was a faulty auger. Replaced it and problem finally solved. I have not had any problems with random shutting down since.


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## Cdean68 (Jan 6, 2015)

PS... My last thread said something about a hole being clogged and I thought that was the problem but that wasn't the problem.


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## boobie (Apr 3, 2015)

i having the same problem,,,starts fine no codes then starts to stop feeding pellets after an hour an half ,,i read everything you guys are posting and did everything in the book and then some,,,i was thinking should i go ahead and buy a new top motor auger…ANYBODY please help with INFO…THANKS


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## Funnydirt14 (Apr 3, 2015)

boobie said:


> i having the same problem,,,starts fine no codes then starts to stop feeding pellets after an hour an half ,,i read everything you guys are posting and did everything in the book and then some,,,i was thinking should i go ahead and buy a new top motor auger…ANYBODY please help with INFO…THANKS


Would have had one ordered and on stove by now. Seems to be a problem on older ones.


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