# breckwell p2000I stove -combustion fan will not stop blowing



## STANG32 (Aug 18, 2010)

well thoughti would give this a try. I have been emailing breckwell feverishly the past 2 days,  my pellet stove mysteriously started to blow a few weeks ago, even though it has been off all summer. bottom line is diagnoses says it is a bad circuit board c-e-401. I have found replacements for 250 & up, with breckwell @ 276.99. ok so anyone haveany ideas on home repair for these things? I have an awesome set of tools, lol
all other assets of the c.b seem to be ok.


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## jtakeman (Aug 18, 2010)

Try disconnecting the POF switch.

First un plug the stove and the disconnect the switch. Be sure the wires do not touch the stove body. I tape them with eletrical tape. Plug the stove back in.

If the fan still runs?? Might be the board. Probably a bad triac. easy swap if you can find the parts. Look at digikey or Mooser. You will need to brush up on the soldering. I bought a solder station that has a hot air pump to desolder the components. Big investment. You can use wicking to remove the solder. 1st things first. Unplug the switch!


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## STANG32 (Aug 19, 2010)

really? I ran down that scenario w/ the breckwell tech & he said if the pof switch was bad, both fans would run.
so your saying the component thta runs the fan on the circuit board can be repaired, awesome


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## jtakeman (Aug 19, 2010)

I have seen goofy things from these boards depending on the revision. Usually the fans don't run. The stove starts normal. But the convection goes to high speed right away. As soon as the pellets start dropping anyway. Stove usually stops ok and all fans turn off when stop button is pushed or stat is made the stove will cycle off like normal. What happens when the hopper runs out is the fans will both just keep going and going because the stove thinks its still burning! The auger will also keep going, You will see the light cycle on the board too! An early revision board would run the comb blower if the POF switch is stuck closed as soon as it was plugged in! 

Anything is repairable if you have the time, money and Patience. When one of these runs out is when its sent to the scrap heap!


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## imacman (Aug 19, 2010)

STANG32 said:
			
		

> .....my pellet stove mysteriously started to blow a few weeks ago, even though it has been off all summer......



A couple of things:  First, listen to Jay about testing and repairing the board....he owned a breckwell and knows what he's talking about.  Second, since your stove started-up by itself, you broke one of the cardinal rules of pellet stove "mothballing" during the summer....you left it plugged in.  It's possible you had a power surge, and that could have damaged the board (I bet you'll unplug it NEXT summer!).

And lastly, if you DO determine that the board is toast, try giving Eric at Kinsman Stove a call he's a long-time Breckwell dealer and service tech.  Good guy to work with, and will give discounts to Hearth.com members.   Call: 330-448-0300


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## smwilliamson (Aug 19, 2010)

STANG32 said:
			
		

> well thoughti would give this a try. I have been emailing breckwell feverishly the past 2 days,  my pellet stove mysteriously started to blow a few weeks ago, even though it has been off all summer. bottom line is diagnoses says it is a bad circuit board c-e-401. I have found replacements for 250 & up, with breckwell @ 276.99. ok so anyone haveany ideas on home repair for these things? I have an awesome set of tools, lol
> all other assets of the c.b seem to be ok.



The high limit switch on most stoves overrides the board and turns the convection blower on line power 115V, try disconnecting one terminal from the high limit switch.


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## smwilliamson (Aug 19, 2010)

smwilliamson said:
			
		

> STANG32 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Sorry, the P2000 high limit is NC (normally closed) You need to jump the switch by connecting the leads that go to it to test. :red:


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## STANG32 (Aug 19, 2010)

ok, I disconnected the pof switch, no change, I jumped the pof switch, no change, I disconnected the high limit switch, no change & jumped the high limit switch, no change. 
one thins I did realize is that I could not feel any air blowing on me when I plugged the unit in so I assumed that it was only the combustion fan blowing but with the unit pulled out of the fireboz(insert stove) I see that the convection fan is turning as well/.

so when I said only the combustion fan runs continuously, i was wrong.
as soon as i plug the stove in, both fans run but the convection one stops after about 30 seconds

I did an ohm test & both switches are good.

removed the circuit board & combustion fan stayed running,  no obviously burnt components on the c.b.


can anyone give me a breakdown on how this unit works, what triggers what to happen when.


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## jtakeman (Aug 20, 2010)

O boy, Its been a while but I will give it a go.

Stove 1st plugged in it will cycle the combustion fan for a bit(don't remember how long though 5 minutes maybe?). No lights on the board showing. Then everything will shut down.

Once you hit power button. Power light starts to flash. Combustion blower will turn on. Pellets feed for a bit to fill the pot. Igniter comes on and lights the fuel. Pellets feed here and there to keep the fire going. Fire gets hot enough to pull in the POF at 120ºF. Power light goes to convection blower comes on. 

When you checked the POF it was open right? If closed at room temp its NG. High limit is closed until 200ºF. Just so you know.

Can you post a close up of the top part of the back of the c.b.? 

The only thing that is not replaceable on the board is the program chip. So if you push the power button to on, Does the cycle start that I posted above? If it just sits there. That may be what went. But that is rare!

Also there is a reset to try. Hold the power button in for 2 to 5 seconds. This may reset the progam chip and shut things down. 

Then try a normal power on cycle. I would do this without pellets. Let it go until it flashes the #2 light(ran out of fuel). then hit the power button. This stuff is in the manual somewhere if you want to check!

Its tough talking someone through this stuff. I wish I had it right in front of me!


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## STANG32 (Aug 20, 2010)

well I am in CT, do you make house calls?


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## jtakeman (Aug 20, 2010)

No not anymore. Long story and My day job pays much more!

What part of CT? If you are really close, I might take a gander at it and let you know whats bad on the board. I do have 1 last spare New board that I can let go reasonable. But Lets finish testing if possible! I told a friend I would keep it for him when I sold the bigE. I haven't seen him in a while and it would be nice to see it gone. I bought it from Eric at Kinsman stoves. Still has the box with his addy on it! Just a thought if you get in a bind!

Did you try the reset?


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## STANG32 (Aug 20, 2010)

as for your diagnostics, 
the pof is open, no reading or OL
the high limits is closed, reading .2 I believe
plug the unit in the fans run , the convection shuts does almowt immediately, the comb. fan stays on, indefinetely.


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## STANG32 (Aug 20, 2010)

I tried the reset. it did not help. 
I am in danbury.


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## jtakeman (Aug 20, 2010)

Post a picture of the back side of the board. I need to see it. Some of the early digitals were absolute crude to repair. If you see a lot of resisters, I mean lots! Thats the early one. The newer 401s are much easier to handle.


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## STANG32 (Aug 21, 2010)

here are photos of the circuit board.

also some photos of the rear of the stove.

according to the tech @ breckwell, the white wire is the common. but i get 120V when testing the white & ground. my outlets are wired correctly so I know that is not the issue. (tested with voltage tester)

does the blue wire going to the combustion blower complete the circuit?
the white connects all the blowers, ignitior & auger so It would make sense that the white is common but that is not how it is set up. 
the black wire goes directly to the circuit board.


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## jtakeman (Aug 21, 2010)

That board is repairable. As long as you do not see burnt or chared areas. You probably have a triac(the 4 black things just above the white sticker= See attached photo) that is stuck closed. You need to trace out which is for the combustion blower.  I labeled the Optoisolators that drive the triacs. You might be able to trace them to the bad triac.

See the wiring diagram later(attached). The blue wire runs to the control panel on that diagram. If you follow that through the molex connector it will lead right to the bad triac. One of these days I need to find a schematic for these boards! :sick: Right now I just trace them out and check twice to be sure its correct. 

Edit, Looks like its wired OK. White wire on the blower to the white wire on the harness. Same for the blue wire. The black wires go to the POF switch.

Hope this helps!


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## jtakeman (Aug 29, 2010)

Stang32 any luck finding whats wrong?


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## hearthtools (Aug 30, 2010)

there was a few boards on the P2000 when they were first made that mysteriously came on by them self.
think it has something to do with the start up timer on the board.


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## STANG32 (Sep 3, 2010)

I have put the stove repair on th eshelf for the moment, too many other problems to focus on , can't get my head wrapped around this one @ this time. thanks for all your help, I will be tackling this once again in a few weeks.
I di drop the board off @ a electronics repair shop to see what they would charge to replace the bad triac, which i too fel is the problem, they have not gotten back to me yet on cost. I am just not good @detail work like that & would end up shorting out something or  dropping soder on another part in the process.


also, one more thing that is concerning me, the breckwell tech told me the white wire was common, meanwhle I had 120v when I tested that wir & ground.
so I tried reversing the wires in the back of the unit, this caused the fuse to blow & now the comb. fan does not run @ all, after replacing the fuse.
I did swap out the comb fan for the convection & the convection blows like the comb did, constantly, so I think I may have fried the comb fan in doing the reversal.
my next plan is to remove the comb fan & bench test it.
if the board comes back repaired, i will move forward sooner, but as of now, it looks like I will not touch this till early october, I know that is cutting it close but just not enough hrs in the day.


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## STANG32 (Sep 17, 2010)

Well I am back working on the pellet stove; I have confirmed that my reversing the wiring to he stove has destroyed the comb. Fan motor so I need one of those. 
I have found replacements but the all state 2800rpms were as my motor is 3000 rpms. Would this make a difference?
Also the amperage on them is a little off .95 on mine & 1.5 on others that are 3000 rpms.
I have seen prices on direct replacements for 165 & up. But they include the housing which I do not need. Others sell the motor & quick change plate for 167 alone.  I know I can buy this motor cheaper but can not find were. 
Anyone replace a fan motor lately?


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## mitchinpa (Sep 17, 2010)

Try here for a new blower. 

http://www.cshincorporated.com/

I had to replace the convection blower in my 2700 Breckwell last year.  The one I bought from csh was almost $100 cheaper delivered than the one directly from Breckwell, plus it was a little more serviceable, as it included a port to oil the bearings, whereas the original did not.


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## VeteranBurner (Sep 18, 2010)

First of all, you can't burn out either the combustion blower or the convection blower by reversing the leads - trust me, I'm a former engineer with a ton of experience on this.  To test the blower, make up a patch cord from a 115v source (your wall socket will do.)  You can buy the push connectors at any hardware store.  Don't cross the leads when powered because that will short and either drop your circuit breaker or may fry your motor (a moving coil will produce amperage!)

The control board turns on the combustion fan when you press the ON button and the board goes into operation mode.  The POF, located on the combustion fan housing with brown wires, acts as a temperature sensor.  When the sensor gets above about 110-120F, the POF closes and the convection fan starts.  If the POF doesn't close within roughly 10 minutes, the board should shut the stove down.  If the stove started normally, the combustion fan will shut down after the POF opens on cooling (at about 100F).  The board has the combustion fan on a 10 minute timer loop, so if it flags the POF as open after the OFF button has been pressed, it will shut off at the end of the 10m period.

I can't recommend trying to repair the board.  It may or may not be the triac.  The boards are programmed, so it could be a problem with the code burned on the ROM chip.

Wiring:  guess what, it doesn't make a difference if the white and black leads are reversed on the recepticale that you plug the power cord into.  Yes, the polarity should be done correctly, and it is NOT in the photos attached.  The white leads should be on the left (the green ground always on the bottom!!).  If you look at the end of the power cord, the correct leads are embossed (G, L, N).  White is supposed to be neutral.  Also, there is a wiring diagram on the stove and in the Owner's Manual - READ IT!


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## STANG32 (Oct 5, 2010)

first off, I love people who tell me I can't do something that i have already done. the unit was working, although the fan was running constantly even w/the unit off. then i reversed the polarity, it blew the fuse, burnt up the control board & the fan stopped working. I replaced the control board & the fan still did not work. I swapped the fan out , plugged in the convection into the combustion circuit &  it worked. bench test confirmed motor blown, so don't tell me I can't do it. trust me, i can & did.

now ,  I have been over this thing from top to bottom, i reviewed the schematic several times, long bewfoe veteran's post, all looks ok,
now i need the blower motor cause it aint getting any warmer around here.
.

what i believe happened was somehow the power surge that i am assuming brought on this problem somehow shorted the comb fan internaly, then when I revereed the wiring, totally toasted the fan.


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## vvvv (Oct 5, 2010)

STANG32 said:
			
		

> well thoughti would give this a try. I have been emailing breckwell feverishly the past 2 days,  my pellet stove mysteriously started to blow a few weeks ago, even though it has been off all summer. bottom line is diagnoses says it is a bad circuit board c-e-401. I have found replacements for 250 & up, with breckwell @ 276.99. ok so anyone haveany ideas on home repair for these things? I have an awesome set of tools, lol
> all other assets of the c.b seem to be ok.


unplug the stove when not using, i do it all the time


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## 5delta1 (Oct 31, 2010)

firestarter
Rank
portland ct
Total Posts:  1
Joined  2010-10-30


hi have had issue with stove since second year(6 th year now)  seems the control panel sometimes does not respond. had convection blower rebuilt last year also. but go to press high fan of heat level and nothing changes seems like thing has mind of its own ?


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## STANG32 (Oct 31, 2010)

hfd, 
you r better off creating your own post. this one is pretty much spent & noone is looking  @ it any more. start a new topic with these issues. 
if you  have an external thermostat, the switch on the top  of the control panel should be in the high/low or on off setting. if you have no external thermostat, the setting should be on manual. 
unplu the unit. make the changes & plug it back in. see how that works out.
if it dosn't make a difference, then you will most likely need a new controller.  if the fan works then it works. the controller  sends signal to kick up the power.
create a new topic & maybe someone can tell you how to  repair the control board. I am not that good. I bought a new one. hope that helps.


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