Newbie to buy Comfortbilt???

[Brightlee]

I just hung up with Jonathan. He's shipping the auger motor out today. Thank you, Jeff for all your help. My wife thanks you too, she was amazed I wasn't throwing tools across the house last night. I told her I got this guy coaching me through it so I don't feel like I'm guessing. She said he must be doing a good job because I was being so well behaved. LOL

I hope this thread helps someone else if they ever have an issue with a Comfortbilt Stove. In addition to your kindness and generosity, ComfortBilt's staff in North Carolina were quick to respond, very friendly and easy to deal with. If there ever is another issue with the stove, I will not hesitate to reach out, I'm confident they will stand behind their products.

I will update after I get the auger motor replaced. Thanks again!!

 

[JRemington]

Good to hear the parts are coming. Is the stove still running the same or aren’t you using it?

 

[Brightlee]

We are still using it and it’s the same. Sporadic. Sometimes it runs for a couple hours, sometimes just an hour or so, sometimes less. Its been a bit warmer lately so we have been ok.

 

[Brightlee]

@JRemington
Took about two hours to get the faulty auger motor out and the new one back in. It seems to be running more consistently from the start even. I have high hopes that it did the trick. I’ll be really be happy if I can wake up in the morning to a fire flickering away! I’ll post an update then too!

 

[JRemington]

@JRemington
Took about two hours to get the faulty auger motor out and the new one back in. It seems to be running more consistently from the start even. I have high hopes that it did the trick. I’ll be really be happy if I can wake up in the morning to a fire flickering away! I’ll post an update then too!

What’s the verdict?

 

[Brightlee]

Not a good one... stove went out after an hour last night. I restarted it before bed and it was out this morning.

When I reassembled it last night I put the wires back on the vacuum switch. I restarted this morning in safe mode and bypassed the vacuum switch to see if that would remedy it. Wife said it went out right as she got up.

My plan is to jump the vacuum switch again tonight when I get home and see what that does. Getting pretty familiar with this thing and I can’t see much else being the problem. Other than, like you suggested earlier, maybe the board? Any thoughts?

 

[JRemington]

I had a CB yesterday with similar symptoms. After a couple hours we pulled the auger and it was packed with powder. The pellets weren’t able to get through. Did you by chance spin the auger when you had off the motor off and see if it turned freely?

 

[Brightlee]

Yes I spun it and it turned freely, with really no resistance at all. Like I said before, I have emptied the hopper multiple times and made sure the auger was clear each time. I don't think the pellets are the issue. When the auger is feeding, it feeds great. Every time I restart it, it feeds perfectly. With the new motor it is delivering pellets in much larger drops than the old one. Nice big fire on level 3, plenty of heat, but then it just stops. The old motor slowed before it stopped feeding. I haven't noticed if the new one just stopped or slowed first.

 

[JRemington]

When you start the stove is there and L, a V and the auger icon going on and off on the screen?

 

[JRemington]

When you first start the stove it should fill the burn pot about half full. After the low limit switch closes its going to go to whatever the feeding cycles are. Something’s happening after the start up cycle. Is there any possibility the ribbon cable got pinched?

 

[Brightlee]

When you start the stove is there and L, a V and the auger icon going on and off on the screen?

Recall that I have the 2nd Generation control panel. The limit switch light is lit as is the vacuum switch light, the feed light comes on and off as the auger and motor cycle.

When you first start the stove it should fill the burn pot about half full. After the low limit switch closes its going to go to whatever the feeding cycles are. Something’s happening after the start up cycle. Is there any possibility the ribbon cable got pinched?

The stove functions as you have described at start up and then goes to the feeding cycles. It operates just as it should for around an hour or so and then stops feeding. Sometimes (both with the old auger motor and this morning with the new motor) after the fire goes out, before the room blower turns off, the auger starts to feed again and will dump pellets into the burn pot. I have noticed this because there are unburned pellets in the burn pot when I go to restart it. The auger starting to feed again after the temperature goes down (from the fire going out) makes me believe it has something to do with temperature somewhere? Which is why we suspected the auger motor was getting hot and failing. I read somewhere that temperature can affect a faulty vacuum switch and cause it to malfunction, which is why I figured to jump it tonight. I say all that, but have never seen a "High Temperature" alarm.
The ribbon cable is not pinched. I had the entire insert out of the hearth last night, sitting on the floor, to replace the auger motor. I had a good look around to see if anything looked out of sorts and didn't find anything.

 

[JRemington]

Didn’t we already jump the vacuum switch?

 

[Brightlee]

Didn’t we already jump the vacuum switch?

Yes, but I put it back when I installed the new auger motor. Figuring the motor was the problem not the vacuum switch. I’ll post an update soon as I’m on my way home now.

 

[JRemington]

Something tells me there’s something in the auger. That’s how it always ends up.

 

[Brightlee]

Something tells me there’s something in the auger. That’s how it always ends up.

There is nothing in the auger. The pellets literally pour out of it for the first while. Every time I start it, it works perfectly Every time.

When it quits, I let it cool and start it back up. It works perfectly again and then just quits. Limit light on, vacuum light on, feed light pulsing, auger not spinning.

The new auger motor hasn’t changed anything, jumping the vacuum switch hasn’t changed anything, I even tried running in safe mode with the limit switch bypassed but that didn’t change anything... should I call ComfortBilt again and try to arrange for a replacement stove? I feel like this unit just isn’t going to work, ever.

Is it overheating somewhere and stopping the auger and not tripping an alarm? Is it not drafting and causing it to stop? Its really confusing how it runs great, heats up and then stops...

 

[JRemington]

There is nothing in the auger. The pellets literally pour out of it for the first while. Every time I start it, it works perfectly Every time.

When it quits, I let it cool and start it back up. It works perfectly again and then just quits. Limit light on, vacuum light on, feed light pulsing, auger not spinning.

The new auger motor hasn’t changed anything, jumping the vacuum switch hasn’t changed anything, I even tried running in safe mode with the limit switch bypassed but that didn’t change anything... should I call ComfortBilt again and try to arrange for a replacement stove? I feel like this unit just isn’t going to work, ever.

Is it overheating somewhere and stopping the auger and not tripping an alarm? Is it not drafting and causing it to stop? Its really confusing how it runs great, heats up and then stops...

 

[JRemington]

When you find it shut down is there any type of error on the screen? If not and your sure the auger isn’t obstructed my next guess is a faulty daughter board. Are you running in manual or thermostat mode?

 

[Brightlee]

If it goes out and I’m not there to turn it off, it will display a low temperature alarm.
I’m positive the auger is not obstructed.
I have only ever run it in manual mode

 

[JRemington]

I sent a message if you want to troubleshoot it.

 

[Don2222]

The very best treatment for the hopper is what they use for grain silos. Slip Plate!

 

[Brightlee]

WE FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT !!
As I said earlier it seems like something is getting hot and causing the auger to stop. My genius wife had the idea to open the side panels on the stove to see if it would cause whatever was getting too hot to stay cool. With the side panels open the stove ran for over 18 hours straight.

We monitored the hopper temperature and it stayed in the high nineties. Next we closed the side with out the door latch and watched the hopper temperature and it stayed the same. Then opened that door and tried the other door closed. The temps crept up a little at the hopper, so I figured it was something on that side.

Looking around I noticed the wire for the hopper switch ( and I assume temperature probe? ) was dangling near the upper exhaust port cover. The port cover was HOT after 18 hours of run time. So I gently tucked the wire back towards the colder back side of the stove and watched the temp for a little while. It went back down so I shut both the side panels and watched the hopper temperature again. It went up to 100-102 but never above that, and the stove continued to run perfectly.

In the pictures you can see where I tucked the wire. I assume it was just getting too hot and sending bad signal to the motherboard and causing the auger to stop without a high temperature alarm.

After all this I still suspect the auger motor was part of the issue too, the new motor cycles stronger than the old and delivers more consistently.

One more time I have to thank JRemington for coaching me through a lot of this. He even offered to walk me through this over the phone after hours. It just so happened that we worked it out before I could call him.

Happy to say we have been warm and toasty since Friday night now thanks to our, once again working, pellet stove insert!

 

[JRemington]

This one has me confused. It should give the high temp alarm on the board. I’m glad it’s working but I’m not confident it won’t happen again. I’ll be talking to them, lol.

 

[JRemington]

That’s the grommet for the lid switch. If it lost connection the L on your screen would have gone out. If I were you I would wiggle the wire around and see if the L on the screen goes out.

 

[Brightlee]

That’s the grommet for the lid switch. If it lost connection the L on your screen would have gone out. If I were you I would wiggle the wire around and see if the L on the screen goes out.

Wiggled the wire. Limit light stays on... my theory on the wire getting hot seems to be incorrect.

This one has me confused. It should give the high temp alarm on the board. I’m glad it’s working but I’m not confident it won’t happen again. I’ll be talking to them, lol.

Yeah... I might have spoke too soon. Stove is back to its old ways tonight. I’m about done with it. What else could it possibly be? The thing is not that complicated!

 

[JRemington]

I would say jump the low limit switch and if that’s not it then it’s time for a new board. The switch is on the combustion blower. This one is baffling me.