Older Whitfield Quest / lazy flame

[Ricks]

Hi Dexter,

Thanks for asking for an update.

To recap (and let anyone point out a missed step as well.) I have
1.vacuumed out the stove
2. cleaned out the vent
3. removed the Firebrick
4. cleaned the tubes above the burn pot (air blowes through these tubes to heat the room)
5. hit the back of the burn pot area
6. pushed a brush into the combustion blower area to get at the horizontal tube under the burn pot
7. pushed a bursh into the vertical tubes on either side of the burn pot (these connect to the horizontal tube
8. blowed canned air from the pressure switch (by the control panel to the combustion fan. (disconnected the rubber hose and blow through the hose, pressure switch was not connected.)
9. leafblower trick. I got some soot, but nothing like the pictures I have seen on the site. Note I did this last so that may have some bearing on the amount of soot.

I did manage to get a good view of the tube that runs under the burnpot and it did not appear to be clogged.

I have purchased the gasket but not installed it yet. I did call the store where I purchased the stove and recieved some troubling news. It seems he has another customer with the same stove (and about the same age) with the same problem. The store owner has talked to Lennox but no solution yet.

I hope to get the stove back together today and try it again. I will post an update then.

In the mean time if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

thanks

Rick.......

 

[Ricks]

I will admit to getting discouraged when I talked to the store owner and he reported he has a customer with the same stove having the same problem. This store owner has been selling Whitfield (now Lennox) stoves for many years and is very familiar with them. Lennox did have the store owner try many of the same suggestions that I have been given, but he has not see nany improvement in the stove.

Rick..........

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Do us and likely you a favor, please snap a picture inside your firebox pointing up at the heat exchanger tubing, and post it.

 

[Ricks]

I just got off the phone with Lennox and the second tech I spoke to had two suggestions. The first has been suggested here; and that was to hit the back of the stove behind the firebrick. I have done that repeatedly and not seen any soot fall or been able to see a difference.

The tech is telling me the stove is blocked with soot; even though the exhaust blower is working fine and pushing air out the vent as much as it ever did.

The other suggestion was to drill (yes drill) a one inch hole into the back of the stove behind the firebrick. I am waiting on the specific directions to locate the hole (should have them early next week). If anyone has heard of this or done this I would appreciate some assistance.

I will try and post a picture of the heat exchanger. It is clean, but maybe someone can spot something.

I will keep you posted.

Rick………….

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I just got off the phone with Lennox and the second tech I spoke to had two suggestions. The first has been suggested here; and that was to hit the back of the stove behind the firebrick. I have done that repeatedly and not seen any soot fall or been able to see a difference.

The tech is telling me the stove is blocked with soot; even though the exhaust blower is working fine and pushing air out the vent as much as it ever did.

The other suggestion was to drill (yes drill) a one inch hole into the back of the stove behind the firebrick. I am waiting on the specific directions to locate the hole (should have them early next week). If anyone has heard of this or done this I would appreciate some assistance.

I will try and post a picture of the heat exchanger. It is clean, but maybe someone can spot something.

I will keep you posted.

Rick………….

You mean that Lennox is putting forth the ole St. Croix style fix for hard to clean areas as outlined here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/older-whitfield-quest-lazy-flame.84651/page-2#post-1089336 .

Who would have thunk that ?

 

[Heatsource]

sounds like the original blower motor, are you sure its up to snuff?

 

[Ricks]

The blower motor was replaced three to five years ago. When the blower is on, the force of air coming out of the vent is strong. As strong as I remember when the blower was replaced.

Rick.......

 

[DexterDay]

You say you have the gasket?? But you also said that the Air coming out of the vent is very stong??

Have you fired the stove up? How do you know that it isnt clean now after the leafblower.

That hole is the "trouble spot" on this unit. But after all you have done, its possible you may have got the "plug". The air coming out, has to come in. If air cant come in, then the stove can't blow it out..... ???? Direct correlation between the two.

If all else is done. Then I would install the gasket and fire it up. With the damper Wide Open on start up (or closed some, depending on the amount of airflow gained through your efforts). Your waiting on the diagrams/instructions for the hole?? Couldn't hurt to try?

 

[Ricks]

I was asked to provide a picture of my heat exchange tubes. I took this wihile the stove was apart for cleaning so some parts are missing. But as you can see the heat exchagne tubes are clean. At the far left and right beside the top of the heat exchange tubes you can see the openings for the vertical tubes. I was able to push a brush down inside them.



Now for the good news and an apology.

First after cleaning the stove (as outlined in an earlier post above), hitting on the back of the stove behind the firebrick and the leaf blower trick I HAVE A WORKING STOVE!!

I am sorry I did not follow the advice I was given here right away. Clearly I would have reach this conclusion sooner if I had. Thanks DexterDay for pushing me. I was relying on Lennox to help solve my problem, when clearly my problem was solved by members here. So again I am sorry I did not follow the advice sooner.

The members here were able to solve my problem faster, cleaner, and cheaper than Lennox could. (Remember Lennox wants me to drill a hole in my stove potentially destroying the stove.)

Thanks all for your help (and escpecially DexterDay for pushing me to test the stove).

If I had to guess I think it was the leaf blower trick that fix the stove.

I HAVE A WORKING STOVE

thanks again

Rick........

 

[DexterDay]

SmokeyTheBear, stellep, wwert, and others helped just as much....

Remember. That hole is on newer models amd may be a good idea to still look into (I would).

Glad its working for ya

 

[DexterDay]

I wouod call theat stove shop and maybe give them some pointers on how to repair the customers stove that was acting like yours was??

Maybe school them a little on the ways of a rubber mallet and a leafblower!! LOL

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Lennox wouldn't recommend drilling without the proper location and procedure being provided. They likely were going to drill a hole to provide an access point closer to the bottom of the ash trap.

I was the one who wanted the picture (so the eyes here could check your brush work, etc ...).

A clean stove is a happy, safe, and warm stove.

Enjoy the heat.

 

[Ricks]

Two hours later the stove is still burning great. Not that I need it it is 60 degrees outside, but I want to test the stove.

I will be talking to the store on Monday to help them out. I do plan on following up with Lennox on the location of the hole. The fact that they want me to drill a hole tells me that are aware of an area in the stove that is hard to clean. That said as long as the leafblower trick works for me I have no plans on drilling the hole.

Thanks again for all the help. The house will be much warmer next year. While the stove is not our primary heat, we do use it to replace the propane radiant heat the house has. We love the radiant heat in the floors, but hate the propane bill. Using the pellet stove allows us to keep the propane bills manageable.

Thanks for all who helped out, I really appreciate it.

Once I get the information about the hole location I will post it on this site.

Rick........

 

[wwert]

And the moral of the story is? Keep your damn stove clean. These are not wood stoves, they like consistent attention and a good ash vac applied daily.