Thelin Gnome stove fuse blowing - house breaking tripping disaster?

[ebengel]

And remove the hopper lid, burnpot, cleanout covers and door.

 

[Don2222]

Thelin, the only pellet stove I have ever had lay down on it's side to work on. Note: You have to empty the hopper first!

Hello
True for you but I laid a few stoves on their side when rebuilding to clean rust and paint the bottom. Some stoves are on damp concrete. I recommend a hearth for many of those situations.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

Well it is all fixed but not without more frustration! LOL

I purchased 2 panel mount fuse holders and spray panted one of the caps red like the original to designate the igniter fuse. Then I found that the local hardware store sold the home owner Time Delay fuses instead of the GGC fast acting fuses! So I picked up a pack of GGC1 - 1 Amp and GGC6 - 6 Amp. The 1 Amp is not really the MAIN fuse like the manual states. The 1 Amp is actually JUST the control panel fuse. Than makes sense! The 6 Amp fuse is the Heater or Igniter fuse. If that is not confusing enough I looked at the wire diagram to wire in the new panel mount fuse holders and it is not right! There is no way it could be right! If you look at the diagram I provided in the 1st post carefully, you can see that the red fuse holder is being fed by the incoming AC NEUTRAL wire!

The original configuration had both side solder tabs on the fuse holders soldered together to prevent them from spinning and hitting the metal stove body. A solder connection is ONLY to make a good ELECTRICAL connection, you still need a good physical connection! ! !

That said, the LOCK washers I added make a real solid physical connection to prevent the fuse bodies from spinning when changing a fuse!

Can anyone correct the error in the wire diagram which shows one of the fuse holder wires incorrect?

Pic 1 - 2 Brand New panel mount fuse holders inside of stove with New Shinny Lock Washers and new Orange wire connecting the side tabs
Pic 2 - 2 Brand new panel mount fuse holders outside on bottom of stove with one cap painted red.

Click to Enlarge:

 

[dhall28]

I do have some Thelin stoves to fix and noone else in the area can fix them so why not?

Nothing wrong with that, I dont mind fixing them so long as it isn't a warranty job because then i actually get paid for my labor, trip, and parts. I just dont want the dealership i work for selling them anymore.

 

[Don2222]

Nothing wrong with that, I dont mind fixing them so long as it isn't a warranty job because then i actually get paid for my labor, trip, and parts. I just dont want the dealership i work for selling them anymore.

I can certainly understand that!

If a stove cannot make it beyond the warranty period, then the manufacturer needs to make changes, if not there is nothing we can do!

Did you see what I was talking about with the igniter fuse holder on the wire diagram?

 

[dhall28]

yes i see most of what your saying but i'd say the neutral goes to the 1 amp fuse and the hot goes to the 6 amp fuse, then they go through their respected "loads". if the neutral went to the igniter fuse when the fuse holder was turned and hit the body of the stove it would not have had any voltage and not have blown the fuse

 

[Don2222]

yes i see most of what your saying but i'd say the neutral goes to the 1 amp fuse and the hot goes to the 6 amp fuse, then they go through their respected "loads". if the neutral went to the igniter fuse when the fuse holder was turned and hit the body of the stove it would not have had any voltage and not have blown the fuse

Yes but if the neutral feeds either of the fuses then there would be no power supplied to either the control panel or the igniter. So you are correct in seeing where the problem is. However the igniter fuse must also be fed from the Hot or Load AC input wire, not the Neutral. Otherwise it would not work.

So Lock washers are very important, and there should be a Service Bulliten about this!

Consequently, in the original factory setup both side tabs of the fuse holders were soldered together. In this way they both are fed by the Hot or Load wire and not the Neutral. So when the solder connection broke (It is not physically strong!) from putting a new fuse in -- KaBoom ! ! !

Thanks

See Red Correction in pic below.

 

[dhall28]

Consequently, in the original factory setup both side tabs of the fuse holders were soldered together.

so the wiring diagram they show is not how they had it wired in the stove, they wired the side tabs in parallel with the hot wire and being the two had soldered wires between them that was suppose to keep them from spinning?

 

[Don2222]

so the wiring diagram they show is not how they had it wired in the stove, they wired the side tabs in parallel with the hot wire and being the two had soldered wires between them that was suppose to keep them from spinning?

Exactly!

 

[pastormarkshaver]

This is an older thread from this year, but I would like to add after reading all this is that A) yes thelins can be high maintenance, they are NOT the stove for just start it and leave it. TRUE. I bought mine for the heater aspect yes but also because I just loved the design. Fortunately I work on these enough that the maintenance is not too hard for me to handle and I dont mind it. B)--I had a similar problem with my fuse holders on my Gnome, so I actually just put leads on my wires and put the ENTIRE fuse holder hanging below the blower, I'm probably just going to glue it to the back leg or tape it/tie it to the back leg and as needed pull it off to change if needed. I put black tape around all the leads and soldered them onto the new holders as well. Anyhow, there could be a LOT of little improvements to the original Thelin design that could have been made years back but in one sense there's always a learning curve with these new types of tech, who knows in 50 years these things might be looked at a lot like the original pot belly stoves for why they were created, and become collectors items for old guys like me as well. My other basement stove is just a garage style block stove, nothing fancy and it never has issues--but is ugly as sin and my wife hates it. However it blasts heat for the 1500 ' down there and is in the dark most of the time. The Gnome baby is in the living room and I show it off and tinker it when people are around, so its not just a heater--its artsy fartsy and fun as well.