Pellet Stove issue?

[Stmar]

Whitfield pellet stove was starting up, flame burning, looked normal, then I heard a POP. Motors quit for an instant then came back on and stove resumed it's start up and is operating like normal. Any ideas on what that POP was? I have been using pellets stoves for over 40 years and have never had this happen.

 

[Scm]

electrical pop?, or something stuck in the auger pop?

 

[dirtydeed]

or something stuck in the auger pop?

that would be my guess as well. I've had that happen before...

 

[Stmar]

At first I thought electrical, fuse?, but everything is running properly. Now I am wondering about the vacuum switch, that seems like it would make a pop and shut everything down immediately. Not really familiar with the vacuum switch, just guessing. Shutting it down and when it cools I'll take a look at that area and see if I can find anything out of the ordinary.

 

[Stmar]

that would be my guess as well. I've had that happen before...

When this happened to you did it clear itself or what did you do? Did the motors shut down for an instant?

 

[dirtydeed]

it cleared...motor slowed a bit and I heard the "pop". I figured it was a "stuck" pellet that got chopped.

 

[Scm]

The stove I had, had a chisel that would chop the pellets. I had to resharpen it every couple years.

 

[Stmar]

Thanks for the input, Auger theory would be the best. Hopefully it cleared itself, I'll keep monitoring.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I had that happen to me a few years back.
Chalked it up to poor quality / damp pellets.
They guys i bought the stove from told me when box is cold and pellets of poor quality i could get flashes / pops as the stove heats up and the extra gasses from the damp pellets burn off.

 

[armylifer]

You may want to shut it down and do a thorough cleaning of everything. Dust and debris will accumulate in the inner parts of the stove and cause issues. You may also want to lubricate every moving part to be sure that is works smoothly. Even so called sealed bearings need lubrication, no matter what the manual says. I use WD40 spray oil to get penetration first, then use WD40 lithium grease spray and saturate everything that has moving parts. After a few minutes I clean up all residue and over-spray and reassemble. Maintenance is the key to prevention of problems.

 

[armylifer]

Deleted double post

 

[Stmar]

You may want to shut it down and do a thorough cleaning of everything. Dust and debris will accumulate in the inner parts of the stove and cause issues. You may also want to lubricate every moving part to be sure that is works smoothly. Even so called sealed bearings need lubrication, no matter what the manual says. I use WD40 spray oil to get penetration first, then use WD40 lithium grease spray and saturate everything that has moving parts. After a few minutes I clean up all residue and over-spray and reassemble. Maintenance is the key to prevention of problems.

I lube everything accessible every year, like you I never believed "life time lube". Did a through cleaning this year, stove is 25+ years old so try to maintain. This weekend I may take things apart and go through the routine again. Thanks for the input.

 

[Stmar]

The culprit was the igniter, blew a hole in it. I have changed igniters for years and never had one do that, most of the time they just quit working. The reason I did not recognize or check that first is that the stove was working, evidently it was far enough into the start when it blew that it worked like normal for that cycle.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

Nah, it wasn't the igniter. It was the weasel.