MINIMIZING PELLET STOVE ELECTRICAL OR MECHANICAL FAILURE

PELLET STOVE ELECTRICAL OR MECHANICAL FAILURE

It seems elementary to have to say it, but we tend to forget that a pellet stove is a machine first and foremost.  They have several moving electrical and mechanical parts which have to work in symphony.  They also have sensitive electronics including circuit boards just like computers and televisions. There are a number of reasons why these components could fail.  It is said that over 90% of pellet stove malfunctions are due to operator error.   You can help prevent failures by performing the required maintenance on your stove and by adding power or surge protection to your stove.

Pellet stoves require considerably less day to day maintenance than a wood stoves do but they are not maintenance free.  You do have some basic cleaning chores for your pellet stove every few days such as cleaning the burn pot.   In addition, per your owners manual instruction, you should shut down your stove every few weeks or so for a thorough cleaning.  This cleaning can take 10 to 30 minutes depending on the model.  If this maintenance is ignored then your heat output will diminish and or the stove could possibly shut itself down.   In addition, most pellet stoves require a more in depth annual cleaning and if you keep up on your maintenance then your stove should remain relatively trouble free.

My experiences in the field  shows that many failures can be prevented.   Look at this picture from a recent service call.

In the foreground of the above photo you can see a Harman Accentra Insert room blower which has failed.  The grey matter on the motor is a combination of pillow feathers and lint.  In the background is a new and clean blower.  The customer complaint in this case was a noisy blower.  I found that the dust and pillow feathers acted as an insulator and overheated the motor causing the bearings to fail prematurely.  The motor was only 4 years old and should have lasted much longer.    The blower was never cleaned by the owner.  He said he wasn’t aware of it.  This demonstrates why the owners manual is so important.  Had he read it, he would have been familiar with that blower and could have avoided this expensive failure.  Many manufacturers and retailers have resources on line as well for cleaning tips.  We have put directions on our web site to help out folks who like to do it themselves.  Here is an example in the following link.  http://blazinghotstoves.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/End-of-Season-Cleaning-of-Accentra-Pellet-Insert-by-Ha

Sometimes the cause of a failure is not as obvious as that blower motor above.  However, there are some patterns.  For example, when severe weather sets in we see a higher incidence of electrical failures from the pellet stoves.  This is due to power spikes and brown outs.  These surges can damage solid state electronics like those in your pellet stove.  A simple fix for that would be to invest in a high quality surge protector to protect your stove from power spikes.  Even better than that is a uninteruptible power supply or UPS.  These UPS units will stand guard over your stove and automatically and quickly take the stove off the grid when surges and spikes occur and use its own internal battery and inverter to power your stove until power is restored or its battery dies.  The particular product below should be able to power your stove for at least 1/2 hour.  Check out the link.

http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/model.cfm?txtSeriesID=743&txtModelID=4147

There are plenty of UPS choices out there, some with more powerful batteries for example, so do your research.  Some stove companies such as Harman Stoves make a battery back up for their pellet stoves.  Theirs sells for around $600 not including batteries.   For the money I feel there are better choices though.  For that amount you can buy an inverter style generator that will be more versatile in the long run for extended power outages.  However, for short term outages and for component protection the UPS is your best choice.

The key here is clean power when considering a generator.

Biomass Stove Tax Credit

Here it is, don’t put off buying a new pellet stove or wood stove any longer! As if high energy prices were not enough to motivate you, here is another call to action. Purchase a new wood or pellet stove and enjoy an additional $300 off due to the renewal of the federal tax credit.  Come see what your choices are right here in our showroom at Blazing Hot Stoves, Oakville, CT.  Check out the details below.

$300 Biomass Stove Tax Credit for 2012 – 2013
The tax credit was reinstated by the “fiscal cliff” legislation, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (H.R. 8), signed by President Obama on January 2, 2013. The bill
included a “tax extender” for Internal Revenue Service Section 25C which
provides a tax credit for, among many other things, residential energy property
expenditures, including qualifying biomass burning stoves.The extender provides a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $300 on a qualifying biomass heating appliance purchased between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2013. The tax credit for the purchase or installation of qualifying biomass units is limited to a “lifetime limit” of $500 (which dates back to expenditures from the 2006 tax year and may be impacted by the purchase or installation of other products that qualify for a 25C credit). The credit for tax year 2012 can be claimed on IRS Form 5695. As always, all individuals should consult with their tax advisor for details on the applicability of the tax credit.

Chimney Fire in a Pellet Stove?

Yes, it can happen. Typically, pellet stove chimneys get blocked by flyash, but this past season was not typical.  This  was a crazy winter and it brought on some  unusual scenarios for pellet stove users because of the mild weather conditions.  This mild weather resulted in smaller heating requirements and that is where a potential problem could begin with your pellet stove.

Remember, creosote can form in any wood fuel burning device.  All you need are the proper conditions.  When wood is burned, the products of combustion will combine with moisture and form a sooty residue.  The moisture comes from condensation in the chimney pipe as well as from the fuel itself.  This is creosote and it is more likely to be a problem in a pellet stove chimney where a small fire is being burned.  This cooler fire allows for a lower chimney temperature and makes it easier for the smoke to attach itself to the chimney pipe in the form of creosote.  If the pipe is not cleaned, a chimney fire is eminent.

Creosote Filled Pipe

Both above and below you can see the aftermath of a pellet stove chimney fire.

After chimney fire

These pictures are from a customers stove, and in this case the fire was contained inside the chimney and stove but the silicone gasketing that seals each piece of pipe was destroyed due to the extreme heat.  As you can see in the above photo, the exterior of the rigid pellet vent was slightly discolored but otherwise safe to reuse.  The stove contained it’s portion of the chimney fire and sustained only minor damage as well.  We had to replace the stoves thermocouple in the exhaust tailpipe.  Once the pipe was reinstalled, the stove functioned fine.

Pellet Stoves Save You Money in Two Ways

Just before beginning this article, I checked the price of a gallon of heating oil. The full service oil company I shopped was at $3.65 for one gallon of oil at 139,400btu per gallon. Compare that to a $5.00 bag of Great American Brand premium pellet Read more »

Is your Wood Pile Ready For Winter?

Seems like winter just ended and yet here it comes again. It’s right around the corner really and I’m sure everyone has all their cordwood stacked and covered by now? Well if you haven’t by now it is almost too late for this season unless you have a source for truly seasoned wood. Read more »

What Waiting To Buy Your Pellets Could Cost You

We have finished contacting all our pellet customers attempting to persuade them to buy their pellets early.  Read more »

Blazing Hot Stoves, How and When To Clean Your Pellet Stove

Pellet stove cleaning is one of those chores most of us stove owners would rather put off until the fall. Read more »