Bixby 115 Issues

I'm new to the site. I have a Bixby 115 for the past 2 years I have used it as a primary source of heat for my 2000 sq' home. This year we are on the natural gas grid, but I am still using it to heat my basement.

My stove works great on settings 3 and above. I connected a thermostat this year and when there is no call for heat the stove will not burn long on setting #1. The flame starts to put off lots of soot, (the back of the stove turns black in a few mins). Most of the time the convection fan will switch on and off. Eventually (~25-45 min) it will dump the flame and lights 2&3 will blink. It will not attempt to re-light. If I adjust the fan speed dial to +6 it at least seems to burn better, but the convection fan still stops and starts. The problem with this is when there is a call for heat, the exhaust fan setting is too high and I get ash blowing out of the burnpot. I am burning pellets (indek hardwood 1/4"). This year I put in a new therm. coupler (it seems to have a good connection), new gaskets on the exhaust fan cover, ash door, door, feeder wheel. I have cleaned the exhaust ductwork this fall. The stove gets cleaned well once a week.

Looking for advice.

Thanks in advance.

 

Greetings, and welcome to the site.

I don't own a Bixby 115 (nice stove, BTW) and can only go by what is in the stove's service manual, but have you cleaned the Room air filter, and combustion air pump recently? (lots of soot)

If the stove was here, and I was diagnosing, I would verify the basics: empty the hopper / clean thoroughly / check for any auger fines or jam,
make sure the air paths are clean and clear (Exhaust manifold, re-verify the exhaust (combustion) blower path is clear)

and following that, would possibly treat the replacement thermo coupler as suspect.

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I found your stove manual here: https://www.bixbystoveparts.com/pdf/2654b9ba20600fd5d36a03beb0d03e88Owner_Manual_115_2020866_Rev.pdf

Per page 25, those status lights are 'contradictory' - (2) is Operating Temp. not reached (after 12? min.), (3) is overheat of the Exhaust system or Hopper area, hence reviewing / verifying all air pathways (intake and exhaust) are clear and not blocked.

I know on the Ecoteck stove here, if it is ran with insufficient combustion air, soot/carbon will buildup inside the air pathways, requiring them to be 'snaked' with a long flexible plastic rod to break up / remove. Hope that info. helps.

 

Thank you for the rely.
Thank you for the link as well.

I have installed a new room air filter recently as well.
I should specify that it did the same thing with the old thermo coupler as well.

It seems to me that even though the lights appear contradictory, they are related. When the convection fan stops operating (only ever happens on the lowest heat setting) the flame continues to burn-building up heating in the hopper area, eventually overheating; yet the stove seems to think the flame is not hot enough (this would be why the convention stops), causing the overtemp.

Again, there is only trouble on the lowest heat setting, it runs like a champ on the upper settings.

 

I dunno what the air pump's function in the stove is, but assuming it is an 'air assist' at lower settings. Have you verified the air pump is operating correctly, and verified air path for it is clear ( air pump -> tubing -> outlet port ) and not blocked? Also check the air filter mounted under the Air Compressor housing, see page 28.

I guess I should have read the manual better, here's a direct quote for both (#2) and (#3) flashing at the same time:

Light #2 & #3 Empty hopper or potential blocked flue warning. Check hopper for fuel. If fuel is present,flue (exhaust) may be blocked. Clean the exhaust portion of the Room Heater and the attachedventing. See Maintenace and Cleaning Procedures for details. If problem continues, contact your Bixby Dealer.

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Given above, would also be checking the Hopper switch.

 

Thanks again for your help,

The air pump only runs during the start up with the igniters to start the flame, then shuts off. It does this just fine.

Ive read that lights (#2 & #3) can also indicate a lean flame recovery mode.

I have used my volt meter to preform a continuity test to the hopper switch. It resets just fine. I suppose it is possible that it opens a too low of a temp. I've not replaced it though... When running on higher settings the stove is physically cool to the touch. Even on the highest setting. I love this because I have you children around the stove. But when the convection fan stop on the low setting, you are not able to hold your hand on the exterior of the stove. The exterior gets pretty hot, then if the convection fan activates again it will cool like normal, then shut off starting the process over again. I personally believe the hopper switch to be working correctly.

I have spent tons of time this fall trying to get this thing working on the low setting (to be able to use it with a thermostat). Its getting super frustrating because I could remove the thermostat and just set it on 3 and it would run forever.

Ive wondered if Bixcheck would be helpful, but I know nothing about the program.

 

I think it would, IIRC you can basically 'remote control' certain portions of the stove from the software, that would be a huge aid in testing, with the ability to also view internal stove parameters.

Software manual is here:
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https://www.bixbystoveparts.com/pdf/b4e2224603ced8ae6b109563f4cd46b32023480-A.pdf

Just glancing at the manual, you will need the stove -> PC interface cable, a RS-232 port on the PC ( or a USB -> Serial port converter cable ), and the Bixcheck software installed on the PC.

I would consider giving Mike Keller from bixbystoveparts.com a message or call - he knows your stove best:

Contact Us :: Bixby Stove Parts

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It 'may' be as simple as an aging / failing convection fan motor, but without any experience with the stove, I don't want to give you bad info. / purchase unecessary $$$ parts.. I'd reach out to him.

 

First of all, welcome to the forum THBH.

I'll take a guess about the problem on low burn. I read that you did cleanings, but has the stove ever been taken outside and blown out completely with high pressure compressed air? Another method to clean the interior exhaust passageways that are hard or impossible to get to is to use a leaf blower that has a suction side.....you'll see it mentioned if you search "leaf blower trick" or "leaf blower" in the forum.

It could be that the interior is crudded-up.

Question: did you have this problem when the stove was brand new?

 

I just re-read this in the previous post.
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For starters, I would -disconnect- the thermostat, and verify the stove runs at -all settings- as expected, e.g. 3 /2 /1 . If it does, that would point towards the thermostat, or cabling, if wired to the stove.

The Ecoteck stove here has an LCD panel that you can readily view & adjust the settings, much like the BixCheck software - so I would also investigate what it would take to get the BixCheck software up & running there..

Anytime you can see the stove info. to view & adjust parameters that is a good thing. And the BixCheck software appears to have a full stove test function with reporting, that's cool.

 

That's what I do here, use compressed air for the deep cleaning. The mess is considerable.. Have to do this when the "Boss" isn't around.

 

Bixcheck will help you determine what is wrong and you can also install newer software that will help you.
I think what is happening is the stove starts, gets a brisk start but after the fire gets going the igniters go off along with the sir pump which pushes super heated air into the corn to ignite it and get things going then basically the fire dies down and has to gain momentum without the air pump going.
If you go to Bixby corn parts.com then click on 115. then to the troubleshooting parts it will help you. If you want a cable to use bixcheck and a cd with the latest software I can furnish it to you. Send me a PM for more info.

 

Welcome and good luck, the helping hands are here. I know ditto on your stove so I will get out of the way for now.

 

I am very new to the site. Rona asked me to PM him but I will be dammed if I can find functionality that permits me to private message
Anyone able to help me? point me to the "button". Thanks
alexismyboy

 

Click on his name to the left of his post .........

 

After clicking on his name, there is tab that says "start a conversation".

Welcome to FHC!

 

Great idea...hey you should be a moderator or something...want me to put a good word in with Scotty Overkill?