Whitfield Advantage II-T: Repair or Replace?

Yes, 1 is as low as it goes....LOL. The only way to lower the amount of pellets going into the burn pot might be to put a piece of high heat foil tape over a small part of the top of the auger opening in the hopper....as I remember the 25 pdv and/or 25pdvc had/have an adjust. cover, but none of the other models, AFAIK. It should cut down on the amount of pellets going into the auger on each "scoop". Probably a trial & error thing.

 

Or, intercept the auger signal and drop every 6th or 7th one or change the duty cycle.

Taking the control panel apart and reverse engineering it is on my list for next year.

 

AFTER the warranty is over, hopefully. They're not cheap to replace. $257.00

 

Where's your sense of adventure?

I'd actually be looking at creating a drop-in custom replacement, not modifying the existing board.

 

I haven't looked for the part number of the auger motor, but it could also be as simple as dropping in a motor with slightly lower RPM (maybe revolutions per hour might be a more useful measurement).

 

Unrelated to the original post, but since this turned into modifications and hacking (and I'm the OP) ....

The stove starves itself for pellets. When the hopper is down to about ~20% capacity, there's a whirlpool/hole to the auger opening. Plenty of pellets in the hopper, but all around the perimeter and up the walls with little/none actually getting fed. I did check for level and corrected it, but no noticeable change in behavior.

Is this normal/expected?

 

That's definitely an idea. Could do it with something as simple as a drop-down/multi-tap transformer, too. I'm in no rush to dig into it this year. I want a functioning stove for the season, but it's fair game come spring.

 

The EP uses a "2.4" RPM auger motor.

 

Yes, pretty normal for a lot of stoves. A lot of people have "polished" the hopper walls, put smooth foil tape in corners, sprayed furniture polish and buffed out, wax, etc, etc. I used to put the alum. foil tape in all the corners to help the pellets slide. One member even put an old, unused cell phone set to vibrate in the hopper and sent calls to it to shake the pellets down.

 

1.1 RPM available from G-A:
Pellet and Corn Stove Auger Drive Motors

 

Brilliant! Unorthodox AND brilliant.

Although, it would be a lot easier to run an eccentric weight on a motor whenever the auger is getting power to do the same thing.

 

Playing with the RPM's speed with a different auger will sell you short on the high side of things (much needed heat when called upon)

 

I'm experimenting with the existing thermostat, pending my DIY one that will do exactly what I want to do, even if I change my mind.

The pellet stove is now Stage #1 of heat. The heat pump is Aux #1 and the heat strips are Aux #2.

When the thermostat calls for heat, the circulation fan comes on and calls for "High" mode from the Englander which is set for High/Low.
The Aux set point is for 2 degrees difference (the lowest it will call) and will call for additional heat if the temperature lags for 15 minutes.
It will then call for heat strips if it still can't get the temperature up.

With the temperature in single-digit Fahrenheit, I think the pellet stove is more efficient, and the call for heat will also help move the air around. If the pellet can't keep up or runs out of fuel (or is turned off), it will act like a heat-pump only system.

Part of my DIY system will be to use a remote sensor in the bedroom instead of the hallway to keep us comfortable where we are.