Whitfield Advantage Plus - hard to get flame started.

We purchased this stove new in 1998 and have used it part time over the years to heat our basement. We purchased a new auger motor for it a couple of years ago, but that fed the pellets too fast and we stopped using. This year we bought an OME auger motor and that seemed to do better, but now we are finding it very difficult to get the initial flame to keep burning for the 1st 4 or so minutes. If we make it through that, then it burns fine. It's gotten harder over the years, but now it's extremely tough. We do all the cleaning that is discussed in the Operating Manual and had it professionally cleaned a few years ago. We don't have a service/technical manual. Any idea as to why it is so hard to get the intial flame going. My husband is ready to call it quits and buy a new stove.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Hopefully, our resident Whitfield expert Snowy Rivers will be along shortly.

 

You mentioned that you have done ALL THE CLEANING ????

Have you removed the exhaust fan from the housing and cleaned out the exhaust housing and rear passage well ????

Pull the fan motor out (New gasket needed)

The fan housing and passage will clog up over time with ash.

When was the fan motor last oiled ????

The piccy shows the normal factory type exhaust fan motor.

(Don"t pay any attention to all the extra wiring...I installed a custom controller)

If your stove has the same type of fan motor SEE THE TWO ARROWS in White

Use some 3 in 1 blue top bottle oil

2-3 drops in both little holes

Your stove may have rubber plugs in the holes....remove the plugs and oil the motor.

Oil at least twice a season....I oil mine every month or so.

There are a few issues that can cause the fire to be slow to lite..

Plugged fan housing and inner ash baffles.

(Remove the fire bricks..and the metal baffles that are behind them to access the inner passage)

A slow running exhaust fan due to lack of oil in the bushings.

ANY TIME YOU ARE WORKING IN THE MECHANICAL CABINET "UNPLUG THE STOVE"

Open the cabinet to access the exhaust fan.

Plug stove in and push the start button.

Look at the small cooling fan in the area between the fan motor and the exhaust housing.

THE FAN SHOULD RUN BRISKLY

OIL THE MOTOR

Get some pics please of the fan motor and post them. CLOSE UP AND WIDE SHOTS

The Adv plus is a bit different than the earlier Advantage models, so pics will help figure the issue out.

Generally a cold fan that has not been oiled will be very sluggish and after it warms a bit it will get better.

There are specs for the oil....but I have used the 3 in 1 blue top for years...with great results.

PIC PLEASE

 

A little help to see those oil ports, and the recommended oil for electric motors:

 

Thank you Snowy for your very quick and helpful response. I checked with my husband, and unfortunately we have never oiled any fan motors in our stove. I found the Routine Maintenance page in our Owners Manual, and it says oil the convection fan and the combustion fan. The diagram shows the oil ports. I scanned in the page, but their pictures of the fans don't zoom in well. My husband will get some oil tomorrow, and we will try to get some pictures. Whichever fan is the exhaust fan, he has definitely not removed it from its housing. He has done all the cleaning suggested in the Owner's Manual.
I couldn't find a technical manual for the Advantage Plus, but I ordered one from WoodHeatStoves.com for the Advantage I, II, and IIT, hoping that it would be close enough to give us a better understanding of the stove. Per the contact at the website, it should give more information on how to do a thorough cleaning. I'm guessing we will get the pdf tomorrow.

 

The convection fans usually used ball bearings and don't require oil (Check to be sure)

Thanks IMAC for the great pics

It is very common for the draft/exhaust fans to get sluggish if they have not been oiled.

What happens is the as the fan warms up it will loosen up some and run better, but after a while even this will not help... OIL is the key.

Let us know what ya see....

 

This seems too easy! My husband bought turbine oil and oiled the fans. No more problem starting it up. He said once it got going it was burning a little unevenly for awhile but seems to be burning well now. He said the guy at hardware store had never heard of anyone buying oil for the fans in their pellet stoves. Maybe, because it takes such a tiny amount and lasts forever. We are so appreciative of your help. Keeping our fingers crossed.

 

You are welcome.

The manuals for the whitfields were a tad lax on the importance of oiling the fan motor.

My feeling is that there should be a sticker on the side of the stove by the exhaust fan
OIL ME ONCE EVERY COUPLE MONTHS....

If you make it part of a routine cleaning regime its not a big deal.

Every couple cleanings put a drop or two in each oil port.

Be safe...Enjoy

 

Sounds like you need some fresh pellets!
How long have the pellets been sitting around???

 

Actually, the exhaust fans are the ones coming with ball bearing motors for quite a few years now. Both motors in the pics I sent were convection fan motors.....convection fans usually had to be oiled (sleeve bearings), but in the past 5 yrs. since I last had my 10-cpm, maybe now those are ball bearing too????

 

Imac..
My Whitfields have always had the sleeve bearings on the exhaust blowers and ball bearings on the room air fans.

I do have replacement exhaust blowers that have ball bearings in them.

The bronze sleeve bearings are less affected by the heat conducted through the shaft, at least when you oil them regularly.

My big Whit had an after market fan with ball bearings in it and it took to howling like a pack of Coyotes, so I swapped in a good used bushing style motor.... much better...

 

Snowy,
Just wanted to provide an update on my pellet stove. It's been working great, starting easily and burning well. Still amazed at what a few drops of oil can accomplish. So glad we didn't get rid of a perfectly fine stove. Thanks again.

 

Our pellets are about 2 yrs old, but they're burning great now. We buy them in bags so they seemed to store well.

 

I have seen many of the Whitfields have the issue you had due to needing a few drops of oil.

Just add that little bit to your routine cleaning and servicing and the old girl will run nearly forever.