How To Troubleshoot and Fix Breckwell Pellet Stove Common Fault

Pellet stoves are a great way to heat your home. They are both efficient and economical. However, there are some faults that affect the use of pellet stoves, such as keep shutting off, not feeding pellets, stove feeds pellets, but will not ignite, etc.
When your stove acts out of the ordinary, the first reaction is to check the problem that has arisen and find out the possible causes and solutions for the corresponding fault.

NOTE - Unplug The Stove From All Power Sources Before Attempting To Service The Appliance.

STOVE SHUTS OFF AND THE # 2 LIGHT FLASHES

If your stove gets a Blinking #2 light, it doesn't mean that something needs to be replaced. This means there is not enough air flow through the burn chamber. 

Possible Causes

• Pressure switch hose or stove attachment pipes for hose are blocked.
• The air inlet, burnpot, interior combustion air chambers, combustion blower, or exhaust pipe are blocked with ash or foreign material.
• The firebox is not properly sealed.
• Vent pipe is incorrectly installed.
• The pressure switch wire connections are bad.
• The grey wires are pulled loose at the molex connector on the wiring harness.
• Combustion blower failure.
• Control board not sending power to combustion blower.
• Control board not sending power to pressure switch.
• Pressure switch has failed (very rare)

Possible Remedies

• Unhook the air hose from the pressure switch and blow through it. If air flows freely, the hose and tube are fine. If air will not flow through the hose, use a wire coat hanger to clear the blockage.
• Cleaning your pellet stove. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for maintenance and cleaning. 
• Make sure the door is closed and that the gasket is in good shape. If the ash door has a latch, make sure the ash door is properly latched and the gasket is sealing good. If the stove has just a small hole for the ashes to fall through under the burnpot, make sure the slider plate is in place to seal off the firebox floor.
• Check to make sure vent pipe installation meets criteria in owner’s manual.
• Check the connectors that attach the grey wires to the pressure switch.
• Check to see if the grey wires are loose at the molex connector.
• With the stove on, check to see if the combustion blower is running. If it is not, you will need to check for power going to the combustion blower. It should be a full current. If there is power, the blower is bad.
• If there is no current going to combustion blower, check all wire connections. If all wires are properly connected, you have a bad control board.
• There should be a 5-volt current (approximately) going to the pressure switch after the stove has been on for 30 seconds.
• To test the pressure switch, you will need to disconnect the air hose from the body of the stove. With the other end still attached to the air switch, very gently suck on the loose end of the hose. If you hear a click, the air switch is working. BE CAREFUL! TOO MUCH VACUUM CAN DAMAGE THE PRESSURE SWITCH!

STOVE SHUTS OFF AND THE # 3 LIGHT FLASHES

Possible Causes

• The hopper is out of pellets.
• The air damper is too far open for a low feed setting.
• The burnpot is not pushed completely to the rear of the firebox.
• The burnpot holes are blocked.
• The air inlet, the interior chambers, or exhaust system has a partial blockage.
• The hopper safety switch has failed or hopper is open.
• The auger shaft is jammed.
• The auger motor has failed.
• The Proof of Fire (POF) thermodisk has malfunctioned.
• The high limit thermodisk has tripped or is defective.
• The fuse on the control board has blown.
• The control board is not sending power to the POF thermodisk or other auger system components.

Possible Remedies

• Refill the hopper.
• If burning on the low setting, you may need to close the damper all the way (push the knob in so it touches the side of the stove).
• Make sure that the air intake collar on the burnpot is touching the rear wall of the firebox.
• Remove the burnpot and thoroughly clean it.
• Cleaning your pellet stove. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for maintenance and cleaning. 
• When operating the unit, be sure the hopper lid is closed so that the hopper safety switch will activate. Check the wires leading from the hopper safety switch to the control panel and auger motor for secure connections. Use a continuity tester to test the hopper safety switch; replace if necessary.
• Free the auger of jams.
• Remove the auger motor from the auger shaft and try to run the unit. If the motor will turn the shaft is jammed on something. If the motor will not turn, the motor is bad.
• Temporarily bypass the POF thermodisk by disconnecting the two brown wires and connecting them with a short piece of wire. Then plug the stove back in. If the stove comes on and works, you need to replace the POF thermodisk. This is for testing only. 
• Push the red reset button on the high limit (if it has one). If not bypass the high limit thermodisk. To test if the thermodisk is bad, you can bypass it as described previously for the POF thermodisk.
• Remove the control board. On the back there is one fuse. If it appears to be bad, replace it with a 5 Amp 250 Volt fuse. Plug the stove back in and try to run the unit.
• There should be a 5-volt (approximately) current going to the POF thermodisk after the stove has been on for 10 minutes.

If you have never cleaned your Combustion blower, Exhaust pipe, and igniter tube now might be a great time. If any of these components are dirty it could cause the stove to have a low lazy flame, the igniter may have a hard time lighting the pellets.

Please check all components for soot, also make sure the red hose is connected to the air switch and to the back of the burn chamber. 

PELLET STOVE KEEPS SHUTTING OFF 

• Faulty wiring in the stove. When there is no sufficient power supply or faulty stove wiring, the stove will automatically fail to operate properly.
• A dirty unit is also in the row of pellet stove keeps shutting off the problem. There are significant heating elements inside the stove that need to be cleaned to ensure fluent working.
• Poor Air Adjustment. The flame sensor will start malfunctioning if there is a lack of air flowing.
• Faulty combustion blower.

Possible Remedies

• Check Switches and Circuit Breaker. Check your circuit breaker. Make sure there are no tripped controls or defects. If so, reset the breaker and replace the damaged one.
• Measure the voltage. Check the terminal for any wires that may be loose or disconnected. Take a multimeter and start reading the voltage of the stove. It should be up to 120 volts. 
  Check the wires: Look for any cracked or frayed wires. Inspect all of the connections to ensure they are secure and working correctly. Replace each of the cracked or worn-out wires. 
• Follow the user manual to clean your pellet stove. Take a vacuum cleaner and suck up the ashes of the burn pot surface. Clean out the ignition tube and combustion chamber
• Adjust Your Damper. Close the damper slightly, about 1/8 inch. Check the flame after 10 to 15 minutes. If the flame still isn't steady, adjust the damper another 1/8 inch and check the flame after another 10 to 15 minutes. Continue in this way until you reach the right damper position for that heat setting.
• Fix Defective Combustion Blower. If your motor isn’t working how it should, then you will need to replace the motor.

Conclusion

When your pellet stoves is not behaving properly and the fault light is flashing, read this guide to checking and cleaning your pellet stove. Hopefully this will help you to restore your pellet stove. Enjoying nice fire on a snowing day.