How to Troubleshoot a Wood Pellet Stove

Wood pellet stoves are becoming more popular as a means to heat the home. The stoves actually use wood pellets. They require electricity to work so if the power does go out, remember that the stoves will not work. Barring the electricity being off, you may need to troubleshoot your stove if you find it has problems.

Instructions

1. Operate the stove in user control mode or increase the set point temperature if the stove power is on but does not fire.

2. Check to see if the hopper is filled with pellets or if the burn pot is dirty. If one of these is not the issue, check to make sure there is a fuel feed or that the exhaust blower snap switch is working.

3. Use the set-up mode feature to reduce the feed rate of a stove that is overheating or starts and runs but then has unburned pellets in the burn pot.

4. Decrease the base feeding rate of the stove in setup mode once a stove is cool if the circulation blower seems to run on high often.

5. Turn off the stove if you smell smoke in the house. Check that the stove has a continuous supply of power since power loss can cause smoke in the home. Inspect the vent and clean if needed. Also check the vent system for leaks. Use high temperature sealant as recommended by the manufacturer to repair the leaks.

6. Increase the stove's feed rate in the setup mode if the flame goes out at lower feed rates.

7. Contact the manufacturer for an air damper if you have short flame at high pellet feed rates if you have already checked that the feed rate is not too low and have high quality fuel.

8. Start checking the power source for the stove if there is no fuel feed. This is the simplest item to check so verify that the stove is plugged into an electrical outlet. Fill the hopper with pellets if there is still no fuel feed. If the lack of fuel feed problem persists, close the hopper lid if it is open and the burn chamber door.

9. Check the exhaust system and clean if you are unable to find the source of the no fuel feed problem. The exhaust blower may need lubrication and you should consult your stove's manual on the instructions.

10. Test the auger motor, exhaust blower and vacuum switch for possible jams or failures. Replace these if you cannot find another reason for the fuel feed problem.