I got a new woodchuck 526 this fall. I had an older woodchuck for many years that did not have a draft blower. This new wood furnace has a draft blower. It just doesn't seem to work consistently. It's hooked up to a fan limit control and its' own thermostat. Draft blower has an "on/bypass" setting and an "automatic" setting. (in addition to the on/off switch which is on) On automatic, I was told it's supposed to come on around 100 degrees and when ever the thermostat is calling for heat. As I've been testing it, I have the thermostat turned up to 80+ degrees. If I turn the draft blower to on it seems to work fine. If I switch it to automatic, even after a nice hot fire is going and the main circulating blower has kicked in, it doesn't always stay on. In fact, most of the time the draft blower turns off. But sometimes (25%) it works? I don't know what is going on with it. I ordered a new thermostat and tried it with the same results. Sometimes I turn it to Automatic and come back later and it will be on? Last night when I went to bed, I turned it to automatic when a good fire was going and the main blower was going. It wouldn't work. I left it in automatic, and when I woke up this morning, the draft blower was running and there were just a few warm coals in the firebox. I didn't stoke the stove, and as it cooled down, the draft blower did kick off like it's supposed to. The house temp has never been above 75 and I have always had the thermostat set above 80 so it should be calling for heat. Could it be a bad fan control limit switch? I called woodchuck and they said it shouldn't be intermittent. It should work or not work. But it's intermittent for sure and I don't know why? Any ideas?
Draft Blower not working consistently-WoodChuck 526
- Thread starter Chaser77
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Sounds to me like one of the sensors is tripping the circuit. My furnace blower was constantly on because it was sensing the furnace temperature was too hot so it runs the fan to cool it down. Yours is the opposite - it doesn't run the draft fan so no more heat is generated. I'm guessing it's #2 below. It may reset when it cools down and then operates normally. It's also possible that it just may not need the draft fan during the times you think it's not working.
From the Woodchuck website it does this:
From the Woodchuck website it does this:
- Allow the thermostat to turn the draft inducer on and off, thereby maintaining the proper heat output for your needs at any particular time.
- Overrides the thermostat and stops the draft inducer if the unit gets too hot.
- Overrides the thermostat and stops the draft inducer if the unit runs out of fuel.
If that's the case, could the sensors just be faulty? The fire definitely isn't too hot. The other thing I have noticed is the main circulating blower is cycling on and off frequently. This morning, it has cycled on and off probably a dozen times in the past half hour. There is good bed of red coals in there so I would think it should just be staying on? I think it's supposed to kick on at 160 and then kick off when temp drops below 110. The temp can't be fluctuating that much in such a short period of time, can it? In just the past 5 minutes it came on and off 3 times?
Sorry, I don't know enough about the Woodchuck system to say how it should be operating - it may be completely normal. Sensors can and do fail just like anything else. Again, if the circulating fan is cycling when it shouldn't be it could be the same sensor telling the system that it is overheated. That could possibly turn off the draft fan to prevent more heat being added and turn on the circulating fan to cool it down. Check for wiring schematics to see if you can identify any possible issues.
http://www.meyermfg.com/library_manuals/WOODCHUCK__12-21-15_.pdf
Page 27 is the schematic. I don't understand these wiring schematics very well
Page 27 is the schematic. I don't understand these wiring schematics very well
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