Woodmaster 5500 Will not run blowers

[iowaowb]

Flushed and started our woodmaster 5500 this last weekend and then started it up to make sure everything was going to work. Everything was working great then this morning the water temp was at 157 (the low set point is 160) Tried cutting power and reset they still would not turn on ( the blowers for combustion air) had to go to work any ideas?

 

[Butch(OH)]

We have had zero problems with ours but I believe that the motors are controlled directly from the ETC unit with no other relays. If the ETC is causing it due to under or over temp you should be getting a code on the readout. If the readout looks normal there is a tiny red dot that should be on when it is calling for heat, if you have never noticed it it is hard to discribe. Other things to check is the fan off switch pull the screws and check for voltage in and out of the fan switch, then at the motors them selves. Are the draft flaps opening? If so that points directly to a motor problem. There is a snap disk type over heat safety that must be manually reset. On the 4400 it is on the rear of the drum above the pumps. You can follow the wires under the blanket with your fingers and when you reach the reset push the button in. If it has tripped you need to find out why, air leaks at door gasket, draft flaps sticking open are two I can think of.

 

[1harlowr]

If it sat all summer my first idea would be to check the motor to see if it is froze. I don't have a woodmaster, but on my OWB I oil the fan motor a couple times a year.

 

[bowtechmadman]

Pull the fan and also check for creosote buildup on the fan cage. I clean mine yearly. They can get pretty built up w/ creasote on the shaft and really make the motor work. Snap disc's are inexpensive and very easy to change and this would keep the motors from starting.
Good luck

 

[iowaowb]

Thanks to you that responded. I wanted to tell you what we ended up finding out. I called our dealer yesterday and they had someone else that had the same problem. Our area has had a record amount of wind the last 2 days and our place is on top of a hill with nothing to stop the wind. Basically the wind is making a draft and letting it overheat which trips the safety devices because the temperature gets to high. It then will not run until the temperature falls below 150 and the etc then resets itself and the blowers run again. Which it did do when I got home. We then set our set points lower 155- 165 until the wind dies down for now which is fine for now until it is colder out. It does seem to be running fine now.Thanks again to those that responded.

 

[Butch(OH)]

Thanks for letting us know. I think the safety your dealer discribed in the snap disk we talked about. Seems to me that they will reset but the temps have to go way down for them to reset them selves? . You can also push the button and reset them manualy.

 

[iowaowb]

Thanks Butch the manual reset is good to know about. I don't know if this wind is headed your way but if it is hang on to your hat! It has really been blowing over here. We have not had any trouble for the most part with our woodmaster either except for last year when we added our pole building to the second port on the boiler witch made it struggle to keep temps up (when there is five of us taking showers in the morning) I then raised the set points up to 170-180 and that took care of it. Looking forward to the weekend to see what the wind did to some dead elms I have been looking at. Also something the dealer said was that woodmaster makes a o-ring that covers up the openings to the fan on the blowers to prevent a draft from occurring but the lower temp seems to be taking care of it.

 

[Jason44]

I just had the same problem with my 5500. The temp was 10 degrees lower than the point I had set for the fans to turn on but they were not blowing. I found this site on my BlackBerry phone while standing out at the furnace scratching my head. After reading all of your posts I decided to fill the unit with cool water until the temp came down to 150, (actually 158 or so) and to my amazement the fans kicked on. Problem solved. The unit had reached 197 at some point, I guess it got to hot and shut itself down. Thanks for all the info!!
Soo..now I'm a new ArboristSite member.
:newbie:

 

[bowtechmadman]

Welcome to the site...glad to hear you got your WM5500 running again.

 

[iowaowb]

I just read the reply to the thread on this.Busy busy holiday times. I was glad to read that this helped you Jason. I think you will find many interesting threads in this forum for information and the people on here are second to none. Welcome to the forum!!

 

[ronaldwshepard1]

Woodmaster 4400 erratic temperature amd blower shut down

I am having a similar problem except today I noticed the temp reading was as high as 255 degrees and moving down and up at will. The water was not boiling and the vent cap had not blown off as it had done on several occasions. I cut the power and restarted the machine which reset the temp to 168 degees, which is about right. I've been having trouble with the blower not running with a load of wood with temps getting low enough for my oil burner to kick on. This pm I found the temp down to 155 degrees and had to hit the reset to get the fan started again.

I'm thinking either the ETC is going out or the temp sensor is shorting out. Anyone know where the sensor is or had a similar situation? How much might I be looking at for an ETC? Our machine is out of the electrical warranty.

Thanks!

Flushed and started our woodmaster 5500 this last weekend and then started it up to make sure everything was going to work. Everything was working great then this morning the water temp was at 157 (the low set point is 160) Tried cutting power and reset they still would not turn on ( the blowers for combustion air) had to go to work any ideas?