05-25-2018, 05:07 AM
Richard brings good advice!
While we were at the rally, Rudy talked me through doing service on my AH. I felt grateful for his guidance and finished with the feeling that I was no longer intimidated by this gadget. That lasted about 4 hours until I realized that the the AH was now cutting off and when it did run, I was getting smoke. Hmmmm. Rudy came back down to my spot and pulled the burner. His trained eye saw that my ignitor posts were mis-aligned.
(There is a little gauge mounted to the side of the burner that tells you the proper alignment). I had bumped them out of alignment when I re-installed the burner.
Once the ignitor posts were aligned the AH returned to proper operation.
Here is why I did not figure it out on my own. If it was an ignitor post problem.....why would it cut off after it lit. Wouldn't the flame carry on and the ignitor turn off? Rudy will correct me but my mental image is that ignitor and the fuel spray have to remain on and consistent for the duration of the burn. In my mind something had gone terribly awry with my unit. I was imagining the little metal box controller had lost its mind.
Lessons Learned: 1) Horses instead of Zebras....in other words look for the simplest thing that could possibly cause the fault. 2) Annual maintenance on the AH is easy and inexpensive and you should do it ....er..... annually.
While we were at the rally, Rudy talked me through doing service on my AH. I felt grateful for his guidance and finished with the feeling that I was no longer intimidated by this gadget. That lasted about 4 hours until I realized that the the AH was now cutting off and when it did run, I was getting smoke. Hmmmm. Rudy came back down to my spot and pulled the burner. His trained eye saw that my ignitor posts were mis-aligned.
(There is a little gauge mounted to the side of the burner that tells you the proper alignment). I had bumped them out of alignment when I re-installed the burner.
Once the ignitor posts were aligned the AH returned to proper operation.
Here is why I did not figure it out on my own. If it was an ignitor post problem.....why would it cut off after it lit. Wouldn't the flame carry on and the ignitor turn off? Rudy will correct me but my mental image is that ignitor and the fuel spray have to remain on and consistent for the duration of the burn. In my mind something had gone terribly awry with my unit. I was imagining the little metal box controller had lost its mind.
Lessons Learned: 1) Horses instead of Zebras....in other words look for the simplest thing that could possibly cause the fault. 2) Annual maintenance on the AH is easy and inexpensive and you should do it ....er..... annually.
Bill Johnson
Birmingham, Alabama