Monitor 41 E-12 Error?

[Maddog]

Hi,
Searched awhile here and elsewhere and can't find a description for the E-12 error code that is showing. Tank is about 1/2 so there is fuel. Cleaned the filter screen a month aog for regular maintenanace and continued to run fine after that. Noticed that just before the E-12 code showed up, that there was an awful sooty smell coming from it, then the heater shut itself down. Any ideas out there?

[hawkins111]

Error Code

Sorry, but there is no E12 code for any Monitor Heater.

Tom

[Maddog]

I thought that was odd too after seeing a lot of E-13, E-14 and E-08 codes mentioned in other threads in this forum and some other places but not E-12. However, I must have the 'extra special' model because there is no question this one is showing an E-12 code on the front panel. I have taken a picture of and will post it if I can figure out how to get it into a reply.

I hope anybody is not taking my comments above sarcastically or in a bad way, it is just my luck in the past month with this 30 year old house where everything seems to be going bad at the same time. It would be just my luck lately that the I am the only one in history to get the E-12 code.

[Maddog]

Monitor 41 E-12 Code Image

Attached is a photo of the E-12 code the panel is showing. Other symptoms are:

- Sooty smell started about two months ago, and as a first thought maybe a dirty screen I cleaned that and it kept working fine after that, although the smell has been getting gradually stronger. Then it got real strong just before it died yesterday with the E-12 code.

- For past 2-3 weeks have noticed intermittent flashes of yellow in the combustion chamber with accompanying 'whumping' noises, like a flare-up.

[Maddog]

Talked to a monitor dealer\repair guy in the nearest town 100 miles away and he found an older service manual for the M41. Apparently there are two cicuit boards for the M41, the earlier verison that was made he said for only a couple years had up to E12 error codes (attached as PDF), but the newer ones did not have that code and had more advanced diagnostics. The text of the E12 erro code reads:

Reason of Indication:
When unit is shut off either manually or automatically, flame rod does not detect flame out within 300 seconds.

Trouble Point:
Driving circuit of RL6 or excess fuel in burner pot.

So - now that I know what the E12 code is desribing, what can be the things or bad parts that can cause this situation? The mention of 'excess fuel' has me a bit nervous in trying to re-start the heater again if for some reason it is kicking out too much fuel.

[Maddog]

Here is error code attachment.

[Bryand]

Your heater has the original circuit board that was installed before the recall. That is not a real bad thing however they were known for puffing a larger yellow flame at the inital start up some would puff 8 or 10 times. Some were worse than others. Your heater if the power goes off comes back on at 72 degrees instead of 50 degrees. Here is ther real problem. Your heater may have never had the recall done on it. If so you have the old burner with the old burner ring. You can tell by the access door to the burner. The old ones were grey just like the outside of the burner pot. They new ones have a stainless access door to the burner. If you have the old burner chamber you will have to have a entire new or used burner chamber, pot and burner ring as the new burner rings will not fit the old burner chamber. If you have the new style burner chamber describe how long the heater runs before it shuts down with a little more detail and maybe I can help you out.

[Bryand]

There were a few dealers that put the new pot in and left the old board. Also some of the people liked the old board because they would prefer the heater to come back on 72 instead of 50 since the 40's did not have the reset.

[hawkins111]

M41 error codes

Good info Bryand. Here is western Alaska we had only one dealer and he stopped selling parts and stoves altogether around 1990 or so. I got my dealership in 1997. By that time the 41 manual had been revised. No one at our local wholesaler ever mentioned any refit of M41 and the manuals we got showed only the newer error codes. I only lasted 2 years as a authorized dealer so I didn't get much help for them. My dealer manual is dated 1997 so it is pretty old. Thanks for the correction.

Tom

[Maddog]

Thanks gents for all the good info. As I am going back in the series of events, I realized the heater never actually shut itself down - I hit the off button on the control panel because that was to my mind the shortest route to stop it from stinking so bad. Only at that point did the E-12 code came up.

About an hour ago I ran across someone on the web who had 'blown it out' so to speak to take care of a possible over-carbonization problem, by unplugging the temperature sensor and running it on full blast for an hour. Well I did that by plugging the heater back in and unplugging the temp sensor (panel temp readout went to 42), then turned on the heater full blast (max. 90) and kept it on about an hour.

The result is that the stink started coming back very strongly at about the 15 minute mark and just kept getting stronger from there, so I don't think this remedy is going to solve anything (and all the doors and windows are open with 25 degrees outside just to keep from passing out).

I can't tell if the chamber access door is stainless or not at this point with all the heat discoloration.

A couple more things I noticed:

1) after the 'burnout' attempt, I could still see some yellow flames (not just orange burner ring glow) thru the combustion window for at least 3 min after I plugged the temp sensor back in and turned the temp down to get the burner lights to go off (the fan was also still going which is normal I think). Is the flame still supposed to be going after the burner lights go out?

2) I can see some significant blacking\darkening on the fire sock just after the elbow on the exhaust as it exits the unit, around the edges of the area covering what looks to be a 1 x 2 inch rectangle making a bulge in the connection. Could it be that this darkening is caused by a leak at this joint?

Bottom line, what the main symptom is is a severe sooty stench and I am trying to cure that, but in the process maybe self-inflicted the E12 error code in trying to shut it down and that is a red herring. Any ideas
on what the root cause of the stink is would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Maddog

[Maddog]

Looking at this fom a plain mechanical common sense point of view, because the stink seems to increase with the increase in temperature, maybe there is a gap in some seal or gasket in the exhaust chain that widens as the surrounding metals get hotter?

[Bryand]

It has been a really long time since I seen a old burner but pretty sure it is painted grey and I think the outer edges of it was rounded instead of having a lip raised lip around it. If you can take a picture of the burner and post it I can tell you which burner you have. To find out if you have a leak you can take a cigarette lighter or a barbacue lighter before the circulation fan comes on run it around the door to see if you have a leak you can also check around the heat exchanger. If before the fan comes on and you move the lighter around the door and screw holes the flame will blow around but u must do it before the circulation fan comes on. It is possible that you have a bad o-ring in the heater where the elbow goes into the heater or into the exahust pipe. If you are getting yellow flames you need to check the burner mat in the bottom of the burner pot and also check the burner ring to see if it is cracked or warped. Also if your combustion blower is making a whinning noise it could be that the bearings are bad and slowed the motor down causing it not to get the proper air pressure causing yellow flames. However the first two things I would check are the burner ring and the burner mat. 9 times out of 10 that is your problem as far as the yellow flame.

[HayZee518]

to me the sooting is incomplete combustion of the kero. the combustion blower is the first thing to come on when you start the heater and the last thing to shut down when you shut down the heater. incomplete combustion is because of a poorly rotating blower, the internal damper solenoid getting stuck in low when it's supposed to fully open on high. this means a bearing replacement is necessary. there must've been a build up of soot in the exhaust offset elbow that goes from the heater to the exhaust tube, or there is a solid blockage in the exhaust tube [the center pipe of the exhaust tube]
stainless steel is not magnetic. check this with a magnet. also stainless steel as it heats up goes through several color changes as it heats up, then reverts back to a normal straw color. the combustion pot burns itself in then stays a dark metallic hue when it cools off. the inside of the pot gets sooted up and shorts out the flamerod either by getting so hot that it distorts and touches either the pot side or the burner ring or shorts out internally due to carbon flakes. a test setup using a 1n4004 diode and a 100K resistor will verify your flamerod circuit. the stink is almost normally gaskets. there's one in the viewing window, one around the cover for the viewing window, the top of the pot, the outlet to the first exchanger fin, and one at the bottom of the pot to heater base. there's an O ring in the exhaust offset where it goes into the heater and one where the offset goes into the exhaust tube.
any monitor defaults to 42 degrees when the thermistor itself opens up or the wiring is disturbed.

[Bryand]

There are a couple ways to tell if yours has the old board in it. One is by unplugging it from the outlet and when you plug it back up it should come back on at with the operating temp. of 50 if it is the new or current board. If it is the board that was recalled it will come back on with the operating temp. at 72 degrees. Also the old boards did not have the extra plug for a reset to be installed.