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[justinb]

I came home tonight and saw steam coming from the water filll opening on top.  Water temp was 208.  I cranked up the furnace and turned on the bathtub, and got the temp down.  Obviously, something is broke but Im not sure what.  The pump is running, and there is a lot of ash dust in the rear compartment.

I played with the thermostat to try and get the fan to turn on, but it wont turn on now.  Damper solenoid is in the down position.  Any ideas on where to start?  Ive replaced the damper solenoid a few times before.  I cant figure out why the fan wont turn on.  It must have been running when it overheated.

[shepherd boy]

 Sounds like you had a back draft and blew ash in the fan area. Even though the damper is down you have some ash under the damper plate. Flip it up and down and see if it knocks it out. You should hear a clear metal to metal click. If you need to pull the fan and vac the ash out or blow it out. The high limit has tripped so it will need to get down to 150 before the fan will come back on.

[CountryBoyJohn]

Mr. Sheapard Boy has it all right. Another thing you can do at the end of each burning season, and sometimes at the halfway point in the season, is take the air channel off completely and suck out all the ash where the air channel meets the underside of the stove. Lots of ash can build up back there and get blown up the air channel and cause a boil over. The first time you pull that channel off, you'll really have to pull hard to break that seal.

At the first sign of a boil over, go back there and clang the damper. It'll feel gritty at first until you hear a clear clang sound and it closes completely. I've trained all my family and friends who load my stove how to check this.

[justinb]

Thanks guys.  I cleaned everything and were back up and running.  Never knew about the high limit switch. 

[E Yoder]

Yes, it's just an extra safety in case the Ranco control malfunctions. Glad you're up and running.