Wallas 95D Heater Cover Fan Not Working

sjhantzis

My 95D Wallas stove starts and works fine but the fan for the heater top doesn't work when I lower the hood. The unit has very few hours on it. Any thoughts?

dutch123 · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 3:31 pm Post subject:

Look underneath at back of stove you will see a lever conected to hood this actuates a switch when hood is closed, check for corosion you might be able to repair otherwise replacing this unit is a good start.

journey on · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 5:49 pm Post subject:

Well, how about that. The darn thing died this summer on Journey On and I'm going to share what I found out.

First, we got through the summer with an ECOFan which is actually better than the lid fan. First, the E-fan is quiet. Second, the E-fan can be pointed at the V-berth so it warms that place up a little before you get out. And, finally, the E-fan doesn't wear out.

Second, while on the trip, I called Mike at Scan Marine for advice. Mike is a very helpful person, pointed out the switch is $75 and he would replace it if we dropped it off, for the $150 cleaning fee. This later grew to $100 for the part and a bit more for the installation. Fair enough. However, Mike pointed out that a 5 yr/old Wallas needed several more parts replace to guarantee reliable operation.

Third, so this has become a home repair job. I pulled the Wallis out with the help of Tom/Primitive PDF doc: Wallas Stove Service . He doesn't mention the lid, but the aft screws on each side remove the lid, which is shown below. You'll also have to disconnect 2 sets of wires, one to the lid switch, the other to the relay.

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You're looking at the bottom of the lid/cover, with the blower fan on the right, at the rear of the lid. The black cube at the top right is the power relay which drive the fan motor. The most important part is at the bottom right and is the lid blower switch, complete with junction board and a thermal switch. The problem seems to be not with the micro-switch, but corrosion on the board. That's the $100 item, and I'm not questioning the price. What I'm worried about is that Mike said that switch is prone to die, since it's in a place which catches a lot of crud.

My plan is to replace that microswitch with a manual switch that can be turned on when we want heat from the Wallas. Have one i bought for $5 from the auto parts store, and I'll mount it at a distance from the stove. That switch only drives the relay, so there's no real power going through it.

At the same time, I'll follow Mike's suggestions, and replace the start-up motor, etc, etc, as detailed in Toms document. that should only be ~$100 in parts (at this time.) And after reading the above, you may want to send that stove to Scan Marine. I figure the total bill would be ~$500.

By the way, just to make you happier, it was mentioned that the Wallas 85 model, introduced right after we bought Journey On, fixes all these problems. The story of my life.

Boris

Hunkydory · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 6:15 pm Post subject:

SJ

All good stuff from Boris. One other thing you might check is the fan motor & if it's running but the fan isn't then the motor shaft to the fan bushing. On our last Southeast Alaska cruise I had to tear the Wallas down as show by Boris in Sitka, Alaska. The shaft is superglued to the bushing & found the glue had failed. Repaired that but in the process of checking it applied direct 12 V to the fan motor & found out quick that's a no no. Voltage fed back & took out the switch & junction board shown by Boris. Thought at the time it was the main control board it took out so ended up without the Wallas for the rest of the cruise, which was over a month.

Jay

Captains Cat · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 7:44 pm Post subject:

And here is the THREAD about disassembly of one. Have fun!

My IRA · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 10:51 pm Post subject:

Wow,

For the money that these stove/heaters cost, one would think that they would hold up better.

sjhantzis · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:50 am Post subject:

Great post, Journey On, which Ecofan model to you use? I see there are two listed for wood stove use, an 800 and an 812.

Thanks,

SJH

rogerbum · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:30 am Post subject:

journey on · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:52 am Post subject:

I bought the cheapest EcoFan available. Works great.

I put it over the small burner on the Wallas, so it blows over the large burner. I once made the mistake of putting it over the large burner so it would run faster. It did run faster, to where I thought it would come apart. But those clever folks at EcoFan put a small metal insert in the base to lift it off the burner when it gets too hot, sort of a thermal safety switch.

Put it over the smaller burner.

Boris

sjhantzis · Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:37 am Post subject:

I tripped the microswitch with a fillet knife and it seems to be working fine -- for the moment.

Pandion

sjhantzis · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 8:39 am Post subject: Microswitch

The fan has failed to turn on a couple more times since my original post and I've always "corrected" the problem by tapping it with a filet knife.

Hunkydory

Chester · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 2:16 pm Post subject:

Love-Hate.
The concept is great, the execution... Not so much.
Look at your tiny cell phone and it's incredible abilities.
Now, look at the crude 20th century motherboard, sensors, switches and unrealistic voltage demands on the Wallas.

Pandion · Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 4:55 pm Post subject: Re: Microswitch