Effikal flue damper not closing

[try2diy]

I have an Effikal RVGP-KS-6BKF FLUE Damper on my heating system.

With the cold snap, I noticed that the house was not heating above 66. what I discovered was that the damper was open. I disengaged the motor, and was able to manually close the damper. I reattached the motor, and when the system clicked on, the damper operated correctly and the flue opened.

When the system cycled off however, the damper motor did not close the flue. I repeated this several times, and the result was the same: flue opens as it should, but it does not close, [ unless i manually closed it ] which is its raison d'etre

2 questions:

Is there a way to trouble-shoot and -fix- this malfunction, or does the whole unit need replacement?

Is the 'Field Controls 46491600' the correct plug and play replacement for this unit

 

[Gary]

Does that damper close electrically or is there a return spring that's broken or missing?

 

[try2diy]

it closes and opens via the motor

 

[Gary]

Maybe try carefully manually opening & closing a few times to see if it's hanging up on the flu somewhere? (the linkage)

 

[try2diy]

as stated in the third paragraph, i did that...

so looking for other ways to troubleshoot and hopefully fix

 

[try2diy]

Is that it guys? No one here can offer any help?

 

[bud16415]

Sounds like you need a new unit maybe. The motor is ether shot in the one direction or not getting a signal.

I’m not and expert but I’m guessing it has 3 wires going to it one wire opens it one closes it with some kind of internal limit switches to open the circuit once it has reached full open or close.

You could try switching the wires and see it it works the oppsite direction than it does now. Or you could put a meter on it and see if you get reverse voltage when it changes direction.

If you do a electrical trouble shoot and determine it is bad then replace it. if the unit is good then it is the device that controls it is bad or a loose wire.

It is a pretty basic circuit if you can come up with a diagram maybe we can help you more.

 

[try2diy]

thanks Bud

was hoping there might be a link to a schematic here. google has been disappointing, so hard to figure out what does what on the unit. Just want to make sure its not --something else-- before I buy a new unit.

 

[bud16415]

Start with counting the wires going to it and following them back to what controls them. sometimes there is information on the name plate voltage and such. Sometimes manufacture sites have a help number or some link to PDFs that are the original paperwork.

I don’t know if you will find a real expert here on that particular unit. Our heating pros stop in from time to time and help out but they are busy people also. I did a quick search and saw a new one is about 100 bucks. So worth fixing if you can.

 

[try2diy]

Just because I hate hanging posts, I am following up to close this thread.

my Effikal RVGP-KS-6BKF FLUE Damper had, as far as the folks at Field Controls were concerned, a bad circuit board, I expressed my concern about replacing the device it it were possible that it could be some other cause, but they didnt really reply in a definitive way. i replaced it with the 46491600 unit and the heating system is working as it should now. ~ $85 online, from numerous suppliers.