Whitfield Advantage Optima 2 FS, Installation And Operation Manual

CARE AND OPERATION

PAGE 26 

DAMPER OPERATION (All models) 

The damper is a plate that helps control the amount of 
airflow supplied for combustion. With the damper pushed 
all the way in the airflow is at its minimum. As the damper 
is pulled out, more air is allowed to flow. 

It will be necessary to monitor the appearance of the 
flame during the first 4-8 bags of pellets. If your flame is 
smoky red / orange with evidence of soot at the top of the 
flame, you need more combustion air; pull the damper 
out one notch and re-evaluate the appearance of the 
flame. It may be necessary to continue this process, mov-
ing the damper one notch at a time until proper combus-
tion is attained (the flame should become yellow and be-
gin to “dance”). If the flame is “short” at the higher burn 
rates, or if the pellets are burning up in the grate before 
new pellets are fed into the fire, push the damper in one 
notch and monitor the flame.  Continue the process of 
moving the damper one notch at a time and evaluating 
the flame until proper flame appearance is achieved. 

Once the damper has been properly set, it should not 
need adjusting unless you are changing the grade of pel-
let fuel, in which case the damper may need to adjusted. 

 
DAMPER ADJUSTMENT GUIDELINE 
Lack of Combustion Air: 

By opening the damper, this 

will increase combustion air delivery. Symptoms of insuf-
ficient combustion air include; unburned fuel, lazy smoky 
or red / orange flame, excessive ash or soot, excessive 
buildup on glass.  

Contributing factors: 

• 

High Altitude – Lack of oxygen 

• 

Restrictive Venting (elbows, horizontal runs, 
cold external chimneys, etc.). 

• 

Dirty / Poor Quality Fuel. 

Note: Excessive amounts of fly ash built-up in the grate, 
clinkers in the grate or leakage of air (if the grate is not 
properly seated) will starve the fire for air. See 

Routine 

Maintenance

, on page 28 to 33 for information on clean-

ing the stove.  
 

Excessive Combustion Air: 

By closing the damper, this 

will reduce combustion air delivery. Symptoms of excessive 
air include; fuel burns too quickly (results in smoking or 
smoldering pellets), white to yellow flame, etc. If the 
damper is open too much, the burning pellets will lift off 
the grate and fly up into the air much like popping corn 
does. 

Contributing 

factor: 

• 

Venting system providing excessive draft. 

Correct

Combustion Air / Proper Burn Characteris-

tics: 

When the damper is correctly set, the burning pel-

lets should move (wiggle) around slightly and the flame 
should be bright yellow.  

 
AUTOMATIC SAFETY FEATURES  
Power Outage: 

During a power outage, the stove will shut down safely. 
The stove will automatically restart when power is re-
sumed. The solid state control board has an internal 
memory that will retain heat output and blower speed 
settings through voltage interruptions.  
 

A small amount of smoke may leak from the top of 
the window glass, the hopper and from the combus-
tion air intake, if the stove is vented horizontally with 
no vertical pipe.

 This will not persist for more than 3 to 5 

minutes and will not be safety hazard.  It may set off your 
smoke alarm.  

Note: If the area in which you live is prone to frequent 
power outages, it is recommended that a minimum of 8 
feet (2 ½ meters) of vertical vent pipe be included in a 
freestanding installation to induce a natural draft in the 
event of a power failure. 

 
Overheating: 

A high temperature disc (thermal switch) will automati-
cally shut down the stove if it overheats. Allow up to 45 
minutes cooling time before re-lighting. Keep enough 
convection air (from the room air blower) going through 
stove to keep it cooling properly, this will ensure long life 
of the stove. If the overheating continues, contact your 
authorized Lennox Hearth Products dealer for more in-
formation.