Repair and replacement of Whitfield Profile model 20 and 30 electric eye

An archived article from the M. Butkus collection. Dates, equipment descriptions and opinions reflect the original source.

Repair and replacement of Whitfield Profile model 20 and 30 electric eye
(proof of fire)

Photo Eye Proof of Flame Sensor for Whitfield Advantage Optima 2 & 3, Profile 20 & 30

Warning, this is for your knowledge only!.
I do not assume any responsibility to you or the safety of your property.
By-passing any safety features and you and your home can become ash!
This is what I have discovered or repaired on my own pellet stove.

There is a photo eye in the Profile models, it tells the controller that you have a fire. If it cannot "see" a fire (bright light) it tells the controller to shut down. If the sensor is dirty, defective, bad contacts it will tell the controller to shut down. If you had a fire going, here comes the smoke. So see update to remove this problem photo eye. If you wish to keep it, a replacement is dirt cheap. Not what others had been told to pay !

I just replaced the photo-eye in a Whitfield Profile as it would light then switch off after 15 -45 minutes even with a burning fire. After I removed the old unit I noticed that it was a Honeywell Plug & Play replaceable CDS unit so I sourced the cells and found they cost $11.95 each. They are standard Oil Burner cells any HVAC company would stock. I now have 2 spares on the way. Thought it might be something you could pass on/use with customers. I paid $60 + $15.5 for the new complete unit from a place online. A guy on ebay wanted $169 for the same unit!!!
I'll be refitting the old housing with a new CDS cell next time.

Part # Honeywell 130367

Part C554A

ALWAYS UNPLUG THE STOVE FROM THE OUTLET IF MESSING WITH WIRING.
New update Dec. 2016 ! - replace the electric eye with a snap switch like most other Whitfields.
A bit of wiring, but check it out ! This has been the most annoying problem with the Reliant stoves, so the stove name makes no sense. People wrote to me that this photo eye, gets dirty (causes smoke shutdown), gets a bad contact after an hour, six hours, sometimes overnight (smoke), the lens melts (used on hight a lot). So replacing this makes sense, and the hole is there. Just need a snap switch (120 or 140 degree) and a bit of wire and know how.

Someone replaced the electric eye with a snap switch that closes
(proof of fire) at 140 degrees.