Stove Notes

How to inspect a used Toyostove. Used stoves can be a great deal (just avoid the 30s, 55, & 72.) but you need to know what to look for. You should always fire a Toyostove before purchasing. A full firing cycle takes over 10 minutes, so be patient.

  1. Take the front cover off.

  2. First when you power on, listen for any noise (squeaks/ rumbles/ howls) — this is the blower motor.

  3. After a number of minutes, look inside the bowl for the flame — it should be blue. Yellow, erratic, and high flames indicate non-ideal combustion.

  4. Take a look at the fan on the back. It should start spinning about 8-9 minutes after powering on. Make sure it spins, and listen for any noises (squeaks/ rumbles/ howls) — this is the circulation motor.

  5. Notice for diesel smells — is it raw, or burnt exhaust?

  6. Visually inspect gaskets, air hoses, fuel lines, and O-rings.

Generalized Troubleshooting Common Error Codes:

  • EE2 — This code signifies that the flame detector did not detect a flame at all. This could be caused by such things as a failed fuel pump, blocked fuel nozzle, or broken igniter. It is, however, most commonly a fuel related issue. If your fuel line has an air gap, the fuel won’t siphon into your stove. You can remove the fuel line (always using 2 wrenches), and see if fuel is flowing to simply address this problem. If not, you’ll have to look back up the line by cracking the line between filter and main run, as well as the filter itself.

  • EE6 — This code is generated by the same flame detector, but it indicates that it did detect flame, but it died out within 7 minutes. This code is most typically a carbon backup related issue. Your fuel nozzle could be clogged (a simple fix by removing the fuel line from the fuel bowl, and poke in with a paper clip), or it’s more likely that the entire system is backing up and will continue to. This stove will most likely need a gasket rebuild and cleaning, and the motors may already be overstressed.

  • EE8 — Go directly to jail. Don’t pass go and collect $200. This is a failed blower motor, which inevitably means replacing the part, and it’s one of the most expensive in the stove, especially on the 56/73/730 series. This problem is often caused by and related to overbuilt carbon in your stove. A gasket rebuild and cleaning is generally warranted.

  • EE12 — This means the internal stove temperature has breached 196 degrees, and the high limit switch has triggered a shutdown. Most commonly, this will require changing the circulation fan motor (the fan/ motor combo on the back of the stove). This is a simple fix without having to open the stove box. It can also be other less obvious factors like combustion, and the way air, fuel, and surfaces are contacting inside the burn pot, which could require a gasket rebuild and cleaning.

Should I buy a new stove or fix my old one? In general, it is financially reasonable to fix your stove rather than buy new. The components that need maintenance and fail are typically 1) the combustion and heat exchange system — fixed with a rebuild and cleaning), 2) the blower motor (must replace), 3) the circulation motor (must replace).

With this triad fixed, your stove should run at basically new condition. We find the cost to do all three of these things is typically around 50% of the cost of a new stove. The stoves with all of these failing have generally been run very hard for a very long time, yet other main components such as the circuit board and fuel pump rarely fail. The other parts that do tend to fail are heat related, so if your stove has been run this hard for so long, it is possible that there will be cracking and warping in the metal components of the burn chamber, the igniter, and the draft tube which will add to the total expense. When you start adding in these parts, the total cost to rehab a stove could near 60-70% of a new stove.

Our recommendation is to retire 30s and other older models, and to rebuild 56/73, 60ATs, 300s, 530s, & 730s.

If you have the Laser “30A” The Laser 30A has a distinctive power button, pictured here. This model stove was redesigned, and some parts were discontinued. If you have the “A” model and you have the means to upgrade to the Laser 300, we suggest you do. We are also interested in purchasing 30As, in order to continue providing service on these stoves as long as we can. The market price for a rough condition 30A is around $300-400.

If you have any Laser 30 with burnt fuel smell. There may be no way to fix this short of replacing nearly all of the interior burner parts ($800-900). The Laser 30 was redesigned, because it used too complex a system of burner parts, using four gaskets in place of the latter two gaskets.

Laser 55 & 72. Do not buy these stoves. Toyotomi has discontinued providing all manuals and advice, because of a fatal flaw that could fill your room with fuel and/or ignite a fire that can escape the box! We won’t touch them.

If you are trying to decide between various models of Toyostove. The Laser 73/ 56, as well as the modern 731/732 stoves seem to be the most reliable, because of their style of blower motor. We continually see these last a decade, before breaking down. The reason these stoves are different is because all other stoves use a single fan to produce positive air pressure through the system. The 73/56 stoves use two fans to produce positive & negative air pressure, which seems to result in more reliable performance. Furthermore, the lower a temperature a stove is run, the longer it will last. For this reason, even oversizing to these models may not be a bad decision for a long-term budget. There is some public belief that the more often a Toyo needs to turn on, the faster it will wear out, but we do not see evidence for this. Most stoves seem to fail due to combustion issues, which are made worse by higher heat and longer burns. We do not see systems directly tied to the number of firing cycles, such as the fuel delivery system, fail nearly as often as gaskets, followed by carbon build up, and motor failure.