How does your vacuum switch work? Rate your stove.

Even where its located, its negative pressure. So it works the same way. If the hose deteriorates, no pressure = no power to auger. Positive pressure is after the Combustion blower, starting at the stove adapter.

Vacuum switch is a vacuum switch. Gonna take "negative" pressure to suck it in.

What model St. Croix is it? Is it in good shape?

turbotech said:

I have been looking at a St Croix stove. The auger gets power through a pressure switch. That is, instead of firebox vacuum it works from exhaust pressure.

If the exhaust after the comb fan has no pressure then the auger gets power. So if the exhaust is not plugged then the auger feeds. It seems like a bad & smoke filled room if the comb fan stops working. Still no pressure in that case which will cause smoke & over firing. Also, suppose the hose deteriorates......then no matter what the auger gets power with a plugged exhaust.
This seems like a bad design. How many other stoves are designed like this?

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What model St Croix?

That's strange my presscotts vacuum switch is normally open and closes with negative pressure.I haven't heard of any positive pressure st croix stoves.Got any pics of the stove?

From page 8 of the owners manual.

The Vacuum Switch - For the stove to operate, the Firebox needs to be sealed. During the first 30 seconds after the stove has been turned on the Control Board will check if the switch senses negative pressure (Vacuum) in the Firebox of the stove. If there is no negative pressure, the stove will shut down and the #2 LED will start blinking. (See Figure 2 on Page 5 and point 2 on page 15). “Power Resetâ€. If the board becomes unresponsive you must unplug the stove, wait 10 seconds and plug the stove back in to reset the board. “Internal Alarmâ€. When the control board becomes unresponsive, the control board is in Internal Alarm. The control board has sensed one of the Safety sensors. This may cause the stove to go out. In some cases, after waiting approximately 45 seconds the stove will start responding to the control board again. Many times, the cause of this is a change in the vacuum inside the stove. This may be caused by excessive wind, opening the Firebox door or opening the Ash Pan door. The control board will monitor the vacuum switch and resume normal operation if the vacuum returns to normal. Safety Features 1. â€High Limit†switchâ€, an overheat safety switch will shut off the fuel feed if the Stove reaches temperatures above normal operating temperature. This is a “Normally Closed†switch and is part of the Fan limit control. If the High limit switch trips several times, the problem in the Stove must be diagnosed before the Stove is put back in service, (Defective Room Fan, dirty Room Fan, defective Fan Limit Control or possibly a bad Control Board) 2. Proof of Fire switch also called the P.O.F. This senses the temperature rise in the exhaust system. The switch is “Normally Open†and closes the circuit at 110 degrees. The Stove will shut down if temperatures above 110 degrees F are not sensed during start up or if the temperature drops below 110 degrees during normal operation. 3. Vacuum switch also called the Negative pressure switch. When the stove is turned on the Exhaust fan will create a negative pressure in the firebox. The control board continually checks to see if Negative Pressure (vacuum) is present during operation of the Stove. If the exhaust venting system becomes clogged or obstructed, the firebox door or ash pan door are left open or the exhaust fan quits working the control board will go into “Safety shutdownâ€. There is a 60 second window to allow for cleaning the glass and removing the clinker before then Stove shuts down. This is sufficient for the Daily Maintenance The St. Croix Pellet Stove has been Safety Tested by an accredited, independent laboratory

Maybe I am reading it wrong. But I dont think it can be positive pressure. What happens if the switch leaks? Then it releases CO in tue living space. If the diaphragm becomes compromised, and still gets enough pressure to run.... Never heard of a newer stove that doesnt utilize a vacuum switch. Vacuum being negative pressure.

You may be right. But it doesnt seem right. Vacuum switches tend to operate under vacuum. Just sounds odd. Seeing how all new models got away from any positive pressure systems. The combustion blower is still under negative pressure. Thats why smoke does not leak from the gap around the shaft for the blower. Air is still sucked in there. After that point (1st section of vent) is positive pressure.

Maybe someone who owns one can comment. Forum member Heat seeker owns one.

Afton Bay is a beautiful stove. If you can get it cheap enough, grab it up

Love the Versa Grate system too. Anything that can clean itself is awesome. Although some have complained of noise, I am sure that some high temp anti-sieze would take care of it (or some light grinding on the tight spots).

For $500 (if you can see it burn) sounds like a good deal to me. But I would want to hear from Afton Bay owners. Put Afton Bay in the title and get responses from owners who currently heat with one.

How big is your house? Ranch, split-level, or multi-story?

What are you heating with now? (No stove in your Sig)

My Afton bay switch works on vacuum. The port is on the same side as the switch, up behind a baffle. It's a good spot, very unlikely to get plugged. The port is very easy to get to, should it get plugged.

My stove heats most of a 2400 sq.ft. colonial, 1970' vintage. It's very easy to keep clean. It holds just slightly over one 40 lb. bag, not as much as advertised. I hardly ever run it wide open, except occasionally to burn it out.

Unless it had serious physical damage, I'd buy it in a heartbeat at $500. That's a steal, around here anyway. It has a pretty flame, too.
The ash traps have to be kept clean, and both ends of the heat exchanger tubes can get packed ashes in them, which impedes airflow. I can do a pretty thorough cleaning of mine in about 10 minutes, including the glass. Recommend you grab that stove!

turbotech said:

The switch on this Afton Bay is normally closed. Appling postitive pressure makes it an open. It is opposite of what you describe. Most stoves are as you described above which use neg press (vacuum) and a normally open switch. Switch closes with neg press.
This isn't like that.

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When I see ANYTHING with a normally closed safety switch, I get sick to my stomach. I watched a man get crushed to death because the safety switch on the German injection molding machine was a NC switch. Contacts burn together and you think it's safe = DEATH. Not good at all.