Concerns from a new owner of QF CB1200

Mr_Joshua · Jan 3, 2014

Hi there!

I purchased my first pellet stove in October of 2013. After much deliberation I settled on a Quadra Fire CB 1200. It was installed professionally and worked like a dream for the first month. I clean the burn pot and fire chamber almost daily and do a full clean (baffles, heat exchangers, fans..) weekly.

In November however, we started experiencing nuisance shutdowns at night. Fully opening the feed gate and pressing the reset button gets things back up and running, and I started vacuuming the hopper and auger out every 5-10 bags. That seemed to do the trick for awhile, but now it happens several times a day.

Additionally, my flame is not constant. I'll have a really small flame then a lazy, smoky flame, and closing or opening the feed gate has become a micro task. I don't think I should be making 15 adjustments per bag of pellets. Though I will note the average sizes of the pellet batch (GWF brand) I have now ranges from 1/4" to 1".

Lastly, over the past few weeks the heat output has been subpar. When we first got the stove we couldn't even stand in front of the blower. Now, not only can one stand in front of the blower, one can comfortably touch the metal on the front of the stove without fear of a burn. With this output the stove really struggles to heat my house on single digit days, and will constantly run because it cannot reach the thermostat setting. I often have to manually shut the stove off to clean the burn pot out because running all day with no breaks causes a lot of clinker buildup. You can imagine this is not optimal on a day when it is -11F outside.

I have not yet called my installation technicians, I was hoping to resolve this without a service call, but I am out of ideas.

Does anyone have any advice for this pellet stove newb? It would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Jaymaine34 · Jan 3, 2014

When was the venting cleaned last ? Full stove cleaning ? What brands of pellets have you tried ?
My house was at 77 last night ( first floor ) 2nd floor was 70 running on low most of the day did go to med at about 4 pm
Stove ran most of the day . Man it was cold . Ran on med all day house stayed 75-77 even turned off for a few hours .
I think you need a good cleaning stove and venting . Then let's try a better pellet .

rparker · Jan 3, 2014

First thing: check all of the door and ash pan gaskets. The dollar bill test will tell you if you need to adjust the latches.
Next check the sliding plate at the bottom of the burn pot. The gap should be less than the thickness of a dime. You can get to the adjustments through the plate on the front that is about the ash drawer. While this is open check to make sure the chamber between the burn pot and ash pan is clean.
Then check the exhaust chamber. Open the right side door, there is a plate with 4 screws. This is the chamber that leads to your exhaust vent pipe, clean out all ash being careful not to hit the exhaust fan.
Next check your exhaust piping for build-up ash and clean accordingly.
Also check the holes in the burn pot. Some pellets are more prone than others to clog up the holes.
Hopefully these will help, if not let us know.
Good luck.

Mr_Joshua · Jan 3, 2014

Jaymaine34 said:
When was the venting cleaned last ? Full stove cleaning ? What brands of pellets have you tried ?
My house was at 77 last night ( first floor ) 2nd floor was 70 running on low most of the day did go to med at about 4 pm
Stove ran most of the day . Man it was cold . Ran on med all day house stayed 75-77 even turned off for a few hours .
I think you need a good cleaning stove and venting . Then let's try a better pellet .

I have only run GFW so far. It was all the store had and I bought 2 tons... About 20 bags into my second ton now.

Then venting has never been cleaned, but I was reading another thread about pulling the convection blower to check for pet hair. I think I will try that tomorrow. I did a full clean after my first ton, but I didn't open any of the motors up, I just did exteriors, scrubbed the baffles and heat exchangers down, and the ash trap on the exhaust.

Mr_Joshua · Jan 3, 2014

I also run the stove on high and can't get the temp on the first floor past 62. Upstairs is 55 with an electric space heater to supplement.

Not good for my electric bill. :-(

Mr_Joshua · Jan 3, 2014

rparker said:
First thing: check all of the door and ash pan gaskets. The dollar bill test will tell you if you need to adjust the latches.
Next check the sliding plate at the bottom of the burn pot. The gap should be less than the thickness of a dime. You can get to the adjustments through the plate on the front that is about the ash drawer. While this is open check to make sure the chamber between the burn pot and ash pan is clean.
Then check the exhaust chamber. Open the right side door, there is a plate with 4 screws. This is the chamber that leads to your exhaust vent pipe, clean out all ash being careful not to hit the exhaust fan.
Next check your exhaust piping for build-up ash and clean accordingly.
Also check the holes in the burn pot. Some pellets are more prone than others to clog up the holes.
Hopefully these will help, if not let us know.
Good luck.

Thanks,

I adjusted the door a few weeks ago when I was able to slip a dollar through the gasket. Exhaust chamber was done around the same time, but I've been bearing really dirty since then so I will check it when I take a peek at the blower. I'll check the burn pot as well, have not opened that panel yet.

chken · Jan 3, 2014

Mr_Joshua said:
Hi there!

I purchased my first pellet stove in October of 2013. After much deliberation I settled on a Quadra Fire CB 1200. It was installed professionally and worked like a dream for the first month. I clean the burn pot and fire chamber almost daily and do a full clean (baffles, heat exchangers, fans..) weekly.

In November however, we started experiencing nuisance shutdowns at night. Fully opening the feed gate and pressing the reset button gets things back up and running, and I started vacuuming the hopper and auger out every 5-10 bags. That seemed to do the trick for awhile, but now it happens several times a day.

Additionally, my flame is not constant. I'll have a really small flame then a lazy, smoky flame, and closing or opening the feed gate has become a micro task. I don't think I should be making 15 adjustments per bag of pellets. Though I will note the average sizes of the pellet batch (GWF brand) I have now ranges from 1/4" to 1".

Lastly, over the past few weeks the heat output has been subpar. When we first got the stove we couldn't even stand in front of the blower. Now, not only can one stand in front of the blower, one can comfortably touch the metal on the front of the stove without fear of a burn. With this output the stove really struggles to heat my house on single digit days, and will constantly run because it cannot reach the thermostat setting. I often have to manually shut the stove off to clean the burn pot out because running all day with no breaks causes a lot of clinker buildup. You can imagine this is not optimal on a day when it is -11F outside.

I have not yet called my installation technicians, I was hoping to resolve this without a service call, but I am out of ideas.

Does anyone have any advice for this pellet stove newb? It would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Sounds like you need to clean your vent. Has the lazy flame and clinker issue always been there, or did it worsen over time?

Mr_Joshua · Jan 3, 2014

chken said:
Sounds like you need to clean your vent. Has the lazy flame and clinker issue always been there, or did it worsen over time?

Over time. When it got colder and I started burning more.

Would make sense. I just touched my vertical rise and it's cool. Stove has been going all day.

So uh.. How would I do that? Is there another thread with instructions? I know it has a clean out trap, but I've never cleaned out an exhaust vent before.

Mr_Joshua · Jan 3, 2014

I mean, I'm guessing I'll need a chimney brush and rod. I see people using leaf blowers on YouTube, but I have 8ft of vertical with 3 elbows. I'm going to need an extension ladder just to reach my cap.

chken · Jan 3, 2014

Most here use a 10pc Linteater kit that they sell at Lowes. Some just rod the pipe and others attach to a drill, but be careful not to spin the brush off, by reversing. The Linteater kit has an adapter to fit on your vent pipe that also attacks to an ash vac or shop vac, so you can vacuum on one end, while rodding from the other.

I attach the ash vac adapter to the bottom of my T, and rod from the top, but it all depends upon your vent setup, as I think most people rod from the bottom.

The leaf blower trick is something I haven't tried, even though I have the cheap electric blower people use. It depends a little on whether you have a place to blow the fly ash to, and whether the wind blows in a favorable direction. For me, I think it'd make a mess all over my house!

Mr_Joshua · Jan 3, 2014

chken said:
Most here use a 10pc Linteater kit that they sell at Lowes. Some just rod the pipe and others attach to a drill, but be careful not to spin the brush off, by reversing. The Linteater kit has an adapter to fit on your vent pipe that also attacks to an ash vac or shop vac, so you can vacuum on one end, while rodding from the other.

I attach the ash vac adapter to the bottom of my T, and rod from the top, but it all depends upon your vent setup, as I think most people rod from the bottom.

The leaf blower trick is something I haven't tried, even though I have the cheap electric blower people use. It depends a little on whether you have a place to blow the fly ash to, and whether the wind blows in a favorable direction. For me, I think it'd make a mess all over my house!

Thanks for the info! If cleaning the convection blower doesn't work tomorrow, I'll probably make a trip to Lowes and scrub the pipe.

adam9823 · Jan 4, 2014

Mr_Joshua said:
Thanks for the info! If cleaning the convection blower doesn't work tomorrow, I'll probably make a trip to Lowes and scrub the pipe.

If you still have

Mr_Joshua said:
Thanks for the info! If cleaning the convection blower doesn't work tomorrow, I'll probably make a trip to Lowes and scrub the pipe.

One of the things I would look at is the Firepot pull rod assembly (linkage). When you pull the pull rod it opens the fire pot trap door and the exhaust plenum trap door. The exhaust plenum trap door bolt could have loosened and most of the time fell out. This would leave the exhaust plenum open and the result is lazy flames and very dirty burn. The easiest way to check this is to take the ash pan out, take the two screws off the panel above the ash pan ( under the lip of the stove) and look at the linkage. Pull the pull rod, both trap doors should open together. This is very common on new CB1200's. GOOD LUCK

Mr_Joshua · Jan 4, 2014

adam9823 said:
If you still have

One of the things I would look at is the Firepot pull rod assembly (linkage). When you pull the pull rod it opens the fire pot trap door and the exhaust plenum trap door. The exhaust plenum trap door bolt could have loosened and most of the time fell out. This would leave the exhaust plenum open and the result is lazy flames and very dirty burn. The easiest way to check this is to take the ash pan out, take the two screws off the panel above the ash pan ( under the lip of the stove) and look at the linkage. Pull the pull rod, both trap doors should open together. This is very common on new CB1200's. GOOD LUCK

Tried this like you suggested. Everything looked good. Vaccumed out a bit of ash, both trap doors are clear and there are no gaps.

Jaymaine34 · Jan 4, 2014

Mr_Joshua said:
Thanks for the info! If cleaning the convection blower doesn't work tomorrow, I'll probably make a trip to Lowes and scrub the pipe.

I would start with the venting first cleaning the blowers will help . Cleaning the venting is pretty easy . If you have a photo of your setup that would help . Based on how you described it you could either go from the bottom or top if your comfortable on a ladder .

Jaymaine34 · Jan 4, 2014

How well is your home insulated ? How large of a space are we talking about ?

Mr_Joshua · Jan 7, 2014

Jaymaine34 said:
How well is your home insulated ? How large of a space are we talking about ?

93 year old house with a mix of fiberglass (renovations) and blown in cellulose (existing). All new windows, exterior doors have some draft, but not bad. 1800 sq ft of space, two floors. Stove is on first floor. One vent in ceiling that goes into upstairs hallway.

Mr_Joshua · Jan 7, 2014

Jaymaine34 said:
I would start with the venting first cleaning the blowers will help . Cleaning the venting is pretty easy . If you have a photo of your setup that would help . Based on how you described it you could either go from the bottom or top if your comfortable on a ladder .

From the back of the stove I have a 4-5 foot rise, then a 90 elbow through the wall to another 90 outside which then rises up another 4-5 feet before you get to a 45 elbow and a cap.

The bottom of my clean out tee is only about 2" off the pad though. It's hard to access.

Attached is my inside setup, I'll post outside when I can.

Mr_Joshua · Jan 7, 2014

This is how the flame looks, even with the feed gate 3/4 of the way closed I get this tall lazy flame that licks the baffles and covers them with soot. The heat exchanger tubes soot up too and I need to clean them daily if I want any decent heat output.

Mr_Joshua · Jan 7, 2014

Mr_Joshua said:
From the back of the stove I have a 4-5 foot rise, then a 90 elbow through the wall to another 90 outside which then rises up another 4-5 feet before you get to a 45 elbow and a cap.

The bottom of my clean out tee is only about 2" off the pad though. It's hard to access.

Attached is my inside setup, I'll post outside when I can.

Mr_Joshua · Jan 7, 2014

The other annoying habit of this stove is that the pellets keep bridging and causing the stove to shut down. Usually at night, because nobody is up to adjust the feed rate. I hate not being able to rely on the stove to run properly when we go to bed.

Lake Girl · Jan 8, 2014

Mr_Joshua said:
The other annoying habit of this stove is that the pellets keep bridging and causing the stove to shut down. Usually at night, because nobody is up to adjust the feed rate. I hate not being able to rely on the stove to run properly when we go to bed.

I hate to tell you but it's not necessarily the stove's fault but the pellets. I burn Heartland pellets and never have a bridging problem. I tried some Trebios, had the stove go out twice before I finally figured the pellets were bridging. Glad to get the Heartlands back in the stove... Yes I pay more for these pellets but I never wake up to a cold house because the stoves out.

Hoping that your exhaust venting is 4"... If you've burned a ton, time to brush and clean. It may be a major PITA with all the elbows though. Good luck!

Jaymaine34 · Jan 8, 2014

Lake girl is on the money ! Clean the vent and try a different pellet in our area the Energex softwoods are a good choice . They are a shorter pellet less ash . Will help with the bridging and ash ! I know it's a pain to clean but well worth it ! I do mine every ton . I'm willing to bet if you do these 2 things you'll see a huge difference ! I know all of this seems like a lot but it's all pretty easy . If you have to have the stove company clean it ( watch them ) you'll see how straight forward it is . I used to have mine cleaned then I watched them and said I can do that ( I think I do a much better job ! )
Almost very time I clean it I figure out a better way to do it !
Also with the pups check the blowers and vacume out what you can ( a small paint brush will help clear away any pet hair )

Jaymaine34 · Jan 8, 2014

Also when you clean the vent do a total cleaning of the stove before you change pellets vacume out the hopper

tjnamtiw · Jan 8, 2014

I also had a lot of bridging in my inserts at the top of the chute because of extra long pellets AND I found that there was an aluminum safety label all balled up at the end of the auger that apparently had never been fastened properly. You might want to take a flashlight and small mirror and look up the chute to see if there is a partial obstruction up there.

Mr_Joshua · Jan 8, 2014

My lint eater showed up from amazon today. Scrubbed my vents and cleaned the hopper.

Blower came on about 5 minutes ago and the house temp has already gone up 2 degrees.

Looks like it did the trick!

Thanks everyone for your input! Looks like the next step is to try a new brand of pellets...

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