Hi, first time poster, thanks in advance. I have a Quadrafire classic bay 1200 8+ years old. It's worked flawlessly 24/7 as the only heat source. After a good cleaning I fired it up for first time this season and the convection fan didn't turn on. It was slow to ignite and we got some smoke in the room. I was thinking it was the door gasket so I replaced it. Still no luck. It ignites but the flame is lazy and after 20 minutes you can still touch the glass. I'm still thinking it's got to do with air flow but I'm not ruling out a bad fan. Any thoughts or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jim
Quadrafire CB 1200 - Convection fan doesn't turn on
- Thread starter pelletpain
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PutnamJct
Feeling the Heat
This post has the operational sequence for the quadrafires:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...use-n-replacing-it.136706/page-3#post-1837467
Follow it step by step, even if it seems obvious.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...use-n-replacing-it.136706/page-3#post-1837467
Follow it step by step, even if it seems obvious.
That's great, thank you. Ok, the thermocouple lights came on red then green. What I think was the #1 snap disk was closed (meaning nothing protruding) still no convection fan. It also cycled back to red then green on the control box. Thanks, Jim
PutnamJct
Feeling the Heat
I seem to go through a fan every 2-3 years. Usually they start whining and I know they're toast beforehand. I would test the fan directly and make sure it is good before going through the rest.
The convection fan is not going to cause a lazy flame. Sounds like an air flow issue which might explain why it is not getting up to temp for the convection fan to turn on. Could be two different issues but I would first figure out why the flame is lazy. Did you clean out the vacuum line to the vacuum switch? Did you make sure the fire pot door is closed all the way? Did you make sure the thermocoupler is pushed all the way into the thermocoupler cover? Is the door adjusted to pass the dollar bill test? I assume you cleaned the entire venting system to include all VENTING. (no little critters living in there right?) Did you remove the combustion fan and make sure it was put back with the gasket in the right place? Did you adjust the pellet feed on high so that it is not getting too many pellets at once? If you pulled the fire pot during your cleaning did you make sure the gasket and pot are seated in the right place?
Just some things to look for. Let us know how you make out.
I have heard some whining once and a while when it spun up in the past. I've read that you can just test them directly with something like an old lamp plug?
Ok, thanks everyone for all the great suggestions. First, I'm confident that the door is good (yes, I did the dollar test). As for the venting, I didn't remove the combustion fan (this feels like a major oversight right now) but I did brush out and vacuum all the venting from the clean out on the exhaust and the clean out on the right side. I'm going to take a look at pulling out the combustion fan and report back. Also, is there any way to tell if a snap disk is shot by looking at it? Or is there a way to test it? Thanks, Jim
First things first. You need to make sure you have a clear exhaust path and figure out why you have a lazy flame. If you didn't remove the exhaust fan, it could be dirty and running slow, or just some blockage. Follow mrallas post . If you have a fresh air return, make sure it isn't blocked either. kap
Snap disks can be checked with a multi tester, heat gun and a temp probe, however, it is very rare that a snap disk is defective. If stove does not get up to proper temp the disk will not close to activate the convection fan. Make sure you have a new gasket ready for the combustion fan cleaning. You will need it. You can always pull the convection fan and check it direct if you are comfortable working with 110 volts suicide cord. If your not comfortable with it do not attempt it. ALWAYS UNPLUG YOUR STOVE BEFORE WORKING ON IT. Do not want to fry the motherboard.
I pulled the combustion blower and while it was clear, the gasket was shot. I'm going to order a new one and give that a shot.
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