How to get to the vacuum hose-stove end

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rahines2

New Member
Dec 24, 2015
1
Wapakoneta, OH
I have a Quadra-Fire Classic Bay 1200 insert pellet stove purchased in 2010. I am having problems that it won't stay running. I have checked the vacuum hose and it is clogged. I can't get a wire through it so I need to get it completely off, and also make sure the stove end connection is cleared. I can't see where the stove end connection is for the vacuum hose. Can anyone tell me exactly where the vacuum hose connects to the stove and the best way to get to it? In looking at the back of the stove the hose heads toward where the pellet auger and chute area but there is a back cover on the stove that the hose goes past and blocks me from seeing where the hose goes. The back seems to be held on by quite a few screws so I wasn't going to take it off unless that is the way to get access to the hose connection.
 
Happy holiday rh2 and welcome to this forum !

I don't have your particular Quad model but many parts issues cross-over, so until someone chimes in who has a CB insert, I'll make a couple suggestions. I assume you can access the vacuum switch end of your vac hose? If you have some Dust Off or similar canned compressed air you can usually blow the vac hose clear from the vac switch end. I assume you tried to blow it clear unsuccessfully with your mouth ? You might just need more pressure that the canned air provides in order to clear it.

If that won't clear it out, like most insert related parts access, you will have to take off the side access panel to get to the back side of the auger tube. Near the top of the auger tube, the vac hose connects to a small nipple. You can pull the hose off at the nipple to make sure there aren't any cracks in it, where it gets exposed to heat. If there are cracks in the hose, or it doesn't seem to have a snug fit on the nipple, you can just trim back the end a bit to get to a 'fresh' section of hose. You can clean the auger nipple out with a toothpick or a straightened out paper clip, and hopefully you'll be good to go.

If the pellets you're burning are particularly dusty, the fine sawdust may be building up in the upper end of the auger tube, near where the vac hose nipple is. If your shop vac or whatever you vacuum the stove with has a small enough diameter hose you can feed it up the pellet drop chute and clear the sawdust out that is built up. If the vacuum hose you have is too big to fit inside the drop chute you can take a small section of garden hose and duct tape it to the crevice tool connected to the larger vac hose. Or you can take a straightened out metal coat hanger and feed it up the drop chute and poke around, then vacuum out any loose sawdust from the bottom of the chute.

Post back if this fixes your problem, or if it doesn't, in case you have a different vacuum related issue. Regards, DK
 
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I have a Quadra-Fire Classic Bay 1200 insert pellet stove purchased in 2010. I am having problems that it won't stay running. I have checked the vacuum hose and it is clogged. I can't get a wire through it so I need to get it completely off, and also make sure the stove end connection is cleared. I can't see where the stove end connection is for the vacuum hose. Can anyone tell me exactly where the vacuum hose connects to the stove and the best way to get to it? In looking at the back of the stove the hose heads toward where the pellet auger and chute area but there is a back cover on the stove that the hose goes past and blocks me from seeing where the hose goes. The back seems to be held on by quite a few screws so I wasn't going to take it off unless that is the way to get access to the hose connection.

The line runs from the vacuum switch up through to the auger area. You will have to pull off the auger cover in the hopper to get access to the top connection. If you disconnect the line from the vacuum switch and blow and or suck you can most of the time clear the line. However, if you have never pulled the auger cover off and cleaned that area then you really should as you will find a build up of fines which is most likely what has clogged the line. Pictures are tough to find on this as there is no real clear shot to see the complete run of the line. It is also a pain to feed the line once removed. So if you plan on removing the line make sure to tie some sort of wire or string to use as a feeder when installing a new vacuum line. The line does have to be high temp vacuum line. I got some on ebay and keep some on hand as every time I remove the line from the vacuum switch I have to cut it off the switch. Does not take long until you run out of line to reuse.

This is what I have used to replace it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-METERS-PU...ash=item2c97ed933a:g:fzwAAOSwyQtV3KsK&vxp=mtr
 
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Also make sure you poke a stiff wire in nipple on drop tube, that the hose attaches to make sure it is clear of fines. kap
 
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One thing from reading your post is, if the vac line was clogged, the stove wouldn't even start feeding pellets. May be more to this then that. Time will tell. kap
 
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