Mt Vernon ignitor issue?

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Mr. Pellet

New Member
Feb 13, 2010
2
Southern Maine
So I posted yesterday about my thermostat issues and the fix that worked for me, and then through the night it appears my ignitor crapped out. There's a certain irony there I think. Anyway, I got a missed ignition error on the thermostat. I cycled through startup and noticed the ignitor did not come on during startup. Everything else is going strong, exhaust blower is working and pellets are dumping, I just don't get the ignitor to glow red like it normally does. I've checked connections, I get 120v at the harness for the ignitor during startup, but the ignitor terminal ends are measuring open, and the ignitor element is showing almost 6Mohms. I'm thinking I should be seeing 30-60 ohms for this thing. This would be my first ignitor replacement so is this the typical reading for a bad one? Just throwing it out there to make sure I'm on the right track. Thanks everyone.

Jim
 
Hi Mr. P.... The 6Mhohm reading is an open circuit that indicates to me the the igniter is blown. If there are any doubts, you can confirm by removing the ingiter and connecting the leads briefly to 120V to see if it gets warm. If you are overly cautious like me, you can use old extension cord and an outlet that is controlled by a wall switch. Cut off the female end of the extension cord, strip the wires and connect to igniter lead (with wire nuts or suitable crimp lugs). Plug it in with the wall switch "off" and turn on for few seconds. No heat at all will confirm the meter test you did.

Carl
 
time for a new one. your warranty will cover it.
 
I'll bet the 6Meg ohm reading is your test leads touching your fingers! If your sure the ohm meter is working ok the igniter has gone open.
 
For what it is worth I had to replace mine after 3 yrs of heavy use. Dealer confirmed that that is about the norm. In two yrs I'll pre-buy one and have it handy.
 
Two year warranty on the ignitors. They have a new burn pot that gives the ignitor more air.
 
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