Bummer...new Santa Fe needs service after 1 day.

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pelletqueen77

New Member
Sep 19, 2010
38
Philadelphia PA
My new quad Santa Fe was just installed yesterday, we ran it all day and there was a very very low flame. I had thermostat on 90 just to see it crank and the room it was in would not get over 70. Called the stove store today and he said I might need a service call but try tonight one more time. We took all pellets out and checked the auger and nothing is stuck, checked the feed auger it is all the way open, ran it on high, med. and low and if I sit on my couch there is no flame for me to enjoy watching and the heat isnt pouring out of the stove either. I am sitting here now looking at it after running it since I got home and I can not see a flame at all, just a glow.

Now I have to take off work again for them to fix it. Bummer, I was so excited for this stove and the past 2 days have been in the 50's and rainy. My luck.

I will let you know what they find.
 
That sucks... I love my Sante Fe....
 
Sounds to me like the stove is starved for air....what do you have for exhaust setup..pipe size...how far up and out....Are the pellets that burn burning clean or smokey? Also..what do you mean by "checked the feed auger it is all the way open" are you referring to the feed rate control inside the pellet hopper....If it is all the way open you may be smothering the stove. Try readjusting it to almost all the way closed (1/4 inch from all the way down).....I keep mine all the way down.
 
As peirhead asked, we'd need to know more about your install. Pics of the inside pipe & outside pipe would help a lot.

If I remember correctly, you did the install yourself?

If not, then the installer should have run the stove after they were done to make sure everything was working correctly.
 
I have the unit in a corner with a 3 inch pipe and it goes outside about 2 feet. The pellets are burning really clean and little ash. I stopped it and just restarted it again and put a handful of pellets in the burnpot and that is the only time I get a nice flame, then it dies out again.

I am sure I will love it once this issue is worked out. I will call them first thing tomorrow morning. Luckily it will be in the 70's the rest of the week.

I told the stove store guy that if I had the ceramic logs it would be a big waste. I cannot see any flame.
 
I had it professionally installed, and the installer did run it and when I saw the flame I had to leave for work and left my husband to finish up. He never had a pellet stove before and it was my project so he really did not know what to expect.

I will take pics tomorrow in the daylight to show the install and the stove. I ended up making a base of tile on plywood and then some trim. It looks really good, took a few hours and cost less than $60.00.
 
pelletqueen77 said:
......and put a handful of pellets in the burnpot and that is the only time I get a nice flame, then it dies out again......

It's possible that you have too much air going through the burnpot. It gives a nice hot flame for a while, but burns the pellets too quickly. Check your owners manual....does the stove have an air damper control?

EDIT:

Look at P. 25 of your manual....Section E & F "Fire Characteristics" and "Feed Rate Adjustment"
 
You might be 'bridging' at the top of the feed chute with long pellets. Take a mirror and look up the chute. You should see just the auger and not any pellets because at that point, they would have dropped down. You can also take a butter knife (just the right length) and stick it up the chute and move it around vigorously. See if a bunch of pellets fall out. This happened to me a couple of times.

As far as having the control box set incorrectly, when you first plug it in, how many flashes of the blue light do you get?
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, I just read page 25 again in the manual and checked and tried everything there and unfortunately still doesnt work. The settings info is good to know when the service guy comes out. I guess the installer was in a rush to leave my house and saw the stove fired up and took off.
 
Wow, this forum is the best. Everytime I try a suggestion and sit back down to the computer another suggestion is waiting for me.

I am not sure about the blue light when it comes on. We will have to check that one. I just saw in manual about taking the side off the stove.

Just so you guys understand, I am the female here trying to fix this thing, hubby really did not want the stove and of course I am having problems. He will warm up to it once we save all that money not using the heat pump. I think I am just going to have to wait for installer to come back. This is crazy that this things doesnt work from the get go.
 
pelletqueen77 said:
...I guess the installer was in a rush to leave my house and saw the stove fired up and took off.

A GOOD installer finishes the install, starts the stove, waits to make sure the stove is functioning properly before they leave, and explains what controls do what and how to adjust them. They are also supposed to answer any questions you have.

That installer better not try to charge you to come back out.....
 
Please do the butter knife up the chute for me, just to make me feel better. it has to happen to more people than just me!!!!!!! I applaud your patience in not doing bodily harm to the hubs!!!!
 
Sorry to hear you're having a problem with the Santa Fe, but I think once its working properly youre going to love it. I have the Castile insert, and when mine was installed they had to adjust a screw on the control unit to get the proper flame. Once that was adjusted they put the feed rod all the way in, for the slowest feed and lowest fire. Then the feed rod was moved out about 1/2 inch or so and that gave a nice sized flame, but later on I put the feed rod back in all the way to slow it down, and give me a smaller flame. Most of the time my insert is on the Low setting, and my flame on Low rises up over the edge of the firepot by about 3 inches most of the time, and then it will drop back to just a glow like yours for a minute or so until more pellets drop in then it goes up again. This is normal accorcing to the dealer.

Another thing, is when a Quad starts up it starts up on the High setting, no matter where you set the rocker switch at, and it will run on High for 4 minutes, this is normal, then it will drop back to whatever you have your switch set at. I leave mine on Low most of the time unless it gets down to 20 degrees or below in real cold weather then I usually kick it up to Medium if I need more heat. I found that for my living area I never have to set it on High, but I have run it on High for a couple minutes just to take the chill off the room faster. In 3 years of running mostly on the Low setting I never had any creosote problems as some people complain about here from running a low fire for a long time. I kick it up for a few minutes every now and then and its fine.

Quad stoves and inserts are very simple to run, they have no draft settings its all done automatically. It has a feed rate rod you can adjust, and a 3 position rocker switch for Low Med, or High settiing, the room blower speed is also determined by the rocker switch setting as well, so the Quads are fairly simple, there are not complicated adjustments to make. I will also give you a cleaning tip that the dealer gave to me. When you go to vacuum up your ashes and brush around in your firebox, before you do that click your stove on, and immediately click it off, before it has time to dump any pellets, this will allow your combustion blower to run while your inside cleaning, and willl suck any ash dust you make or stir up out and up the vent so you wont end up with ash dust in your living room. I find it very helpful, and that blower will run for about 14 minutes or so and turn itself off. You can then turn your stove on and enjoy.


Good luck, let us know what they find out....
 
When I got home tonite I put a butter knife up the chute and about 6 little pellet pieces came out, there is definately nothing stuck up there. I fired it up and it sure smokes alot outside and it is burning now but on high the flame is still really low. The stove shop is sending a tech out on Sat. to fix it.

I am posting a new thread with all my pics and I have pics of the smoke to see if it is normal too.

Thanks all!
 
not sure if you mentioned you have the outside air kit installed, a separate flex pipe to bring air into the unit from outside....
 
Yes, as was mentioned in the other thread, try opening a window a few inches and see if the flame changes. If so, then you need to add an OAK to the stove.

If not, then you have a problem with the stove set-up for sure.

Keep us up-to-date on how you make out w/ the service call Sat.
 
My bet is still on adjusting the screw on the control unit to set the fire I think its an altitude adjustment or whatever but all Quads have it and should be set at factory but my dealer says many of them are not set up.
 
smwilliamson said:
It is your possible that the control box is set for the wrong stove. Check with your dealer but I think the correct setting is #3. Check with the installer too. someone should have fired this thing to check draft settings.

Actually it should be set to 6....you can put it on 7 to slow the combustion fan and increase the speed of the convection fan to get 10% more heat from the stove.
 
Is it safe to adjust it to 7 ??
 
Ok so here is my troubleshooting for tonight (thurs.) - ( manual definitately isnt in stove ) I have read it front to back 2 times.

1. take side off and see what this thing is set at
2. watch blinking blue light
3. i will put butter knife up shoot again
4. after it is start it I will open a window and see if that helps.

I will soon know this thing inside and out. It is becoming a challenge now and I love a challenge.
 
You really don't have to pull it apart to see what the box is set on. Just unplug it and plug it back in. The blue light will flash so many times every 10 seconds for a minute. You should see 6 flashes as havlat said. 7 for the free standing Sante Fe gives 10% more heat but I haven't tried it. Now IF YOU DON'T GET 6 flashes then you need to get at the box to change it. DON'T FORGET TO UNPLUG THE STOVE BEFORE CHANGING ANYTHING~!!!!! In fact, unplug it any time you are digging around in there because most of it is 110 volts, not low voltage.

Also, if you have a small mirror and flashlight, try to look up the feed chute. I had one jam caused by one of the metallic self adhesive warning labels that somehow came loose and was jammed at the top of the auger. Another time I had a packing 'peanut' up there!!!! It is AMAZING what that auger finds!!!!

I am very impressed at your 'go get 'em' attitude! That's great!
 
havlat24 said:
smwilliamson said:
It is your possible that the control box is set for the wrong stove. Check with your dealer but I think the correct setting is #3. Check with the installer too. someone should have fired this thing to check draft settings.

Actually it should be set to 6....you can put it on 7 to slow the combustion fan and increase the speed of the convection fan to get 10% more heat from the stove.

hmmm, i never looked at these settings on my santa fe in the basement.....

..
 
I put it to 7...and it makes a difference.. more heat comes out...
 
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