Help! My stove won't light ...

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caseyclan

New Member
Dec 23, 2007
66
Missouri
I have a CB 1200 i. It has been working fine until this morning. The red call light is on, the pellets start falling, the exhaust fan is running, but ... no heat from igniter. I replaced the igniter, but still no heat. Inside the box, after I first plug it back in (after unplugging it to "reset"), I see a flicker of amber light followed quickly by a red light that stays on. All the while, the pellets will fall, the auger stops, wait a bit, and more pellets fall, the auger stops, etc, etc.

Could this be the thermocoupler? If so, is there a way I can rule it out??

Thanks for any help offered.
 
Anyone?? I just need advice on how to determine, if possible, its the thermocoupler. My dealer in the area is always weeks behind so it could be late January before I have my stove serviced. I really some advice. Thanks
 
Casey just so you don't think your being ignored! I don't have your model stove, and could not locate a service manual on-line for you. I'll bet somebody will chime in at some point today as most people are out straight right now.
That said I have the Quadrafire Castile, it sounds like my stove is like yours. I don't think a defective thermocouple would stop the igniter from "igniting" I think it just signals the control board that you have proof of fire and then later have reached operating temperature otherwise the stove goes into shutdown.

Hang in there help is on the way.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I just got off the phone with quadrafire and he said that it sounded like stove was in test mode due to the fact that it continues to feed pellets vs waiting for fire to start before feeding. He stated that the red light indicates an open circuit. I checked the ignitor wires very closely but I didn't see a break. He said it shouldnt be an issue if I wanted to manually light it, so I may have to consider doing so. I have an identical stove in another room and could move the thermocoupler from it but was hesitant to do so unless i knew for certain that was the cause. Im stumped ...
 
Hi Casey - While waiting for someone with specific CB 1200 experience to chime in here are some generic things to check.

First - If you light the stove manually (handful of pellets and some alcohol based hand sanitizer or plumbing torch) does it run with a normal flame? The reason I ask is perhaps you have a air leak. The igniter most stoves work by drawing a bit of combustion air over the igniter into the burn pot. If you had a large enough air leak the igniter won't heat the pellets.

Next - Do you have an OAK, and could it be blocked? If the air for the igniter comes via the OAK, then a blocked OAK could hamper things.

Have you confirmed that the igniter is absolutely not getting hot? If not then try removing it and carefully connecting it directly to a 120V outlet for a few seconds to see if it gets hot. If the ignite now works, then I think you are looking at a bad control board, or just a bad connection.

Carl
 
check your pm I sent you a link ;)
 
I also am not familiar with your stove, but is there a seperate fuse for the ignitor? My Thelin has 1, and of course if it is blown the ignitor will not heat up. Just a thought.
 
If you have a multi-meter, set it to Ohms and disconnect the ignitor wires from the stove. Then touch the meter leads to each of the ignitor leads and see if you get a reading, if not the ignitor is bad even though it doesn't look burned through. I just had a 2 week old ignitor go bad the same way it looked ok but did not Ohm out, after replacing it the stove lit right up.
 
caseyclan said:
Carl,
What is OAK?

Also, I can see and touch ignitor during start up. In this case, its not getting hot or even warm ...

OAK=Outside Air Kit. Not relevant any longer since you've confirmed zero heat from the igniter.
 
TC controls the auger and igniter, yellow light means TC problem. Check to see if TC is all the way in the ceramic holder.
I can find the mv readings when heated if needed.
 
Sorry about delayed reply. Family in for christmas and issues with Internet. Anyway, called and left message with dealer to get help. Of course, he never called back. It is the worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life but that's for another day. Called Quadrafire and the service rep said it sounds like break in circuit for TC so call the dealer, good luck and have a great day. They could care less that I have a crappy dealer. After all, my stove has been paid for and business is good, right? Anyway, while hoping dealer would call back, I cleaned out stove really well and check TC. Wiring. Replaced ceramic cover and noticed a potential crack in wiring at end. Trimmed the end, positioned more wire towards burn pot, twisted newly trimmed wire and placed cover on. Reconnected juice, and .... So far, so good. Has worked ok for several days. Will keep watching it closely. Thanks to all of you who took the time to offer help in one way or the other. It was very helpful! Thanks again and I'll update again soon. Still waiting for dealer to call me back .... Ridiculous, isn't it, especially in this economy .
 
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