Almost really bad?

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arking1

Member
May 29, 2008
19
Long Island, NY
I have had a Quadrature 1200i for seven or eight years. Some years I have used it more then others. Burning only a ton in a winter or up to 3 tons. I have had a couple small issues over the years, but nothing major. I clean the stove once a week. I cleaned the stove yesterday (Sunday) and everything has been working good. I have noticed it hasn't been burning as clean. The glass has been getting dirty quicker and more "dust" in the stove to vacuum out. I was at the bottom of a pallet so I thought maybe that was it, but I guess not. I have been burning good pellets I thought.... they were Okanagan Gold

On my way to work my wife calls me. She was home with the stove and started to smell smoke. She checked stove and sees way more flame then normal in the stove. I tell her to turn thermostat off. When I get home five minutes later there is still a lot of fire in the stove. Even though the fan isn't stoking the fire there is a pretty big lazy fire burning out of the burn pot. The scary part was the stove was slowly feeding pellets. We unplugged the stove and that stopped the pellets from feeding. Gradually the fire burned down and there are quite a few pellets in the burn pot (more then half full). Stove was so hot the paint above the door on the stove cracked. It seems like if someone wasn't home this could have started a fire. I had the hopper full of pellets and you could feel they were getting warm.

What would cause this to happen? I thought I have maintained the stove properly and there always seem like there are good safetys built into the stove. I don't know if I will ever feel comfortable with this stove again.

Thanks
Ryan
 
I would be checking the entire exhaust path, from one end to the other. This sounds like a dirty exhaust. Could the slow feed of pellets been what had backed up into the drop chute? Did the feed rate get changed somehow? I am curious as to why neither snap disc tripped if the stove got that hot. Are you sure the #3 didn't trip and shut down stoves electrical? Was any fans running when you got home? We need more info to help. Need to know if discs shut stove off or not. kap
 
When was the last time you did a deep clean of the internal exhaust pathways and exhaust venting? What do you do for that? This is usually the #1 cause for burn problems...

What condition/ how old are gaskets i.e. door gaskets, combustion blower, firepot?

Edit: Not likely this - just registers there is fire... Thermocouple could be damaged, not properly seated in ceramic cover or not properly positioned over burnpot.
 
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Quadrature ?
 
All of the fans shut down. There was nothing running, just a slow steady trickle of pellets. Feed rate was normal before this event. I forgot to mention that another time this winter the stove shut down and when I checked it the hopper had a bunch of unburned pellets in it. I guess it was not smart to not investigate this further, but after I cleaned the burned pot everything worked fine.

The stove had gotten so hot that a pellet I had dropped while loading the stove that had gotten caught in the grill where the heated air enters the room was smoldering....
 
I would tare the stove down and do a very thorough cleaning and chasing of the dust bunnies out of the motor windings etc.. If your not confident or don't have the tools, its time to get a pro in to get all the motors and switches checked and cleaned. Stove may need new set of door gaskets as well as it past five years old. Kap can add several other things too.
Now are we talking about a Quadrafire?
 
I have been burning okanagan golds as well in my 1200i. They seem to be good pellets, but they are very dusty with a good amount of fines in each bag. Probably won't be buying them once the ones I have now run out.
 
Sorry for the typo.. It is a Quadfire.. Gotta love autocorrect.

I checked this morning the door at the base of the flu pipe going up the chimney and there is nothing blocking or any buildup in that area.

If I am going to use this stove I would have to get a pro in. Lost most confidence with this stove. I thought I have been following the instruction book all along, but I guess I have been missing something. The scary part is it seems like this would have just kept escalating if someone wasn't home.
 
Yes, it is time for a professional to check this stove out. kap
 
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