CB1200 fails to feed pellets at start-up

[Crockett]

This is my first season with a pellet stove, and so far I think it's great.
I do have a problem though...
It seems that my Quadra-Fire CB1200 no longer feeds the initial pellets required for start-up. One or two may drop out of the chute, but that's it.
If I manually put the pellets in the firepot before start-up, the fire starts, warms the thermocouple, and the entire feed system performs flawlessly for the entire burn. The problem is that it just won't feed the pellets at the start, with a cold thermocouple.
Any ideas???

 

[mralias]

#2 snap disk good? Vacuum ok? Vacuum switch ok? Is it clean?????? Firepot closed and clean??? Other than that I would suspect a control box issue if it will work once jump started. I have the CB1200i so please post when you figure it out. Good luck.

 

[imacman]

This is my first season with a pellet stove, and so far I think it's great.
I do have a problem though...

Any ideas???

Is the stove new? If so, dealer should fix under warranty.

 

[Crockett]

The stove is brand new, and I keep it extremely clean.
The manual points to #2 snap disk or vacuum problem or firepot door or control box.

How do I know if the snap disk is good or not?

I know that this is a warranty type of thing, but I'm the sort that needs to figure it out for myself first.
Thanks for your replies.

 

[slls]

Page 27 in manual also mentions thermocouple problem.

 

[Crockett]

Problem solved.

I found the nut on the bolt that holds the firepot door mechanism in place was quite loose. I removed the little panel that conceals the ignition so that I could access the bolt, and tightened it firmly. There was also a little bit of debris in that area as well, so I cleaned it out thoroughly. I replaced the panel, tripped the thermostat, hit reset, and it fired up perfectly.
The pull handle for the firepot door is nice and firm now, and it was a little sloppy before I tightened the bolt.
So far, so good. I'll post again if the problem returns.
By the way, great forum!

 

[mralias]

Problem solved.

I found the nut on the bolt that holds the firepot door mechanism in place was quite loose. I removed the little panel that conceals the ignition so that I could access the bolt, and tightened it firmly. There was also a little bit of debris in that area as well, so I cleaned it out thoroughly. I replaced the panel, tripped the thermostat, hit reset, and it fired up perfectly.
The pull handle for the firepot door is nice and firm now, and it was a little sloppy before I tightened the bolt.
So far, so good. I'll post again if the problem returns.
By the way, great forum!

Am I correct in assuming that this means the firepot plate which is openned and closed by the fireport pull rod was not completely closed and that was causing the false feed in the start up mode? If so that would be great to know and a great find as well. Hope it keeps on working for you.

 

[Crockett]

Am I correct in assuming that this means the firepot plate which is openned and closed by the fireport pull rod was not completely closed and that was causing the false feed in the start up mode? If so that would be great to know and a great find as well. Hope it keeps on working for you.[/quote]

The firepot door was indeed in the fully closed position, but was just laying there loose over the hole. When I tightened the bolt, the door was sucked in tight to the chamber floor. The pull rod was always able to close the door, but because they both share the same bolt, it was just really sloppy.

 

[mralias]

Ahhhh.....Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Crockett]

Well that didn't last long.
I woke up to electric heat this morning because the stove had failed. The bolt and trap door are still tight, so I guess that had nothing to do with it.
Bummer.
Now, I can't get it to feed pellets at all. Even when I jump start it by hand loading the firepot for start-up, no pellets. I can hear some movemenent going on inside the hopper from time to time, but nothing comes out.
I'm going to empty the hopper and check out the feed system this morning.

* Does anyone know how to test the #2 snap disk on a CB1200?

 

[slls]

Just by pass it, take both wires off and connect them together.

 

[jtp10181]

You can bypass both the snap switch and the vacuum switch to test those, do not leave the stove in this state though.

I suspect an auger jam or bridge.

 

[Crockett]

Problem solved. (I've said that before...)
Because I could hear intermittent movement in the hopper (even though no, or few pellets would come out), I thought I would try stirring-up the pellets while the unit was running. It turned out that by agitating and stirring the pellets in the hopper, the unit would feed the pellets when called for. Auger jam.
I emptied the hopper of pellets and vacuumed everywhere, with special attention given to the feed system.
While I was at it, I gave the rest of the unit a thorough vacuuming. Because I have only burned a little over a half ton in the last five weeks or so, I wasn't expecting much ash build-up. Wrong.
The back-side of the baffles were about 25% packed with ash, and there was a fair amount by the tubes and in the plenum as well. That couldn't have been helping efficiency at all...
Anyway, after that cleaning the unit ran great! No feed problems whatsoever. In fact, I even had to reduce the feed rate a bit when I was finished. The air blowing out is noticeably hotter as well. And with the price and sketchy supply of pellets locally, I'll be keeping my stove spotless from now on for peak efficiency.
So there you have it... Clean your stove and it will work great!
Go figure...