First fire this season - Quadfire 1200i won't start

[shorehaman]

Hi guys,

I fired up my Quadrafire CB 1200 i this morning for the first time this season and had difficulty. These are the symptoms:

1. When I plugged the power in, I thought everything appeared normal. The control box went through its normal cycle - the blue light blinked every 10 secs for one minute, then went out.

2. When I turned the thermostat up, the red call light came on and the igniter came on, but the combustion blower remained off and the auger motor did not come on. I pressed the reset button several times but nothing happened.

The stove is less than a year old and ran well throughout the season. When I shut it down in April I did the year end maintenance. I also cleaned it as stated in the owners manual during the heating season . I also brusehd out the stack as suggested in the manual.

I called the dealer this morning and found out that he apparently is out of business, so I appear to be on my own at this point. Hopefully, some one out there can point me in the right direction.

Any suggestions? Thanks for any help you can offer

Bob

 

[THE ROOSTER]

Being less than 1yr. old I would do a dealer search and find another dealer... I would unplug the stove for an hour or so and plug it back up and try it again... I do not own your brand of stove, but know with it still being under warranty I would have a dealer look into it...

 

[slls]

Well normal cycle is the combustion blower should come on when the stove is powered on. I don't know how easy it is to get to the combustion blower on the insert, but go to it and see if it turns. Should be a plastic fan on the end, turn that by hand and see if it moves.

 

[moralleper]

also on quads when you plug it in, the combustion fan should turn on during the blue light routine.

 

[slls]

also on quads when you plug it in, the combustion fan should turn on during the blue light routine.

My 2008 CB1200 has no blue lights that I have ever seen, just green and red if you know where to look.

 

[wil lanfear]

Hi guys,

I fired up my Quadrafire CB 1200 i this morning for the first time this season and had difficulty. These are the symptoms:

1. When I plugged the power in, I thought everything appeared normal. The control box went through its normal cycle - the blue light blinked every 10 secs for one minute, then went out.

2. When I turned the thermostat up, the red call light came on and the igniter came on, but the combustion blower remained off and the auger motor did not come on. I pressed the reset button several times but nothing happened.

The stove is less than a year old and ran well throughout the season. When I shut it down in April I did the year end maintenance. I also cleaned it as stated in the owners manual during the heating season . I also brusehd out the stack as suggested in the manual.

I called the dealer this morning and found out that he apparently is out of business, so I appear to be on my own at this point. Hopefully, some one out there can point me in the right direction.

Any suggestions? Thanks for any help you can offer

Bob

According to the owners manual, page # 38, if you as the owner removes the control box, it will void the warranty. In order to troubleshoot an issue like this it should be done at the control box with a multimeter to confirm that power is going to this motor, not sure if you can get to where the motor plugs into the wiring harness to measure the voltage . The combustion blower connects to terminal # 13, its a blue wire, (pg #39) between terminal # 13 and a neutral should measure 120 volts on power up, if it does you will have to pull the insert out in order to remove the blower for inspection. I would say the dealer has to do the troubleshooting or the warranty will become void. I would make a attempt to find another dealer to look at so as not to void the warranty or at the very least, to supply the motor under the warranty if needed.

 

[slls]

[/quote]According to the owners manual, page # 38, if you as the owner removes the control box, it will void the warranty. In order to troubleshoot an issue like this it should be done at the control box with a multimeter to confirm that power is going to this motor, not sure if you can get to where the motor plugs into the wiring harness to measure the voltage . The combustion blower connects to terminal # 13, its a blue wire, (pg #39) between terminal # 13 and a neutral should measure 120 volts on power up, if it does you will have to pull the insert out in order to remove the blower for inspection. I would say the dealer has to do the troubleshooting or the warranty will become void. I would make a attempt to find another dealer to look at so as not to void the warranty or at the very least, to supply the motor under the warranty if needed.[/quote]


page 38 says do not open the control box it will void your warranty, then it states how to remove the electrical plug.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

its possible the control board is fried. Have you had any power surges or lightning strikes? is your insert plugged into a surge protector?
If you find a dealer thats close, the parts will be covered by warranty, but the labor will not.

 

[shorehaman]

Thanks for all the comments.

I will keep looking for another qudrafire dealer. Unfortunately, there are none that are close. I will let you know what can of response I get.

A few responses to some of the suggestions:

1. Unplugging the unit and then plugging in again an hour later did not succeed - same response.

2. I certainly will not plan to remove the control unit any time soon. That is more than I want to take on at this point.

3. I have not had the unit plugged into a surge protector to date. But it was unplugged all summer and had worked unitl I unplugged it last summer.

I have read the trouble-shooting section in the manual and watched the video again. One possibility is the vacuum switch, They suggest that I remove the rubber tube from the switch and blow it out. I have checked that out, but the hose is not easily pulled off, so I want to make sure that pulling is the right approach to removing the tubing. Any suggestions?

Bob

 

[Bkins]

Pellet stoves can be tough to work on, because of lack of room. Try to get a long handle, flat blade screwdriver, to pry the hose ends off. I would not just pull on the hose as that action makes the hose harder to get off.

Did you disconnect any of the motors during your cleaning process? Like the exhaust blower or combustion blower. If you did then go back and make SURE the electrical connections are on and not loose. Wouldn't hurt to take a flashlight and go over all the electrical connection and make sure nothing is loose. Important:::: Unplug the stove prior to doing anything to it.

Bkins

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

the vacuum switch could defiantly cause the problem, its a little premature, but it could defiantly be bad. JTP is a quad dealer, hopefully he will see this and can advise. Control boards seem to go out if you sneeze on them. (all brands)

 

[jtp10181]

The Vac switch would cause the auger not to turn, it would not stop the comb blower.

The Comb blower would not run for one of these reasons

- Overheat snap switch is tripped (has a reset button on it)
- Motor is stuck
- Control board is bad
- wiring issue

I am not of the exact location of the snap switch on that unit, but there are 3 total. Two of them should have reset buttons on them. Unplug the stove and try to find them. One should be on the side and one should be on the auger tube someplace. If you hear / feel a click when you press the button it, it was tripped.

The comb blower should come on as soon as you plug the stove in and run for about 10-15 minutes.

 

[shorehaman]

Thanks so much for your advice.

I will let you know the outcome when it is resolved. I plan to talk with other dealers on L.I. today.

Thank goodness that it is not cold yet and I have time to resolve it.

Bob

 

[bullycrazy]

Hi Bob,
Same thing happened to us with our Quadrafire Santa Fe. We bought ours used so it's hard to find someone to service what they didn't sell. Anyway I have been working on it all morning, troubleshooting by the user manual. I took the back off found one of the snap discs on the back of the feed tube and tried to reset that.....nothing. Took the vacuum tube off and blew some dust out of that, thought that might be it, but again no change. I followed the color wires listed in the manual to find the other 2 snap discs......in my Santa Fe they are both located on the side with the reset button. Looking at the pellet stove it would be the right side. Anyway there was one going to my vacuum switch and I pushed the raised plastic part in the middle of the disc and heard a click. BINGO! Plugged the stove back in and heard that auger motor start to work. Not sure if that might be the problem with your stove or not but worth a shot. In my manual and elsewhere it says there is a red reset button on the snap discs.......not on mine that I could find and I was wearing my glasses. On mine there is a plastic part in the middle that you can push down to reset it. Good Luck with your stove...............amelia

 

[jtp10181]

If you ever find a snap disc tripped, it is for a reason. Either the feed slider has been set to high or the air-path needs major cleaning and is causing the stove to overheat. Also, if the convection blower is failing or dead, you will overheat the stove and trip a snap disc.

 

[bullycrazy]

Thanks for the info, in our case I would guess it was the convection blower that made it trip. It didn't kick on and my husband gave it a little spin to get it going. We're going to see if it starts up next time we fire up the stove or whether it needs to be replaced. I'm guessing it probably needs replacing as I've talked with a few people who have had to do that. Thanks again, at least now I know why it happened...............amelia

 

[cncpro]

Thanks for the info, in our case I would guess it was the convection blower that made it trip. It didn't kick on and my husband gave it a little spin to get it going. We're going to see if it starts up next time we fire up the stove or whether it needs to be replaced. I'm guessing it probably needs replacing as I've talked with a few people who have had to do that. Thanks again, at least now I know why it happened...............amelia

Personally, I'd definitely be pulling that blower out to see how dirty it is before running the stove.

 

[bullycrazy]

I guess I should have added to my original post that while I had the back of the stove open I took the opportunity to check all the connections, vaccumed everything, even took a brush to the fins of the blower then vacuumed that too. I know it says in the manual not to lubricate it so didn't do that. The stove was made in 2006, I'm not really sure what the life span on the blowers are......I suppose it depends on how the stove is maintained, how much fuel is burned etc. and since we aren't the original owners we can only go by what the first owner said. Again, I'm guessing we will be replacing the blower.........and let me say that when I do fire up the stove the next time to check the blower I won't be leaving it unattended.........amelia

 

[cncpro]

Wow, sounds like you know more about your stove than many of the guys on the forum. I'm impressed. :coolsmile:

 

[shorehaman]

Hi everyone,

I have to thank first everyone that has responded because you have helped me resolve the issue.

First - I contacted another dealer and arranged for someone to come to evaluate the issue. They are scheduled to come next week. But with the help of a number of comments, I have sorted through the users manual and the schematics and done my own evaluation.

Second - I recognized eventually that the key issue was that the combustion blower did not turn on as soon as i plugged in the stove.

Third - when I examined the electrical connections to the blower, I quickly recognized that the white lead was not connected. I must have dislodged it when I did the end of year cleaning. After I reconnected it (not obvious in a fireplace insert) and plugged the unit in again, the blower came on. Boy - was I happy.

Fourth - after I turned the thermostat up and patiently waited for the auger to start feeding again (I had to reset a couple of times), the fire came up and my unit has been working well for two hours.

Fifth - everything looks good at this point - I will let you know if there are any upsets. Last year I burned 3 tons of Lignetcis which were very satisfactory. This year I could not get them, so I have bought 3 tons of American Wood Fiber. I will let you know down the road how they have burned.

Thanks for all the help particularly Bkins and Bullycrazy.

Bob