Mt Vernon AE issues

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wilmaitfam

wilmaitfam

Member
Feb 9, 2016
30
Michigan
Has anyone had an issue with the Mt. Vernon AE stove firing up, after 5-7 minutes of SS low- SS-med: then the Bad TC fireboat code pops up, sometimes accompanied with the Min Fire Pot also ? Any advice appreciated. (board connections checked, new TC installed).
 
Yes i sure have. Make sure thermocouple is touching tip of ceramic cap and cap is free if ash and in correct position.

Also seen a case with poor (loose) fitting male to female pin connection on circuit board before. I used a pin to make connection tighter on female pins. Could potentially splay male pins slightly to do the same thing.

There is an online AE trouble shooting manual you can download to check specification on milivolt output when thermocouple is heated.
 
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Connect and reconnect EVERY connection inside the unit. Just because a MT Vernon AE indicates an error code does not mean it is that component. I have so many AE units that throw codes left and right it is not funny. Wait until you see the wall control read backwards or just go out all together and the stove runs until you have to leave the hopper lid open to shut it down. If I wake up at night with a nightmare it is due to an AE or a manufactured fireplace that the homeowner wants to have a pellet stove installed inside.

Eric
 
And yes I had a Mt Vernon AE in my house for two years. I would not put on back in.
 
I had one the first season. Being a new model I was thinking it would be a great improvement being bigger and supposedly providing more heat. Had a expert technician give me advice all winter and by summer we had all new parts in it. I sold it to a person who burned only pellets and he ran it trouble free for 3 years.
there is a saying about buying a boat . The two best times were bringing it home and later the best time was after selling it. This was my experience with the AE.
 
Reconnected the TC fire pot and drop tube connectors on the board (pulled out wires and reseated) got the TC fire pot code to disappear, now the TC drop tube error appeared. Cleaned out exhaust fan. Stove starts up drops some pellets, pellets in pot burn, flame height increases very slightly, then shortly after that the Bad TC drop tube error rears its ugly head.
 
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Update. Checked the TC drop tube connector, inverted it, TC drop tube error vanished. stove started..then max drop tube temp error code now. Blower continues to run though ???
 
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Why are you messing with the droptube tc, when your post said firepot tc? Unless you are typing wrong. And if you put it on upside down, it will be out of polarity, and not work. Which blower? kap
 
Thanks Kappel15, originally the TC fire pot was the only code. then after checking the connectors on the board, cleaning out both fans and reinstalling that code disappeared, then the next code thrown was the max drop tube temp. Then I proceeded to break off one of the circuit board prongs. (work at a temp. stand still).
 
Not a well designed unit. Way too many features and sensors. I have a laptop that I have to use just for this stove. Think Harman XXV next time.

Eric
 
Thanks again Kappel15, the fire pot TC code disappeared after checking the drop tube and the firepot connections at the board. Then drop tube code appeared. I re-checked that connection and apparently i did have it reversed. Started it up it cycled past auto clean then the Max drop tube temp code appeared. We cleaned the convection, exhaust blowers (very little build up). Restarted... convection blower turned on prior to ignition completion, then turned off, then on, then "Max Drop Tube Temp" code once again. I subsequently broke one of the prongs on the board off, now i'm trying to find an electronics repair shop as a last resort before forking up the money for a new one.
 
Sometimes the drop tube tc connection can get a little rust and loose some of its sensing. Emory cloth it off and see if that helps. What year stove is this, and what revision control board was it? kap
 
Stove is stamped Jan 2009, just put board back in (had it resoldered) board has Rev 2.3 Rev 7.6b. stickers. Stove began cycle them voila the "Max drop tube temp" error code appeared. Fire pot is burning. Convection fan kicked on early and began to move the cold air around. The TC drop tube connection you spoke of Kap, is that at the rear of the stove on the pellet drop tube ? (Sorry, might be construed as a dumb question) I'm assuming that is the snap disk there also? Your expertise is truly appreciated.
 
Yes. It is the wire with the Oring end that is fastened to the drop tube. The O and the drop tube can get a film of rust, that interferes with the signal. Can also be the wire too. And that is the snap disc there also. kap
 
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After cleaning the drop tube surfaces (stove mounting area and the circle fastener) and checking the snap disk surface with a little fine sandpaper; I also decided to check my new wiring harness connections. After realizing I had traced and miss wired the fire pot and TC, I made the corrections, and once again we have a functioning AE stove. Thanks again Kap, for your troubleshooting knowledge and overall expertise. Have a great, warm weekend.
 
I spoke to soon, after stove ran for an hour flawlessly, brought room temp up to 70*, the "min fire pot temp" appeared; however the hopper was 7/8 full. Moved the pellets around, error disappeared, stove went into shutdown mode briefly, then bad TC fire pot error code took its place.
 
One thing you can try is to pull the firepot tc wire harness at control board. Pinch the female connectors in wire end a little tighter with a tac or safety pin. Sometimes they won't make a good connection on male counterparts on control board. Also make sure the firepot tc is touching the inside end of the cover and it is sticking into pot where it is suppose to be. And also make sure the wire harness's on control board are on in the right direction or the polarity won't be right. Control board diagram is on page 31 of your owners manual. The firepot thermocouple latch must be towards the drop tube thermocouple. And the red wire on the droptube thermocouple, should be towards the firepot thermocouple. Let us know how it goes. kap
 
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Good morning Kap, the TC connections at the board are good, the stove ran great last night (almost 1 1/2 hours) then the " Min fire pot temp" code displayed. However the hopper was 3/4 full, moved them around and that code disappeared. Then the Bad TC fire pot showed up again. Could it be the fire pot TC is bad ? I noticed the porcelain cover appears to be the original (shows some indentations from wear) also, could that be why it runs great for an hour or so then throws the code?
 
image.jpeg
 
I thought in your first post, you said you got a new firepot thermocouple? And even tho the connections look good, the female connectors need to be tight enough to send signal. This has happened to others. And just because it is new, doesn't mean it can't be bad. Moving the fuel around in the hopper shouldn't have anything to do with the error code you are getting. If the code stayed on, you could test the control board. You can test the thermocouple by using a volt meter set to millivolts, and heating the end. If it produces millivolts, it is good. kap
 
WOW Talk about hardwiring!
 
What settings are you running on? Fuel table? Heat setting? Is flame adjusted enough that there is enough flame to keep temp up in pot?
 
I replaced the igniter, sorry; still learning the correct parts and their respective names. I put a tester on the fire pot TC a few days ago and got .04 mv up to .07 after it was warm. As I write this, stove is in ready mode, with no displayed codes. Only issue is why I have a 5 degree variance in temp and the stove is not heating up.
 
Fuel type (hardwood) Flame height (-2) Temp Dif (1.0 F) now the Bad TC fire pot code has appeared after stove has been in ready mode for 50 minutes. Going to heat up fire pot TC and test it.
 
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