Quad castille auger problem

[Beetle-Kill]

The Castille stopped feeding, so I made the call to the people that I bought it from. Since they're an hour away, they gave me the areas to check before they come out to do a service call. Everything checks out OK, so the tech. told me to jump the vacumn? electric lines at the back of the stove with a paperclip, making sure it was not contacting anything metallic. He described the colors of the lines, then said he was color-blind, so it was kinda a guess. Using the paperclip would bypass the vacumn sensor/switch, and help w/ the troubleshooting. Sound correct? Oh yeah, I partially removed the auger(pain in the***) but never found a re-set button for either #2 or #3 snap disc's. He tells me the re-set is on the backside of the firewall, but I don't recall seeing a reset button. Where am I missing the point? I have to fix this soon, as the snow will fly shortly. Thanks, JB

 

[krooser]

I like your screen name... is your brother named Bailey?

Back to our regular programming...

 

[Nicholas440]

I'm fairly certain you can download a service manual from the quadrafire web site. Dont know why your auger isnt feeding, but it sounds like a vacuum problem to me.

 

[smwilliamson]

The vacuum switch on you stove if a round metal switch with a rubber hose sticking out of the top of it. Forget color wires, look for the big metal vac switch with the rubber hose. Take the hose off of the switch and BLOW thorugh it, try the stove again. If this doesn't work, take the two wire terminals off of the switch and connect them with a jumper wire. I DO NOT recommend the paper clip as it is not shielded. If you hit ANY metal with that clip when the unit is on you will certainly blow a fuse, or trip a circuit breaker in your house, possibly get hurt or worst case harm your control board.

While accessing the stove to perform these tests, make sure the unit is CLEAN. Make sure the venting system is CLEAN. I just pulled a bird out of stove yesterday that was trapped in the exhaust chamber. Never would have known if I hadn't looked.

The snap disk that they are referring to is a switch with two wires that is connected to the under side of the rear of the hopper, next to the auger. It has a red button in the center. If that can push IN then you may have tripped the high limit safety disc. If it is open, FIND OUT WHY! Call your service people.

Lastly, I would double check the control box to make sure that it is adjusted for high altitude. At 8100 feet your oxygen levels are lower which means you need a higher RPM on the combustion motor. This should have no bearing on the current situation but is something to consider.

My guess from 2460 miles away is that your stove is dirty. :cheese:

 

[Beetle-Kill]

This is the first problem I've encountered with the stove. Nope, it's not a dirty stove issue. Flue is clean, internals are clean, we were pretty anal about keeping it maintained. I agree the paperclip idea shouldn't be used, sounded dumb when he said it. I'll have to mess with it tonight. let you know tomorrow. Thanks, JB

 

[Nicholas440]

I agree with smwilliamson, about the paper clip trick. I foolishly used one when I was a young teen working on my cars electrical sytem, and as he said, paper clips are not insulated, and believe me in less than a half second, I wiped out several inline fuses on my Pontiac Firebird and it took weeks to get the wiring fixed. My paper clip slipped and touched some metal.

With that said, I also think its a vacuum problem, I read a bit on this symptom and it appears that in MOST cases, vaccum was lost and the auger will not feed.

It is possible your auger motor is the culprit as well so take one step at a time, and I'm sure with all the smart people here on this forum who have had your particular problem can chime in as well and offer suggestions.

In no time at all you'll be up and running, and enjoying the warmth of your Castile again. I have a Castile insert,, and I like it.

Good luck..

 

[kilbury]

Depending on the age of your stove you may have the rectangular vacuum switch. If the stove is 3-4 years old it is this style switch. On the switch where the wires connect to the black rectangular piece, check that black piece to see if it wiggles. It should not move in the silver housing. If it does move the switch could be malfuntioning and need to be replaced. The new style switch should be a different better design if this is the problem.

 

[peirhead]

Could you describe that actually happens from the initial call for heat..does the ignitor start...does the auger do anything..does the exhaust/combustion fan start etc??

 

[smwilliamson]

Also, direct power the auger to see if it turns. It is a DC motor, so you have to apply power to the converter.

One other thing. Does the stove drop pellets when the reset button is hit? The stove should bypass the vac switch to fill the burnpot at start up...I'm pretty sure. If it doesn't, perhaps your auger is jammed or malfunctioning.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Many thanks to "smalltown", he sent me a good service manual that's lots more info. than I previously had. Peirhead, plug it in, fans start. Adjust the thermo., throw in a handful of pellets, ignition starts. It vents fine, no obstructions, just weak from only a handful of pellets. Ignitor seems fine, fans seem fine, stove is clean, flue is clean. I couldn't get up there tonight, but tomorrow I'm checking the vacumn and re-sets for the snap disc's. The manual smalltown provided should help me narrow it down, bigtime. I'll let you know what happens tomorrow evening. Thanks all, for the input. JB