Quada Fire Castille Auger Problems

[MCProulx]

Hey Guys,

Any help would be much appreciate new home owner, and I purchased a house with a beautiful insert pellet stove. I have finally figured out how to operate and utilize this unit to it's fullest. Anyways, I have used it a few months now without any issues. I clean it to the best of my abilities, usually once a week. For the last few weeks, I have been running it 24/7 and while I was home the other day, I noticed it stopped working. I hit the reset button and heard a faint buzzing noise coming from inside the unit. I also noticed the auger is not spinning. I have cleaned out as many pellets as I can and I can see the top of the auger through the feed. I must be honest, I am a little intimidated by this unit because I have no knowledge of it. (First time home owner, first time pellet stove owner).

My first question is how do I even get to the bottom of the auger to see if there are any obstructions. I used a screw driver to free any pellets from the bottom of the feed, now I need to inspect the auger, also being an insert the working space is very tight. I don't mind diving in, I just do not want to cause any further damage, bad enough I blew the fuse messing around with it. Again the blower is working, the thermostat is calling, the unit is running, but the auger is not spinning and making a faint buzzing noise.

Thank You,

Mike

 

[kappel15]

Sounds like there might be a jam in it. Unplug stove. Empty as much fuel out of hopper as possible, and then suck the rest out. shake auger a few times to get rest to fall out from up the auger tube. Look up drop chute(from fire pot area) with a mirror and flashlight to see if there is anything up there. Jump vac switch wires together,making sure they can't ground out on anything. Plug stove back in and turn thermostat up. See if auger turns. If it does, you might have gotten jam out. If not,Ttme to pull it. Unplug stove and take two screws out, top and bottom of auger motor area. Pull auger assy out. Sometimes pellets get past drop chute and jam up against top of auger assy. Or auger motor could be bad also. kap

 

[MCProulx]

Thx Kap,

I work midnight to eight, I will attempt to try this Sunday and let you know thank you for your time.

Mike

Sounds like there might be a jam in it. Unplug stove. Empty as much fuel out of hopper as possible, and then suck the rest out. shake auger a few times to get rest to fall out from up the auger tube. Look up drop chute(from fire pot area) with a mirror and flashlight to see if there is anything up there. Jump vac switch wires together,making sure they can't ground out on anything. Plug stove back in and turn thermostat up. See if auger turns. If it does, you might have gotten jam out. If not,Ttme to pull it. Unplug stove and take two screws out, top and bottom of auger motor area. Pull auger assy out. Sometimes pellets get past drop chute and jam up against top of auger assy. Or auger motor could be bad also. kap

 

[Oldasdirt]

Hey Guys,

Any help would be much appreciate new home owner, and I purchased a house with a beautiful insert pellet stove. I have finally figured out how to operate and utilize this unit to it's fullest. Anyways, I have used it a few months now without any issues. I clean it to the best of my abilities, usually once a week. For the last few weeks, I have been running it 24/7 and while I was home the other day, I noticed it stopped working. I hit the reset button and heard a faint buzzing noise coming from inside the unit. I also noticed the auger is not spinning. I have cleaned out as many pellets as I can and I can see the top of the auger through the feed. I must be honest, I am a little intimidated by this unit because I have no knowledge of it. (First time home owner, first time pellet stove owner).

My first question is how do I even get to the bottom of the auger to see if there are any obstructions. I used a screw driver to free any pellets from the bottom of the feed, now I need to inspect the auger, also being an insert the working space is very tight. I don't mind diving in, I just do not want to cause any further damage, bad enough I blew the fuse messing around with it. Again the blower is working, the thermostat is calling, the unit is running, but the auger is not spinning and making a faint buzzing noise.

Thank You,

Mike

I personally do not own a Quadra-Fire stove; but, a friend at work asked me to help troubleshoot his Castile a couple of years ago. He also was having a problem with the auger failing to energize. He removed the control circuit board and asked me to look at it. One of the fuses had blown and he replaced it with no luck. I found that the power transformer had been destroyed. After looking at the wiring in the stove, I could not find any wiring shorts or other problems. The best I could determine to be the problem was the auger motor itself. He ordered a new board (approx. $500) only to install it and perform a quick test. Everything was going fine until the auger was called into action. As you can probably guess, the new board experienced the same fate as the original. After some prodding, Quadra Fire was nice enough to replace the new board. As much as he tried to avoid replacing the auger motor; he finally made the right decision. Luckily, I found a replacement transformer for the original board and after a test run, he was back in the glow of his Castile and he had a spare control board. The problem with your stove; the buzzing of the auger, points directly to the auger motor, although the control board could have a defective triac semiconductor or a bad connection from the board to the auger. The triac is used as an AC switch for the auger motor. If you know of any electronic technicians or electricians, they could disconnect the auger wires and connect them through a fuse and line cord to the motor and see if the motor spins. If the auger motor turns, the control board or wiring is implicated; but if the motor buzzes, The motor is bad.

Hope this of some help, Good Luck!

 

[peirhead]

Before you take your shop vac to the pellet hopper to try and empty put the pellets, Unplug the stove then open the right side panel and remove the rubber hose of the vacuum switch so you don't damage the switch. Once you have this done try to vacuum out all the pellets, then jiggle the auger as Kap says. repeat till you are sure you got all the pellets are out.....then replace the vacuum hose and the side panel and plug the stove back in and try a start cycle without adding pellets and see if the auger turns .

 

[tjnamtiw]

Since it is an insert with the exhaust piping going straight up the chimney, there is a very, very good chance after burning it for several months, you've accumulated enough ash in the exhaust area to possible stall the exhaust blower. That may be the buzzing you're hearing. If it isn't running and producing vacuum, your auger isn't going to run. When you're cleaning, do you use a small flexible hose hooked to your ash vacuum and stick it into the fan blade area to suck out the ash? Bang on the piping while you are doing this and you'll be amazed at how much ash comes out.
My guess is you haven't done that. Perhaps it's time to take off the right side cast piece and pull out your combustion blower. You'll need a replacement gasket.

 

[MCProulx]

Hey Guys,

I finally got some time and daylight to work on the stove. I must say I feel like Buster Douglas right now! Sure an insert looks nice but there is no room to work. The heat shield was a pain to remove. I decided to take out the auger and found pellets and dust stuck up top. The vacuum line was dirty to. I cleaned the unit while I had access. After cleaning and reseating the auger, everything worked great.

Thank you guys for your imput and suggestions, I'd be lost without you!

Thank You,

Mike

 

[kappel15]

Glad you are back up and running. Stay warm. kap