Quadra Fire - Castile Stove - worked now doesn't red/green control box lights blinking, no feed and

[castilequadraCO]

This is a 2001 Model Castile Stove, bought it last January and have used it for 1 year. It works great, I love this machine however recently it started having start up issues and sometimes wouldn't turn on. Last week before I left for my trip, it was feeding no problem but not heading up. I decided to clean it out, vacumn everything, removed all pellets but have not cleaned the pipes that exit the house.

Yesterday I tried putting a few pellets in the hopper but the feeder is not working, the burn pot is not getting hot and nothing is happening except the fan moving.

** This Im curious about - there was a red light on a month ago, when it was having issues - I thought this was a normal operating light but after reading on here it appears that was a service light.

*** Now I am getting 2 blinking lights both on the top of the control box - red/green

*My box is the old gray box - original from 2001, ASN# 230-1844

The thermoculor looks to be ok and the wire is not broken. What would you recommend I do - I imagine clearning my pipes is #1 but it sounds like what is wrong possibly is the control box?

TIA

 

[Fish On]

There are no pellets dropping is this correct, It could be your Vacum hose or switch. But there are many more possible things to look at.
Do you have a maunel?

 

[kinsmanstoves]

if you took out all the pellets and only put in a handful it will not create vacuum and the auger will not be given power. Try to add more pellets to the Hopper.

eric

 

[castilequadraCO]

hopper is at least half full - auger is not sounding and not feeding

blinking red/green lights on top of control box

 

[tjnamtiw]

UNPLUG the stove. Take the control box out. Clean the contacts on the control box with a pencil eraser. Plug it back in. PLUG the stove back in and see if the lights are normal again. Always the first thing to try.

 

[Czech]

Might want to try the reset button also? Need to prime the auger, if the hopper runs dry. Yes, clean includes the vent, removing the left and right bricks in back and the baffle up top. Do you have a leaf blower?

 

[castilequadraCO]

No leaf blower but my shop vac has the option so I can use it.

The reset button isn't clicking hence indicating it wants to flip over - someone said there are fuses but I don't see any on this machine

I will pull out the bricks and deep clean then the t pipe

hopefully I can get this sucker working its -10 in colorado right now

 

[turbotech]

PM me if you do the cleaning and other diagnostics and determine it is the control box is bad. I can lend you the latest design clear colored box that has diagnostic modes. Unfortunately the control box you have doesn't have the diagnostic mode so you have to check some things manually. Not a big deal. It is a just a little more work.

 

[castilequadraCO]

Took the unit apart kind of - removed the bricks, the upper metal shield, glass window, top peice and side panel vaccumn it all. - disconnected the T and quite a bit of ash was resting in the Tcap. I pushed my vaccumn up the exit pipe and sucked everything I could then switched to blower and blew it out. I went outside and sucked everything I could out.

I took the control box off, cleaned everything up and put it back together.

*Fan sounds but nothing else is happening.

I will check my thermostat control next - still have blinking red/green lights

TIA

 

[Countryboymo]

Mine did something similar and it ended up being a snap switch needed to be reset.

 

[B-Mod]

Check the hose to the vacuum switch to make sure it is not plugged. You can take the two wires off the switch and put a jumper wire between them. Then see if the stove starts.........

 

[tjnamtiw]

Does anyone know if that is the signal for a bad thermocouple on the old control box? If you have a multimeter, set it to millivolts, unplug the stove!!, disconnect the plugs at the end of the thermocouple wires and connect the volt meter to them. You should see some very small DC voltage. Then take a propane torch or other heat source and heat up the ceramic piece over the burn pot. You should see the millivolts rise. If you see nothing, then your thermocouple is shot.

 

[turbotech]

I would do like B-Mod said. For doing diagnostics you can unplug the vacuum device and snap disks and install jumper wires. Again, this is for diagnostics only. Do not run the stove burning fuel with jumpers installed. The jumpers will allow only the control box to run the fans, auger, and ignitor. Have you tested the thermocouple?

You mentioned the red light is not coming on. That should be the "call" light. Have you ruled out the thermostat and wiring not being faulty? Have you tried disconnecting the thermostat wires and installed a jumper wire in its place to force a constant call for heat?

 

[kilbury]

Does anyone know if that is the signal for a bad thermocouple on the old control box? If you have a multimeter, set it to millivolts, unplug the stove!!, disconnect the plugs at the end of the thermocouple wires and connect the volt meter to them. You should see some very small DC voltage. Then take a propane torch or other heat source and heat up the ceramic piece over the burn pot. You should see the millivolts rise. If you see nothing, then your thermocouple is shot.

Yes on the old style control box red and green blinking lights do mean bad TC. I would do just like you said test the TC, even though the OP says its ok doesn't mean that it is.

 

[castilequadraCO]

I did the jumper wire, disconnected the thermostat and connected the wires together.

*The feeder feeds and the reset switch resets

- The burn pot does not get hot and there is no flame, smoke or anything.

This is fun, I'm narrowing it down, thank you so much everyone. How do I replace the thermocolor? is it the white peice or is it the wiring or both? Any other suggestions on what else could be wrong?

 

[tjnamtiw]

A bad thermocouple would not explain why you are not getting the igniter hot. The thermocouple, at least on the later units, tells the auger to start its timed rotations when it's 200 degrees and the green light comes on. When the red light comes on at a higher temp, then the igniter is shut off. If you are still getting the flashing red/green lights then perhaps you have multiple problems. Bad thermocouple and bad igniter????? Check the thermocouple like I told you. Then disconnect the igniter and check its resistance with an ohm meter. If you have infinite resistance, then it's bad. Both of these should be done with the stove unplugged.

I'm not sure what you mean 'the reset switch resets'.

 

[castilequadraCO]

when it the stove wasn't operating via the thermostat the reset button wasn't working. when i decided to jump it now the reset button clicks and actually resets and starts the feeding process. before it didn't do squat

I am a bit confused on the testing but I'll dig up a tester and try and see if I can figure out what is going on. how difficult is it to replace the igniter?

 

[tjnamtiw]

when it the stove wasn't operating via the thermostat the reset button wasn't working. when i decided to jump it now the reset button clicks and actually resets and starts the feeding process. before it didn't do squat

I am a bit confused on the testing but I'll dig up a tester and try and see if I can figure out what is going on. how difficult is it to replace the igniter?

On mine (although I haven't done it yet) it should be a piece of cake since the igniter has quick disconnects on the wire ends and it is held in place right in front of the burn pot with a thumb screw. Now that I think of it, I should take that screw off and put some antisieze on there for when I DO need to replace it.

 

[turbotech]

when it the stove wasn't operating via the thermostat the reset button wasn't working. when i decided to jump it now the reset button clicks and actually resets and starts the feeding process. before it didn't do squat

I am a bit confused on the testing but I'll dig up a tester and try and see if I can figure out what is going on. how difficult is it to replace the igniter?

The results of that says that you have a bad connection, bad wiring, or bad thermostat and a "call" for heat was not being seen at the control box. With the jumper you are telling it to start. It sounds like the reset/restart button is working properly and that portion of the control box doesn't have a problem with the auger and comb fan.

I would now test as tjnamtiw said. Test the thermocouple with a heat source. The white bulb looking thing is a cover for the thermocouple. Inside is the thermocouple. If you slowly heat the white ceramic bulb then the volt at the wires should change.

As for the ignitor I would also do as tjnamtiw said. Disconnect the wires and measure the resistance. A 300 watt ignitor should measure a few ohms.
One other thing to do is this: With the stove powered up and the ignitor connected, press the reset button and release it. You should hear a click at the control box. It is the relay that turns on and off the ignitor. Do you hear the relay click inside the box every time you press the reset button?

 

[kilbury]

If the thermocouple is bad it will not allow the igniter to get hot. Thermocouples can make it do funny things and it may think it is up to temp and will not allow the igniter to operate. Again, flashing red and green means bad TC, but do test it to be sure.

 

[tjnamtiw]

If the thermocouple is bad it will not allow the igniter to get hot. Thermocouples can make it do funny things and it may think it is up to temp and will not allow the igniter to operate. Again, flashing red and green means bad TC, but do test it to be sure.

The 'main man' strikes again! Well, I guess I'm still not too old to learn something new. Now if I can just REMEMBER it Sounds like a test is in order. It makes sense that the 'brain' would shut down if it knew the thermocouple was bad because it could over fire.

 

[kilbury]

just puttin' in my 2 cents and would rather get that TC tested rather than test this then that and in the end have it be what I thought it was all along. Hope I'm not offending anyone, just here to help out if I can.

 

[castilequadraCO]

balls of fire and everyone else, I'm going to go get another tc but I am not home to see how I connect or disconnect it. Yes I'm hearing a click with the reset button

 

[turbotech]

I agree. It sounds like the thermocouple is bad.

 

[tjnamtiw]

just puttin' in my 2 cents and would rather get that TC tested rather than test this then that and in the end have it be what I thought it was all along. Hope I'm not offending anyone, just here to help out if I can.

no I didn't mean any disrespect Balls of Fire. I look at you as one of the 'go to' guys for advice.