Quadra Fire Classic Bay trouble... Help

[Mrr211]

Hey everyone,

I told you all I would be back. I had the Classic Bay installed about 2 weeks ago but had to wait for Town Inspection so just began using it last week. After going through startup the stove worked great. I tried all heat settings and had no issues. This past weekend however after using it for only 3 times(not even a bag of New England Pellets) the stove just started shutting down. I would come home from work at midnight and the call light would be on but nothing. If I hit the reset button the stove would start up and pellets would feed into the pot. A fire would start but I noticed I wasn't getting much heat coming out(nothing like previous days). If I switch the fan speed or heat setting there was no difference although the pellet feed did seem to quicken. Then after about 5-10 minutes of fire it would just go out and the call light stays on.

My dealer is closed on Sun and Mon so I plan on calling him first thing tomorrow morning. As I said in previous messages you all helped me with, I am new to the pellet stove world and do not know much about troubleshooting. The stove wasn't very dirty but I vacuumed it all out, checked any visible wire connections and made sure they were connected. Still have about 1/5 bag of pellets in the hopper, there were no recent power surges or outages and I did plug the stove into a 900 joule surge protector as recommended.

I am frustrated because the first few days I fell in love with the stove and heat it gave off. The stove has to have a warranty and I do not want to start blindly trying to fix and void it. Anything simple I can try that won't have much risk? Also has anyone had this problem before? The manual troubleshooting system keeps mentioning snap disk 2 (which I have no clue about) and the control box. Would these things just blow for no apparent reason such a new stove?

Thank you for all help,
Mike

 

[moey]

Have you changed your feed rate? Its possible that the pellets are jammed a bit in the hopper and your hitting some dead spots when its dumping pellets Ive had that happen.

 

[Mrr211]

Have you changed your feed rate? Its possible that the pellets are jammed a bit in the hopper and your hitting some dead spots when its dumping pellets Ive had that happen.

I haven't done anything. I am literally on the first bag of pellets ever used on the stove. I'd say maybe 25-30 lbs have been used and showed no issues in the first 4-6 hours of use.

 

[stoveguy13]

did you pull the fire pot floor lever yet?

 

[imacman]

Have you tried digging down to the bottom of the hopper, or emptying it to make there isn't a pellet jam? When you hit the reset button, did the convection (room air) blower come on eventually?

 

[Mrr211]

Have you tried digging down to the bottom of the hopper, or emptying it to make there isn't a pellet jam? When you hit the reset button, did the convection (room air) blower come on eventually?

I have pulled the burn pot road to make sure that wasn't the problem. I haven't tried going to the bottom of the hopper but will try that. Although if there were a jam wouldn't it stop feeding altogether? Like I said when I hit the reset button I hear a Dan or blower Gibson. Then pellets get fed into the pit. But within 5-10 min of fire starting it goes out and then the unit sits idle with the call light on.
Thanks for the responses so far everyone.

 

[stoveguy13]

i would check the second floor on the fire pot and make sure both are closing if the second floor doesnt close the stove won't run. if you take the ash pan out and look under the ash lip you will see two screws holding in a rectangle plate after you remove that plate you will be able to see the second floor.

 

[rparker]

You said you checked wire connections. Mine was doing strange things when I first got it. I checked the connections and thought they were ok. Dealer gave me a new snap disk and when I went to put it in, the spade connection was actually a little loose. Tightened them all with needle nose pliers and all is good. Remember metal expands with heat and a connection that seems ok will get looser.
Also check that the snap disks are seated against the stove wall. A friend had a new stove and one of the disks was not seated fully and it was causing issues.

 

[moey]

I would try and empty the hopper completely and then stuff a shop vac as you can get into the chute. Then run it on high and set the flame height then turn it down to low and see how it goes.

 

[tjnamtiw]

When I have issues with the fire going out but the call light stays on, it's almost always a feed issue. Either the gate isn't open quite enough for some of the longer pellets which paritally blocks the opening or there is a 'bridging' at the top of the drop chute. You can only see this with a mirror and flashlight. I've had an aluminum sticky-back warning label up there all jammed up, long pellets sitting cross-wise, and a piece of wood.

 

[Jaymaine34]

I have 3 of these stoves and every time this has happen to me it's always been a jam ! Also be sure the hopper lid is closed and making contact with the magnetic contact

 

[jjk454ss]

I just installed a classic bay, mine kept going out until I messed with the thermocouple. Make sure it's all the way into the ceramic housing.

 

[PutnamJct]

I concur with the feed issue. In order to increase the feed rate, there is a thumbscrew holding the adjustment rod inside the hopper (right side as you look at the stove). loosen the screw,and adjust the rod to increase the size of the opening that allows the pellets into the auger chute.

 

[PutnamJct]

I have 3 of these stoves and every time this has happen to me it's always been a jam ! Also be sure the hopper lid is closed and making contact with the magnetic contact

hmmmmm.......No magnetic contact on my hopper lid, what's that for?

 

[Jaymaine34]

hmmmmm.......No magnetic contact on my hopper lid, what's that for?

Only one of my 3 stoves has it . If the lid is open ( contact broken ) auger stops .Close lid auger starts up
This was on the very last one I purchased took me several hours to realize it while I was trying to adjust a flame . Surprise even my dealer knew nothing about it ( but his tech called me back the next day knew what it was and we both had a good laugh )

 

[Mrr211]

Hi all service tech came out today and found 2 things. 1. My vacuum hose(thin hose was blocked. He blew into it and black ash fell out. 2. He thought he saw what he said was a small bird/bat( i think it was a leaf)in the exhaust pipe where it connected to liner and said the restriction of air may have caused the problem. Tech said
Problem 1. Was said to be caused by the bag of Pellets most likely having extra sawdust or low quality(pellets were New England bought from same deaker).
Problem 2, solved by running brush down liner through chimney. Although no bird/bat came out. Just what looked like a leaf.
Regardless when all was reconnected the stove worked great.
So the vacuum hose will be on my list if first few items to check in the future.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I'm glad you're up and running and I hope that the vacuum hose was the problem, but ..........

Every time I clean my stove, I have a can of compressed air that I blow through the tube from the VACUUM SWITCH TO THE STOVE. Never blow toward the switch as it will wreck it.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Check the thermocoupler making sure it touches the end of the ceramic tube.

Eric