quadrafire help

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nhellman84

New Member
Jan 24, 2013
30
Hey guys, haven't been on in a while but have found this forum very helpful in the past. I have a quadrafire 1200i insert and I am having some problems with it continuing to feed pellets after its already up to temp. It has been running great all year and I noticed today that it had a misfire and realized that I had not blown out the vac house to the auger in a while. I got my air compressor hose and preceded to blow the vac line out like I have done a million times before. Stuck the compressor nozzle back near the vac hose and then the fuse blew in the house. I guess I might have shorted something, which was a surprise to me because I have my pellet stove plugged into a surge protector. I thought nothing of it and went out and reset the breaker and turned the stove on. about five minutes later I notice it was getting really hot and the flame was huge in the stove. It was 70 degrees which is what I have it set at on the thermostat and
 
Sometimes, as tjnamtiw says above, start ups sometimes can be a little Bigger than one may want. It takes several minutes after start up to get pellets burnt down.

Here are a couple sheets to.go by. Follow these steps and see where the problem is...

Copy 2 of downloadfile.jpeg Copy 2 of downloadfile-1.jpeg
 
Its seems to be feeding continuously and the flame gets huge bigger than I have ever seen on a big startup.
 
Forgot to mention that when its running that I can shut the thermostat off and it will continue to feed pellets
 
Like tjnamtiw said, you may have fried the controller when you shorted something in the stove. (A surge suppressor won't help there... it only limits overly high voltages from getting to your stove.)

Are the lights on the stove working at all?
 
I know I saw the feed light red one on, havent seen the green one yet. when this first happened the little reset button wouldnt do anything to the stove would nit respond, after about 20 min it would reset when I pushed it. I have only a handful in at a time now beause I cant stop it once it feeds too much and gets out of control. don't want to fill the hopper
 
I know I saw the feed light red one on, havent seen the green one yet. when this first happened the little reset button wouldnt do anything to the stove would nit respond, after about 20 min it would reset when I pushed it. I have only a handful in at a time now beause I cant stop it once it feeds too much and gets out of control. don't want to fill the hopper

Does the feed light go out when you turn down the t-stat?

You may have to feed a handful 2 or 3 times to get it hot enough for the green light to come on. Good idea in not filling the hopper - that stove has no safety mechanisms right now. I assume you've been leaving it unplugged.

Have you looked for any scorch marks on/near wires from when it shorted?
 
Yes the tstat does seem to turn the red light on and off. Have not checked for wires being scorched yet.
 
in the future to prevent stuff like this i would recomend unplugging the stove before any work is performed on the insides
 
Have you verified 100% that the auger is running constantly? Look at the auger shaft, if the hopper is empty, take off the auger cover plate and watch the collar and/or shaft. Or if there are ZERO pellets, just watch the auger itself?

If its spinning 100% of the time, I'd say the controller is out to lunch :(

What type of surge protector do you have (model and ratings?)

Also, as said above, ALWAYS unplug the stove before working on it.
 
I can check on model and watts when I get home in a bit, I will check auger motor also and check back, thank you
 
Forgot to mention that when its running that I can shut the thermostat off and it will continue to feed pellets
If that's true then you definitely have a relay burned shut or the equivalent in Variac speak. Since the auger is one speed, I would tend to think it's just a relay. I don't know the schematic for the controller but if it were me, that's what I'd look for.

From the other post I referred to, I see that there's a Potter Brumfield IC in there. They make solid state relays and mechanical ones so you may want to do some research on that one. The R7CS5D-12 is indeed a mechanical relay. I don't know if it's the one you need but you could remove it and see if the normally open contacts are closed. That assumes that you are electrically inclined.
 
OK got home and pulled the cover off and it is indeed running all the time, I can see the shaft spinning even when the stove is up to temp. tjnamtiw, that sounds very interested what you are saying about it being a relay, I would much rather have it be that than a entire control board. I am mechanically inclined but not so much electrically but I could look for it. So how exactly do I tell if this relay is closed now?
 
Well, the best way to test the relay is to unsolder it from the circuit board because if you check resistances while it's connected, you could be reading other circuits. Unsolder the 4 or 5 pins and then look at the spec sheet referenced here > http://www.newark.com/te-connectivi...ower-relay-spdt-12vdc-12a-pc-board/dp/66F7854 You would be reading resistance from the center pin on one side to the normally open contact side. Remember you are looking at the bottom. You should see an open circuit. If you read a low resistance, then the relay is stuck. Of course, as I said, we are assuming this relay controls the auger. You definitely hear a click each time the auger normally turns on which leads me to believe it's controlled by a mechanical relay.
 
One other question that should have been asked > How old is the stove? The box is warranted for two years.
 
Well, the best way to test the relay is to unsolder it from the circuit board because if you check resistances while it's connected, you could be reading other circuits. Unsolder the 4 or 5 pins and then look at the spec sheet referenced here > http://www.newark.com/te-connectivi...ower-relay-spdt-12vdc-12a-pc-board/dp/66F7854 You would be reading resistance from the center pin on one side to the normally open contact side. Remember you are looking at the bottom. You should see an open circuit. If you read a low resistance, then the relay is stuck. Of course, as I said, we are assuming this relay controls the auger. You definitely hear a click each time the auger normally turns on which leads me to believe it's controlled by a mechanical relay.
So you are meaning take out the main board and on the side of the stove and thats where this relay is located?
 
I'm following the other thread I referenced in the hopes of finding out why his auger keeps turning so that you could do the same but things are a little 'muddy' on that issue. Yes, the auger control is in that box but the jury is still out as to what component controls the auger. heatseeker on the other thread may be correct that the relay I was looking at might control the igniter and not the auger. I don't know. Have you been following the other thread? Digging into the control board is not for the uninitiated. ;)
The OP in the other thread said that replacing some electronic components, triacs, solved the auger problem and he lists them. BUT in one sentence it sounds like he still has the problem and he's masking it by altering the feed gate. I just don't know!!!!
 
The 2002 control box is 812-4410, which is listed as compatible on that web page.

One caution: the 1st reviewer said it does not come with instructions. IIRC, a recent thread on this forum described a selector switch to configure the new box. I don't know if anything else is needed to use a new box in an old stove.
 
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