Quadrafire won't stay lit on low.

[Turbo-Quad]

Hi guys.

I have another newbe question. My Quad Mt. Vernon is new to me but 4 years old. It is not the new AE model it is the older one. I have been keeping it on low and my house is staying a moderate 69 degrees. Seems great except that it will shut down on that setting periodically. I have been burning it for 5 days now and it only does this on the lowest setting and none of the others. The manual says to check the vacum lines so I am about to take the panel off. If the vacum was the problem wouldn't it do this on every setting? I hope I didn't get a lemon here. The low setting is going to save me alot of pellets. I can kick up on the next setting but it just seems like a waste of pellets and I'd like to identify the issue. I'm trying to be frugal here.

Oh yeh, I forgot to mention I just cleaned it real well this morning and it still did it.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I have the Quad Sante Fe and Castile inserts and both of them on LOW are really borderline as far as the exhaust/combustion fan providing enough vacuum to hold the vacuum switch in. Without a fire, neither one will hold the switch in, period. With a fire on Low, I have enough extra draft up my chimney to hold the switch in. If you have a short path or one with a lot of angles, you may not have enough draft created from the rising heat to keep the switch pulled in. Also, if it's windy and blowing back into your exhaust, that will open the vacuum switch and stop the feed. I wish they had an indicator light showing that the switch is pulled in. I guess it would be an easy add-on, actually.

 

[tractorman100]

When I first got my non-AE. it would shut down on low also. Turned out to be a combination of 3 things. Crappy pellets, really crusty burn pot and Hopper flow not adjusted properly. The hopper was the big one. Is it continuing to drop pellets after the fire goes out? What pellets are you using? Now, is your thermostat set at 69? Of course that turns it off and on. I will leave my stat at 75 and just put the stove on low and let it chug all day HOWEVER that will make a mess of the burnpot

 

[Turbo-Quad]

The Pelelts I am using were bought from Menards. Ozark something (sorry not at home to check right now). They are supposed to be premium hard wood. I had a suspicion it was the feeder too. There were no pellets in the pot when it went out. I have a T on the back running up 1 foot to a 90 then out the wall. The exhaust blower sounds a bit funny on low so I am contiplating pulling it and seeing if it has some restriction. The guy that had it before me claimed he maintained it but you never know.

 

[imacman]

......Oh yeh, I forgot to mention I just cleaned it real well this morning and it still did it.

80-85% of pellet stove problems are due to a dirty stove. Can you tell us what you did when you cleaned it?

Also, just so you know, pellet stoves have the hardest time running on low. Many times they will go out, either from lack of air, or even sometimes too much air (blows the fire out).

Does the manual say whether or not there is a "trim" adjustment for low burn?

 

[Turbo-Quad]

I didn't see anything in the manual regarding running on low specifically. There is a feed rate adjustment. I'll give it a wack and see if there is an improvement. I clean the pot with a 2" putty knife (all I have to use right now). I don't have anything to get in those bores on the sides with. Is there something to use as a reamer on them? Drill bit? Whats the best way to clean the thermocouple cover? Wire brush?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

It could be that your draft is a smidgen too high for burning with the lowest feed rate, or the feed rate is too low.

You could start there.

Feed rate too low is sometimes caused by the physical characteristics of the pellets. This is one of the reasons that draft settings can change due to the pellets being burned.

 

[imacman]

I didn't see anything in the manual regarding running on low specifically. There is a feed rate adjustment. I'll give it a wack and see if there is an improvement. I clean the pot with a 2" putty knife (all I have to use right now). I don't have anything to get in those bores on the sides with. Is there something to use as a reamer on them? Drill bit? Whats the best way to clean the thermocouple cover? Wire brush?

When it shut off, was the burnpot full of pellets, or empty?

And my question about cleaning sort of confirmed something.....just scraping the burnpot isn't what we would call a "complete cleaning". Since you are the 2nd owner, don't assume the stove was ever cleaned properly (BTW, why did the previous owner say he was selling it?). And yes, any holes in the burnpot that can be "cleaned out" with a drill bit should be done.

A used stove should be taken apart (blowers removed, all ash trap doors opened, any baffles removed, exhaust pipe, etc, etc) and cleaned completely. There are MANY threads on this forum dealing with cleaning. After you get done with a manual cleaning & re-assembly, you might want to try the "leaf blower" method to get that final bit of ash out of places you can't see or reach. A search will reveal a lot of info on that too.

 

[Turbo-Quad]

Yeh the more I read here the more I realize I need to tear this down and do the real clean. I'll have to do a bit more reseach on the pot cleaning. I'm not sure how much more I could scrape on it and I will definatley get the drill bit out.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Turbo-Quad,

You are catching on, sometimes something as small as a speck of ash in the vacuum tube or where it attaches to the exhaust system can stop a pellet stove from functioning on low but not high burn.

That having been said the air fuel mixture even in a completely clean stove needs to be in balance or else the stove can have issues like you are seeing.

 

[imacman]

Yeh the more I read here the more I realize I need to tear this down and do the real clean. I'll have to do a bit more reseach on the pot cleaning. I'm not sure how much more I could scrape on it and I will definatley get the drill bit out.

The owners manual has a pretty good section on "Maintenance", and even gets into removing the blowers.

The combustion blower should be removed & all the soot/carbon build-up scraped/wirebrushed off the fins CAREFULLY and also under the fins on the motor plate. The convection blower needs mainly to have any build-up of dust/pet hair, etc removed, and also look for any ports that might be labeled for oiling. BTW, I'd check around for a Quad dealer, and get a spare gasket too.

The ash "trap" doors on the sides need to be opened and vacuumed out (2-3' long 3/4" rubber hose duct-taped onto a shop vac nozzle works well).

 

[tractorman100]

After a good cleaning and test burn, you may have to adjust the flow in the hopper.
The combustion blower is a PITA to get to.
I have found that burning on low leaves alot of crap in the burnpot. Try to clean and empty it every day if possible. I use a wire brush. Easy on the thermocouple! Cleaning is not that hard, make sure you clean the exhaust thing on the right side ( as you are looking at it) every ton or so.

 

[Bkins]

If your going to pull the exhaust blower get yourself a reuseable red gasket PRIOR to taking the thing apart. There is really no reason to take the exhaust blower out as the fan blade can be reached by taking the exhaust path cover off, after taking the right side cover off. When you take the right and left side covers off you will see a rubber hose, on the augar tube that needs to be taken off and blown out. Stick a unfolded paper clip into the augar tube port to make sure it is not blocked. The door gasket needs to be in good shape in order for the vacuume sytem to work correctly. Bend a coat hanger, not one of those white junky things, to form a tool to get the back holes in the burnpot cleaned out. There are 4 or 5 of them on the back side floor of the firepot. These need to be kept clean, as in every day. I push the coat ahnger into these holes and then pull the firepot handle to get things to clean out. Be carefull with cleaning the other firepot holes as the front firepot holes have the igniter hidden behing them. Get a good flashlight and take a good look at what your dealing with. The thermocouple cover doesn't need to be cleaned unless its really crapped up.

My stove will run on low all day long with no problem. It doesn't like to start on low but once running it will go untill the pellets run out. BTW, These stoves seem to be particular on the type/brand of pelllets, so if you continue to have problems try a different brand of pellets.

Bkins

 

[tjnamtiw]

I didn't see anything in the manual regarding running on low specifically. There is a feed rate adjustment. I'll give it a wack and see if there is an improvement. I clean the pot with a 2" putty knife (all I have to use right now). I don't have anything to get in those bores on the sides with. Is there something to use as a reamer on them? Drill bit? Whats the best way to clean the thermocouple cover? Wire brush?

To clean the big holes, get a .38 caliber bore brush at WalMart. The small holes take a .30 caliber. I mount them on a bent section of the cleaning rod. Works great and very fast. To clean the bottom plate, get an old, cheap wood chisel. I learned that one on here and got mine at Harbor Freight. Just push it into the clinker or buildup and twist. Works like a champ. Thanks to whoever came up with that!

 

[tjnamtiw]

When you take the right and left side covers off you will see a rubber hose, on the augar tube that needs to be taken off and blown out. Stick a unfolded paper clip into the augar tube port to make sure it is not blocked. Bkins

If it's like my Quads, that rubber hose runs to the vacuum switch and you DON'T want to take it off of the auger tube and blow into it bacause it will blow the ash into the vacuum switch. Take it off at the vac switch and blow it out with compressed air in a can.

 

[Turbo-Quad]

Great! That is some good info there guys! Keep the tips coming. Thanks.

Rick

 

[Bkins]

When you take the right and left side covers off you will see a rubber hose, on the augar tube that needs to be taken off and blown out. Stick a unfolded paper clip into the augar tube port to make sure it is not blocked. Bkins

If it's like my Quads, that rubber hose runs to the vacuum switch and you DON'T want to take it off of the auger tube and blow into it bacause it will blow the ash into the vacuum switch. Take it off at the vac switch and blow it out with compressed air in a can.

You are correct in not blowing into the vacuume switch. The hose must come off both ends in order to be blown out.

Bkins

 

[tjnamtiw]

I didn't mean to be a nitpicker, Bkins, but I didn't want anyone to screw up their vac switch either. I just take it loose at the vac switch and give it a good blast (with the door closed!) and it blows out the port too. I did have the port blocked on my Sante Fe once this winter, which led to some trouble shooting. I'm going to rig a light up on my vac switch so I can see when it's closed or open and save headaches searching for 'why, why, why'. The Sante Fe insert spoils me because the vac switch is right inside the little access door on the left side whereas on the Castile insert you have to screw with that darn cast door to get it off and reach WAY back there to get at the switch.