Yellow Blinky on Castile?

[Czech]

So mom's stove is down, yellow blinky on the control box on a Quad Castile insert. If I recall correctly, that's vacuum or lack there of, but darned if I can find my blinky reference. Can someone in the know please post the lights and what they mean the Quads? Thanks!

 

[tjnamtiw]

It has nothing to do with vacuum. The yellow blinking light means the thermocouple is bad or its connectors are not making good contact. First trace the wires and unplug and replug them just to make sure. UNPLUG THE STOVE! Did I mention UNPLUG THE STOVE? Pull out the control box and reinsert it. Then plug it back in and see if it works. (get the easy stuff out of the way first).

Now to see if the thermocouple is indeed bad. You need a multimeter for this one. Set it on millivolts, disconnect the thermocouple leads again and connect them to the multimeter. Heat up the ceramic cover that is over the thermocouple and watch the millivolt reading. It should rise as temps increase. If you see no rise, then the thermocouple is bad.

Unfasten the bracket that holds the ceramic cover in place and remove. CAREFUL, it is very delicate! If you see that the end of the thermocouple is broken into two, then that really confirms it.

 

[Czech]

Hey Thanks TJ! I must be getting old, I just don't recall this stuff unless I write it down. That, or it's been a long time since I've seen a yellow which is good news I guess. She says she's not getting any feed, but the blower is going on start up which makes me think there is more going on (snap 2?). If it was just TC, would it not at least fill and light as part of the start up cycle and then cut out after it looked for proof of fire?

 

[tjnamtiw]

Hi Czech, didn't notice it was YOU. I wouldn't have gone to all that explanation because you know your way around the stove already. I'm not sure if the logic kills the startup sequence if it KNOWS the thermocouple is bad. Looking at the flow chart, it shouldn't sense a problem until step 7 but with it broken, it may bypass the logic. I'd still look real close at the thermocouple, connections, and millvolts.

 

[BradH70]

Dang!! I though the title read "Yellow BIKINI on Castile".

 

[imacman]

Dang!! I though the title read "Yellow BIKINI on Castile".

Oh, that too.

Are you sure it wasn't this? Couldn't figure out why someone would have one on their stove. :lol:

 

[jtakeman]

Dang!! I though the title read "Yellow BIKINI on Castile".

Oh, that too.

Are you sure it wasn't this? Couldn't figure out why someone would have one on their stove. :lol:

I did a double take on the title. Yep, BINKY. WTH! I sure hope my stove never gets on of them! ;-)

What's Next, diapers?

 

[Don2222]

Hello

I have some new experience on quads now.
The pellets should feed on start-up when there is enough vacuum. If the stove is a newer stove and has the latest control box, then it will automatically switch the exhaust blower to hi to provide enough vacuum to keep the auger going to feed enough pellets.

However if the stove is an older stove with the old control box then the heat selector MAY have to be on the Hi setting ONLY when the stove was real cold!! to run the exhaust fan on Hi to create enough vacuum to feed the pellets.

Juat Something else to check!! That is how it was with my Older Quadrafire Classic Bay which uses the exact same control box!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Dang!! I though the title read "Yellow BIKINI on Castile".

Oh, that too.

Are you sure it wasn't this? Couldn't figure out why someone would have one on their stove. :lol:

I did a double take on the title. Yep, BINKY. WTH! I sure hope my stove never gets on of them! ;-)

What's Next, diapers?

Oh no poopy pants on a pellet stove. I'm out of here.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Well, Czech, with a title like that, you HAD to expect the worst to come out..... :lol:

 

[Czech]

Thanks guys, as usual that was good for a hoot! So I run over the mom's, she's not home, dad answers the door, with a nice fire in the background. Asked him about it, and I got the 'you know your mother...'. So not sure what was up, but the stove was running fine, we'll see how it goes. They do have issues because they have a good run of flex, so usually when it acts up the leaf blower come out. In my research this afternoon, I don't think there is a yellow binky! Or blinky! Or bikini! Me thinks they are red and green as follows:

NOTE: The control box comes with two test lights that show if the Thermocouple and Control Box
are working properly. To see the temperature indicator lights, the right cast side must be removed.
B. The Green Light located on the top of the Control Box notifies you that the insert has reached a
temperature of 200ºF (93ºC) in the Firepot. If this light is not lit in the first few minutes after the
fire starts, the insert will shut down. Check the Thermocouple.
C. The Red Light located just behind the Green Light is to indicate that the insert has reached
operating temperature. If this light does not come on in the first nine minutes of start-up, the
insert will shut down. The insert will not try to relight again by itself, you must manually push
the Reset Button to restart the cycle.
D. If you suspect a problem with the Control Box, disconnect the power supply from the insert, then
remove the Control Box and take it to your nearest Quadra-Fire dealer for inspection.


NICE FLOWS TOO TJ! THANK YOU! I didn't have those.

 

[Don2222]

Thanks guys, as usual that was good for a hoot! So I run over the mom's, she's not home, dad answers the door, with a nice fire in the background. Asked him about it, and I got the 'you know your mother...'. So not sure what was up, but the stove was running fine, we'll see how it goes. They do have issues because they have a good run of flex, so usually when it acts up the leaf blower come out. In my research this afternoon, I don't think there is a yellow binky! Or blinky! Or bikini! Me thinks they are red and green as follows:

NOTE: The control box comes with two test lights that show if the Thermocouple and Control Box
are working properly. To see the temperature indicator lights, the right cast side must be removed.
B. The Green Light located on the top of the Control Box notifies you that the insert has reached a
temperature of 200ºF (93ºC) in the Firepot. If this light is not lit in the first few minutes after the
fire starts, the insert will shut down. Check the Thermocouple.
C. The Red Light located just behind the Green Light is to indicate that the insert has reached
operating temperature. If this light does not come on in the first nine minutes of start-up, the
insert will shut down. The insert will not try to relight again by itself, you must manually push
the Reset Button to restart the cycle.
D. If you suspect a problem with the Control Box, disconnect the power supply from the insert, then
remove the Control Box and take it to your nearest Quadra-Fire dealer for inspection.


NICE FLOWS TOO TJ! THANK YOU! I didn't have those.

How old is the stove? Does it have the latest control box to provide full vacuum at start-up?

 

[tjnamtiw]

In the clear control box, there is just one LED that lights either red or green depending on the temp of the thermocouple. If the thermocouple is bad, both colors light at the same time which gives kind of an amber color, so it could be she saw 'yellow'. Is the control box pure white or is it semi-transparent?