Quadrafire CB1200 free standing - smoking the house out.

We installed this stove in 2000, and have had virtually no problems until last year, and now this fall.

During shut down, the blower shuts off as expected, and then the burner/exhaust blower shuts down shortly thereafter, as it always has. Now we still have a pile of burning pellets, and we begin getting smoke in the house. I have the stove on a power strip so I can cut and re-power stove so it goes into it's reset, and by doing so, continue burning up what's in the pot. Sometimes I have to do this two or three times.

My first question - is the thermocouple responsible for determining when the stove exhaust blower turns off.

What other possibilities could we be seeing.

stovelark said:

During shutdown, when the call light goes off, does the convection blower continue to run and cool down for about 10-15 mins? Then the exhaust blower runs for another 10-15 mins afterwards?? If not, timing on the control board is not right. There should be no pellets left to smoke. Air flow through the stove might be another reason if the run times are being met. Let us know what you find if you will for everyone's info.

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The shutdown blower times are as you say, but quite often, there are still pellets glowing at the bottom. We never did the outside air kit on this stove (Dealer didn't even know what one was at the time, and neither did we). I have been attempting to tweak the pellet feed so there is a better balance between what the stove needs to get started, and hoping there isn't any left after shutdown.

bob bare said:

Thermocouple or control board,prob just thermocouple.

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Control board is fairly new, so I'm leaning toward the thermocouple at this time.

Well - - that didn't work.

Replaced thermocouple, and it's still doing the same thing.

There is a full bed of hot embers at the bottom of the fire pot when it completely shuts down.

I've throttled down the feed rate (gate) to the point where it may not fire up at start up, so I find it hard to conceive I have too high a feed.

What determines or tells the stove that the temperature is low enough to turn off the exhaust fan.

And that's what it's doing. If I'm home, I usually end up cutting power off, and then turning it back on to let the check cycle run so as to finish the pot out.

I have an older control board I kept around "just because". I'm going to see if there are some timer adjustments that can be made at the board so that the end cycle runs for 15 minutes instead of 10 as set.

mralias said:

In case this helps....

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In this case Snap Disc #1 needs to be replaced or needs to be at a lower temperature so that the convection blower stays on a bit longer. This would allow more of the pellets to be burnt off in the pot so when the snap disc functions, the final cycle should do what it's supposed to.

Much appreciated.

bob bare said:

Please let us know.Keeping the convection blower on longer will not "burn more pellets"Thanks

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Understood Bob, but in the logic diagram, there is something missing. The 10 minute shut down cycle shouldn't be initiated by room temperature call. (no more room heat) but by the snap disc saying the stove has cooled down enough. The combustion blower never stops before the convection .blower.

mralias said:

Are you sure the exhaust path is not dirty or partly obstructed by something? Wondering if improper air flow is leaving smoldering pellets and not burning them completely.

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Looked at that - It's 3 feet of pipe straight out the wall. swept out just the other day - no blockage.

kappel15 said:

Try unplugging your stove and plugging it back in. Tell us how many times the blue light flashes in intervals, in the control box. This tells us what stove the control box is set for. Then we can go from there. It could be bad fuel too,. kap

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Same fuel I have been using for years. American Wood Fiber. None of my local folks using this fuel are having any problem. They like it, and have been using it for years. (I'm a distributor)

Will check the box (Need to uncover it)

kappel15 said:

Make sure not to mess with control box, without unplugging stove first. And there has been bad batches of pellets of the same brand. And if you know of someone with a Quad stove that you could try their control box in yours to eliminate that. It just has to be set to your stove model. Any three speed control box, except the newer stoves. And the feed adjusting rod on my Santa Fe is all the way closed. kap

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So far I have not had any complaints on the pellets. Last year seemed to be a bit bad for big clinkers, but all in all, I haven't heard of anyone else having pellet issues.

I'm the only Quad owner that I know of - most of my customers have Harmon, Breckwell, and some seriously cheap stoves.

kappel15 said:

Either the pellets are not burning up fast enough, or the exhaust fan isn't staying on long enough. Just trying to eliminate all possibilities. kap

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Understood and appreciated.

Had this happen during startup this morning. Stove did the usual process, but must not have sensed heat and stopped. Red light "Call for Heat" stayed on, while we have smoke coming into the house. I hit the reset, and it took off with flame right away as it went through the usual pellet feed and start up cycle. Worked fine from there, including shut down.

I'm going to order in a #1 disc at specified degree ratting or a bit lower. Meanwhile, I'll get the access cover over the computer board removed so I can check on the blue light cycles/counts.