2004 Quadra fire mt Vernon starts then shuts down

[Macallan121525]

Hi folks,
I'm a newbie to this forum, my story, I recently owned two 2004 Quadra-Fir MT Vernon wood stoves, on wasblack finish and one is ceramic (not that this matters) I donated one of the stoves to a young couple we know that could really us it so now I have only one Quadra-Fire ( so I can't use the other one for troubleshooting) both of these units have run flawlessly for me as long as I cleaned and maintained them. I have been successful troubleshooting them until now. ( music please). My current 2004 Quadra-Fire MT Vernon will start up and then stop feeding pellets. If I hit the reset after it shuts off it wil start up and keep running. OR if I set the unit on high (QUAD) during startup it will keep running. I cleaned the unit a few bags prior to this happening but I figured maybe I didn't clean it enough SOOOOOO I did a break down and cleaned it thouroghly again. This didn't change anything. I checked the thermocupler and it reads within specs. Checked the vacuum switch, that looks good, check the venting that looks good, the seals on the door look good ( I do wonder though if I replaced the correctly, my memory might be failing, is there a gasket on the top of the door, i don't have one, I think it not supposed to be there for air intake Yes/No?). My dog and I are receptive to some advise on what else we can look for.
Thanks ahead of time!!

 

[kappel15]

Yes, there is an air wash on the glass. If the stove is cold, you could be dealing with the dreaded CSS(cold stove startup). Usually after one fire, the stove seems to start better with some ash in pot. And Quad recommends starting in med range, and then setting to low or high to run. Sounds like the fire didn't get going in time, and stove shut down till you hit the reset, and then with a warm pot and ash, it started fine. You could check and make sure all holes in pot are clear, and that pot floor is closing all the way, and use a mirror and flashlight, to look in bottom of pot floor at igniter slit to make sure it is clear of any debris blocking it. Also pull igniter and making sure igniter housing is clear of any ash, blocking slit. kap

 

[Macallan121525]

Yes, there is an air wash on the glass. If the stove is cold, you could be dealing with the dreaded CSS(cold stove startup). Usually after one fire, the stove seems to start better with some ash in pot. And Quad recommends starting in med range, and then setting to low or high to run. Sounds like the fire didn't get going in time, and stove shut down till you hit the reset, and then with a warm pot and ash, it started fine. You could check and make sure all holes in pot are clear, and that pot floor is closing all the way, and use a mirror and flashlight, to look in bottom of pot floor at igniter slit to make sure it is clear of any debris blocking it. Also pull igniter and making sure igniter housing is clear of any ash, blocking slit. kap

Thanks Kap, I looked at everything and This is what I noticed. The gasket around the fire pot looks kind of bad but when I shut the light off and shine a flashlight around it I dont see any light. What I did notice though is when the stove is on, and I look in from the left side with the side panel off I do see light from the flame, is this normal. I set the stove on medium and it still didn’t start past the initial pellet drop startup. I also noticed a burnt wood smell lately not sure where its coming from. Any thoughts? I ordered a new gasket just to be safe

 

[kappel15]

You can see fire light from the pot holes. You should be able to tell if pot is loose when you pull dump handle, and see if pot moves around too much. Another option is how clean is the exhaust path? Thru stove and pipe? It still sounds like your fire is not starting soon enough. These stoves are timed to run. From initial call for heat, you have 4 minutes, 15 seconds to show proof of fire and reach 200*, for the stove to start feeding again. If it doesn't, it will misfire and go into shut down mode. That is why if you hit reset, the stove will run. It has warmed up some and has ash in pot for fire to start sooner. Is there too much, or not enough fuel in initial dump, to get fire going right? Did you check igniter slit for any pc.'s of clinker partially blocking slit? Did you check all holes in pot. Including the 4 small ones in bottom of pot and the 4 small ones on front bottom of pot? kap

 

[Macallan121525]

You can see fire light from the pot holes. You should be able to tell if pot is loose when you pull dump handle, and see if pot moves around too much. Another option is how clean is the exhaust path? Thru stove and pipe? It still sounds like your fire is not starting soon enough. These stoves are timed to run. From initial call for heat, you have 4 minutes, 15 seconds to show proof of fire and reach 200*, for the stove to start feeding again. If it doesn't, it will misfire and go into shut down mode. That is why if you hit reset, the stove will run. It has warmed up some and has ash in pot for fire to start sooner. Is there too much, or not enough fuel in initial dump, to get fire going right? Did you check igniter slit for any pc.'s of clinker partially blocking slit? Did you check all holes in pot. Including the 4 small ones in bottom of pot and the 4 small ones on front bottom of pot? kap

OK so here I am, had the weekend to take this pellet stove apart and do some troubleshooting. AsI mentioned in my first post I have two of these quadra-fires and they are exactly identical. I donated one of the units to a young couple and they have been using it but they graciaously allowed me to use some parts to try to troubleshoot my stove. I changed everything I could, I cleaned everything (it alomost looks new) it was completely apart and inspected. I swapped each component and tried it, no luck each time. At the end of the weekend I was still having the same problems, (the pellet stove would initiate the start sequence then die) Last night as I was sitting down for dinner, my dog was frantically sniffing near the pellet stove, her nose was up, she usually sniff the ground unless it a deer or anything in a tree. I started to wonder what she could be smelling. I tried be become a dog and see if I could smell something but no luck. Then it hit me! I never checked the flue on this unit, that was the ONLY thing that was left, even though I cleaned it last spring. When I went out side to check inside the pipe I saw something about 15 feet up, I Grabbed my pipe cleaning implements and went to work. Lo and behold out came a nasty looking pretty good size Crow. On closer inspection I noticed that the screening at the top of the pipe was missing so it must have somehow worked it way in. I will install new screening this week. When I went back in the house last night and fired up the stove IT WORKED. It ran all night. I am still gonna wait a little more but I think that was it. I want to thank everyone for their feedback and help. It was greatly appreciated.

 

[kappel15]

A critter is the culprit again. Glad the dog lent a hand and guided you towards the problem. lol Stay warm. kap