Alright, I give in..

[KenofShelby]

As long as I can’t get a new pellet stove until next year, I will do my best to keep my old Quadrafire 1000 running,,, It’s PRO’s are: it has a ceramic fire pot......lots of the new stoves have ‘tin’ones
It is vented thru the wall horizontal,,, no ugly vertical stack needed.
Has worked mostly pretty good for twelve years.
CON’s: small hopper, only 40 pounds
One burn rate, and that’s it.

I found a owners manual for it online,,,though apparently many things were changed on mine when it was rebuilt so trying to make sense of it all.

I am counting on all you Quadrafire fans to step up and help me with my problems......remember, you said this thing will last the rest of my life, so help, please.

 

[KenofShelby]

So, First problem,,,,,,the Quad. 1000 ran fine yesterday, over 24 hours straight, kept the shop temp at 50 which is where I had the thermostat set. Turned it off today and let it cool down to clean,,,,,then it started up fine EXCEPT it wouldn’t feed pellets,,,,the thermocouple was in place, I hadn’t touched or moved any wires....So I hand fed it pellets for about twenty minutes and then it decided to feed pellets, and is running fine now.........So what is that all about?


Except, now it isn’t feeding pellets again,,,

 

[Ssyko]

Honestly Ken i would bet that the control board and the card edge connector it slides into has some corrosion and is just not making a good connection. I had that problem last year and it kicked my ass. I had to modify the control box cover (installed my own viewing window) the old boards had 1 green led and 1 red led and they indicate the 2 stages of the thermocouple status. Geen is when the TC senses 200. And Red it has reached 700. So during start up it feeds pellets and fires up, a few min of burning the green light comes on and the control board senses everything is as it sould be and sends some more pellets the fire get bigger and the temps rise and the TC senses it has reached 700 and turns on the red led. By this time the stove should be in its normal run state. You might be able to unplug the stove and remove and reinstall the board in the connector a couple times and get a better connection, if not try a pencil erasor to clean the board contacts. See if if that helps.

 

[KenofShelby]

Honestly Ken i would bet that the control board and the card edge connector it slides into has some corrosion and is just not making a good connection. I had that problem last year and it kicked my ass. I had to modify the control box cover (installed my own viewing window) the old boards had 1 green led and 1 red led and they indicate the 2 stages of the thermocouple status. Geen is when the TC senses 200. And Red it has reached 700. So during start up it feeds pellets and fires up, a few min of burning the green light comes on and the control board senses everything is as it sould be and sends some more pellets the fire get bigger and the temps rise and the TC senses it has reached 700 and turns on the red led. By this time the stove should be in its normal run state. You might be able to unplug the stove and remove and reinstall the board in the connector a couple times and get a better connection, if not try a pencil erasor to clean the board contacts. See if if that helps.
View attachment 240414

Thanks for the prompt reply, My control board is down underneath on the back side... I’ll take a look at it tomorrow..when I was handfeeding it today, both the red and the green light came on.... Of course, in the manual I found online it says “don’t open the control board, dealer only”,,,However, who pays attention to that, right??

I was also wondering if maybe the 80cfm exhaust blower wasn’t kicking in,,, In the manual it mentioned that too...

 

[kappel15]

Exhaust fan has to come on, to create a vacuum in firebox, to send power to auger motor. IF you fed fuel and it started running, door gasket may be getting wore out and a good flame helped seal it. kap

 

[KenofShelby]

Exhaust fan has to come on, to create a vacuum in firebox, to send power to auger motor. IF you fed fuel and it started running, door gasket may be getting wore out and a good flame helped seal it. kap

Door seal is nice and tight.. So in the manual it suggested resetting snap disc #3,, it doesn’t show in the schematic,,,,where is it?

 

[KenofShelby]

I just learned in their manual that there are head exchanger panels that can be removed to be cleaned,,,,,Have to go look tomorrow and see if my stove has them....whew,,,the manual is teaching me a lot.

 

[kappel15]

It will be your best friend, when it comes to owning a stove. Stay in touch. kap

 

[KenofShelby]

I have just found an hour long video on my pellet stove,,, I’m half way through it, and oh, wow, am I learning a lot...I just think I am going to keep this old boy and make it work.

 

[kappel15]

And a newer pot for your stove would be cast iron, not tin. kap

 

[KenofShelby]

And a newer pot for your stove would be cast iron, not tin. kap

The original was cast iron,,,,(tin......some kind of metal). It was replaced with the ceramic pot when it was rebuilt....I think I like the ceramic better.

 

[KenofShelby]

Here’s what it’s doing today,, I pulled the control box, cleaned the terminals, pushed it back in, checked to make sure the thermocouple is in far enough,,,,,,,The stove will start right up, pellets feed, it burns for six minutes, then pellets stop feeding, the fire starts going out,, when it is almost out, pellets start to feed again,,,,????/
Not getting consistent pellet feed or flame>??

 

[Ssyko]

You wont get a steady feed while it is in the start up phase. It drops some then fires up when the TC senses 200 it wil feed some more. Then it should burn well enough to get the 700 red led. Does your stove have a feed adjustable slide in the hopper area.

 

[KenofShelby]

You wont get a steady feed while it is in the start up phase. It drops some then fires up when the TC senses 200 it wil feed some more. Then it should burn well enough to get the 700 red led. Does your stove have a feed adjustable slide in the hopper area.

Yes, it does have an adjustable slide......what puzzles me is that it worked find yesterday, and for the whole previous week..Now, just because I shut it down to vac it,,, it doesn’t want to work...
What controls the auger.

Both the red and green led’s are on after it has burned for a few minutes

 

[Mt Bob]

Not a quad guy,but seems lots of intermittent problems happen after vacuuming,that turn out to be debris in the vacuum hose,sometimes even in the vac. switch itself.

 

[Ssyko]

ultimately the combustion blower controls the auger buy creating a vacuum but the vacuum switch when activated turns power on to the auger. like bob said the port the hose hooks to and the hose itself needs to be open and clear. i don't think there is any way to clean the switch without damaging it, may be replacement time. open the slide in the hopper 1/4" at a time till enough pellets feed to get the stove out of startup and running.

 

[KenofShelby]

Thanks to both of you,,, I am starting to think that is the problem. Ssyko,, the hose is clear, have checked it several times... Not sure changing the slide in the hopper is the solution, because I am using the same pellets I used last week when it ran fine.....Perhaps it is time to replace the vacuum switch,,,,,,from the vidoe I watched, done by Quadrafire,,,, tha tseem like a possibility. So, I am I going to try to find one and get it...

 

[Ssyko]

Let us know how ya make out. we will be here. it's intriguing now lol

 

[Mt Bob]

You could jumper the switch and test the stove.

 

[KenofShelby]

You could jumper the switch and test the stove.

Thank you,,, Yes, That’s what I am going to try first,,,,,,hope that is a solution.

 

[KenofShelby]

IT WORKED,,,!! I jumped the wires to the vacuum switch, plugged the stove back in,,, It fired up right away m pellets started feeding. Has been burning a goood strong flame for an hour now....very happy! Thank you all.

Now I just need to order a replacement vacuum switch,, I see that Quadrafire has changed the style of switch,,,and found one brand new on ebay for $46. I will be able to run the stove with the wires jumped until the new one arrives.

 

[KenofShelby]

Three hours, it’s been running fine, nice full flame....warmed the shop up from below freezing to 70 degrees,,, this with an outdoor temp of 12.

 

[kappel15]

Did you ever check the nipple on the drop tube like they mentioned above by sticking a stiff pc. of wire in it to make sure it is clear? kap

 

[KenofShelby]

Did you ever check the nipple on the drop tube like they mentioned above by sticking a stiff pc. of wire in it to make sure it is clear? kap

If you mean the tubing on the vacuum switch, no I didn’t check that. Because once I jumped the wires to the vacuum switch, and restarted it,,, the stove is working fine.....Burns even, pellets feed great. No problems at all.
See my posts #21 and #22 above.

Now wondering why I even need to replace the vacuum switch and just run it this way??

 

[Ssyko]

if the combustion blower fails it will fill the shop with smoke and could create a fire. auger wont shut off and it will feed till power is gone by either the high temp snap disc. or your shops main breaker blowes as the wires melt.

Kap means the nipple that the hose connects to on the drop tube