Hi Everyone - was hoping to come on here and only try to help others with their questions but again we have an issue with our MVAE. We gave it a thorough cleaning and started it up for the season - ran fine. A couple days ago, there was a misfire but then it started up again on its own. After that, the house starting smelling like smoke and after some investigation, we found still smoldering black pellets in the ash pan. We removed the ash pan and put it outside, then thoroughly cleaned the stove again. Thought the issue was fixed, and then again yesterday (just one day later), I started smelling smoke again and found the same issue. I know the stove is clean because I just cleaned it. The manual is not helping. It says it may be the igniter but we just changed that last year. Why is it dumping partially burned pellets into the pot? Is there a way to make the fan stay on longer after the last pot dump to keep removing smoke from smoldering pellets? I am at a loss here. I feel like we can't leave the stove on if we leave the house because we may come back to a lot of smoke and that nasty smell. Please help! Thanks!
Another season, another Quadrafire MVAE issue... please help!
- Thread starter PelletGirl
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Just wanted to add the smoke is coming out of the blower vents, where the heat normally comes out. Not out of the venting or anywhere else.
JRemington
Minister of Fire
We did this at the beginning of the season - took out the baffle and replaced it (it had developed a vertical crack), cleaned the venting, the heat exchanger, etc. Is there something else we should do?
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
BigJohnfromCT
Feeling the Heat
Sorry to hear you're having problems with your MVAE. Is it possible that the burn pot floor is not closing completely and small pieces of burning pellets are dropping through? I'm not sure if there is some kind of sensor on it. Good luck and keep us posted. As an MVAE owner myself I'm always interested in solutions. Thought: after cleaning my stove last week I lubricated the burn pot floor rails with a thin film of hi temp grease just to make sure it was sliding freely.
Actually, they are not small pieces. They are mostly full size pellets that are partially burned, black and still smoldering. Apparently the burn pot is dropping them before they are ash. Not sure why it is doing this. We cleaned the stove again today. Hopefully it won't happen again but I hope Kap weighs in on this.
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
could the auto clean be activating out of sequence? I don't know the stove to well and other than the pot clean out plate moving I can't see how they get to the ash pan. what a quandary.
JRemington
Minister of Fire
Anytime you have unburned pellets there is either a fast feed issue or combustion air issue or both. Watch the auto Clean and see if it's working properly. Can you take a pressure reading of the burn pot?
I would be checking your firepot thermocouple. First make sure it is touching the inside end of the cover. Then I would double check the wires that they are up in the groove so the auto-clean doesn't hit them and ground it. Check connections for a good fit. A faulty thermocouple can dump burning pellets into ashpan. The tc is suppose to read 550* before it will allow an auto-clean. kap
Ssyko
Minister of Fire
found this in the manual. just more info
• If there is a gap showing above the fire pot bottom, approximately 1/16 inch (1.59mm) or more, it means the springs have lost their tension
• Lost tension can not keep the floor in the proper position causing ignition problems and fuel falling into the ash pan.
• If there is a gap showing above the fire pot bottom, approximately 1/16 inch (1.59mm) or more, it means the springs have lost their tension
• Lost tension can not keep the floor in the proper position causing ignition problems and fuel falling into the ash pan.
We checked all these and none seem to be the issue. no modifictions have been made to the stove since last season.
prior to start up, the heat from the ignitor does not reach the pellets clearly as a result of there being a clinker about an inch thick, in the forward and lowest part of the firepot. the clinker is insulating the pellets from the ignitors heat, preventing ignition of same. this appears to be the cause of the partially burnt or charred pellets. they get hot, but not hot enough for ignition before the cycle times out giving a misfire alert.
what is the issue with the firepot failing to fully clean the clinkers? the setting is on utility grade for increased cleaning frequency, which has helped in only a small way.
we are using premium grade hardwood pellets.
prior to start up, the heat from the ignitor does not reach the pellets clearly as a result of there being a clinker about an inch thick, in the forward and lowest part of the firepot. the clinker is insulating the pellets from the ignitors heat, preventing ignition of same. this appears to be the cause of the partially burnt or charred pellets. they get hot, but not hot enough for ignition before the cycle times out giving a misfire alert.
what is the issue with the firepot failing to fully clean the clinkers? the setting is on utility grade for increased cleaning frequency, which has helped in only a small way.
we are using premium grade hardwood pellets.
JRemington
Minister of Fire
Clinkers are formed by the silica in the pellets reach a high temperature. Silica is basically dirt. All pellets say they are premium. Don't be fooled by that. Are they PFI certified?
I would say fluke, that a pc of clinker got stuck there. Would work to use a mirror and flashlight and check that area around igniter slit to make sure it is clean. Might be something to just periodically watch for, when cleaning pot. The stove will retry 3 times if it gets a missed ignition, thus the pellets in ashpan that are smoldering. Did you ever get a new pot or do the upgrade to it? And check and make sure the pot floor is nice and snug up against the pot, and pot floor is closing all the way. kap
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We are using Barefoot Pellets. Used them last year and they were great so we tried them again. Maybe not as good this year?
Actually not a fluke, happens over and over. We clean often and always make sure to clean the area around the igniter slit. Never replaced the pot or did an upgrade. What kind of upgrade would you get for a pot? When the stove shuts down and cools off, we'll check to make sure the pot floor is snug up against the pot and closing all the way, but I believe it is. I hear it scraping as it opens and closes when it cleans. Thanks for the suggestions.
JRemington
Minister of Fire
Barefoot are normally good pellets. Can you see the igniter glowing red? If it is I'd do what Kap said and scrape everything and give it a good cleaning. On some stoves an eighth of an inch further away from the igniter will stop it from lighting. If you have hard clinkers baked onto the metal they can be quite difficult to scrape off. A sharp screwdriver and some elbow grease will get it off.
Pellets can change from batch to batch, and year to year. Have you checked your flame height to see if it is right? Any issues with an oak, if you have one? And what year stove do you have? When the pot floor slides over to do an auto-clean, it is just planning on things to drop down into ash pan. If something is stuck to the side, it can't get rid of that. If you get it cleaned good, you might try a little Pam cooking spray on the area, to slow down the clinker buildup. Just be careful not to use too much as it is flammable and you don't need to get a bunch in the igniter housing and short it out. Maybe spray some in a small container and brush it on. kap
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OK we have made adjustments to the flame height and given it a thorough cleaning. Scraped the pot clean. No issues with the oak. I believe the stove is a 2014 or 2015. Fairly new. Hopefully we are done with this. Thanks everyone for your help.
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