Castile feed motor problem.

[Seattleman]

The feed motor in my Castile stove has all of a sudden stopped feeding. I checked the vacuum switch fittings for blockage. I jumped the vacuum switch leads and it worked. I have no continuity on the switch unless I put heavy suction on it. I also checked that the exhaust motor was blowing in the correct direction and is pulling a good suction through the bottom of the glass door. The door gasket has slight fraying in the corner but has no leaks.
Does this mean the vacuum switch is bad? I heard that is fairly rare. Do I need to check something further? I am stumped.

 

[Czech]

Have you checked the snap disks at all? Should be listed where they are at on your stove, the manual should show you or otherwise can be found at Quad's site. If the snap is snapped, it may indicate a problem other than being snapped, could the auger be jammed? Is the stove nice and clean, including removing the back bricks and cleaning the vent?

 

[Seattleman]

Yes I have. #2 and #3, #1 are resettable but I cannot depress the buttons more than a 1/16", #1 is not resettable and I cannot get continuity though it. The auger is not jammed, everything works just fine as long as I jump the wires to the vacuum switch. And I cleaned everything from the heat exchangers down to the louvers on the vent blower. I removed the back bricks and brushed every accessible inch including the exhaust blower. I even vacuumed out the hopper and auger to check for jams, nothing.

 

[kilbury]

Sounds like the vac switch is bad. Have you checked for continuity through the vac switch? Should be none without doing the following, unhook the wires or pull them back slighlty on the terminals so you have acess to the terminals with multimeter leads. You can also lightly suck on the vac hose to close the circuit in the vac switch and then check for continuity. Is the black part of the vac switch loose or is it still firmly attached to the silver box part of the switch? If loose the switch could be making contact part of the time. good luck and be careful with any loose wires hanging around unhooked in there or you could be buyin a new control box.

 

[Seattleman]

No continuity unless I suck on the hose. Black part is definitely loose. I assume it should not be. Thank you for the guidance.

 

[jtp10181]

If you put a lot of suction on that switch you can damage it worse so be careful. The black box should not be loose on the larger silver box. I have encountered this once before. Since I did not have a switch with me I lined the black part back up and put a good amount of silicone around it to secure it back in place. I tested the continuity by plugging the unit in so the fan would run for the 15 mins. If you open the glass the vac switch should drop out and when you close it, it should close again. If it will not work correctly you should replace it. It is a safety feature of the stove to prevent pellets from dropping if the pressure in the firebox is disrupted (open glass or comb blower failure).

 

[Seattleman]

Thank you for your help. We appreciate it very much.

 

[kilbury]

sorry should have been a little more specific on the vac switch and the black part bein loose. i have seen a few of these bad on the quads lately, maybe they got a bad batch. glad u found your problem.

 

[cornstoves]

I too have had several bad vacuum switches lately. I called Quad and they said they are looking into a new supplier.

 

[jtp10181]

I too have had several bad vacuum switches lately. I called Quad and they said they are looking into a new supplier.

Hopefully they find one not in china.... seems to be the source of most of my problems recently. You cant take cheap junk parts and put them in a high quality stove.