Classic Bay 1200 troubleshooting

[amynrichie]

We are trying to figure out why our new stove is not feeding pellets. Combustion blower comes on when t stat calls for heat. Pellets won't feed. My research shows that it could be vacuum switch, snap disc, or thermocouple. We cleaned the vac hose, cleaned saw dust out of the auger, found snap reset but it wasn't tripped. Check my pictures is the thermocouple, is that my problem?????

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[amynrichie]

It was an auger jam. One more time with a coat hanger yielded a bunch of saw dust. We are in business!

 

[kappel15]

Glad you figured it out. Pays to read posts! lol Stay warm. kap

 

[xSpecBx]

That RTV blob will burn off. I just bought the same stove a couple months ago and I found it in the Firebox after a few good burns. From everything I have read its just there to keep everything in place during shipping. Glad to hear you got it running.

I use the vacuum method to clean out the fines before I put them in the stove. Might want to look into it. Takes a little bit of time but cuts down significantly on the dust and fines going into the hopper.

 

[Papelletman]

It was an auger jam. One more time with a coat hanger yielded a bunch of saw dust. We are in business!

What kind of pellets are you using that you already had a jam from saw dust?

 

[moey]

Are your pellets dry? Never had a auger jam on my Classic Bay and Ive run some pretty dusty pellets. Make sure your feed gate is open enough. The only time Ive not gotten pellets to feed was when they seemed to bridge themselves over the opening.

 

[amynrichie]

What kind of pellets are you using that you already had a jam from saw dust?

We are using Rockies. They are dry, stored in the basement. I really hope this is a one time thing, because I have a whole ton of them

 

[tjnamtiw]

That missing burn pot bolt won't help! You want that air to come through the burn pot holes, not the bolt hole.

All of my auger jams in the past were at the top of the feed chute, not at the feed gate. Get a small mirror and a flashlight and look up the chute to see if there is anything up there preventing the pellets from dropping. Besides the long pellets bridging the opening, I've had a crushed aluminum warning label from SOMEWHERE up there and a piece of wood.

You might want to build something like this to filter out the fines.



And your thermocouple placement looks fine.

 

[moey]

That missing burn pot bolt won't help! You want that air to come through the burn pot holes, not the bolt hole.

There is not supposed to be a bolt there. There is a hole there though its just not used. It does not go thru to the chamber below.

 

[Mrr211]

In my 2nd season with my Classic Bay 1200. Before reading your 2nd post I was already thinking auger jam. I Noticed that if the stove happens to run out of pellets the fines will settle in the bottom if the hopper and that's when we've had issues. After discovering the problem now I just stick my finger down into the hopper to where the pellets feed and make sure there are no jams with pellets or fines. Then I pour the new bag of pellets in.
Also I never pour the entire bag into my hopper. I usually leave about a pound or two in the bag and then pour that into the sifter I have in the garage. It helps immensely and I have not had a jam since doing these two techniques.
The stove puts out a ton of heat and we enjoyed it last year and so far this year no issues.
Good luck and I'm glad you got it running

 

[amynrichie]

Are your pellets dry? Never had a auger jam on my Classic Bay and Ive run some pretty dusty pellets. Make sure your feed gate is open enough. The only time Ive not gotten pellets to feed was when they seemed to bridge themselves over the opening.

Feed gate is closed about half way to get the flame height adjusted. If i open it more, I'm way above the flame height the book recommends.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Feed gate is closed about half way to get the flame height adjusted. If i open it more, I'm way above the flame height the book recommends.

You beat me to it! That was going to be my comment. Very well done! Like I said, most jams are at the top of the auger and feed chute.

 

[tjnamtiw]

There is not supposed to be a bolt there. There is a hole there though its just not used. It does not go thru to the chamber below.

That's interesting! Multi-use burn pot, I guess. Or a drunk Chinaman..

 

[amynrichie]

That missing burn pot bolt won't help! You want that air to come through the burn pot holes, not the bolt hole.

All of my auger jams in the past were at the top of the feed chute, not at the feed gate. Get a small mirror and a flashlight and look up the chute to see if there is anything up there preventing the pellets from dropping. Besides the long pellets bridging the opening, I've had a crushed aluminum warning label from SOMEWHERE up there and a piece of wood.

You might want to build something like this to filter out the fines.

View attachment 144253

And your thermocouple placement looks fine.

Where do your fines get collected on that ramp? I also like the idea of pouring most of the bag in and sifting the rest.

 

[moey]

I would try and still dump the whole bag in and see if you have problems again. Keep the hopper fairly full as well and see if it occurs again. My bet is it does not. Ive sifted pellets before its just extra work with nothing gained if you can avoid it.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Where do your fines get collected on that ramp? I also like the idea of pouring most of the bag in and sifting the rest.

There's a floor under the ramp that collects the fines. You'd be surprised how many get collected. If you camp, you can melt some wax and stir in a healthy portion of those fines and voila, you have a great fire starter. Should work in a wood stove too.
I get three of those buckets full per bag and I'd rather have me or my wife carry them in to the stoves than try to wrestle with a bag, which she couldn't do. Also, it gives you an opportunity to see if any nut or bolts were added......... For me, it's no more work plus it keeps the dust out of the house. And If I want to top off a hopper before bed, just go out and get 15#!

 

[amynrichie]

There's a floor under the ramp that collects the fines. You'd be surprised how many get collected. If you camp, you can melt some wax and stir in a healthy portion of those fines and voila, you have a great fire starter. Should work in a wood stove too.
I get three of those buckets full per bag and I'd rather have me or my wife carry them in to the stoves than try to wrestle with a bag, which she couldn't do. Also, it gives you an opportunity to see if any nut or bolts were added......... For me, it's no more work plus it keeps the dust out of the house. And If I want to top off a hopper before bed, just go out and get 15#!

Does the ramp have holes in it then? Is it a screen? I LOVE the wax fire starter idea!

 

[tjnamtiw]

Does the ramp have holes in it then? Is it a screen? I LOVE the wax fire starter idea!

The ramp is 1/4" hardware cloth stapled to the sides and then window screen over that. The 1/4" 'holes' are a little too big. I should have gotten the next size smaller.