Control Board Getting Fried - Quadrafire Castille Insert

[grendel336]

After my 10 year old pellet stove sat unplugged for the summer, I plugged it in to use it for first time this season. Quadrafire stoves run through a "startup routine" when you first plug them in, but before you call for heat. Takes about 20 minutes. During that "startup routine" the control board died. Rather pungent smell filled the room. I unplugged the stove, removed the control box and opened it up to see what had fried. Best I can tell it was the transformer. Everything else looked fine. The strongest smell seemed to be the transformer. Before I put a new control box in the stove I'm hoping somebody can tell me what I should check so as not to fry a brand new control box. What might have caused the old box to cook itself during that initial startup sequence? Thanks for any help I can get.

 

[mralias]

Did you by chance clean the stove at the end of the summer or before you plugged it in this winter? If yes then recheck all connections to make sure something is not shorting out. You might have knocked a wire loose at anyone of the many fans, snap disks, etc that shorted out against the stove. Or the control box was jarred while cleaning and was not seated properly. I thought that board was fused?

6. Fuse The fuse is located on the side of the junction box near the red call light. The fuse will blow should a short occur and shut off power to the appliance

Sounds like that did not work. Bummer.

 

[grendel336]

Good call. I moved the entire unit multiple times during it's summer slumber. I shall check around to see if anything looks wrong with wires. There is a fuse on the control board itself. That fuse was not blown. The main fuse on unit by the red light was not blown. The startup sequence lights on the board happened with the 6 blinks repeating a few times. The first blower fan during the startup sequence turned on and ran until the board crapped out.

 

[Tails1]

Good call. I moved the entire unit multiple times during it's summer slumber. I shall check around to see if anything looks wrong with wires. There is a fuse on the control board itself. That fuse was not blown. The main fuse on unit by the red light was not blown. The startup sequence lights on the board happened with the 6 blinks repeating a few times. The first blower fan during the startup sequence turned on and ran until the board crapped out.

Sounds like something was shorting out the traces on the board itself. If something conductive came into contact with either side of a circuit board, smoking up like this can be the result.

 

[grendel336]

Not sure what it could have been. The control board is basically enclosed in a protective plastic case. I found no spiders, stink bugs, or other possible critters inside box when I opened it. I suppose some dust over the years could have settled into a few places, but the board looked remarkable clean when I first pulled it out of the plastic box.

If such a think did happen that'd be best case scenario I guess, because then I wouldn't have to worry about frying a new board the second I install it and plug the stove back in.

 

[mralias]

The first blower fan during the startup sequence turned on and ran until the board crapped out.

Hmmmmmm...fan binding up putting to much load on board perhaps? I would pull that fan and test it outside the stove. Make sure it is not getting hot or is making any unwanted noises. It's strange that it got to that point when the board decided to do a smoke show. Unfortunately the feed motor and igniter are also kicking in at the point as well...they too should be suspect.

 

[Tails1]

Hmmmmmm...fan binding up putting to much load on board perhaps? I would pull that fan and test it outside the stove. Make sure it is not getting hot or is making any unwanted noises. It's strange that it got to that point when the board decided to do a smoke show. Unfortunately the feed motor and igniter are also kicking in at the point as well...they too should be suspect.

Motor rusted seized over summer then on startup burned the board???

 

[grendel336]

Unfortunately the feed motor and igniter are also kicking in at the point as well...they too should be suspect.

Actually no. The board crapping out happened after plugging in stove. There was no call for heat yet. When you first plug in a Quadrafire stove it "runs" startup routine for about 18 minutes without any call for heat from thermostat.

 

[grendel336]

Motor rusted seized over summer then on startup burned the board???

Exhaust fan was spinning spinning freely. That one is easy to see when the one side panel is removed.

 

[grendel336]

I've ordered three new snap discs. Will replace them all before I try starting stove again with new control board.

 

[mralias]

Let us know how you make out once all is installed. Perhaps 10 years was enough for that board. I am assuming you have the stove plugged into a surge protector of some sort. If not well then other possibilities exist. Mine is on 10 years as well, CB1200i, so I suspect I'm on borrowed time as well. Oh yeah, missed the point you were plugging it in for the first time so you are correct that feed and igniter are not engaged. Just hoping there are no shorts. Would hate to see you fry another board as they are not cheap. Good luck.

 

[grendel336]

Thanks for all the help. I got fire again. Turns out the multiple moving's of the stove, along with the removal and replacement of the stove surround had taken a toll. The power cord coming from the wall outlet to the stove had been sliced into by the surround and was shorting out, or at least preventing enough current from reaching the control board to over-work it. Once I detected the slice in the insulation of the power cord and repaired it, all worked perfectly. Operator error was the culprit. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to y'all.