I have been the owner of a Quadrafire Mt. Vernon (non AE) since 2005. I am diligent about doing the routine maintenance and use high quality pellets. The only issue we have had with the stove was an electronic one. It was fixed by replacing the computer module. Recently, we noticed the exhaust fan was getting noisier and noisier. I called our local Quadrafire dealer, and long story short, they told me it wasn't their problem because I didn't buy the stove from them. This is what I did then:
1. I can be handy when I want to so I first downloaded the manual and did a complete and thorough cleaning, including the exhaust chute on the right side of the unit (if you are facing the stove).
2. I restarted the stove and it was still noisy so the issue wasn't one where it was just too dirty. The stove operated properly at this point. Unit starts up, exhaust fan comes on, pellets drop, fire starts, light turns red in the control module, convection blower starts.
3. I let the unit cool down and took both the exhaust and convection blowers out of the stove. I cleaned both with a shop vac. I did notice now that the impeller on the exhaust fan was really beat up, probably from larger chunks of ash hitting it and it was also rusty. I have one on order from a distributor. I straightened out the blades that were askew and I reinstalled both fans and started the unit up. At first, the exhaust fan was quiet but then got louder. Again, the stove operated properly.
4. I let the unit cool down again and removed both fans. Upon inspection of the exhaust fan impeller, I noticed that the blades were again askew and probably striking the housing. I guess after 9 years of operation (probably close to 16 tons of pellets) it's ready for a replacement. I righted them again and reinstalled both fans, thinking I would just wait until the impeller arrived to disassemble.
5. However, upon restarting the unit, the convection blower is now not coming on. The red light on the control box comes on indicating it is at temperature and should kick on but it's not. I jumpered out the snap disc that acts as a thermal switch and the fan still doesn't come on.
6. I let the unit cool down (again) and removed just the convection fan. It looked fine so I rigged up a switch connected to a wall socket with plugs that match the ones on the fan. When I apply power, the fan comes on.
So right now, I have a slightly unsafe setup where I can turn the stove on, wait for the red light on the control box to light, then I manually turn on the convection fan. The only downside to this is that we can't have the stove run overnight.
So my question is this... What did I break / do wrong that has caused the convection blower to not start? Thanks for any input you can give me!
1. I can be handy when I want to so I first downloaded the manual and did a complete and thorough cleaning, including the exhaust chute on the right side of the unit (if you are facing the stove).
2. I restarted the stove and it was still noisy so the issue wasn't one where it was just too dirty. The stove operated properly at this point. Unit starts up, exhaust fan comes on, pellets drop, fire starts, light turns red in the control module, convection blower starts.
3. I let the unit cool down and took both the exhaust and convection blowers out of the stove. I cleaned both with a shop vac. I did notice now that the impeller on the exhaust fan was really beat up, probably from larger chunks of ash hitting it and it was also rusty. I have one on order from a distributor. I straightened out the blades that were askew and I reinstalled both fans and started the unit up. At first, the exhaust fan was quiet but then got louder. Again, the stove operated properly.
4. I let the unit cool down again and removed both fans. Upon inspection of the exhaust fan impeller, I noticed that the blades were again askew and probably striking the housing. I guess after 9 years of operation (probably close to 16 tons of pellets) it's ready for a replacement. I righted them again and reinstalled both fans, thinking I would just wait until the impeller arrived to disassemble.
5. However, upon restarting the unit, the convection blower is now not coming on. The red light on the control box comes on indicating it is at temperature and should kick on but it's not. I jumpered out the snap disc that acts as a thermal switch and the fan still doesn't come on.
6. I let the unit cool down (again) and removed just the convection fan. It looked fine so I rigged up a switch connected to a wall socket with plugs that match the ones on the fan. When I apply power, the fan comes on.
So right now, I have a slightly unsafe setup where I can turn the stove on, wait for the red light on the control box to light, then I manually turn on the convection fan. The only downside to this is that we can't have the stove run overnight.
So my question is this... What did I break / do wrong that has caused the convection blower to not start? Thanks for any input you can give me!
