Darn pellet stove

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stuck in the mud

New Member
Oct 22, 2014
34
West Michigan
I am new here, and having problems with my stove, but have done some reading I have a quadra fire CB 1200 in the reading I have done one major discussion was cleaning and venting so I cleaned and fixed my vent the only thing I did not do was to take out the feed auger and vacuum that tube, my vent behind the stove is about 30" goes 8' and runs horizantal at a slight upward angle another 8' one other thing is the blower that blows heat into the room has been replaced I am using a two speed rather that the three speed that came with the stove for $ reasons this will be resolved shortly, But problem is the red call light is on I pushed the start button feed auger turned and dumped pellets fire starts in the fire pot the green light came on and the blue light flashed 3 times the blower I think proper term is convection blower never started green light stays on and eventually the fire goes out and we have shut down I tried another snap disc #2 but it must have been faulty as it was N.O., I live in west michigan and it's cold here now but I would like to get this resolved before we have more zero degree days, I hope yuo folks can help me and others can learn from you and me, Thanks' Steve
 
I am new here, and having problems with my stove, but have done some reading I have a quadra fire CB 1200 in the reading I have done one major discussion was cleaning and venting so I cleaned and fixed my vent the only thing I did not do was to take out the feed auger and vacuum that tube, my vent behind the stove is about 30" goes 8' and runs horizantal at a slight upward angle another 8' one other thing is the blower that blows heat into the room has been replaced I am using a two speed rather that the three speed that came with the stove for $ reasons this will be resolved shortly, But problem is the red call light is on I pushed the start button feed auger turned and dumped pellets fire starts in the fire pot the green light came on and the blue light flashed 3 times the blower I think proper term is convection blower never started green light stays on and eventually the fire goes out and we have shut down I tried another snap disc #2 but it must have been faulty as it was N.O., I live in west michigan and it's cold here now but I would like to get this resolved before we have more zero degree days, I hope yuo folks can help me and others can learn from you and me, Thanks' Steve

I have a Santa Fe which uses setting six so blue led blinks six times. Thought the CB1200 used setting 1 so wonder if it got moved to 3 based on your 3 blink observation.

However, if green led comes on after fire lights and then fire goes out it never got hot enough for red led to come on and continue feeding pellets. Manually adding a handful of pellets may allow fire to get hot enough for red led to illuminate. Worth a try. Also try using another heat setting position when starting. Could have a faulty thermocouple also.
 
I have a Santa Fe which uses setting six so blue led blinks six times. Thought the CB1200 used setting 1 so wonder if it got moved to 3 based on your 3 blink observation.

However, if green led comes on after fire lights and then fire goes out it never got hot enough for red led to come on and continue feeding pellets. Manually adding a handful of pellets may allow fire to get hot enough for red led to illuminate. Worth a try. Also try using another heat setting position when starting. Could have a faulty thermocouple also.
Another possibility is auger chute is partially blocked and not allowing enough pellets to get fire hot enough for red led to light. Poke into chute with clothes hanger or look up there with mirror and flashlight.
 
Or a piece of plastic or paper stuck on the screw not getting a full charge of pellets to the pot
 
I would check and make sure the firepot thermocouple is touching the inside end of the cover. If it isn't, it won't read the heat right. it could also be bad. You can also unplug stove, check dial on control box as suggested, and also make sure the control box is seated properly. They can sometimes vibrate loose just enough to make stove act up. kap
 
The blue light should also only blink when the power is plugged in, not during start up or in running mode but know for certain 3 blinks means empty program.

You could also run in to issues using another blower than what's rated but that would have no bearing on for of thermocouple temps. Green means 300 degrees achieved. You need to get to red at 600, perhaps it's taking too long to get there. Then again, the stove shouldn't feed at all on setting 3. Amber light means bad TC, seen any of that?
 
I will be checking these things as soon as it cools down, but for now I got up this am and had to start the stove had to push the start button three times as the pot ignites and burns out finally after third start I got a green light and then a red light it ran about ten minutes just long enough to think its all good then shut down, and the blinking blue light was after I had plugged it in after cleaning.
 
I would verify what number the dial is on, and how many times it blinks. If the dial is on one, and blinking 3 times, turn dial to zero and then back to one to reset. Always make sure to unplug stove before working on or removing or installing the control box. And if things worked fine till you put in the other fan---- kap
 
Eliminates that then. lol
 
Hi, guys< I am at it again sure was a nice summer but now I have to get my stove running or call someone out to fix it, would it make a difference if the thermocoupler tube is broken at the end also I checked the control box setting it is at 1 I turned it to zero and back to 1, stove is running and I have a green light it ran about ten minutes and stopped feeding pellets and went out but the convection blower did turn on
 
An atta boy and there it was.
 
Yes, it would make a difference if the ceramic thermocouple cover is cracked or broken at the end. Your stove sounds like it's got a bad thermocouple with not staying lit once it's started running. The thermocouple is protected from the firepot fire via the cover. Replace both the thermocouple and the cover and you should be good to go. Your thermocouple likely got ruined by not being protected with a good cover. You could try replacing just the cover but I wouldn't hold my breath for that to work. You can most likely see damage on the end of the thermocouple once the cover is removed. By the way when putting everything back together the thermocouple needs to be touching the inside end of the ceramic cover in order for it to work.
 
Hey Steve,

Agree w/ Bkins that your broken or cracked ceramic thermo-couple cover likely cooked the TC wires and / or the solder blob that connects the wires. Is the solder blob split or do either of the twisted TC wires look broken between the solder blob and the protective sheathing that contains them ? If so, that's the culprit. If the wires look OK near the solder blob they could still be broken further up, under the protective sheathing, and / or not generating enough millivoltage difference between the wires to get the red light to turn on and keep feeding pellets.

You can easily test the TC to confirm it's bad if you have access to a multi-meter and have some basic skills on how to use it - which is an invaluable tool for any electrical troubleshooting, and a cheap investment at $10 - $15 on-line if you don't already have one. If you're game for it, first UNPLUG THE STOVE, then trace the TC spiral sheathed cable through the stove to its end connection terminals. My Quad's TC wires splice into the wiring loom harness, but I believe your CB TC connects with spade connectors into the junction box behind the control box. Disconnect the TC wires, set the voltmeter on DC millivolts, and hold one multimeter probe to each TC spade connector ( it doesn't matter which lead goes to which wire). There should be a very small millivolt reading if the TC wires are intact. Have a helper gently heat up the solder blob with a lighter while you watch the multimeter to see if the millivolts increase.

When the TC is working normally it turns the green control box light on, as I recall somewhere between 2 - 4 mv, and the red light turns on between 12 - 14 mv, topping out at around 30 mv I believe when the stove is on high. So if when you heat the solder blob up and it shows above 4 mv but won't get to 12 - 14 mv, that would explain why your green light comes on but the red light doesn't, or does so for just a short period as I believe you mentioned. If that's the case, it confirms your TC is bad and needs replacing. It looks like the cheapest price for the TC that fits your CB is on Mtn View Hearth for $60, and a new ceramic cover for $21. http://www.stove-parts-unlimited.com/Quadrafire-Thermocouple-p/812-0210.htm . This is substantially cheaper than the Amazon cost of $90 for the same part number.

Good luck, and post back on how things work out for you !
 
Yes, it would make a difference if the ceramic thermocouple cover is cracked or broken at the end. Your stove sounds like it's got a bad thermocouple with not staying lit once it's started running. The thermocouple is protected from the firepot fire via the cover. Replace both the thermocouple and the cover and you should be good to go. Your thermocouple likely got ruined by not being protected with a good cover. You could try replacing just the cover but I wouldn't hold my breath for that to work. You can most likely see damage on the end of the thermocouple once the cover is removed. By the way when putting everything back together the thermocouple needs to be touching the inside end of the ceramic cover in order for it to work.
Thermocouple will work whether it's touching the ceramic end or not. Th ceramic tube is just a protective cover. You could use the TC without the cover too but it would corrode. It's suggested to have it reach the end of the cover to be sure it's fully absorbed in the fire
 
I have a TC cover on order and I did the multi meter test, the solder joint looks good and with a bic lighter I got up to 7.8 before I couldn't hold my finger on it any longer, could it be that the TC isn't into the fire enough but I haven't moved it ever, if the mv's are moving up could the TC still be bad or is this an indication that it's ok, should I have the flame all the way up till I get this resolved
 
If it is producing any amount of millivolts, it is good. If the thermo is good, and the connections are good, you may be looking at a bad control box. kap
 
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Maybe Kap can tell you if your range and model of stove might have a augar motor that can run in reverse. As I remember some quads had the issue. Is there a chance that this might be happening to your stove at this point in the game. Just throwing out some ideas to try to help. I believe the fix for this condition is a new wiring harness for the augar motor or the addition of a capacitor.
 
Only the AE reverses to try and clear an auger jam
 
I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough. The stoves I'm thinking of are not built to be able to run the augar in reverse. It's something that came up a few years ago on a few of quads stoves. Wasn't something that you could run a program for to reverse the augar motor for a jam. Something is causing his stove either to not get up to temp or the stove isn't seeing the temp.
 
Just the AE will automatically reverse itself 3 times if necessary. The other Quads won't. What year stove do you have? Could the capacitor be bad? You need to listen to the stove to see if auger does quit, or reverses if capacitor is bad. The more info we have, the better we can help. kap
 
Not sure on the year the serial # is 1983339 if that helps, the auger stops feeding the pellets, where is the capacitor? My wife took the control box to work to see if her tech guy can test and or repair it, other than that