We have enjoyed many years of trouble free service from our Mt. Vernon stove. This year, however, the system continually overheats and pops the thermal snap disc (or which ever disc is right next to the call light) if we turned the stove up to anything past 1 (we have the old school 4 setting knob - low, medium, high and turbo). Even at 1, if it is running too long it inevitably pops the disc. Our old Quadrafire dealer and technician have since left the area and the only one we could get out to service the machine obviously had no clue what he was doing (he had never seen a quadrafire before). Needless to say - he had no idea what was wrong and left with doing nothing more than replacing the snapdisc and cleaning the unit.
Here's what I know. The unit turns on, there is an initial motor sound (which in my opinion has gotten significantly louder and to me sounds more labored this year than past). This I am guessing is the exhaust blower but correct me if I'm wrong. The fire kicks up and dances merrily and then about 5ish minutes later a second fan kicks on (combustion blower?).
I swear on my children's dirty laundry I remember that second blower being way stronger than it is now. On setting 2 that air flow out of the front of the unit was powerful enough I could blow dry my daughters hair by it, which we did frequently when they were younger. Although I can put my hand in front of the blower and feel the air coming out, it doesn't seem as strong as I remember it - but I also can't remember the names of anyone living in my house half the time. The airflow also doesn't seem to be effected by how high I turn the stoves settings to. If i move the knob from setting 1 to 2 to 3 I detect no change in the flow of the air - but to be honest, I cannot remember if I ever did. I have read dozens of threads and the manual to see if the blower should adjust to the power of the unit and have found nothing. At any rate, if we turn the stove to anything higher than 1 the thermo snap disc will eventually pop and I'm thinking.... is there enough air forcing the hot air out to keep the unit in operational temperatures? Is it overheating because we can't move the air out fast enough?
As we use our stove to heat our entire house, not being able to crank the power of the stove up as the temperature outside drops has left a bunch of very unhappy ladies in our house. Leaving the stove on setting 1 fails to bring the house temperature up to a toasty 68 like it used to.
We have no trustworthy technician to come out and help fix the issue so I am willing to buy/replace parts ourselves but would love some guidance on what we should focus on trying first. Should I replace the blowers or control module or all three? Does it sound like a wiring limiting power to the blowers? Could it be something else and if so - what sound we be looking for? If I hit it really hard with a hammer will that make it work (just kidding)? Does anyone know a good technician in Snohomish County Washington?
I do not believe in throwing away the old and getting new just because it doesn't work (which I am currently arguing with my husband on). I feel we should be able to replace parts and keep this lovely old beast heating our home for years to come. Any and all help/advice is greatly appreciated.
Here's what I know. The unit turns on, there is an initial motor sound (which in my opinion has gotten significantly louder and to me sounds more labored this year than past). This I am guessing is the exhaust blower but correct me if I'm wrong. The fire kicks up and dances merrily and then about 5ish minutes later a second fan kicks on (combustion blower?).
I swear on my children's dirty laundry I remember that second blower being way stronger than it is now. On setting 2 that air flow out of the front of the unit was powerful enough I could blow dry my daughters hair by it, which we did frequently when they were younger. Although I can put my hand in front of the blower and feel the air coming out, it doesn't seem as strong as I remember it - but I also can't remember the names of anyone living in my house half the time. The airflow also doesn't seem to be effected by how high I turn the stoves settings to. If i move the knob from setting 1 to 2 to 3 I detect no change in the flow of the air - but to be honest, I cannot remember if I ever did. I have read dozens of threads and the manual to see if the blower should adjust to the power of the unit and have found nothing. At any rate, if we turn the stove to anything higher than 1 the thermo snap disc will eventually pop and I'm thinking.... is there enough air forcing the hot air out to keep the unit in operational temperatures? Is it overheating because we can't move the air out fast enough?
As we use our stove to heat our entire house, not being able to crank the power of the stove up as the temperature outside drops has left a bunch of very unhappy ladies in our house. Leaving the stove on setting 1 fails to bring the house temperature up to a toasty 68 like it used to.
We have no trustworthy technician to come out and help fix the issue so I am willing to buy/replace parts ourselves but would love some guidance on what we should focus on trying first. Should I replace the blowers or control module or all three? Does it sound like a wiring limiting power to the blowers? Could it be something else and if so - what sound we be looking for? If I hit it really hard with a hammer will that make it work (just kidding)? Does anyone know a good technician in Snohomish County Washington?
I do not believe in throwing away the old and getting new just because it doesn't work (which I am currently arguing with my husband on). I feel we should be able to replace parts and keep this lovely old beast heating our home for years to come. Any and all help/advice is greatly appreciated.
