HELP Quad fire CB1200 shuts down on cold nights

[Linkur01]

Hello,

I am a new member to this site and this is my first post. I have been having this issue for about 2 years now, I’ve read many similar posts on here and have tried the recommendations some members have suggested but with no luck.

I have a classic bay 1200 that I’ve been noticing, shuts off over night or while I am at work during the day. When it shuts off the hopper is full of pellets, the firebox is full of unburned pellets, and the call light is on. This seems to only happen when the temperature drops below 25°. I run barefoot brand pellets and I use 4-5 tons a season. I have a split level house and my stove is located in the basement and runs off of a thermostat I wired into an adjacent room. I also clean the stove 2 times a week. Second time is a thorough clean where I use a brush to clean out the firebox holes I clean the baffles with a brush, vacuum out behind the stove, and exhaust fan. I’ve set the flame to 4-6” and the stove runs like a champ when the temperature is 30°+. Ive reached out to my installer and he suggested that ash was getting in front of the igniter blocking it front lighting which is not the case. I’ve cleaned the stove at 9:00pm before and woke up at 5:00am the next day to find it off and a cold house. I have a good seal around my door and my stove gets professionally cleaned every summer. I have tried pulling the lever out a little further to burn hotter and that does not work as well. It is the newer control box I believe because it has a clear face plate.

that’s all I can think of at the moment. Please let me know if there’s any other information that is needed. Thank you in advanced.

 

[zrock]

if the stove was new when you installed it should be the installer/sellers issue to figure out what is wrong and fix it instead of leaving you to fend for yourself...

 

[Linkur01]

They told me they most likely wouldn’t warrant it under a warranty claim because it was most likely a cleaning issue. At the time I didn’t want to pay the $200 service fee to diagnose it.

 

[Overfireinthehole]

Have you cleaned the flue and vacuum line? Also, on those newer 1200s, sometimes the thermocouple is set too far back from the fire from the factory and needs to be adjusted further out. I’ve also found that the newer ones need the FRAP rod set almost if not all the way up.

 

[Linkur01]

Have you cleaned the flue and vacuum line? Also, on those newer 1200s, sometimes the thermocouple is set too far back from the fire from the factory and needs to be adjusted further out. I’ve also found that the newer ones need the FRAP rod set almost if not all the way up.

 

[Linkur01]

Flue was cleaned in July. I’m on vacation until Monday. When I get home I am going to inspect the TC and move it out a bit and check the vacuum line. Is the vacuum line hard to get to? I don’t remember seeing this when taking things apart.

 

[Ssyko]

When you move the TC make sure the wires inside the cover are touching the end of the cover, and that there is no ash inside the cover. Also check the area under the burn pot and above the ash pan 2 small screws and the cover comes off. Make sure the gap of burn pot floor is no bigger than the thickness of a dime and that the area is not full of ash.

 

[Ssyko]

You may also want to try a different brand of pellets. Some light better than others. Maybe leave the stove on (no thermostat) during the coldest times

 

[Overfireinthehole]

It’s on the right side in the back. If you take the surround off it’s easier to get to. Just pull the hose off the switch and blow through it with compressed air into the auger tube. Dust should blow out of the drop tube into the front of stove.

You may also want to try a different brand of pellets. Some light better than others. Maybe leave the stove on (no thermostat) during the coldest times

It’s an insert so the igniter chamber is just your ash pan area. You should make sure the hole in the burn pot at the bottom front that lines up with the igniter is clear. It’s hard to see that hole without a mirror but you can feel it with your hand or take the igniter out and look for it. More than likely it’s a matter of not always getting a hot enough fire on startup to get your thermocouple to hit 200 and get out of startup, which can be thermocouple placement or feed rate.

 

[zrock]

They told me they most likely wouldn’t warrant it under a warranty claim because it was most likely a cleaning issue. At the time I didn’t want to pay the $200 service fee to diagnose it.

Sounds like they had no clue and did not want to waste their time diagnosing it..

 

[Linkur01]

Thanks everyone. I’m gonna do some detective work tomorrow when I get home. I’ve thought about disconnecting the thermostat and running it to troubleshoot if it’s related to the thermostat or not. The fire pot has always been cleaned out entirely. I have a small brush that can hit the small holes and the opening for the igniter. I’ll report back in a couple days and let you know what I find out. 18° weather expected over night Thursday so that will be a good test.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Sounds to me like your feed rate is too low (PPH) to sustain the fire when the stove is idiling.

 

[Linkur01]

Out of all the troubleshooting I’ve been doing the thing that I cannot understand is the stove will run without problems for 2-3 weeks when temperatures are in the high 30s and 40s. Once the temperatures drop the stove could shut off every other night.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Maybe it don't like you..............

 

[SidecarFlip]

Flue was cleaned in July. I’m on vacation until Monday. When I get home I am going to inspect the TC and move it out a bit and check the vacuum line. Is the vacuum line hard to get to? I don’t remember seeing this when taking things apart.

I clean my venting every month through the heating season and disassemble it in the spring and wash it out inside with a pressure washer and Simple Green, every year thing with me. 20 years on the same Duravent Pellet vent with no issues and I burn corn which gives out nitric acid fumes as it burns.

 

[Linkur01]

Ok well I got home cleaned the stove real good. Took the thermocouple apart and there was some ash inside of it. I adjusted it and moved it out 1/4-1/2” further. I blew through the vacuum hose didn’t seem to be clogged. Disconnected the flue and it was beyond filthy. I’m hoping this was the issue because I was amazed by how much came out from running the brush. True test will be Thursday night into friday. Thank you all for your suggestions.

 

[Linkur01]

Welp today is the big day and I woke up this morning with the stove off again and the outside temp reading 18°. Hopper still had pellets in it, the fire pot was filled with unburned pellets and the red call light was on. I did the usual, pulled the pellets out of the fire pot and dropped them in the hopper, vacuumed up everything, and hit the reset to get it going. Thought cleaning the flue would have done it but still back at square 1. Going to talk with my installer today again.

 

[Ssyko]

Take a small mirror and inspect the opening in the front bottom of the fire pot and insure the opening for the igniter is clear.

 

[Overfireinthehole]

If there are unburned pellets in the pot it’s got to be an airflow issue. Either the igniter hole is blocked or your clogged somewhere your not getting. Have you run a bottle brush down between the tubes?

 

[stovelark]

On cold nights especially, set the stove on low or med and put the thermostat up far enough that it does not cycle on and off, it'll run continuously. If it runs all night, when its cold out, its nothing to do with the stove. Whats probably happening is it is short cycling.
It satisfies the thermostat, goes into shutdown and before the exhaust blower shuts off the thermostat calls for heat again. Only now the thermocouple still may be above 200 degrees so the auger does not feed for startup. When green light (tc) goes off on control board, no auger action has filled and it stays with the call light on, the combustion blower finishes the cycle and shuts off. Running in the continuous mode will stop this issue. I run my castile on constant low or medium, I know its meant to run on tstat and in the shoulder season when the stove only cycles on a couple of times a day, that's when tstat mode is better. In the cold periods, no need to cycle the ignitor numerous times, use constant burn method. I find it works well. Just a suggestion.

 

[zrock]

To go along with the above comment slightly.. im assuming your stove goes to low when the room temp is satisfied. The cooler temps from outside air are cooling off the burn and eventually it smolders out, the stove sees thing and then goes into shutdown mode after its filled the hopper... My stove will do this with crappy pellets.. Their should be a way you can adjust your low/maint flame to feed a bit more pellets to keep things going...

just a thought

 

[stovelark]

zrock- Quads don't have a low idle flame when tstat isn't calling for heat in a way they are simple as it can get. If the tstat calls for heat the stove runs. When the tstat is satisfied, the stove goes into a shutdown mode right away. Sometimes this leads to many startups and shutdowns- many ignition cycles too. That's why I like my constant burn scenario with my quad, I set the tstat all the way up, this keeps the stove running constantly. On low or med, it works out well for me.

 

[Overfireinthehole]

Also, if that’s the problem your having, maybe get a thermostat that’s less sensitive. I run a Honeywell mechanical with a 2 degree setback on most quads for precisely this issue.

 

[Linkur01]

Stovelark that was the issue!! . Thank you all very much! We had a couple nights with the temp under 25°, I bumped the thermostat up 3-4 degrees and turned the fan on low. Stove has been running like a champ ever since. I will consider the Honeywell Tstat for next season. Thanks again!

 

[stovelark]

Glad to hear you figured it out. Some of the mechanical thermostats Quad used to use was bad for the cycle thing. They have digital now,
don't know how that is working out.