Just can't seem to get my old flame back.

[DJGreg]

Just can't seem to get my old flame back.
Yah, I know. At 60 I expect that.... But with my Quadrafire CB1200 at 4 yrs. old it shouldn't be a problem. So all is good until the auger motor dies. Got one overnight for $170 Amazon Prime. Cleaned stove and replaced motor. After startup, I can't seem to get my flame height and not the heat output I expect. Of course, the winter sets in and temps drop 20 degrees as I am firing it back up. I am using CF Pacific pellets for my 4th season. Low ash and good BTU's. Always had a small "cake" at bottom of pot after 5 day burn and low amount of "fireflies". And my feed adjustment bar has a hash mark on it for CFP pellets.
So I start the stove up after auger motor replacement and after running a half hour I have thousands of fireflies and can't get a flame to reach even the top of the pot. At some points it seems the stove is shutting down and the flames almost go out. What bothered me is that even if I pull the feed adjustment rod all the way up to max, the flame doesn't go crazy above the pot. So I empty the bin and dump in a bag from a different ton of the pellets to eliminate a chitty bag of pellets. No change. I completely cleaned the stove and checked the cleanout at the bottom of the pot to make sure it wasn't stuck and half the pellet drop wasn't going into the ash bin. I even took the cover off the auger motor and started up the stove with some pellets in the bin. I watched the auger closely to see if it was smooth turning, eliminating a loose set screw or bad adjustment. The auger seems to turn for about 7 secs., stop for 7 secs., turn for 7 secs. etc. Seems good to me. The heat setting is on high. I've always had a flame that danced about 4-6" above the rim of the pot without burning against the angled plate covering the heat tubes.
I'm sure that the auger replacement is coincidence to the problem. I find it strange that after burning for 4-5 days the pot is absolutely clear without the hint of a "cake" forming, it burns with thousands of fireflies, and setting feed adjustment rod at max makes no difference.
(I will have to log in from my cell to post a couple pics.) I appreciate your thoughts. Help me get my old flame back.

-Greg

 

[DJGreg]

 

[kappel15]

Take a small mirror and flashlight, and look up drop chute to make sure there is nothing obstructing opening. Only commom denominator in this problem is the new auger. Are you sure it is a factory part? Some after markets don't perform as they should . Feed motor "on" time, should be 7.5 seconds on high. If everything checks out, something you can try is to UNPLUG stove, pull control box, and set dial to #2. This will increase feed rate 10%. kap

 

[mrjohneel]

I don't have your stove but after cleaning my Harman, I got a lousy flame because the cover on my fine box wasn't on completely. Just make sure all your covers (on auger motor, etc.) are completely on tight. Good luck.

 

[Pete Zahria]

did you try flowers??


Dan

 

[alternativeheat]

Sometimes you get an aftermarket motor that is of a different RPM than the original. So it might turn the 7-7.5 seconds but slower and thus not deliver the same quantity of pellets in that time period, as the original..

 

[heat seeker]

Check the actual RPM of the auger motor. You can mark the auger shaft or the gearbox output shaft to make it easier, and use a stopwatch to check the RPMs. You probably got a 1 RPM motor instead of a 2 RPM, or something similar.

 

[Mikey pellet guy]

If you dont have a leaf blower that can be reversed to suction I would get one and suck out the ash from the exhaust. Sounds like your venting is clogged scraping with a brush in the pipe does minimal clean out. I could be wrong in your case but .99 percent of low flame & low heat are caused by ash build up in the pipe venting.