Mt. Vernon AE Ignitors...

[doug crann]

Bought our stove in 08....I think. Was going thru several ignitors a season, lucky to get more than 3 months out of them. Was talking to a tech for the local dealer and he said that the problem was the high wattage ignitor that it came with, he said the high wattage is necessary to light the multiple fuels, pellets excluded. He swapped out the high wattage unit I purchased form them for the lower wattage one. Been in there since October of 12 and still going strong. He did tell me that I might need the newer style pot, but base on the printout he gave me and what is in our stove we already have the "newer" pot. Now to the ?. This just started this season. I am burning last years pellets still. If the stove is cold it ALWAYS misses the first light. Usually will light on the second try, some days it takes 3 cycles for it to light. Did the obvious, burned it til it was out of fuel and put a bag in form the pellets we just purchased this year. Still did not light on the first attempt. Can't help but wonder if I was wrong about our stove having the newer pot in it. I did not take it out of the stove, just looked at it when I was swapping the ignitor....and I was in a hurry that day as i was leaving to go to AZ to see a friend....Does anyone have pictures of both of the pots so I can compare mine?

 

[LMPS]

I do not have pictures of the different burn pots. But my stove does this when I first fire it for the season and if I completely clean pellets out of it. It will take three cycles for it to fire. But on a normal start I have not had an issue, meaning after it has been running and it auto cleans. As for the reason I am not sure. I have even tried putting a handful of pellets in the fire pot but this does not seem to help. When its cold or I have cleaned all the the pellets out it takes three attempts like yours.
So, sorry I do not have an answer to this only to let you know this is the same as mine and I do not have the new fire pot its the original one with the stove.

 

[doug crann]

I do not have pictures of the different burn pots. But my stove does this when I first fire it for the season and if I completely clean pellets out of it. It will take three cycles for it to fire. But on a normal start I have not had an issue, meaning after it has been running and it auto cleans. As for the reason I am not sure. I have even tried putting a handful of pellets in the fire pot but this does not seem to help. When its cold or I have cleaned all the the pellets out it takes three attempts like yours.
So, sorry I do not have an answer to this only to let you know this is the same as mine and I do not have the new fire pot its the original one with the stove.

Thanks....this is the first season it has done this. I understand it doing this when it runs dry, mine will not even drop a single pellet after it runs out on the first cycle. After cleaning it out yesterday it cycled 3 times before lighting. It of course has all 3 cycles of unburnt pellets in the ash drawer. Needless to say they did mange to light when they were in the drawer....

 

[john193]

Never had a missed ignition. Is your ignitor fit loose? I'd check to make sure it is seated properly. I have the upgraded pot but the multi fuel ignitor. My spare one is the lower watt unit though.

 

[tsmith]

You should have 2 washers between the igniter and the housing side where the wing nut goes, this puts the igniter closer to the burn pot opening.

 

[LMPS]

You should have 2 washers between the igniter and the housing side where the wing nut goes, this puts the igniter closer to the burn pot opening.

Thank you will have to check this out next time I shut it down.

 

[doug crann]

Never had a missed ignition. Is your ignitor fit loose? I'd check to make sure it is seated properly. I have the upgraded pot but the multi fuel ignitor. My spare one is the lower watt unit though.

It is tight, I just checked it a week or so ago. How long have you been using the multi fuel ignitor? Was luck y to get 3 months out of them. I have a spare low wattage one, just in case.

 

[doug crann]

You should have 2 washers between the igniter and the housing side where the wing nut goes, this puts the igniter closer to the burn pot opening.

Our is this way. I was warned by the local tech that if you let the ignitor touch the burn pot its life expectancy drops dramatically.
The ignitor always burned out at the worst possible time. The last high wattage one burned up the morning I was leaving to go to AZ and pick up my hot road & visit my transmission buddy. I was sitting in the pickemup, punching in the address ot my first stop when Ernestina stuck her head out the door telling me something was wrong....

 

[john193]

It is tight, I just checked it a week or so ago. How long have you been using the multi fuel ignitor? Was luck y to get 3 months out of them. I have a spare low wattage one, just in case.

I got my stove October 2012. Still on the original ignitor. I'd say the stove cycles at least 4/5 times a day. My inlaws have the same stove since 2010 (upgraded burn pot) also on the original ignitor.

I'd say if you def don't have the new pot, consider the upgrade. My understanding is it was designed primarily for extending the life of the ignitor.

 

[doug crann]

I got my stove October 2012. Still on the original ignitor. I'd say the stove cycles at least 4/5 times a day. My inlaws have the same stove since 2010 (upgraded burn pot) also on the original ignitor.

I'd say if you def don't have the new pot, consider the upgrade. My understanding is it was designed primarily for extending the life of the ignitor.

That is my understanding of it as well. When I order the controller for the older Mt. Vernon I found I will probably order the new pot....From what I understand if you are not going to ever burn anything but pellets you do not need the higher wattage ignitor. Our stove sat all of yesterday, when I went to ignite it lit on the first go around. I times it with the old high wattage ignitor, it did not light any quicker than with the low wattage one.....

 

[john193]

Looks like the upgraded pot can be had for 120 shipped on eBay. Includes all screws and the gasket. Not sure what you can get locally.

 

[LMPS]

For me I am not sure spending the $120 is worth it, the only time it misses an ignition is when its cold or I have fully cleaned out the pellets. I have the low wattage ignitor and have had no problems with it for the last two years. Think I will just deal with the ignition issue for now.

 

[john193]

For me I am not sure spending the $120 is worth it, the only time it misses an ignition is when its cold or I have fully cleaned out the pellets. I have the low wattage ignitor and have had no problems with it for the last two years. Think I will just deal with the ignition issue for now.

Maybe the low watt ignitor is all that is needed, and at a third the cost.

 

[Madcodger]

MVAE's will cycle at least 7.5x / day average from autoclean alone, if running 24/7 (24/3.2 hours between autocleans on hardwood, from memory). I'd bet most are cycling more than that, depending on the temperature differential of the stat. That's a lot of use for an ignitor. I switched to the lower wattage one and assume I have the upgraded pot (late 2010) but have had no problems from the lower wattage ignitor. And I keep a spare one on hand, just in case.

 

[doug crann]

MVAE's will cycle at least 7.5x / day average from autoclean alone, if running 24/7 (24/3.2 hours between autocleans on hardwood, from memory). I'd bet most are cycling more than that, depending on the temperature differential of the stat. That's a lot of use for an ignitor. I switched to the lower wattage one and assume I have the upgraded pot (late 2010) but have had no problems from the lower wattage ignitor. And I keep a spare one on hand, just in case.

The fellow that I bought the newer ignitor from told me that he has several customers running the new ignitor in the older pot with no troubles. I very well may but the new pot, it now comes with an ignitor, just to have it. Our stove was cold when we got home form town today and did not miss an ignition cycle. Very well may shut it off tomorrow and check that the ignitor is indeed tight.
I really do like the AE. It heats well, is relatively quiet and since replacing the high wattage ignitor has been trouble free....
Just wondering, has anyone ever ran their AE off of a 12 Volt Battery? We have sporadic power outages here, but I have a generator just in case. But I am interested in how it runs off of a car battery....

 

[Caribfan]

The fellow that I bought the newer ignitor from told me that he has several customers running the new ignitor in the older pot with no troubles. I very well may but the new pot, it now comes with an ignitor, just to have it. Our stove was cold when we got home form town today and did not miss an ignition cycle. Very well may shut it off tomorrow and check that the ignitor is indeed tight.
I really do like the AE. It heats well, is relatively quiet and since replacing the high wattage ignitor has been trouble free....
Just wondering, has anyone ever ran their AE off of a 12 Volt Battery? We have sporadic power outages here, but I have a generator just in case. But I am interested in how it runs off of a car battery....

I bought a battery backup just to be prepared. I hooked it up once. We lost power for only about an hour. I continued to run the battery backup for about 12 hours just to see what I could get out of it. If I remember correctly, the control panel will indicate when the battery is running low and it was still going strong after those 12 hours. It worked great IMO.

 

[Madcodger]

I bought a battery backup just to be prepared. I hooked it up once. We lost power for only about an hour. I continued to run the battery backup for about 12 hours just to see what I could get out of it. If I remember correctly, the control panel will indicate when the battery is running low and it was still going strong after those 12 hours. It worked great IMO.

I have not had to use mine yet, but another user reported some time ago (saw in old thread but can't search right now) at least two full days out of theirs. But would be greatly influenced by amp hour rating of battery, of course. My MVAE uses only 27 watts without the ignitor, and goes up to about 330 with ignitor. On battery, ignitor is disabled.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

Just wondering, has anyone ever ran their AE off of a 12 Volt Battery? We have sporadic power outages here, but I have a generator just in case. But I am interested in how it runs off of a car battery....

I have a 100Ah deep discharge battery hooked up all the time. During the early October snow storm, that took out power here last year, My stove ran for over two days on that battery. It does shut down occasionally for autoclean , but it was our only source of heat during that power outage.
I keep the battery on a float charger and run it down with the stove once or twice a year. I'm thinking that I should have a desulphator on it to protect the battery but that hasn't happened yet.

 

[Madcodger]

Thanks, Harvey. I think it my have been you I was referencing.

Question: Are you using an AGM type battery? I keep thinking about buying one and keeping it hooked up all the time as well. Would likely build a box for it for aesthetics, though, and don't want to do that with regular (non-AGM) battery.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

Thanks, Harvey. I think it my have been you I was referencing.

Question: Are you using an AGM type battery? I keep thinking about buying one and keeping it hooked up all the time as well. Would likely build a box for it for aesthetics, though, and don't want to do that with regular (non-AGM) battery.

Yes, it an AGM sealed battery. The MVAE insert is on the first floor, I brought the wires down through the floor to the basement and the battery and line Voltage connections are made in the basement (my work shop). All are connected to an Isobar transient protector. That way I don't have the battery to deal with in the living space.

 

[john193]

Yes, it an AGM sealed battery. The MVAE insert is on the first floor, I brought the wires down through the floor to the basement and the battery and line Voltage connections are made in the basement (my work shop). All are connected to an Isobar transient protector. That way I don't have the battery to deal with in the living space.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to deal with a battery in the living space. I can't put a battery in the basement, but I recall seeing some containment boxes for batteries. Any thoughts on those?

 

[Harvey Schneider]

Do you have any other suggestions on how to deal with a battery in the living space. I can't put a battery in the basement, but I recall seeing some containment boxes for batteries. Any thoughts on those?

It is possible under adverse conditions for sealed batteries to outgas. It is important that any enclosure have good ventilation, so that potentially explosive gas (hydrogen), doesn't accumulate. Beyond that I would make sure that the interior surface is sealed to protect against acid fumes.
Probably a go idea to make room in the box for a battery tender and, if you are using a transient protector that too. That way all the wires from the stove go one place. It will look neater.

 

[doug crann]

Just google (bing?) Summit Racing. There have a ton of different style of battery boxes.

 

[Madcodger]

Thanks for the info. Will go AGM...