I have a mt vernon quadra fire and have had it for over five years. Last winter it stopped turning on automatically when temperature was lower than set on thermostat. Took it to a local dealer and they could not find anything wrong. I have replaced several things, thermostat and wire twice, combustion blower, snap disc #2, and vacuum switch. I have increased the feed as well. Now that I am preparing for the cold weather, I am finding it to give me the same problems. After starting the stove and letting it reach temperature, it will shut off but the call light stays on. Anyone have any ideas what might cause the stoves light to stay on and not turn back on?
Mt. Vernon quadra fire call light stays on even after temp is met
- Thread starter Mkbrozzo
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When I unplug the tstat wire the call light goes off, so I was told it had to be the thermostat or wires. But I have changed both twice. I am actually tested a third new tstat and wire set.
Third tstat was a bust. I am having the control back tested. The dealer is stumped as to what else it could be. Any suggestions?
Sounds like your control board may be toasted Mkbrozzo. Do you have the older grey colored control box or the newer clear box style? Has your stove been surge protected over the >5 years to help preserve its sensitive electronics? I live in rural ME where we get frequent power brown outs and lightning surges, which have cumulative deleterious effects on delicate circuit boards.
I had lots of start - up and burn performance issues with my old style OEM control board (2001 model). Like you, I threw allot of parts at the problem, with no success. I was close to taking it outside and making a decorative planter out of it for the yard.
Luckily I found a great Quad dealer 20 mins away from me who let me borrow his newer style clear control board off his floor demo model, and that fixed all my feed rate and start-up problems. He even sold it to me at 50% cost of a new Quad control board - that's exemplary dealer customer service in my book !
I had lots of start - up and burn performance issues with my old style OEM control board (2001 model). Like you, I threw allot of parts at the problem, with no success. I was close to taking it outside and making a decorative planter out of it for the yard.
Luckily I found a great Quad dealer 20 mins away from me who let me borrow his newer style clear control board off his floor demo model, and that fixed all my feed rate and start-up problems. He even sold it to me at 50% cost of a new Quad control board - that's exemplary dealer customer service in my book !
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I have to agree that it might be your control box if thermostat isn't it. I would have it tested, or if you know someone with a similar stove you could swap and see. Just make sure to unplug stove before installing or taking out control box. You can short it out otherwise. kap
Harvey Schneider
Minister of Fire
From your description, I'm assuming this is not an AE. I don't have experience with your particular stove, but here is what help I can offer.
It sounds like the controls are acknowledging the thermostat request, so the next thing I would look at is the pellet feed. Most stoves have a vacuum switch that inhibits pellet feed if the chamber isn't sealed. If the switch is bad or the tubing leading to it is cracked or clogged or if the blower cannot lower the pressure in the chamber, the stove will not feed pellets. That last item could be caused by a blocked vent, or leaky door seals, or blower gasket. If the stove doesn't feed pellets the fire goes out.
You didn't describe the flame at startup, that would give us some hints.
The first thing I would do is the dollar bill test on the door seals. The second is to bypass the vac switch and see if the problem goes away. You can't leave it running that way, it is just a diagnostic.
One other thing that occurs to me is that an overtemp switch or proof of fire switch might have gone bad.
It would be helpful to look at a wiring diagram of the stove, if you have one. The service manual also usually provides trouble shooting hints. Finally look at the sticky that deals with trouble shooting. Your stove in particular may not be listed, but the general principles apply to all stoves.
It sounds like the controls are acknowledging the thermostat request, so the next thing I would look at is the pellet feed. Most stoves have a vacuum switch that inhibits pellet feed if the chamber isn't sealed. If the switch is bad or the tubing leading to it is cracked or clogged or if the blower cannot lower the pressure in the chamber, the stove will not feed pellets. That last item could be caused by a blocked vent, or leaky door seals, or blower gasket. If the stove doesn't feed pellets the fire goes out.
You didn't describe the flame at startup, that would give us some hints.
The first thing I would do is the dollar bill test on the door seals. The second is to bypass the vac switch and see if the problem goes away. You can't leave it running that way, it is just a diagnostic.
One other thing that occurs to me is that an overtemp switch or proof of fire switch might have gone bad.
It would be helpful to look at a wiring diagram of the stove, if you have one. The service manual also usually provides trouble shooting hints. Finally look at the sticky that deals with trouble shooting. Your stove in particular may not be listed, but the general principles apply to all stoves.
I have the newer style clear box and it's being tested as we speak. Hopefully I will hear by Monday on weather it is that. And no I did not have a surge protected.
I too have changed a lot of parts in the trouble shooting process. I replaced the combustion blower, vacuum switch, and wire harnesses, as well as the three tstats.
I don't have the AE, it's the older model. When I first devli
I have the older model, not the AE. When the problem first develop I could manually reset the stove and it started normal with no unusual flame. It would run fine until the temp was met, just wouldn't start back up. Now it does a variety if unusual things when I press the reset button. Some times it starts right up, others it will feed initially and ignite but won't drop additional pellets. Sometimes the augar doesn't seem to turn at all. It's never consistent.
I will take the time to empty all pellets and suck out any saw dust and it will run fine for one or two cycles and then will stop again.
I have replaced several parts in the trouble shooting process. 3 tstats, combustion blower, vacuum switch, and wire harness. Next may be the control
Box.
Harvey Schneider
Minister of Fire
As I said, I assume it is the non AE. Read my post again. Read the trouble shooting hints. It really sounds like the pellet feed is being inhibited because the vacuum reqirement isn't satisfied.
With the call light on, it cannot restart itself. Sequence is already tripped. Just as if it had started but didn't get hot enough to start feed sequence again. Nothing will happen unless reset button is hit, or if tstat is turned down and then back up. kap
JDenyer236
Feeling the Heat
How is your tstat wire? If the insulation is worn thru someplace and the 2 wires short against each other intermittently then that could be causing your problem. Just something to check.
I'm not sure of the brands, I have taken them back. Two I bought at lowes and both were low voltage. The third I got from my pellet stove dealer.
And that's what I have had to do in the past. Just recently when I do that the start ups have been wacky. Sometimes it will drop pellets and only create a small flame but then goes out. Others it won't even feed.
With each new tstat, I have replaced the wire just as a precaution, so now I know it's not the wire or the tstat.
So I think that it was my thermocouple!? I had the control box tested and it is in good working condition. After consulting the dealer again today, he suggested making sure my thermocouple was tight. I checked when I got home it was loose and I tightened it. I plugged the stove back in and the call light has gone off, finally! I have yet to start the stove, only because my house is warm from the furnace. I will update after I run the stove. Thanks for the help and advice thus far, greatly appreciated!
If it was an intermittent issue, that would make sense Mkbrozzo, as sometimes your thermocouple may have been making contact and sometimes not with the ceramic cover. Do you have the new style clear control box, or the older style grey box? The new ones will flash an amber colored light inside the box housing if the thermocouple itself is failed but, Kap, you can better confirm this, I don't believe it flashes if the problem is the lack of contact with the ceramic cover that goes over it.
That's good $$$ news that your control board is OK, and you will essentially have all new components in your stove, if that's any consolation. Unfortunately, as you and I have both found out, trouble shooting can sometimes be a frustrating process of exclusion of possible causes as much as it is an inclusive process.
I was ready to turn my Castile into a decorative planter in the yard when I was having multi-component start-up failures my 1st season of operation on the Quad that I acquired with our farmhouse purchase, but luckily, via this fine forum, folks "talked me down off the ledge".
Post back if this was indeed your definitive fix.
That's good $$$ news that your control board is OK, and you will essentially have all new components in your stove, if that's any consolation. Unfortunately, as you and I have both found out, trouble shooting can sometimes be a frustrating process of exclusion of possible causes as much as it is an inclusive process.
I was ready to turn my Castile into a decorative planter in the yard when I was having multi-component start-up failures my 1st season of operation on the Quad that I acquired with our farmhouse purchase, but luckily, via this fine forum, folks "talked me down off the ledge".
Post back if this was indeed your definitive fix.
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