Need help with my Quadrafire Mount Vernon oe Pellet stove.

[fnolteiii]

Being that I have't had any problems with my pellet stove since its installation 3 years ago, I guess I am one of the lucky ones. All good things must come to an end, and my great running Quadrafire has stopped running normally. I have unplugged the unit for 1 hour, then plugged it back in to AC current. I turn my thermostat up to 70 and the unit calls for pellets, it fills for about 45 seconds then begins to burn. It will continue to call for pellets right up until just after the convection blower licks in, then it stops feeding pellets and burns down to nothing and shuts off. Any ideas from the Pellet Gallery? I spoke with someone that told me that maybe my control unit toasted itself after a power spike/surge. I was plugged directly into wall outlet but just learned today that it should have been plugged into a surge protector. PLEASE help as it gets mighty cold without my pellet stove and we are forced back into using #2 heating oil furnace which we only ran at night because of our house layout (2 story). During the day, pellet stove keeps house nice and toasty but not at night on 2nd floor. I've cleaned the stove pipes and blowers almost to as clean as the day it was installed. If anyone out there has any recoemndations before I have to call in a repair person (that I can't afford now), please let me know ASAP! Many thanks for any & all suggestions.

Regards,

fnolteiii

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

sounds more like a thermocouple than a control unit

i have a copy of the troubleshooting book for this model if youd like a copy, pm me:
include model and your email address.

 

[tsmith]

I was gonna suggest the thermocoupler too, and that is a lot cheaper to replace than the control board.

 

[fnolteiii]

Quadrafire Mt. Vernon OE Pellet Stove made in Sept, 2006, I have serial number if you need it? Please forward manual to: [email protected]. I appreciate your input, both inputs seem to point me in a cheaper direction and that would be best at this time of the year. Does the manual describe the procedure or do I just start at the thermo coupler and woek my way back? As a side question, whats the best solvent to free up bolts that have been heated and reheated so many times? Tried using PB Blaster but didn't seem to help any....

Thanks again,
fnolteiii

 

[fnolteiii]

my model is NOT the AE just so we are on the same page!

 

[fnolteiii]

As a quick addition, sometimes I have to push the reset button when the stove first starts up to get the auger to start dumping pellets in the burn box, not sure if that is relevant info or not...

 

[jtp10181]

You need to watch the lights on the control board.
There is a red call for heat light next to the board someplace. then in the board there is a red and green light. Red and Red is calling for heat and running in its normal operating mode. An amber (yellow) light is a thermocouple error.

Also one thing I would check is if the auger motor is periodically running in reverse. I have had seen one do this and it was tricky to figure out. Run with a small amount of pellets and you really have to watch the auger closely through the hopper.

First thing you nee to do essentially is figure out WHY it stops feeding. There could be many reasons for this, vac switch, high limit switch, auger motor, control board, thermostat wire or connection (no call for heat), thermocouple.

Have you removed all 4 baffle panels and cleaned behind them. The old Mt Vernon was a PITA to clean IMO. Alan screw to take out the right panel, and a special tool to hook it and slide it out. Getting it all back in there again is another story...

 

[fnolteiii]

Having trouble getting screws out on first (right) panel as it hasn't been removed since I cleaned it last spring. I am applying generous amounts of PB Blaster & letting it soak to see if that helps. Don't want to strip head and have to drill and retap but already bent 1 wrench into a pretzel trying to break it loose. I've seen blue lights when it first calls for heat, there is a red light by the reset button that comes on as soon as it calls for heat, there are also red and green lights on the mainboard that I have seen at different stages of the burn... still trying to figure out. I an going to start by checking thermocoupler connection and see that it looks ok, if burnt wires or connection, will replace that first. I'm told thats the cheapest part to start at.

Regards,
fnolteiii

 

[fnolteiii]

If run at hottest setting for a full day (by accident) and thermostat jacked up to 80, could I have tripped the high limit switch with a pellet/corn mixture? Where is the high limit switch and is there a way to reset or do I need to replace?

 

[jtp10181]

If run at hottest setting for a full day (by accident) and thermostat jacked up to 80, could I have tripped the high limit switch with a pellet/corn mixture? Where is the high limit switch and is there a way to reset or do I need to replace?

The limit switch can be tripped because the baffles are clogged with ash causing too much heat buildup also.

I have only worked on a couple Mt Vernon OE units so I do not remember the locations of all the parts. The manual should show where a lot of the stuff is. Download the newest version from the Quadrafire web page.

 

[fnolteiii]

Okay boys, let's put on our thinking caps and see what we can diagnose now, here's what I did and here's what the results were:

After thoroughly cleaning the stove from top to bottom, removing and checking the thermocouple, replacing the thermocouple and re-assembling stove. I was totally unsuccessful in removing baffles to clean behind them as I have pretty much stripped the allan heads trying to muscle them off, heat is an evil thing when it comes to screws... any suggestions here would be appreciated too...

I plugged the stove in to AC power strip, the blower for the burn pot came on, I also saw a series of blue lights flash, 6 or 7 blue blinks during the course of about a minute and ran for several minutes then stopped. At that point, I went over to the thermostat and pushed it slightly above room temperature, (which is about 55 degrees now) the red light on the back, right hand side of the stove turned on, but no pellets dropped. I hit the reset button next to the slector knob on the right side, now we have pellets dropping for between 45-60 seconds. After a minute and a half or so, the pellets ignited which caused the "brain" to turn to a solid green color. The pellets continued to drop and after 2 minutes or so of burning, the "brain" turned red. There was a decent flame burning and I could start to feel the unit heat up. The red light stayed on but the pellets stopped falling into the burn pot. So we have a red light on the "brain" that goes back to green and a red light on the back right side of the unit. Then the convection blower kicks on and runs for maybe 2-3 minutes, blowing nice warm air. Then the convection blower stops blowing and the light on the "brain" remains green and the light on the back right of the unit remains red.... Without hauling the .50 caliber Desert Eagle out of my dresser and blasting this thing full of holes...I'd be open to some other options. I spoke with someone that said if the thermocouple was bad, I would see an orange light, possibly blinking, coming from the "brain". I did NOT see any orange whatsoever, so I believe the thermocpuple is functioning properly, some of you mentioned snap disk #2, how does a person know if this needs to be reset? Do I push the red button in the middle in or pull it out?...Good luck figuring it out cause I'm ready to blast the mutha! All the while I have my wife giving me grief, you married guys will understand my position!

Regards,
Frustrated Fred

 

[jtp10181]

Sounds like a vac switch problem to me. Or the auger is running in reverse on occasion like I suggest a while back.

When you initially call for heat but no pellets drop can you hear the auger motor running? Need to take the right side panel off and listen for it, it has a distinct sound and durning normal operation will cycle on and off so you can pick up on it easily. If you hold the reset in the auger should stop, then immediatly start when you let go of it.

If the auger is running but no pellets dropping I suspect it is running in reverse.

If the auger is not running, I would try jumping the vac switch terminals together to see if that solves the problem. Unplug the stove before doing this, its 110v, make sure nothing gets shorted out, and do not run the stove unattended with the safeties bypassed.

 

[fnolteiii]

Ok good news for a change, at least a little bit anyway... I was able to get the top fire plate off last night where the heat exchanger is located, man, talk about a build up of ash..HOLY COW! I have cleaned it out properly now and will re-assemble and try. I will unplug unit so that mainboard resets itself, then keep you posted. VERY nervous about jumping vacuum switch but if that helps rule something in or out, then I will try. I will post before I take that leap of faith....

As for the augur motor, it seems to me that when I plug it back in and it goes through its startup sequence, I have to always hit the reset button on the right side located near the speed control selector. Maybe it has been doing that for a while but most times I let it run completely out of pellets, then have to hit button several times to get the pellets up the feed chute... will keep you advised and THANKS again for your help!

Not as Frustrated today Fred

 

[fnolteiii]

re-assembled stove and guess what? does exactly the same thing only now I can rule out dirty baffles.... so whats my next plan of attack? I can't let this damned thing beat me down, will try anything you pro's recomend, within reason of course!

 

[shisits]

I do not have the AE but mine did what yours is doing. I reset the snap disks and it worked fine. Push red button to reset.

 

[maglite67]

on the back side of the stove you'll find a vac switch with a tube running to the drop chute. Pull the hose off and make sure the nipple isn't clogged where it hooks up the the drop chute. straighten out a paper clip and run it through the nipple. You cas also remove the hose and blow through it. Make sure the venting is clean also. Try to fire it again if it keeps running great if not take your paper clip and jump the vac switch wrap the jumped connection with electical tape so it doesn't short out to the frame and cause more damage. Test fire again if this works then the switch is bad or a cleaning issue.

 

[fnolteiii]

pushed red button without any change. Just got done blowing out vacuum hose and tried to restart...same issues only now I have to push the reset button once or twice to get the pellets to drop in burnpot.....

 

[shisits]

If you have the non ae there are 2 snap switches to reset,they are snap disk#2 and #3. Need to push quit hard to reset...usually can hear or feel them click when they reset.

 

[fnolteiii]

just finished disassembling the flue pipe and cleaning that out as well as where the union btween the pipe and stove come together, can never be too clean. 1 of the snap diskks has some "spring" tp it, the other, feels soft and mushy... could it be toast?

 

[shisits]

Quadrafire Mt. Vernon OE Pellet Stove made in Sept, 2006, I have serial number if you need it? Please forward manual to: [email protected]. I appreciate your input, both inputs seem to point me in a cheaper direction and that would be best at this time of the year. Does the manual describe the procedure or do I just start at the thermo coupler and woek my way back? As a side question, whats the best solvent to free up bolts that have been heated and reheated so many times? Tried using PB Blaster but didn't seem to help any....

Thanks again,
fnolteiii

PM SENT

 

[fnolteiii]

Thanks to all for your terrific suggestions, she's up & running the way she used to. I guess it was a combination of many things but it's as clean now as the first Day I got it. Hats off to y'all!

Regards,
No longer frigid Fred!

 

[jtp10181]

Another pellet stove fixed just by cleaning it... The most common problem by far.