New T-stat worked, now no augur Quadrafire 1200-I

[Homowner]

Bought a used quad fire 1200 I and had it professionally installed by the company that rebuilt it two years ago. Ever since that day the thermostat and inset he installed has worked flawlessly

I upgraded the thermostat with an ecobee light and it worked fine for two days and still appears to work fine however, when I adjust the thermostat to a higher temp is the burn chamber fan (which does read 120 V to the wires) and a blinking blue light every 10 seconds or so

But I have no red light, no green light and no auger motor. In fact, I don’t know where the auger motor wires are so if anybody can enlighten me what color to look for and where they are on the back of my insert that would help me test them for voltage and I assume that should also be 120v?

I have a two-sided fireplace so accessibility is good

 

[Homowner]

I will today follow a tip from online, remove the wires going to the vacuum pump on the backside, left, with a paperclip, to bypass that, and what I am hearing is that if the auger then begins it would mean that the vacuum pump is bad.

Does this sound correct?

 

[ARC]

Does this sound correct?

Yes and no, if this works it means you have a vacuum problem, plugged stove/vent, bad gaskets, dirty or failing exhaust blower, plugged or cracked vacuum hose and maybe a bad vacuum switch they do go bad but not very often. In most cases vacuum failure comes from dirty stove.

 

[Homowner]

Thanks ARC

So after removing vacuum switch I placed the red multimeter probe on the NO (normally open) spade and the black probe on the C (common spade) and when I suck on the hose port I get a 0.0 ohms resistance which if I'm correct means that switch is good. I removed the switch because I cannot access the far end of the hose for sucking which runs up and into the closed metal top of the insert.

Any idea what might be my next step for testing? My plan is to use a shop vac to remove all of the pellets (after a thorough canister cleaning) so I can reuse the pellets later. What am I looking for once I have removed the pellets, and what can I do to test the augur?

Writing this on Thursday (Dec/11/2025) morning at 6:33am

 

[Homowner]

I've just finished sucking out all the pellets with a 10 gal Default ship vacuum. I believe it is completely empty. Suction is quite strong and that was after emptying the can, then removing filter and air hose bowing the filter and head of the unit, so I'm sure I've reached maximum suction.

Then I plugged in the 1200-I and watched as the blue light ran through the 10 second blue light blinking ever 10 seconds and let it blow the chamber blower on the lower left side as one would face the stove and lower right from the backside for 5 full minutes. The auger makes no sound or movement. I found the auger quite wobbly, which I am assuming it should be to allow for any pellets from getting bound up/stuck. It moves up and down by 1/2"+ and side to side by perhaps a little less. I have not removed the stove and cannot see down inside but I can feel it, and yet no movement.

Prior to all of this my Son and I did a thorough cleaning of all ports inside and inside burn area, as well as side and exhaust vent and fan openings to include removing the steel plates inside to brush clean the ventilator pipes.

Am I am open to any suggestions going forward

Thursday (Dec-11/2025 morning at 8:53am

 

[johneh]

But I have no red light, no green light and no auger motor.

You said no RED LIGHT on the control board?
If so, try jumping out the stat. If there is no red light,
So, no call for heat then nothing else will work

 

[Homowner]

Thanks johneh

I was not accurate. The red call light that is, for pellets when the temp reached 200°, is what I was referring to

Today I found that the auger motor was frozen in a fixed position, and no amount of trying to turn it with my fingers would budge it. Usually as I understand it turn quite easily. I've ordered a new motor today arriving December 19th

This in no way demonstrates I've discovered why this happened, so the saga continues once new motor is installed

 

[ARC]

Auger "motors" do not usually turn by hand. Augers can be turned by hand if hopper is empty or mostly empty. Try to bench test motor using a old lamp cord attach to white and black wire on motor and plug cord in. If hums and does not move motor is bad or auger is jammed with pellets.

 

[Ssyko]

You won’t turn a quad auger motor without pliers or it’s broken inside. They do have a capacitor inline with the plug or it will run backwards. Ensure auger assembly is tight. The liner needs to be as clean as the stove to insure air flow. I recently pulled an insert out that was previously cleaned and when I disconnected the liner I filled a 10 gal shop vac. So make sure all is clean! Unplug unit, Disconnect the thermostat and replace with a wire or connect the 2 screws this can rule out a bad T-stat wire. Plug in stove and see if it runs normal.

 

[Homowner]

Auger "motors" do not usually turn by hand. Augers can be turned by hand if hopper is empty or mostly empty. Try to bench test motor using a old lamp cord attach to white and black wire on motor and plug cord in. If hums and does not move motor is bad or auger is jammed with pellets.

To both ARC and Sysco,

I had removed the auger motor before trying to twist the shaft. Could that make a difference?

 

[Homowner]

You won’t turn a quad auger motor without pliers or it’s broken inside. They do have a capacitor inline with the plug or it will run backwards. Ensure auger assembly is tight. The liner needs to be as clean as the stove to insure air flow. I recently pulled an insert out that was previously cleaned and when I disconnected the liner I filled a 10 gal shop vac. So make sure all is clean! Unplug unit, Disconnect the thermostat and replace with a wire or connect the 2 screws this can rule out a bad T-stat wire. Plug in stove and see if it runs normal.

I got all of the pellets out, with a 10gal shop vac and I mean all the way down to the stainless curled auger bit.I removed the entire top off of the stove after removing the stove from the fireplace but even after that I could not get the motor to make a hum or a noise of any kind. So I removed it with the 4 screws, tight fit on the bottom two. The Ac volts I got from the connector going from control board to motor reads at 4.28. Is that enough volts?

 

[johneh]

Quadra-Fire 1200 (Classic Bay 1200) pellet stove feed motor, often part #812-4421, is a standard 120 Volt AC motor, typically 60 Hz, designed for residential use in North America, running at 2.4 RPM.

 

[ARC]

Is that enough volts?

No should normally be between 118 and 123. But could be anywhere from 114 to 126.

 

[Homowner]

The t-stat wires I bought new when I added the new ecobee Lite and it worked for 2 days. Suddenly the red call light wouldn't come on my assumption being because go the vacuum switch or the control box. But I thought I'd start at the easiest to access part first. The with gave me an Ohms reading of 0.1 then 0.0, while the motor from the control box wiring gives me a reading od 4.2v and it won;t spin even with the use of pliers. I suppose I could force it, but I didn't do that. The motor came from China I'm sure and was $40. It won't arrive till Dec 19th as I understand

If that motor doesn't work would you think I then move to the control box? And what would be the way to test it?

Thanks guys

 

[Homowner]

Quadra-Fire 1200 (Classic Bay 1200) pellet stove feed motor, often part #812-4421, is a standard 120 Volt AC motor, typically 60 Hz, designed for residential use in North America, running at 2.4 RPM.

So my reading of (now it's down to 2.92v) would lead me to believe that I move on to the control box?

Pics are of the power to the motor cable which has 2 whites and a single black, and I'm assuming the whites are the power and the black is the neutral but it tests out the same either way I read it

 

[ARC]

I'm assuming the whites are the power and the black is the neutral

Please assume whites are neutral and black is power.

 

[Homowner]

Please assume whites are neutral and black is power.

Thank you. As I mentioned readings are the same regardless which way I test them tough, so can I assume it is perhaps the control board? And can I replace only the board, rather than the whole control box?

 

[Homowner]

As for the auger motor itself here is the test reading in Ohms