Pellet stove reset

[KeithH]

I own a quadrafire Castile pellet stove that has been working fine until all of a sudden I look and notice it's shutting off. I thought for a moment that it may have reached temp but it's still 5 degrees from its preset temp. So I hit the reset button to get it to feed pellets again and nothing. I continue to press the reset button and nothing happens no sound nothing. It's like the reset button. Why would my reset button not work? And how could I fix this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kappel15]

There could be other reasons why it shut down and the reset button isn't going to work. And the reset button could have dirty connections, or bad connection or just went bad. If the stove thought it was up to temp, the reset won't work. Could be something that just shut down the auger system, and hitting the reset won't fix that. Bad vac switch or bad vacuum for numerous reasons like dirty exhaust path in stove or pipes. Bad door gasket, bad vac switch itself, bad wire connections, bad auger motor, bad capacitor. We will need more info as it is a process of elimination. What year stove do you have?

 

[KeithH]

I believe it's 2006. I bought used from a cousin who barely used it. I'm still learning how to maintenance it. Yesterday the augur wouldn't turn at all so I took the back apart and pressed one of the snap disks I believe it's called and then it worked fine until the issue this morning. After the stove shut down completely I got it started again, because suddenly the reset button worked. And it ran for about 4 hours and now the same issue the stove simply won't feed pellets now

 

[heat seeker]

Try resetting the snap disc again. If it's tripped, you have a problem with overheating.

 

[kappel15]

Or the disc is going bad too. Time to do some cleaning and investigating. kap

 

[KeithH]

if I have an overheating problem what can I do to fix that, or where do I start? When I pull off the side cover it's filled with dust and cobwebs so I know it needs to be cleaned out. But what else do I do?
I have owned this stove for only a year my cousin owned it for a couple years before me but literally only fired it up once, they sort of inherited it when they bought their home, the people they bought it from used the stove all the time.
So where I'm going with that is the only maintenance I have done is clean the ash and soot, I have never even opened the side panel until yesterday and I'm sure my cousin never did. So I'm sure I need to maintenance other areas Im just learning as I go. Again all help is greatly appreciated

 

[kappel15]

First thing you need to do is download an owners manual from Quads website. Study it and it will help you a lot in learning how to maintain/clean your stove, and how it operates. A clean stove is a happy stove. And then so is the owner. When you have done that, let us know and we can start from there. kap

 

[DMKNLD]

Hi Keith,

To add to kap's suggestion, here's a link to some useful self-help videos on the Castile operation and maintenance, put out by Quadra-Fire. "A picture, (or a video), says a thousand words". (broken link removed to http://www.quadrafire.com/Owner-Resources/Use-and-Care-Videos/Castile-Pellet-Stove.aspx)

Good luck, and happy reading (and watching) !

 

[KeithH]

Ok I have the manual, I just took apart and cleaned the convection blower, and cleaned everything visible inside that panel I took off, do I need to take anything else apart?

 

[KeithH]

By the way thanks again for taking the time to help me out, I can't say enough how much I appreciate this

 

[Lake Girl]

Unplug the stove when you are working on it?

 

[Lake Girl]

Page 27 - 30 on general maintenance... some of the pages following go through how to remove right hand brick and baffles. You have to follow the internal exhaust pathways and clean out all the ash ...
(broken link removed to http://hearthnhome.com/downloads/installManuals/250_6422.pdf)

Keep us posted...

 

[DMKNLD]

By the way thanks again for taking the time to help me out, I can't say enough how much I appreciate this

Taking liberties with a couple of paraphrases, "this forum best helps those who help themselves", and "it's not the destination, it's the journey".

Happy burning, Keith, on the pellet stove ownership journey !

 

[kappel15]

As Lake Girl stated, time to clean, clean, clean. Entire exhaust path thru stove and exhaust. Behind brick, take baffle off and clean heat exchanger tubes. Make sure all firepot holes are clean, including the 4 small ones in angled lower pot, and 4 lower small ones, two on each side of igniter housing(tj) . Next step is to fire up stove and see if she will run. IF it does, then it is time to set your flame height per your manual. Keep us posted. kap

 

[KeithH]

Been cleaning all night and fired it up not too long ago seems to be working well now, the amount of dust that was in the convection blower was crazy.

 

[Lake Girl]

Glad to hear it is running again ... spend some time with that manual so you learn your stove well

 

[kappel15]

The convection was probably so full, it wasn't moving enough air to cool stove, hence the snap disc shutting it down. Listen to Lake Girl and you will be an old hand before you know it. That manual is your best friend. Stay warm. kap

 

[Bioburner]

Dust bunnies are killers, may they perish in a shop vac.

 

[kappel15]

Amen.