Problems w older Quad 1000

[PurpleDragon]

Am new here. Hubby and I bought a place that came w a Quadrafire 1000 w a manufacturing date of '91 stamped in teh hopper lid. We've had the stove repair guy out 3 or 4 times since the cleaning and initial inspection in Aug. We have replaced

the convection blower
the igniter
2 t-stats
thermocouple
snap switch #2(today)
snap switch #1(now)

Yesterday after vacuuming it just died. Reached temp then never turned back on, w NO call light, and NOTHING happens on reboot-either w snap disc #3 being reset and/or unplugged. This repair adventure has resulted in replacing of snap disc #2, the whole damn thing being taken apart and vacuumed, the vent pipe to be taken apart and vacuumed, all the blowers to be vacuumed and spun manually checked...nothing. The t-stat being jumped, which produced the call light to come on, the auger to spin, pellets to kinda weakly move in the feed shaft, the auger to STOP turning due to a lack of falling pellets, then the whole damn thing to just continue to cycle w no heating or pellets or anything resulting... We kept resetting it, then *POOF!* the auger started dropping pellets and now there's a fire started. Not sure what caused the pellets to drop, or for it to finally start....But the t-stat is still jumped in the back of the stove...its up to temp and the blower turns on for about 3 seconds then off, then on... would seem the terminal on snap disc #1n is loose, replacing it now...

As our house is frozen solid at this point(it went down to a big fat 0 last night, and of course the stove died at around 3pm yesterday) and the toilet is frzn solid, we are waiting to see waht happens w this fire...

My Question is... Does the thermostat need replaced? Or is it something on the stove? Does this model just like to devour tstats? And if so, will replacing it w another low-end digital tstat cause the same issue...? And how do I wire up the new tstat as it has dif settings on it that do not include one for "pellet stove"...or any other alt heat source?(the last tstat had settings for alt sources)

 

[jtakeman]

I see no mention of the vacuum switch. For the most part with my older quad if the vacuum line was plugged. It would have erratic pellet feed and start ups. I would remove the vacuum line from the vacuum switch and blow air back towards the stove(in this case its the auger tube that has lots of saw dust/fines from the pellets). I would do this once every couple of weeks.

Erratic snap disc was usually cased by ash build up in the exhaust chamber. There should be a small side door once you remove the left side panel. Make sure no ash is built up in the exhaust channel.

Its an oldy, Make sure you have good connections to the snap discs. Also at the black box. With power off clean the connections on the snap disks. I would also clean the connection at the control box with an eraser. Remove the box, Clean contact area and reseat it to be sure its good.

IMHO With a stove this old, I would also want a reliable back up heat source. just relying on the might be a bit risky! Heck even with my newr stove I still have back up. You just never know!

 

[tjnamtiw]

Good God A frozen toilet is NOT a good situation!

No call light would be the result of a possible break in the wires coming from the thermostat, a bad thermostat, OR just weak batteries in the thermostat (happened to me). Don't use rechargeable ones in it either. My $25 thermostat works great. Wire to the W and Rh.

To eliminate the possibilty of a broken wire, reconnect the wires to the stove and then jump the two wires at the thermostat together. You should get a call light. If not, you have a broken wire.

It sounds like you primed the auger by continuing to hit the reset button. That's perfectly normal for an initial start up. This IS the first startup, right?

Now you have to get the feed rate set properly so that you get enough flame to keep the convection blower going. With the stove set to HIGH, open up the feed gate so that you get a flame that is about 4-6" above the top of the burn pot. It will go up and down as each load of pellets is dropped but look for 4-6" after the initial flare up after the drop. You should see a RED light on the control box at this point.

I've been seeing on here that others are having the convection blower come on and off but not every 3 seconds! Someone will be along soon that has that model.

NOTE: When you remove the control box to clean the contacts, MAKE SURE THE STOVE IS UNPLUGGED! If not, you just bought a replacement!

 

[PurpleDragon]

Before It was up-n-running w/o any problems we contemplated an alt heat source. Since we last had it serviced tho, we naively believed we wouldn't need it.

Part of the taking everything apart and vacuuming was the vacuum hose. He blew thru it, there were no clogs. It seemed still in functioning order. Haven't found that small door for the exhaust chamber yet, but hubby did stick the shop vac up the pipe in the back of the stove when he discombulated the vent pipe.

 

[PurpleDragon]

Yeah, a frozen toilet makes for a bitchy wife as well as other problems.

Tried the tstat wires thing... its in the wiring somewhere.

 

[PurpleDragon]

Checked the wiring... found a loose connection. Fixed it. Same problem. No call light, stove won't start. He's crossed, recrossed and crossed again all the wires running from stove to thermostat. Problem seems to be between the wires and tstat. Changed batteries. Nothing. Still no call light. For a minute, while he was doing some of the wiring, the stove kicked on and fired up - still no light, but was functioning....

*sigh*

 

[tjnamtiw]

Fired up WITHOUT the call light! Now THAT'S VERY strange! Does the light come on sometimes or is it burned out?
Does the light come on if you twist the wires together at the thermostat? What two terminals do you have the wires connected to? Perhaps it's time for a run to HomeDepot for that $25 thermostat I have in my signature?

Also, since this is your only heat source, it REALLY is time for a backup AND a new stove! At least, look at Craigslist for some deals. You never know. There's a guy near me with a new Englander (big one) with the exhaust kit and OAK still on the skid for $1200 OBO! If I didn't have two already, it would be sitting in my house.

If it runs without the thermostat, run it that way for now.

 

[imacman]

......For a minute, while he was doing some of the wiring, the stove kicked on and fired up - still no light, but was functioning....

Well, that would seem to confirm a problem with wiring.....somethings shorted, or a loose connection.

 

[PurpleDragon]

Yep. Fired up AND ran til house warmed up WITHOUT the call light on. Now that hte house is warmed up some, and the stove's been running for about 20-30 mins WITHOUT the call light, the call light just CAME ON. No, light doesnt come on when you twist the tstat. No, it doesnt come on when you touch it. Only time it came on was when he jumped the terminal in the back of the stove...

I'd check CL...but I live in Wyoming.... And teh nearest Home Depot is 2hrs away. We've got an extra thermostat in the closet. There's a pellet stove dealer here; they have the monopoly on this venue for about 100miles...with a 3 day wait. I see an electric heater in my near future.

 

[DexterDay]

Why not just bypass the t-stat? Get a small 6" wire and just go from one terminal to the other on the back of the stove? This will make the stove run 24/7 though. But you may have heat that way?

 

[tjnamtiw]

DexterDay's right, then. Just jumper that sucker and once it's up to temperature, just put it in LOW or MEDIUM to keep the temp where you want it. Sounds like you need to run new wiring to the thermostat. Many times people will run it under a rug or a door threshold and it will get broken. Sounds like, with HD so far away, Amazon will come to the rescue. http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Pro...355202794&sr=8-2&keywords=ritetemp+thermostat