Quad 1000 issue w/ convection blower stopping

[jawsont]

So, I'm not sure if this maybe has the same answer as a few other threads I've been reading but my Quad 1000 has begun to get worse and worse with the convection blower simply stopping in mid-fire every 20-30 min. of use (well under the thermostat 'set temperature'). The auger continues to deliver pellets for an additional 3-4 minutes afterwards until the whole stove overheats and shuts down, then restarts.

From what I've read on other threads is that it could be ash accumulation blocking the heat transfer and thus an overtemp. shutdown happens. I suppose that could be, but it does it even after clearing the ash out of the pot/burn deck as well as taking the shielding off and taking a brush to the exchange vanes (? don't know if that's what they're called) and then the other exchange vanes at the extreme back of the unit by the exhaust exit.

Could it be my pipe restricting air flow out by any chance? I can't easily clean my vertical superpipe before it turns 90 degress to go outside (THAT horizontal stretch I clean a few times during the burning season). The vertical stretch I knock up and down with a wooden mallet to loosen any ash that might cling. I haven't cleaned that vertical stretch since installation 4 years ago. I'd love to clean that vertical stretch, but it isn't accessible easily as the bottom of the pipe that I can remove by the exit from the stove only has about 5" of clearance and due to the internal ridges of the superpipe I can't easily use conventional brushes to make the 90 degrees coming from the outside.

I just changed my snapdiscs 1 & 2 (but not 3 since I don't believe fire is climbing the auger input) thinking it might have been that, but it would appear that hasn't been the problem.

Any guesses?

 

[jrsdws]

Bumping to the top to try to get you some help.

If you were restricting airflow in the vent too much, you'd have a vacuum problem and wouldn't even get a fire going I don't think. However, that vertical run needs to be cleaned at least annually.

Was this happening prior to changing snapdiscs 1 and 2?

#1 turns the convection blower on and off as needed. I would double check that it is installed correctly and is the right one. You could maybe jump it to see if that works.

#2 shuts the stove down if the convection blower fails to operate - I would say this one is working as designed.

Maybe the thermocouple is going bad?

Some more tech savvy members will be along to help.

 

[jawsont]

Thanks for the reply.

It was happening prior to the replacement of the snap discs. I'd hoped that replacing the discs would have fixed the problem...sadly not. It is running just like it was before. Is there an easy way to check if the thermocouple is bad? A certain resistance I should see on my multimeter maybe?

 

[slls]

Have you cleaned the vanes on your convection blower.

 

[heat seeker]

Have you cleaned out the convection blower motor itself? It might be plugged with dust and overheating, so its thermal switch shuts it off until it cools. Classic symptoms you have.
I'd put a meter on the leads to the motor to see if it's still getting voltage when it shuts off. Or, remove and eyeball the motor itself.

 

[jawsont]

Thanks for the response guys.

Yes - I cleaned both the positive combustion blower as well as the convection blower this summer (I take a toothbrush to the tines of the fan every summer and vaccum them) That said - I did NOT vaccum or clean the negative combustion blower this summer in the bottom right in the exhaust port. It's a real PITA since when you take this one off you need to re-silicone its connection to the pipe going to the exhaust since all the 'red stuff' (thermal rubber?) has long since disappeared in the 20 years of operation this thing's seen (I've owned it for 5). It's also a PITA in that you have to have elf-sized hands and double-jointed fingers to get the nuts back on the bolts to remount the fan when you're done. Not fun.

I'll put a meter to the convection motor next time it goes out. I suspect there will be no voltage (which should mean 'normal shutoff' right?), but it's worth looking at. At this point I'm grasping at straws, but I really don't want to blow another $70 on the stove when I've just put in $90. I can't imagine a 20 year old stove will last that much longer....

[[edit: so it happened again just after I posted. I tried to find a place to measure voltage across the leads heading to the convection blower, but the leads end inside the motor and I can't see how that would be easily done w/out disconnecting the motor itself and well, that obviously won't work. As for the convection blower itself, when it hit's "overtemp shutdown" it just stops while the auger keeps going for another 4 min or so. The second snapdisc must then activate and the auger stops and the fire goes out. After another few minutes with no fire in the pot, the convection blower turns on again and the thing cools down. Maybe 5 minutes after that the fire restarts and the stove works normally for another 20 or so minutes before the process may (or may not) start again.]]

 

[heat seeker]

I 'm not talking about the fan - it's the motor itself. It's air cooled, and if the coils are full of dust, the motor will overheat. I blow both my motors out every spring, and get a fair cloud of dust out of each motor. The fans I clean with a brush.

 

[jawsont]

I 'm not talking about the fan - it's the motor itself. It's air cooled, and if the coils are full of dust, the motor will overheat. I blow both my motors out every spring, and get a fair cloud of dust out of each motor. The fans I clean with a brush.

Hmmmm, good point. I did vacuum it off this summer, but didn't go over it with a good brush. I'll try that. Thks.

 

[heat seeker]

Blow the motors out with compressed air - a brush won't do. You need to get the coils in the motor clean.

 

[jawsont]

If I could remotely send you a beer I would! I unmounted the convection blower and took my vacuum cleaner to it with a straw duct-taped to the end to get deep inside it. I've been running w/out shutdown now for about 1h. Before I would get maybe 20 min. *fingers crossed* While I blew some cash on snapdiscs, at least I know the 'old ones' i removed are likely still good and will keep them as spares. Back up and running.

THANK YOU!

 

[jawsont]

As a follow up. 2h later and the problem hasn't re-occurred. It clearly was an overheating convection blower.

Lesson learned.

 

[heat seeker]

You're quite welcome!

BTW, did you get much dust out of the motor?

 

[jawsont]

BTW, did you get much dust out of the motor?

Enough to make a family pet. (well, ok, not that much....but enough that the dust bunnies were compact around the copper coils). I'll blow out the other 2 motors this weekend the next time it's sunny and the stove is off.

 

[heat seeker]

Wow. And thanks for the suds, they tasted great! I had one on you