Quadra-Fire Mt Vernon Pellet Stove won't light

[Mir77]

I am reluctant to remove all the wires and then remove the cover from the control board. It makes me nervous. Are there any recommended tools? I am not an electrician by any means but a problem solver, nonetheless. I definitely cannot afford the $678 at this time if it is the control board.

When the stove is plugged in, the lights on the control board are on, i.e. the red call to the thermostat light flashes, so there must be some part of it working. Pellets keep dropping, and subsequently dumping into the ash drawer — just no red glow, no flame, no fire.

I seem to recall reading that there is a manual setting on the thermostat control, at which point I could light the pellets by hand. Does anyone have any advice on this point before I can get a technician/fix the problem?

 

[heat seeker]

For the cost of a tech and/or a new board, I'd manually light the stove.

 

[LMPS]

You can do a manual light. Let it drop some pellets in the fire pot, open the door use the fire gel and light them ( I would also ad a handful of pellets at this point). Watch the fire you may have to put some more gel on and/or add some pellets manually. It does take a little long for it to build the fire this way but it does work.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

A shorted triac would keep the ignitor on constantly, IMO. My money is on a burnt trace, or blown fuse.

There's a good chance it is both, but the open trace wins. Of course the trace has to be checked and restored first if necessary, but I would put money on the triac being toast.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

For the cost of a tech and/or a new board, I'd manually light the stove.

But then you lose the convenience of automated operation

 

[Mir77]

I replaced the fuse and it was clearly toast. So far so good. It has been running smoothly for a couple hours now. Thanks, everyone, for your help!

 

[Jbellarmada]

Hello,

I did the same thing. The new ignitors that I bought had short wires with no plugs on the end. I soldered the old wires with plugs and covered the joint with the ceramic cloth wire covering that is on the ignitor units. Being lazy I did not glue or tape the cloth and my ash drawer nicked the wire and created a spark. Since then my ignitor will not blow. I suspect that I too popped the fuse.

Did you find the ignitor fuse inside the black control box? were you able to get it open without unplugging the mass of wires connecting to it? Seeking some advice on how to tackle this problem as you did. Is it a normal automotive type fuse or clear glass tube type?

lighting manually for now

Thanks!

 

[onmyown]

I have a Quadra-Fire Mount Vernon AE Pellet Stove that won't light. Yesterday, I saw a blue burst of sparks when stove was in startup and it hasn't worked since then. Upon removal of the igniter, there was, sure enough, a big hole burned in it. My fiance and I picked up a new igniter and installed it but the igniter is not getting red, and the stove just keeps dropping pellets. Could it be a fuse? Or could the arc have created additional problems? Thanks

Hi! I hope you're still out there somewhere Mir77. I have same problem and have replaced igniter thus far. How did you replace the fuse? We have an insert and it is DARNED hard to even get to the control board let alone free it from blower and still keep all the connections in place. Tell me your magic trick! Please!

 

[Mir77]

Hi! I hope you're still out there somewhere Mir77. I have same problem and have replaced igniter thus far. How did you replace the fuse? We have an insert and it is DARNED hard to even get to the control board let alone free it from blower and still keep all the connections in place. Tell me your magic trick! Please!

Yes, it is a pain, but very worth it. It is most likely a burned out fuse. You can order them on ebay for a couple bucks. The tricky part is that you have to remove each wire from the control board and remove the box completely to locate the fuse and replace it. I took the time to number each wire and each insertion so that I could make sure I could get them back the right way. That was me probably being overcautious as each one is a different shape and color, but it worked for me.

I would unplug the stove and then remove the back right panel. Then remove each of the wires to free the box. Once you locate the fuse you will be able to tell if it is fried because it will look burnt inside.

I hope this helps. You may want to find the QuadraFire Troubleshooting Manual online or there may be other documentation but you might have to dig. I think they like for customers to use technicians. But I felt so victorious to be able to fix it myself.

Good Luck!

Miriam

 

[tsmith]

Here is the manual.

 

[buddy01]

Here is the manual.

Good job ALL of you. Took my control board out number each wire and guess what! bad fuse A bad firepot started this mess. the whole bottom was burnt off. That shorted the igniter out, then took the fuse You saved me hundreds thanks again.

 

[BrotherBart]

Hearth.com strikes again.

 

[kappel15]

There is a new wire harness for the igniter that has inline fuses to make for easier replacement. # SRV7034-273. kap

 

[heat seeker]

You can also install your own inline fuse for under $5. Piece of cake!

 

[Harvey Schneider]

I soldered the old wires with plugs and covered the joint with the ceramic cloth wire covering that is on the ignitor units.

Solder is not recommended for connecting the wires on heaters. Conducted heat from the igniter and high currents can melt the solder. An insulated crimp butt connector is a much more reliable way to splice those wires.

 

[jordan69s]

Thank you for such an amazing post... Thanks to the diagrams and comments I was able to replace my ignition, did not work, so I inspected my control board which looks like new, not burning smells either... so I check the fuse and I had to replace it because it was damaged. an I still do not have power on the ignition wire #13 has power, but wire #12 never gets any current... someone very early on mentioned about perhaps bypassing the wire, but there was not explanation on how...

The pellet stove is dated 2008, so there is no warranty. Can anyone help me figure out what can be wrong??? No errors reported on the thermostat either!

Many thanks,

Jordan

 

[kappel15]

Did you check continuity at fuse connections, or power on both sides? Check for power at the control board on #12. Unplug the stove and restart. Make sure the wall control says "startup". If power not present, replace the control board. What revision control board do you have? Depending on what you have, you may need a new wall control too, if you need to replace the control board. kap