Quadra fire santa fe....Lord please help me fix this...

[Mrs. Fixit]

First off, Hello all! You don't know me but I have been stalking and gleaning info from you for sometime now. Thank you for your knowledge and willingness to help.

Here's the problem.
Last season, we had our Quadrafire santa fe stand alone cleaned. My husband, who btw is far more tech than mechanics, relays the fellow says we need a new differential switch beause the wires are loose on the one in our stove. Still works well so I wait, also can't figure out what a differential switch is. Machine stopped feeding suddenly at the end of the season. It was a few days out from spring so I waited to mess with it. Upon cleaning it up and getting ready to dig in to it, I find a potato peeler lodged in the feed spring. Pulled apart all looks well, still no feed. Replaced auger motor, still no feed. Exhaust fan works fine. If I drop pellets into the ignitor pot it works fine. Research leads me to check the snapdisc #2 or vacuum switch. I ordered the snapdisc. On it's way.

How do I know if the vacuum switch is opened or closed?
If it needs replaced, where on earth do I find part number 7000-126?
What is a differential switch, am I missing something in the manual?
Any other ideas to check?

Should be noted we bought this mobile home and the stove was included, pretty sure most of the place is held together with duct tape, literally, so i there are no maintenance records or evidence of any general upkeep on this machine. Any common issues or what not would be appreciated. Thank you

Also, I saw mention of settings on a control box, anyone care to elaborate?

 

[kappel15]

Hello and welcome to the forum. If it was the #2 snap disc, auger wouldn't run unless it cooled off or reset button was pushed. Since you can drop fuel in by hand and then the stove will run, I am guessing you have issues with the vac switch. You can check this by jumping the vac switch wires together and see if stove works properly then. Just be sure to unplug stove to prevent electrical shocks. If it does run normally, this just means you have some issues with a number of possiblilites. The vac switch could be bad, door seal could be bad. Vac switch hose could be plugged with saw dust. Nipple on drop tube vac switch connects to, could be plugged. Exhaust path thru stove, and including exhaust pipe, could be plugged.Any Quad dealer can get a vac switch. You can also google quad parts online and order it thru dealers that pop up. If you have a clear plastic control box, there is a gray dial to set to different numbers for different stoves. Yours should be on #6. And you never want to remove, or replace a control box, without the stove being unplugged, or you can toast the control box. Your best friend is your owners manual. There are also how to videos on the internet, on how to do some things on these stoves. And I don't know what he is referring to, when he comments on a differential switch. Maybe his own slang for a part.Stay warm, stay in touch. kap

 

[DMKNLD]

Hey Mrs. Fixit,

Kap, our forum's resident expert Quad technician, will no doubt get you on your way to getting your SF stove back running, so not much more I'll add other than the generic Quad start-up sequence 'flow diagram'. This can help you with troubleshooting whether you have a mechanical problem with a particular component part, or if it is an issue of the 110v power not getting through to that particular part. A problem with the vacuum circuit that kap has steered you towards, as an example, will shut down the power to the feed auger as one of a number of the stove's safety back-ups, even if the auger is mechanically OK. So to get to box #20 in the start-up sequence diagram, everything needs to be working in the proper sequence in the boxes prior to that - which is a sometimes frustrating process of elimination, while hopefully minimizing throwing stove parts at the problem that you don't need to replace.

Like kap, I've never heard of a pellet stove 'differential switch'. No disrespect inferred to the tech who cleaned your stove, but he could have been 'blowing smoke' (no pun intended), as unfortunately not all stove repair techs are as knowledgeable and experienced with Quad stoves as kap is. Maybe he was referring to the low / medium / high switch that allows for the various stove heat settings? Or perhaps the wire connections were loose to that or some other switch he was calling that, which would be an easy fix to crimp new spade connectors on to. We can help address that later, as needed.

I'll also reference a link from a recent discussion detailing how to bypass your vacuum switch, so that neither you nor expen$ive control box have a 110v *misadventure* ! You have already figured how to get your auger out and install your new one after you found the potato peeler jammed in the auger tube (kids or grand kids perhaps that dropped it in the hopper?). So when people post who already have some pellet stove 'MRA' - mechanical reasoning ability - that helps allot ! X2 on kap's suggestion to use the stove manual and You tube videos to help on that, as well as the search function on this forum. We find the whole spectrum of 'MRA' and relative comfort with electrical trouble shooting issues on this forum, together with the challenge of trying to help cyber troubleshoot stuff 'from afar'. So bear with that process, as it may involve multiple issues with your stove, especially if you don't know all the stove's repair or maintenance history, as in your case, which is common. Taking cell phone pictures before removing wiring connections help allot, both for you getting stuff put back together the way it was before so as to not cause another problem, and for posting back on here if needed when 'a picture can often say a thousand words'.


Excerpted from a prior post: "RE jumpering / bypassing your vac switch: Find the two wires that go to your vacuum switch - the round or rectangular box mounted to the back of the stove, and disconnect the 2 wires from the switch - IMPORTANT make sure your stove is UNPLUGGED first before doing any electrical testing, or you can potentially get shocked and / or your control box can get shorted out ! Then you connect the two wires together to bypass the vacuum switch, which will allow power to continue on to your auger. The safest way to do this is with a pre-made jumper wire out of a short section of electrical wire and spade connectors, (see pic below). Or in a pinch you can bend a paper clip into a U-shape and stick one end into each wires female electrical connector, or strip the end 1/4" or so off both ends of some similar diameter electrical wire and use that an improvised jumper. If you go with the paper clip or wire jumper, wrap the jumper wire / spade connector junction, or the exposed metal on the paper clip, well with electrical tape, as it can short out if the jumper comes apart or any bare paperclip metal touches metal on the stove, potentially frying your $350 - 400 control box when you plug the stove back in.

With the vacuum switch wires jumpered together you can plug the stove back in, hit the reset button and see if the auger starts up and does the initial 60 sec pellet feed. As a safety note, the vac switch is a critical safety back-up, so you should only temporarily run your stove when it is bypassed as a troubleshooting step to rule out or rule in vacuum / negative pressure related issues with your stove."

Regards, and good luck ! Post back on any findings or other questions, and welcome to the forum ! DK

 

[hooter04]

Vac switch will run you about $60.00 for a cheap piece of plastic
I know had to replace one this season.

 

[Mrs. Fixit]

Thank you sooo much for your advice. I am going to try to jump the vac switch. The part number for it is no longer available and I can't find replacement yet that seems to be a match for the installation pattern. snap disc 2 has been replaced and still nothing. Thank you DMKNLD for the thourough information! I'll be back soon.

 

[Mrs. Fixit]

Also I pulled the vs off and tried to blow any clogs. If I blew too hard it seemed blocked but if I blew lightly air came out of the other hole in the mechanism. After hooking it back up I could feel air coming from the other hole. Not sure if that makes any sense or helps in diagnosis, just an observation dsf-221-271 is the part number

 

[kappel15]

The new vac switches are round and plastic. You can use one of the holes to mount it, but have to make a new one for the other side. May be time to start tracing the power and where it isn't. You may just need to unplug stove, re-seat control box as they sometimes can work loose, and plug stove back in. You may just need to clean the slot the control box plugs into as they can get a film and make bad contact. What year stove is this as newer ones have a hopper door switch that shuts auger off. kap

 

[Former Farmer]

snap disc 2 has been replaced and still nothing.

If it was the #2 snap disc, auger wouldn't run unless it cooled off or reset button was pushed.

Does your #2 snap disc have a reset button on it? Look for a small button in the center of it. It may need to be reset by pushing on it. Just because you installed a new one, they may still have to be reset.

 

[DMKNLD]

Thank you sooo much for your advice. I am going to try to jump the vac switch. The part number for it is no longer available and I can't find replacement yet that seems to be a match for the installation pattern. snap disc 2 has been replaced and still nothing. Thank you DMKNLD for the thourough information! I'll be back soon.

You're welcome, Mrs. F, that's what this forum is all about ! When working correctly the vacuum switch has a pressure sensitive diaphragm in it that, when a slight negative pressure is created by the combustion blower, it will suck that diaphragm in and close the electrical switch connected to it, allowing 110v current to continue on in the start-up sequence, ie your feed motor.

Generally the diaphragm integrity can be tested by applying very light mouth or syringe suction, as opposed to blowing into it, and listen for a click, indicating the diaphragm is intact and the switch is opening / closing OK. Or the more definitive way to check it is to do a continuity test, if you have a multi-meter, to test for a change in resistance when light suction is first applied then released. So if you blew into the vacuum switch, even with light positive pressure instead of applying slight negative pressure / suction, you may have inadvertently ruptured the diaphragm. Or it could have failed prior to that as well, that could be the cause of your auger feed problem.

The vacuum hose often gets clogged with sawdust, as can the nipple barb that the hose fits into at the auger tube end of the hose. So that is when blowing through the vacuum tubing is helpful in removing any sawdust blockage, after disconnecting it at the vac switch end and blowing towards the auger tube nipple. You should also check the vac hose for any splits / cracks, especially at the auger tube end where it gets more heat stress, and if there is a split, you can clip off the bad section with a sharp scissors or box cutter knife to get to a fresh section of hose that will seal well onto the nipple barb.

If you're comfortable bypassing the vacuum switch as discussed above, remember to first UNPLUG your stove before you do any wire disconnecting ! Then you CAREFULLY jumper the vac switch wires together, then plug it back in and start it up. If the auger starts to feed then you know you have a vacuum problem somewhere in the system - a bad vac switch, clogged or split vac tubing, clogged vac tube nipple barb, bad door gasket seal, a fire pot clean-out door hanging too low, a failing combustion blower, or an ash obstruction in the exhaust pathway / venting. Any one of these or a combination of them can cause a lack of adequate negative pressure in the system.

As a disclaimer, bypassing the vac switch should only be done as a diagnostic check, as it is a critical stove safety feature. Post back after you try kap and FF's troubleshooting ideas and try bypassing the vacuum switch, and we'll collectively go from there, OK? Regards, DK

 

[Teke]

I have recently just replaced my vacuum switch. Does it matter what wire goes to the + or - pins on the switch? I have a black and a red.

 

[kappel15]

It shouldn't, but to be safe, turn stove on and see which wire is hot,if you have a no touch tester, and put it on plus side.kap

 

[stovelark]

Good info all- Just wanted to note old whitfields referred to a vac sw as a differential switch and in the navy that was a term I've heard used too. I guess you can think it would show a pressure difference if the diaphragm is acted upon from an ext source vs atmospheric pressure. After all that, I too say its a vac sw.....Take care.