I have (2) 1200i inserts which I clean once a week. Well one of them just recently on start up I smell wood smoke and everything seems normal except once it is running for a while maybe an hour the hopper lid gets extremely hot to the touch. My other one does not get hot at all. Any suggestions deeply appreciated. Also I notice on low setting that the convection blower runs at a certain speed and the I notice it lowers for no apparent reason. I can have the thermostat at highest setting and it still slows or shuts down for a few minutes.
quadrafire 1200i hot pellet lid
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jtp10181
Minister of Fire
yes I'm pretty finicky with the cleaning from reading many posts that seems to be the cause of many many problems so I clean my once a week. This 1200i is actually very easily cleaned.
CanadaClinker
New Member
buzz#1 said:
..... looked at your touble shooting chart (below) and from what you said above, it sounds like the convection blower isn't blowing away the heat of the stove ..... why it's not doing this may be answered by the suggestions on the chart .... with the stove unplugged try to turn the conv blower by hand to see if it turns freely without any resistance to turning, if it has difficulty, the bearings may be seized...... if it turns freely, (and if your comfortable working around electricity), bridge across #1 snap disc to see motor in the stalled condition picks up speed, would mean a bad contacting disc #1 contacts..... this is a start.....hp this helps .... cc
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jtp10181
Minister of Fire
You sweep the vent and pull both blowers out and clean them once a week?
CC might be on the right track though. The conv blower not running properly could be letting heat rise up more, heating up the hopper lid. Where if the blower was going properly it would blow all the heat out into the room.
CC might be on the right track though. The conv blower not running properly could be letting heat rise up more, heating up the hopper lid. Where if the blower was going properly it would blow all the heat out into the room.
Well I actually have figured out that the blower wasn't blowing so the heat was building up in the stove. Jumped out blower and it works fine so I figured it was the snap disc AGAIN! Went to the stove shop and got a new snap disc. Swapped it out and it still won't kick on. Installed it on my other 1200i and didn't work either. So now both my 1200i are not working. I stuck my finger in where the snap disc goes and it was not very hot in there and it needs to be 125 degrees to work properly. Any idea why it isn't hot enough inside. The stove is cranking !
CanadaClinker
New Member
Hey Buzz.....In a previous post, I gave this opinion to that problem "IMO the problem lies with the location of the snap disc that controls the convection blower. Especially with inserts, the ‘lower back’ part of the heat exchanger remains cool from fire place chimney drafts, or proximity to concrete in the fireplace (which requires 10 ft of it (concrete) to give you an insulating factor of R10). This causes delayed startup and early shut down of the convection blower.
If Quadrafire would have mounted the snap disc nearer the ‘top front’ of the exchanger, it would be more immune to the external influence of the cool surroundings at the back of the stove and more influenced by the heat of the output of the exchanger.
Possibly putting a layer of non-flammable insulation between the stove and the surroundings will lessen the cooling influence on the stove (and snap disc location).
The other solution is to relocate the snap disc location to the upper front of the exchanger but that would void any warranty (unless you are out of the warranty period anyway).
My solution (which I posted before) for my stand-alone cb1200 was to make a ‘timer’ (controlling a relay) that is in parallel with the snap disc ...... which starts up the convection blower at 4 minutes from the time the thermostat calls for heat. It shuts off when the thermostat shuts off but by then, snap disc is in control and keeps my convection blower running till the temp of the air is around 93 degrees at the output of the front top of the exchanger.
Being that mine is a ‘stand alone’ (not insert), it is more immune to the permature shut off of the convection blower by the cooling off effect than the inserts would be I think. Having said that, the better solution would be to relocate the snap disc closer to the upper front of the exchanger (once your warranty is done).
IMHO"…....hope this helps to explain the coool snap disc........cc ;-)
If Quadrafire would have mounted the snap disc nearer the ‘top front’ of the exchanger, it would be more immune to the external influence of the cool surroundings at the back of the stove and more influenced by the heat of the output of the exchanger.
Possibly putting a layer of non-flammable insulation between the stove and the surroundings will lessen the cooling influence on the stove (and snap disc location).
The other solution is to relocate the snap disc location to the upper front of the exchanger but that would void any warranty (unless you are out of the warranty period anyway).
My solution (which I posted before) for my stand-alone cb1200 was to make a ‘timer’ (controlling a relay) that is in parallel with the snap disc ...... which starts up the convection blower at 4 minutes from the time the thermostat calls for heat. It shuts off when the thermostat shuts off but by then, snap disc is in control and keeps my convection blower running till the temp of the air is around 93 degrees at the output of the front top of the exchanger.
Being that mine is a ‘stand alone’ (not insert), it is more immune to the permature shut off of the convection blower by the cooling off effect than the inserts would be I think. Having said that, the better solution would be to relocate the snap disc closer to the upper front of the exchanger (once your warranty is done).
IMHO"…....hope this helps to explain the coool snap disc........cc ;-)
When you say relocate it I would have to drill a hole in chassis correct? Do you know for sure where exactly I should drill that hole where I won't ruin anything?
Tech was out again and installed new snap discs and stove blower finally blew after 45 minutes. As you can guess the stove felt like it was 1000 degrees before blower kicked on. This has to be dangerous.
Tech was out again and installed new snap discs and stove blower finally blew after 45 minutes. As you can guess the stove felt like it was 1000 degrees before blower kicked on. This has to be dangerous.
CanadaClinker
New Member
hey buzz ...... remember if you do anything before the stove is past the warranty, then everything from that point is yours to fix..... mine's not an insert so I don't know what would be the exact solution for yours but first off, you have to be handy and a little creative..... ;-) .....now then look for the upper part of the exchanger nearest the room and figure out how to attach the convection blower snap disc there without disturbing anything. My snap disc 'holder' is welded to the lower end of the exchanger. For me, I would grind off the holder and weld it on the upper part of the stove once my warranty is done. Not using a welder, you would have to figure how to use fasteners or some type of hose clamp straps to hold it in position. Or make a bracket out of metal and use self drilling sheet metal screws (or drill and tap) to hold it on where your aren't going to interfere with anything. .... if this is too big of a job for you, find someone who is and pay then a few bucks. Oh.... and always remember that there is exposed 120V on the snap disc so be very careful.... unplug before getting hands in there........ hope I have been of some help..... cc ..... 
Well $150 dollars later and I have both fixed. The tech brought out snap discs from a 1200 castile that close at 90 degrees and there is a metal to metal contact point so they close after about 8 minutes of turning on the stove. They had to be modified to fit in the 1200insert.
I would check line voltage when the problem happens and make sure your not on a dimmer switch for an old gas fireplace. That control board will run at only the setting you have it on and not change speed on it's own.
peirhead
Feeling the Heat
JTP I clean my Castile 2x a week but have not yet cleaned the circ fan blades themself...they still look pretty clean but what is involved with giving them a good cleaning?
jtp10181
Minister of Fire
They usually stay pretty nice unless you have shedding pets or a really dusty house. To clean them I just take a screwdriver or a brush of some sort and get all the debris loose, then I stick the vacuum crevice tool in there and suck out what I can. Then once the fan kicks on usually a big could of dust pukes out which is whatever you did not get with the vacuum. If they are really bad you might have to remove it to clean it properly.
Is it possible to get a temperature reading from the hopper lid, using a heat gun, I recently installed a Classic Bay 1200 and my hopper lid gets hot to the touch but not extreme. I was just wondering if the lid should not get hot, should it stay cool or is there a temperature that is normal ?
tjnamtiw
Minister of Fire
Have to agree with DBCOOPER, my CB1200i has only been recently installed and running (2 weeks), front of the hopper lid gets warm, at the back it's a lot cooler. Really pleased with the stove, now looking at upgrading the stat. Finding all the threads interesting and useful. Thanks.
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