Quadrafire AE Ignitor

[muss72]

This should be a softball but wanted to make sure of my diagnosis that I have a bad ignitor before buying parts. I also want to make sure Im buying the right ignitor.
Stove just recently stopped working midway through the first bag of pellets this year. Stove will feed pellets but does not get out of startup mode. After a while in start up it will autoclean and start the process over, dumping fresh pellets in to the ash pan. I havent recieved any errors. I have checked the fire pot during the start up cycle and I do not believe its getting hot. Visually I dont see a red glow from the fire pot either. Pulled the board and checked continuity of the ignitor and fire pot TC. No continutiy on ignitor. TC has continuity. Also did a resistance check of the TC and held a match to it but didnt get any measurable movement, but Im just assuming my fingers got too hot before the TC felt anything. Based on this Im rather sure I need a new ignitor.
Now Im trying to figure out which ignitor to buy. I know they have a new 300W and the old 380W ignitors. I have the old fire pot design, not the updated design. I wanted to make sure both of these ignitors would fit the stove and also wanted to make sure if I got the 300W ignitor it would be able to do the job with a less efficient fire pot. I have burned pellets every year excpet for 1 so the inability to burn corn isnt that isnt too big of an issue for me.
Thanks for any help

 

[DMKNLD]

Hey muss72, and welcome to this forum ! Lots of new members and posts makes it tough to keep up ! 1.1 million visits throughout the entire hearth.com site on 11/15!

Lots of Quad owners on here. My Castile doesn't have all the auto-clean and other bells and whistles features of the AE, but I'll help as able for some general Quad issues, and hopefully someone who has your AE model to chime in.

It sounds like your igniter could certainly be the issue. You're sure the wiring haness to it has the 110-115 volts going to it ? And the igniter is correctly positioned in the firepot slot, as well as no ash is clogging it? I believe the igniters are 'all or nothing' - once the wire filament inside it breaks it is done. You could take it out and wire nut the two terminals to a 110 power source to bench test it to make sure. I cannibalized an old extension cord that got cut by mistake to use as a bench test power source.

The TC can have variable functioning, so you may need to heat it up more, ie with a propane torch (gently!) , to make sure it reads the 12 - 15 millivolts if it's working OK.

I know igniters seem to go bad commonly - do you have the updated fire pot that changed the igniter slot design, that supposedly prolongs the igniter life? I confirmed from another forum thread that the 300 W igniter is designed for pellets only, vs the 380W which is made for corn / multi-fuel applications. In theory the 300 W should last longer given it draws less power.

Other Quad folks w/ more AE knowledge than me can confirm, hopefully they'll chine in,

Good luck !

 

[DMKNLD]

Heres' a good AE trouble shooting manual I found on-line, if that helps you at all now or down the road. (broken link removed to http://www.mortonsstoves.com/wp-content/uploads/Quadra-Fire-Mt-Vernon-Troubleshooting-Manual.pdf)

Good luck !

 

[Wilbur Feral]

Have an AE. Check the troubleshooting manual from DMKNLD just to be sure, but certainly sounds like the ignitor. Not too hard to fix but known for causing shorted boards if you route the wiring wrong. Much easier with the rear side panel off just to get access for pulling wires through, btw. UNPLUG THE STOVE and follow original wire routing as you don't want to pinch the wires with the autoclean apparatus when it runs (the cause of the dreaded shorts). Also, I believe there is now a fused ignitor wiring harness available that I would install if I were you, in case you do get a short. Cheaper than a new board. Just searched for an old thread where it was reported as part # SRV7034-273, but have not verified that (will likely order one for next time I replace my ignitor, now that I think about it).

As for ignitor, 300w is fine for wood pellets, and does not take appreciably longer to ignite. Higher wattage needed only if you are burning non-wood pellets (corn, grass pellets, etc). Most of us don't rven have access to those, so likely not a worry, especially in MD.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

(broken link removed to http://www.ebay.com/itm/SRV7034-273-QuadraFire-Mt-Vernon-AE-Edge-60-igniter-wire-harness-with-fuses-/231342025196?pt=US_Replacement_Parts&hash=item35dd0f29ec)
The 380 W igniter didn't last long in my MVAE (less than two months). The 300 W igniter is going on three years old and still going strong. I can't say that I see any difference in time to ignite. I'm sure there is, but it must be seconds difference.
The fused igniter cable:
(broken link removed to http://www.ebay.com/itm/SRV7034-273-QuadraFire-Mt-Vernon-AE-Edge-60-igniter-wire-harness-with-fuses-/231342025196?pt=US_Replacement_Parts&hash=item35dd0f29ec)
(broken link removed to http://www.ebay.com/itm/SRV7034-273-QuadraFire-Mt-Vernon-AE-Edge-60-igniter-wire-harness-with-fuses-/231342025196?pt=US_Replacement_Parts&hash=item35dd0f29ec)
is about $34 on ebay. It is an easy install, took me less than 15 minutes. Tape the circuit board plug end of it to the connectors that would normally go to the igniter and gently pull it through. You have to reach in and guide it through the wire organizers as you pull it. It should not, in theory, be needed but it's a cheap insurance policy.

 

[kappel15]

With no continuity in the igniter,it isn't the fuse. Time for a new igniter, and the 300watt will work fine in your old pot. kap