Quadrafire Castille Insert won't feed pellets

[LiteWait]

I'd rather not call in a service guy until I trouble shoot this a bit. I've got a 3 year old pellet stove. Powered on and set thermostat all the way up....

Fan comes on good.
Red light indicating call for heat is on.
Blue light flashes for a bit means system coming on.
Heating coil glows...

Argh....pellets _normally_ just start feeding. Pressed the reset button which normally starts the pellets coming and recycles start up... no pellets are feeding !!

I doubt the feed tube is clogged, I even went as far a chucking a handful of pellets in the fire pot and the stove started up, of course it went out when no pellets got fed.

Can anyone give me a bit of troubleshooting advice? Really don't want to spend cash that I don't have for something simple.

Thanks.

 

[Shortstuff]

This is directly from the Castile Service Manual:

G. FEED SYSTEM FAILS TO START

1) CHECK FRONT DOOR AND MAKE SURE IT IS CLOSED
2) CHECK TO SEE IF CALL LIGHT IS ON
3) CHECK THERMOSTAT AND #2 SNAP DISC
4) CHECK FEED MOTOR AND VACUUM SWITCH
5) CHECK EXHAUST SYSTEM FOR OBSTRUCTIONS

Hope this helps.

Steve

 

[marc_t]

did you ever get this resolved? I have a similar problem and have checked all of the items listed in the manual.

Can anyone give me any other hints to fix this? I wonder if those snap discs go bad often? Or maybe the vacuum switch?

Any hints would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.. /marc

 

[slls]

Go to page 35 in your manual. The wiring shows control unit to vacuum switch, to #2 snap disc to auger. With a 120 Volt test light
[ about a $1] check for power at the #2 snap disc and then if no power back to vacuum switch. You need to know where you have power and where not. It suppose to dump pellets every time you press the reset button. Check for power when in the dump cycle.
good luck.

 

[marc_t]

When the power was off I checked for continuity across the snap switch and it was closed. The vacuum switch was open with the power off.

I then powered it on and didn't have voltage at the auger and snap switch, but did have voltage on one side of the vacuum switch. It looks like the vacuum switch isn't ever closing and as a result power isn't getting to the auger.

I unplugged the vacuum tube and its not clogged. I made sure that the exhaust isn't clogged as well. Its possible that the cap on the pipe sticking out the top of my chimney (this is an insert) got knocked by a branch (we just had a nasty ice storm) and that may be causing venting problems which in turn is causing the vacuum switch to stay closed?

Thanks.. /marc

 

[slls]

You checked the hose and the connector to stove for plugging. Suck on the hose and see if you can hear the switch close.
The cap is to keep rain and snow out, missing I would not think it would affect vacuum.
I would check the vacuum switch by closing it with suction and checking continuity through the switch.

 

[marc_t]

I spent a little more time on it today. I have voltage on one side of the vacuum switch but not the other (so I know that the switch isn't closing). I then unplugged the stove and disconnected the vacuum hose from the auger motor. I hooked my ohm meter across the vacuum switch and sucked on the hose and verified that the switch did close properly.

So I'm thinking that I have the exhaust system plugged somewhere? I just don't know where.... It looks like the door is shut and sealed properly but the rope is frayed a little in the corner of the door. I don't think its the problem but it may be..

Any other ideas? Thanks for your input!! /marc

 

[slls]

Did you give the stove a good cleaning, remove the 2 plates below the heat exchanger tubes, lift them up and they drop down. Remove the right side plate, 4 screws, open lower right panel to access.
What is your vent setup?

 

[McdaMahon]

Clean out the fitting where the hose connects to , not the one on the vacuum switch .

 

[marc_t]

I did clean out the fitting going into the auger with a paper clip to no avail. And I did give the stove a good cleaning. The thing is, it was just working fine before we lost power. Here is the exactly what happened:

1. stove working fine
2. lost power
3. restored power and plugged stove back in
4. pellets dropping into fire pot but the exhaust fan wasn't turning on so they wouldn't light
5. thoroughly cleaned stove and plugged it back in
6. exhaust fan turning on properly but pellets don't drop into fire pot

The stove is an insert so the venting goes up a pipe through the chimney. We don't have the outside air vented so we have what is called a direct connection without outside air. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get on the roof and see if there is any damage to the pipe coming out of the chimney.

Thanks again. /marc

 

[marc_t]

Checked the chimney and stove pipe this morning and it all looks good.
I read that the thermocouple could be an issue. How do you check that? Its possible I knocked it a little when I was vacuuming the inside of the stove.

Thanks. /marc

 

[slls]

The thermocouple does not come into play until there is a fire. You said the power is not getting past the vacuum switch, put a jumper across the vacuum switch, stove unplugged of course, then plug it in.

 

[marc_t]

putting a jumper across the vacuum switch works: The auger turns on and pellets drop into the firepot. But I don't think the problem is the vacuum switch because it closed when I sucked on the tube and it opened properly when I didn't.

My guess is the problem lies in the vacuum procedure: for some reason the stove isn't achieving the proper vacuum. Is it possible that the exhaust blower is blowing in the wrong direction? Remember that after the power hit, when I powered back up the stove, that fan didn't turn on at all. Then I thoroughly cleaned the stove and it turned back on but the auger wouldn't turn on. I guess its possible that the fan could be defective and is blowing in the wrong direction? I'll check that opening to the fan behind the right inside wall and see if I can determine what direction the fan is blowing. I'm assuming it won't even turn on if the stove door is open.

Thanks again.. /marc

 

[marc_t]

I just verified that the exhaust motor is blowing in the wrong direction. Its blowing air into the stove cavity and therefore the vacuum isn't getting created.

Now I wonder if the motor is bad or the control box?

/marc

 

[marc_t]

because I have the proper voltage at the motor, I'm guessing that the motor is bad. Is this is a really rare thing (the motor spinning in the wrong direction), or has anybody heard of this happening before?

Thanks. /marc

 

[firewarrior820]

i dont kow if you have a manual or not,content.hearthnhome.com/downloads/installManuals/man castile.pdf

 

[marc_t]

Yes, I did get that. I also found the service manual which was a lot more useful:

http://www.hearthandflue.com/Quadrafire/service_manuals/service_castile_insert.pdf

Thanks... /marc

 

[Carl S]

Did you ever find the answer? I have the same problem. Have a Mt Vernon but the same problem. Lost power X-mas Eve, fired back up fine on the generator. Generator ran out of gas X-mas morning, tried to fire it back up that night and nothing. Tried some of these things already, cleaned good, took off blower and vacuumed, etc. Trying some of the other things now. Thanks

 

[kbjelka]

Yes, I did get that. I also found the service manual which was a lot more useful:

http://www.hearthandflue.com/Quadrafire/service_manuals/service_castile_insert.pdf

Thanks... /marc

Marc that service manual is awesome! I saved two copies and emailed it to myself just in case my laptop dies. Thanks!

 

[marc_t]

I'm not considering the problem solved yet. I still want to verify that the motor is the problem. (I hear that they're very reliable, but when I lost power we noticed a big surge of power just before it went out, and this could've caused the failure).

Before I order a new exhaust motor, I'm going to go over to my local stove store and make sure that my exhaust fan is blowing in the wrong direction. The store is closed until Jan 5th though. I think it is blowing in the wrong direction because when I opened the stove up and turned on the fan, I felt air blowing into the stove cavity. I believe the fan should be blowing air out of the cavity and into the exhaust pipe. I guess its still possible that the fan is blowing in the right direction and I have a real nasty blockage in my exhaust pipe and that is why it seems that air is blowing back in (because the blockage is preventing it from blowing out). Because my stove is an insert, its a real pain to disconnect it from the exhaust pipe and check it. I'll have to do that anyway I suppose in order to swap out the motor if that is the problem..

I would recommend buying a surge protector and plugging these stoves into that to help prevent potential issues that may arise from a power surge.

/marc

 

[LiteWait]

Being the OP I should comment on how I fixed this. I just removed the vacuum hose and sucked what ever must have been clogging it out with a vacuum cleaner. I also plumped up the insulation around the door as I think air may have been leaking around it. This clearly isn't you problem, but as to troubleshooting this type of problem this is where I would start.