Quadrafire Contour pellet stove does not stay lit

[jfazekas]

Hello all,

I have a Quadrafire Contour pellet stove with the old style control board. I am having an issue with it sensing fire in the fire pot from and is not feeding any more pellets from a cold start.

What happens is when the thermostat calls for heat the big red light comes on and starts feeding pellets. The igniter then lights the pellets and starts the fire. However the green light in the control board never comes on so the auger never feeds any more pellets after ignition. The odd thing is that if I hit the reset button one or two times to feed more pellets and get a real good fire going then the red light on the control box will come on and it will start it's normal operation, but the green light will stay off. The green light then comes on 5-10 minutes later and both lights stay lit during normal operation. This only happens when the stove is cold like when it first starts up in the morning.

The odd thing is that if it has enough voltage to turn the red light on, should it not also turn the green light on? I have tested the thermocouple inside and outside the stove with a lighter and I am getting voltage from it. What voltage should I be getting from it in order to turn the green light on? Could this be a thermocouple or control board issue? Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

 

[Ssyko]

You probably need a new thermocouple thats what the geen light indicates is fire. So its not seeing fire and shuts down

 

[jfazekas]

Sorry maybe I did not explain myself well enough, there are 3 lights on the control box. The big red call for heat light, the small green light saying the thermocouple has reached around 200 degrees, and a small red light saying the thermocouple has reached around 600 degrees. I can get the small red light to come on if the fire gets big/hot enough, but the green light stays off. The green light comes on minutes later after the stove has been running for a while. It just does not make sense to me why it can sense 600 degrees but not 200 degrees. Unless a faulty thermocouple can also cause it to "skip" the green light. Thank you for your help.

 

[Ssyko]

Continuing to reset will over fire the stove and vent pipe. I don’t recommend continuing the resets. Put in a new thermocouple and it should be good

The little red light is over temp light you dont want to see that one

 

[kappel15]

After the stove drops the initial feed, the stove has 4 minutes and 15 seconds to show proof of fire(200*), You can usually hear the exhaust fan change speed. In actuality you do have a tad more time then that. If not, the stove will go into shut down mode. Then the green light should come on and stove starts feeding again. After a while, the red light should come on showing the stove has reached 600*. Since the stove will continue to run if you dump a bunch of pellets in pot, we have to assume that the signal is getting thru. Might be bad wire connections, or control box. kap

 

[jfazekas]

OK, I was afraid it may be the control box. Is there anything I can do to test the control box, or would I have to swap it into another stove? I will check all the wire connections when I get home. Thank you for your help.

P.S. Do you know how many millivolts the thermocouple is supposed to generate when it gets hot? Thanks.

 

[Ssyko]

sorry for my ignorance jfazekas.

thanks for the education Kap, I did not know the stove is supposed to get that high in temp.

 

[kappel15]

As long as it is producing millivolts, it should be good. Green light is roughly 2.7, and red light is 12.0 And I would make double sure the end of thermocouple is touching the inside of the cover, or it won't read correctly and can cause these issues also. If you know of someone that has same stove as you, you can try it in their stove. Just remember to always unplug stove when installing or removing control box. Or find a dealer that has the equipment to test it. Have you tried unplugging stove, then remove box and reseating it? Sometimes they can work loose and cause issues. I have heard there is also a guy on ebay that fixes control boxes. You may want to check that out. kap

 

[Mt Bob]

As long as it is producing millivolts, it should be good. Green light is roughly 2.7, and red light is 12.0 And I would make double sure the end of thermocouple is touching the inside of the cover, or it won't read correctly and can cause these issues also. If you know of someone that has same stove as you, you can try it in their stove. Just remember to always unplug stove when installing or removing control box. Or find a dealer that has the equipment to test it. Have you tried unplugging stove, then remove box and reseating it? Sometimes they can work loose and cause issues. I have heard there is also a guy on ebay that fixes control boxes. You may want to check that out. kap

I have "fixed so many cars/trucks,because of light corrosion on the low voltage computer side of things,just by doing that,spraying them out plug back in(after plugging/unplugging a few times)amazing people still do not believe it.

 

[jfazekas]

Thank you all for this information guys. I just removed the control box and reseated it. We will find out if that worked in the morning. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[Mt Bob]

Thank you all for this information guys. I just removed the control box and reseated it. We will find out if that worked in the morning. Thanks again for all your help.

Never hurts to try almost anything,I wish you luck,Also,I have experienced "logic lock up" in GM cars,Austroflamm stoves,some Chrysler cars,but many disagree also disagree with kap.on your exhaust probe,just because it creates millivolts does not mean it is in the proper range/working proper.They (thermocouples) can create resistance from being damaged,whether in a canister,as a harman,or open air,depending on the solder and sealer,In industry,thermocouples are replaced on a time schedule.I think you should try a new one they are cheap.

 

[jfazekas]

Never hurts to try almost anything,I wish you luck,Also,I have experienced "logic lock up" in GM cars,Austroflamm stoves,some Chrysler cars,but many disagree also disagree with kap.on your exhaust probe,just because it creates millivolts does not mean it is in the proper range/working proper.They (thermocouples) can create resistance from being damaged,whether in a canister,as a harman,or open air,depending on the solder and sealer,In industry,thermocouples are replaced on a time schedule.I think you should try a new one they are cheap.

Yes much cheaper than buying a new control box. I think I will do that if reseating the control box does not work. Thanks a lot

 

[jfazekas]

So as an update, I did buy a new thermocouple and still the same issue. So maybe I just have really bad luck with thermocouples. Oh well at least I have 2 good ones now. Do you think this means I need a new box or is there anything else I can try.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you very much.

 

[kappel15]

It might be time to try your control box in another stove. Just remember to unplug stove whenever removing or installing a control box. kap

 

[Mt Bob]

For anybody interested,Pantrol,that builds the Quadrafire control boxes,does sell directly to the public,I have no idea of the price. http://www.pantrol.com/contact.html

 

[kappel15]

Not cheap. lol

 

[jfazekas]

It might be time to try your control box in another stove. Just remember to unplug stove whenever removing or installing a control box. kap

OK thank you so much for your time. Being that this is the old style control box and the fact that Quadrafire does not make the Contour anymore, would any of the dealers even have a stove for me to try the control box in? I guess I will just need to call up a dealer and find out. Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[kappel15]

The Contour is the old version of the Santa Fe. kap

 

[jfazekas]

The Contour is the old version of the Santa Fe. kap

OK awesome,

Thank you for that information.

 

[kappel15]

No problem. kap

 

[jfazekas]

So I found another thread with this exact same problem and it does seem like the control box is the problem. Looks like I will be buying another box, thanks again for all of your help.

http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?89617-quadrafire-1200I-control-module/page2

 

[jfazekas]

So I finally got around to buying a new control box, and sure enough that was the issue. Purring like a kitten now. Thanks for all your help.

 

[kappel15]

Glad you are up and running. Stay warm. kap