Quadrafire Mt. Vernon AE Insert

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T

twineagle

New Member
Feb 21, 2017
25
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania
Thank you all for allowing me to join your site! I have a Quadrafire Mt. Vernon AE Insert that is almost two years old. First winter it worked flawlessly. This winter I started having trouble. I mainly burn corn. The first issue I had was my ignitor went bad so I replaced it - no problem. New one works fine. The next issue I have not bee able to correct as of yet.
On start up the unit ignites the fuel but then it seems it keeps dumping fuel in the burn pot to the point it is overfilled, all the while creating a huge clinker in the bottom of the pot. If I remove the clinker the fuel keeps burning but for some reason the unit keeps putting too much fuel in the pot. Sometimes it even back up into the feed tube.
I have done some reading on troubleshooting and it seems I read the thermocouple could be bad so I replaced that just yesterday. Started the unit- same problem. Can anyone help me with this or should I just call a service person who works on these stoves? I don't want to keep replacing stuff trial and error.
By the way, I believe I have cleaned the stove regularly as instructed by the manual.
Many thanks for any suggestions!
 
twineagle said:
Thank you all for allowing me to join your site! I have a Quadrafire Mt. Vernon AE Insert that is almost two years old. First winter it worked flawlessly. This winter I started having trouble. I mainly burn corn. The first issue I had was my ignitor went bad so I replaced it - no problem. New one works fine. The next issue I have not bee able to correct as of yet.
On start up the unit ignites the fuel but then it seems it keeps dumping fuel in the burn pot to the point it is overfilled, all the while creating a huge clinker in the bottom of the pot. If I remove the clinker the fuel keeps burning but for some reason the unit keeps putting too much fuel in the pot. Sometimes it even back up into the feed tube.
I have done some reading on troubleshooting and it seems I read the thermocouple could be bad so I replaced that just yesterday. Started the unit- same problem. Can anyone help me with this or should I just call a service person who works on these stoves? I don't want to keep replacing stuff trial and error.
By the way, I believe I have cleaned the stove regularly as instructed by the manual.
Many thanks for any suggestions!
Click to expand...

So we all understand, on the start up the pellets feed and the fire ignites. At that point the feed should stop until the thermocouple reaches the right temp. (I think a green light comes on control unit) At that point it should start feeding again around a rate of 3 to 8 seconds at a time. Is there a break between start up and reaching the proper temp or is it a continuous feed without stopping?

One thing to make sure of is the thermocouple is push all the way into the ceramic cover and the cover extends into the burn pot.
 
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Thanks for the reply. When I get home tonight I will make sure to check the thermocouple to ensure it is pushed all the way into the ceramic cover. I will start the stove again and report back as to what happens.
 
What is your flame height set at? you may need to lower it. And are you on corn setting? And are you sure you plugged thermocouple in the right way? And is the entire exhaust path cleaned? This includes thru stove and exhaust pipe. kap
 
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mralias said:
So we all understand, on the start up the pellets feed and the fire ignites. At that point the feed should stop until the thermocouple reaches the right temp. (I think a green light comes on control unit) At that point it should start feeding again around a rate of 3 to 8 seconds at a time. Is there a break between start up and reaching the proper temp or is it a continuous feed without stopping?

One thing to make sure of is the thermocouple is push all the way into the ceramic cover and the cover extends into the burn pot.
Click to expand...
 
Flame height adjustment is at 0.
There is a pause at start up as you say after the initial feed of fuel. After the pause the unit starts feeding fuel again. Not sure about a green light though. As I look in the left side panel while unit is running I see a red light, what appears to be a green light and a light that appears to be blinking red. Stove is running so far and continuing to feed fuel. I did check that the ceramic cover is pushed all the way on the new thermocouple I installed yesterday. Unit is still on SSLow at this point. Fire is high but still seems to be filling the pit with too much fuel. It appears I still have the same problem.
 
twineagle said:
Fire is high
Click to expand...

How high? Lazy looking black tip flames? beginning to think air issue. Cleaning and or leaks. Also I would suggest you answer the rest of Kappel15's questions as he is the local master on Quads.
 
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mralias said:
So we all understand, on the start up the pellets feed and the fire ignites. At that point the feed should stop until the thermocouple reaches the right temp. (I think a green light comes on control unit) At that point it should start feeding again around a rate of 3 to 8 seconds at a time. Is there a break between start up and reaching the proper temp or is it a continuous feed without stopping?

One thing to make sure of is the thermocouple is push all the way into the ceramic cover and the cover extends into the burn pot.
Click to expand...
 
Turn flame height down to -5, and work your way back up if you have to. When temps warm up, you need less fuel or it will fill the pot.. And did you check that you are on corn setting?kap
 
Update since last reply. Stove is still running. It is difficult to see the lights on the control panel as I don't think the panel is facing me when I remove the left side stove panel. I still see red blinking in there with a green color also evident. Flame height adjustment is at "0" - is this where it should be? Unit is also set on automatic right now.
Is the burn pot suppose to fill up 3/4 full with fuel during SSLOW? Perhaps I never really paid attention to this before as I never really sat there and watched it through the start up cycle.
This time it appears to have operated the way it should have. Is there anything else I should be looking for or checking?
Thanks for all the comments so far.
 
You can lift the hopper lid to stop the fuel from feeding, and let it burn down a bit too. This is still too much fuel
twineagle said:
Flame height adjustment is at 0.
There is a pause at start up as you say after the initial feed of fuel. After the pause the unit starts feeding fuel again. Not sure about a green light though. As I look in the left side panel while unit is running I see a red light, what appears to be a green light and a light that appears to be blinking red. Stove is running so far and continuing to feed fuel. I did check that the ceramic cover is pushed all the way on the new thermocouple I installed yesterday. Unit is still on SSLow at this point. Fire is high but still seems to be filling the pit with too much fuel. It appears I still have the same problem.
Click to expand...
There is no green light on this unit. kap
kap
 
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The flame height adjustment is the feed rate. Yes it will burn less fuel.
 
Once you get this thing running better, I would read up on your manual on flame height adjustment, so you can zero in on feed rate that works best under your conditions. This has to be done on manual setting. kap
 
When you installed the new igniter, did you hang the wires up in slot like old one was? Otherwise the auto clean will hit the wires and eventually short it out. kap
 
It is imperative that you set flame height per owners manual, for stove to run efficiently, and without mishaps. kap
 
And keep the old thermocouple as it might be good. kap
 
No the flame has never looked lazy since I have owned this unit. I have set the flame height at a minus five to slow down the feed rate. I was not aware of that setting and perhaps that is what was causing my problem. Stove is still running fine since starting it about 45 minutes ago. I will post more feedback later after it has had a chance to stop and restart itself a couple of times.
Many thanks!
 
And you said in your first post that you were burning corn. I am assuming that you still are? If so, make sure to be on corn setting. If not and are burning pellets, make sure you are on pellet setting. kap
 
I prefer manual. Auto is good for spring and fall, when you don't need a lot of heat. But in manual, you use the igniter more, which causes them to burn out, but they are pretty cheap now. kap
 
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