Purchased a couple year old unused Mr. Vernon AE pellet insert in January 2011. On several occasions now, the feeder has dumped more pellets than it can burn and even over filled the burn pot to the point pellets were backing up the chute. I originally thought it had buildup in the firepot, but after poking in it and nothing falling I realized it was full to the top with unburned pellets. The fire was still going but weak and with lots of smoke. The fire had even began to burn up the chute. This causes me great concern as I don't want it to burn all the way up into the hopper. Has anyone had this issue and found a resolution for it as well? Unfortunately I have no warranty having not been the original purchaser.
Quadrafire Mt. Vernon over feeding pellets
- Thread starter MattnAng09
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tsmith
Minister of Fire
Our flame height is -3. Our pellet setting is at premium and we are burning American Wood Fibers Premium pellets
rideboard147
Member
How do you check to see what your flame height is set at on a quad? Or is that just on the Mt. Vernon model? I have a castile and want to adjust it.
krooser
Minister of Fire
The AWF pellets don't get very good reviews here but I think you have an air leak OR your stove is plugged with ash... usually the only two things that cause a lazy flame.
krooser said:
Krooser, I actually see much more pos. feedback on the AWF than neg. But I agree....stove probably needs a good cleaning.
tsmith
Minister of Fire
If your pot is overflowing, you could have a bad thermocoupler, it is not detecting the heat in the pot and is calling for more pellets. Make sure the thermocoupler is touching the inside end of the ceramic cover. If it is the thermocoupler could be bad.
Thanks for the replies, as I stated, I have verified the burn pot is clean. The over feeding is intermitent and due to the pellets overflowing, I have to clean it about every other day when it occurs so while it is cool I vacuum it out and clean the pot. So I do full clean about twice a week. Someone mentioned venting as an issue. Where we live we have very high winds especially the past few days. Could this possibly be causing some type of back pressure?
SmokeyTheBear
Minister of Fire
If the vent is into the wind you could be having some issues with "back pressure". This can show up in a number of different ways.
I'd expect that you also could have other things than that operating.
Have you checked your gaskets?
Is there anything blocking the air intake on the stove.
How many bags of pellets have you burned since you installed the stove?
Prior to firing up your stove for the first time did you pull and inspect the combustion blower and its cavity? They have been home to a lot of critters at times. Likewise air intakes.
I'd expect that you also could have other things than that operating.
Have you checked your gaskets?
Is there anything blocking the air intake on the stove.
How many bags of pellets have you burned since you installed the stove?
Prior to firing up your stove for the first time did you pull and inspect the combustion blower and its cavity? They have been home to a lot of critters at times. Likewise air intakes.
You mentioned that you have cleaned the burn pot. How about behind the baffle and the two ports at the bottom? As mentioned above the combustion fan chamber may need cleaning. If you have a premium setting it sounds like you have either an old board,an old thermostat controller or both. I don't think the new versions have premium. Try running it on the utility pellet setting and-5 flame.
Ditto on checking the thermo coupler.
BIH
Ditto on checking the thermo coupler.
BIH
SmokeyTheBear said:
We have burned 25 bags in 16 days; the stove is operating in our living room with 12 foot ceilings, heating our lower level approximately 2000 sq foot. Is 25 bags pretty normal foe an area this size? All gaskets have been checked. I did inspect the stove prior to installing and had no blockage anywhere.
BIGISLANDHIKERS said:
We actually changed it to utility setting an -5 last night after reading posts. It seems to be running better. I will check the baffle this evening when I go to clean it.
MattnAng09 said:
After you pull the baffle out and clean behind it there are two hole that are a PITA to clean out. They are on either side of the burn pot. You will need a small hose attachment for your shopvac.
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