Quadrafire Santa Fe igniter not heating up

[Ben Altieri]

Anyone have any ideas why the igniter on my Quadrafire Santa Fe is not heating up? Everything else works fine. I replaced the igniter yesterday and it still doesn't light up.
Thx, - Ben

 

[mralias]

If you are comfortable working with AC voltage then test the new one with a direct connect to the AC current to make sure it works and also check the old one as well. Isolate that part first if you have not already done so.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

You will need a meter. If you do not have one or do not know what a meter is, leave it alone and pay for a service call. Check the resistance of the igniter then attach the meter to the stove leads and see what the voltage is on a start up,

Eric

 

[Ben Altieri]

I checked both the leads connecting to the igniter. No voltage coming through. Also checked with one end of the ignitor connected to one of the leads, still no voltage. I also checked the continuity of the ignitor element. Looks good as I get zero ohms.
So, something up stream from the ignitor connections is dropping all of the voltage. Only thing I can see up stream from there is the junction box. Its probably the controller board.
I have a cleaning appointment set up for next Thursday. We'll see what happens. The cleaning guys don't really do troubleshooting. I'll try to find a service guy if they cant figure it out.

 

[coolnuke]

zero ohms doesnt sound good, should be some resistance.

 

[heat seeker]

Check for a fuse somewhere, probably on the control board. If the ignitor is reading 0 Ω, you have a short, which would blow a fuse, or something more expensive.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Any progress??? How do those voltages look? Have you tried to hook it up externally to a jumper cord? (be careful)

 

[tjnamtiw]

I checked both the leads connecting to the igniter. No voltage coming through. Also checked with one end of the ignitor connected to one of the leads, still no voltage. I also checked the continuity of the ignitor element. Looks good as I get zero ohms.
So, something up stream from the ignitor connections is dropping all of the voltage. Only thing I can see up stream from there is the junction box. Its probably the controller board.
I have a cleaning appointment set up for next Thursday. We'll see what happens. The cleaning guys don't really do troubleshooting. I'll try to find a service guy if they cant figure it out.

Checking both sides of the heater for voltage across it and seeing no voltage could be an indication that the common (not hot) side is open. If the heater was burned out, you would see 110 volts across it since it would have infinite resistance. A voltage probe to the hot side and to the chassis should show 110 volts. The probe on the common side to the chassis should show zero volts. If it shows 110 volts also, then the return line is open.
If you have no voltage anywhere, then, like someone said, it sounds like you need a new control box.