Quadrafire Sante Fe Pellet Burner stopped running?

[DanielMiller319]

Good evening guys,

My girlfriend and I have had a Quadrafire Sante Fe burner for what is now going to be our third winter. We have been running it occasionally as we are in Ohio and a few nights have been pretty cold and it has been working fine. Yesterday during the Browns game I noticed that the house was a little bit colder than usual and looked at the thermostat which said "heat" and means it should be running. I went over to the burner and hit the reset button on the right (Which normally starts dropping the pellets into the bowl) and nothing happened. Normally you can tell immediately that once you hit the reset button the burner starts running because you can hear it "kick on" sort of speak and moments later the pellets start feeding in. The coil below the pot gets orange and is trying to ignite and the red light in the left panel is on so it's getting some sort of power. We have tried to look in the manual for a couple different solutions and can't seem to pin point anything. The gentlemen who installed it is not returning our phone calls which makes it quite inconvenient. Luckily it's not been too cold and we have a portable electric heater to use but it's supposed to get rather cold soon. Does anyone have any suggestions of things to try? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any and all suggestions,

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Good evening guys,

My girlfriend and I have had a Quadrafire Sante Fe burner for what is now going to be our third winter. We have been running it occasionally as we are in Ohio and a few nights have been pretty cold and it has been working fine. Yesterday during the Browns game I noticed that the house was a little bit colder than usual and looked at the thermostat which said "heat" and means it should be running. I went over to the burner and hit the reset button on the right (Which normally starts dropping the pellets into the bowl) and nothing happened. Normally you can tell immediately that once you hit the reset button the burner starts running because you can hear it "kick on" sort of speak and moments later the pellets start feeding in. The coil below the pot gets orange and is trying to ignite and the red light in the left panel is on so it's getting some sort of power. We have tried to look in the manual for a couple different solutions and can't seem to pin point anything. The gentlemen who installed it is not returning our phone calls which makes it quite inconvenient. Luckily it's not been too cold and we have a portable electric heater to use but it's supposed to get rather cold soon. Does anyone have any suggestions of things to try? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any and all suggestions,

Welcome to the forum.

Is there any error condition being displayed?

And tell us all about how the stove has been maintained.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Smokey's right in first asking about your maintenance of the stove. Don't take it harshly. It is just the #1 reason for ANY stove not working.

From your description, it sounds as if, normally, your red 'call' light is on so your thermostat is communicating with the stove. Is it on now? Is there ANY sign of life?

It also sounds as if your combustion/exhaust blower is working. This is the one that pulls air through your burn pot. Is it running? If you unplug and replug the stove does it come on?

Finally it sounds like your pellets are dropping into the burn pot and the igniter is working. So you are saying that no pellets are dropping now? Do you hear a clicking sound when you push the reset button?

( I wrote this part thinking that you indeed have pellets. didn't read your post very well! It's still worth checking later on. Sorry) Now, why is there no fire? Hopefully, you have religiously cleaned the stove's ash collecting spots as defined in the manual as well as the exhaust piping.
Have you made sure that the slot in the burn pot that is in line with the igniter is clear? Are the large holes all open? Are the 8 small holes all clear around the bottom of the burn pot? Is the bottom dump valve on the burn pot completely closed? Are you sure? Pull out the ash pan and look at that dump valve. Is it hanging down on the side opposite the pivot far enough that you can slip a dime in the gap? If it is, then you have to tighten the nut/bolt a little bit.

How old is the stove? Did you buy it new? Does the door gasket fit securely? You can put a dollar bill between the gasket and the stove and close the door. It should be fairly hard to pull out the dollar. All of these things are designed to find reasons for not getting air drawn through the burn pot.

 

[sante fe]

Is the blower running ? If so take a mirror and look up the drop shoot, Make sure there is not a jam up. You can see if the auger is trying to turn.If not reset your snap disc. Are your pellets really long?

 

[tjnamtiw]

Is the blower running ? If so take a mirror and look up the drop shoot, Make sure there is not a jam up. You can see if the auger is trying to turn.If not reset your snap disc. Are your pellets really long?

Yep, had that happen a few times, Sante Fe. But when you open the door to look up the drop chute, the auger won't turn because there's no vacuum. That sucks because there's no way on my stoves to see the auger turning that I know of without jumpering the vacuum switch. I had a batch of CWP looooong pellets that had me unclogging the auger about once a day.

 

[sante fe]

You can see it move if you open the top but its got to be real low on pellets and feed door all the way open use a small inspection mirror . Long pellets will get caught in the drop tube and not let any fall. Guess we all have been threw that. Then when you push a coat hanger up there and free it it will dump a ton of pellets and over fire

 

[sante fe]

I had it happen with borreal pellets. I might have spelled it wrong. Canadian pellets they are bad no heat dust and way to long

 

[tjnamtiw]

I just downloaded the latest manual for the Sante Fe and I see that there's a switch on the hopper lid now in line with the auger motor. I wonder when they added that. My insert also doesn't have a lower door in front of the ash pan.

 

[sante fe]

Mine Is an 05 insert also. No switch on my hopper door

 

[DexterDay]

Cleaning is a big thing. If you have never done a deep clean since last year. It could be a number of things...

If its not feeding pellets and it has not been cleaned. I would think its your vacuum hose thats in the auger shoot. If its clogged then you would have no vacuum and the auger would not spin.

But need to know more details.

Is it feeding pellets?

If it is..... Are they just not igniting? Original Post is a hard read to verify what the problem may be.

 

[DanielMiller319]

Hey guys,

first off thanks for taking the time to try and help, regardless if we get it figured out or not having someone to vent to and suggest stuff to is a great relief,

Our maintenance on the burner has been pretty good, my girlfriend and I clean it with a shop vac once a week, I had just cleaned it Saturday afternoon then it stopped working Sunday afternoon, we purchased it brand new in November of 2009.

To review:

The red call light is on currently, that light turns on so we're getting power to it. Also the heating element turns orange when we attempt to star the burner still. So those two pieces are working.

When I unplug the power cord and plug it back in you can hear a slight hum like electricity is getting to it but not the normal clicking sound it makes when it's getting ready to start up. In my completely non expert opinion I don't think it's turning on.

Finally there are no pellet's dropping in. When you click the reset button there is no sound at all and obviously no pellets drop in.

I have put a dollar into the door and cannot pull it out. I am unable to fit a dime into the burn pot.

I made sure all 8 holes were clear. In your opinion does it sound as if the Combustion blower may have gone bad? Also in the manual it discusses a reset button on snap disk 3 on the back of the auger. We have located it and can press it but nothing seems to happen, in fact it almost feels stuck like you cannot actually press it down. It kind of rattles and wiggles.

Any information as always is greatly appreciated,

thanks again,
Daniel

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You should be able to tell if the combustion blower is running, they do make a bit of noise. If the combustion blower isn't running the stove won't drop pellets.

A question when was the last time you removed and cleaned the combustion blower and the cavity it sits in?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Also as I understand the Quads they don't like to do anything if they can't see the thermocouple, should be a flashing yellow light on the control box I believe.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Snap disk #3 is OK if you are getting a hot igniter. That disk kills everything.
Sounds like you are not getting vacuum to close that VACUUM switch or you have a 'bridge' across the pellet chute, as Sante Fe has suggested. Have you pulled the hose off of the vacuum switch and blown through it? DON'T blow into the vacuum switch! That hose leads to a small hole at the top of the pellet chute. That hole should also be clear.
Make SURE you look up that chute. You should NOT see any pellets up there, just the feed spring. I've had long pellets block it, a mashed up warning label, and a polystyrene 'peanut'.

 

[DexterDay]

If its humming. It may not be spinng. Can you open the door and see the little black fan (cooling fan outside of motor) spinning on the combustion blower motor?

When was the last time the vent was cleaned and the combustion blower removed, cleaned, and possibly lubed. If you spin the cooling fan (stove OFF) and break the motor loose. It may spin after plugging back in and trying again. After sitting for extended periods, the motor may find a "Dull" spot?

 

[DanielMiller319]

I tried to pull the hose off of the Vacuum switch but had no luck. Seems like I'm going to tear the hose before it comes off the vacuum switch. The combustion blower has not been removed and cleaned likely since the last time it was inspected. In all honesty it sounds to me anyway that the combustion blower is not attempting to kick on. DexterDay I noticed you're from Northeast Ohio. I also am in that area, do you know of anyone in the area I could call? I am actually from Lorain County so if you know of anyone in the area that'd be great. I am getting the feeling that this is not going to be something I am able to fix.

 

[sante fe]

Really need to know if the blower is on. If it is on. Pull the right side panel and stick a screw driver up to the side of the auger and hit the reset button. Put your ear up to the screw driver you will hear it humming trying to turn. If you all ready looked up the shoot with the mirror and didn't see anything, then its jammed up inside and you have to loosen bolts on auger and move it around and it will free up. Find out first if its getting power or if its a jam problem. Its not hard your not working on the space shuttle you know what I mean

 

[sante fe]

If blowers not on then proscess of elimination. Jumper vac switch. See if blower starts. Check fuse,snap disc,control box

 

[tjnamtiw]

I tried to pull the hose off of the Vacuum switch but had no luck. Seems like I'm going to tear the hose before it comes off the vacuum switch. The combustion blower has not been removed and cleaned likely since the last time it was inspected. In all honesty it sounds to me anyway that the combustion blower is not attempting to kick on. DexterDay I noticed you're from Northeast Ohio. I also am in that area, do you know of anyone in the area I could call? I am actually from Lorain County so if you know of anyone in the area that'd be great. I am getting the feeling that this is not going to be something I am able to fix.

I guess the hose has never been taken off so they can stick pretty tightly. Be persistent and twist it right at the switch. I use 'canned air' and blow through it about every other time I clean the stove. At the very least, stick a wire into that hole at the top of the chute. Haven't heard if it is bridged with pellets yet. Get that makeup mirror from the better half and have a look. Also if you pull the side panel off, I think you can also spin the combustion motor and see if it is free and runs when unit plugged in.
One other thing > when you first plug the stove in, do you get the blue light flashing 6 times?

 

[sante fe]

twist back and fourth as you pull on vac hose and hold switch with other hand.

 

[tjnamtiw]

If blowers not on then proscess of elimination. Jumper vac switch. See if blower starts. Check fuse,snap disc,control box

Do you mean auger motor, not blower???

 

[DexterDay]

Where abouts in Lorain? I work in Cuyahoga Hts and live just South of Wellington. I cant recommend anyone because I do everything and anything myself. From installs to maintenance. I could come take a look. But it would be Fri before I could wven do that. Lots of good folks here and they are willing to help. If your willing to get dirty.

Where did you buy the unit? Capell's in Elyria? Thats where I bought mine. And they contract out there service work.

My offer stands to come take a look...

PM sent...

 

[tjnamtiw]

Where abouts in Lorain? I work in Cuyahoga Hts and live just South of Wellington. I cant recommend anyone because I do everything and anything myself. From installs to maintenance. I could come take a look. But it would be Fri before I could wven do that. Lots of good folks here and they are willing to help. If your willing to get dirty.

Where did you buy the unit? Capell's in Elyria? Thats where I bought mine. And they contract out there service work.

My offer stands to come take a look...

PM sent...

Good man, Dexter! Sounds like a bottle of Jim Beam or Maker's Mark to me!

 

[DanielMiller319]

I got the hose off of the vacuum and blew into it, also I do get six blue lights when I turn it back on...no luck.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I got the hose off of the vacuum and blew into it, also I do get six blue lights when I turn it back on...no luck.

If that combustion blower isn't running you'll never get anywhere.

Now assuming (a huge mistake) that there may be a gremlin in the workings with the stove off and unplugged, remove the control box, put the control box back on, plug the stove in, turn it on and let us know every light that comes on.