St. Croix versa grate question?

[61snowrider]

Hey folks: I have a St. Croix pellet stove, 6 years old now, and my versa grate quit working. I can open the door on the right and look at it and the motor is not turning. Any one else have this issue? Is there a fuse anywhere? I looked at all the wires and they look ok. ( not burnt ) The auger is turning( has to or the fire would go out ) Manual doesn't trouble shoot it. Sinced it stopped working, it seems like it clumps up a little more often. I have been manually scraping the burn pot with my handle until I get this fixed. Thanks for everyones input. Love this forum!!

 

[heat seeker]

Which model of St. Croix? I think they're all pretty much the same inside, but there are differences.

Are you getting voltage to the motor? You could run a patch cord directly to the motor to see if it runs.

There are two fuses in the control panel, but I don't know what they protect. (In the digital panel.)

Have you ever lubed the versa grate shaft at both points where it enters the stove? The shaft should not only be free to go back and forth, but should also rotate along its axis. The shaft may be bound up, the motor could be bad, there could be a bad connection, either at the motor or the neutral bus.

Try turning the motor shaft with your fingers a whole bunch. Is it trying to turn? Does it turn easily? Carefully feel the motor itself to see if it's hot. It might be just heat from the stove, though.

Do these tests and get back to us, so we have a bit more to work with.

You can run the stove without the VG, it does't do all that much, IMO.

 

[Xena]

I agree with heatseeker. When burning low ash pellets you
don't even need a versagrate.

 

[61snowrider]

Thanks guys for getting back to me. Sorry It takes me so long to respond but I am a busy guy. I do appreciate everybodys knowledge on this forum.
I have a St. Croix Prescott EXP. No never lubed the shaft. I can turn it by hand, back and forth and around. The motor isn't doing anything. When the stove was cool at cleaning time I could turn the shaft easily and it would slide. Yea the stove runs fine but it seems like it tends to clump a little more easily. I get a squealing once and a while now ( has to be the auger since that is the only thing turning now ) where do you grease the auger. I left it run empty and vaccumed the bottom of the auger out. Also inspected the auger and did not see any wear or scraping marks on the auger. I don't know how to check for voltage at the motor. Yes how would you run a cord directly to the motor? Just stick a bared wire into the prongs that go to the motor? Thanks for the help

 

[heat seeker]

You can use a voltmeter at the motor terminals to check for voltage, it runs on line voltage.

To run the motor by itself, unplug the stove (for safety) and disconnect the leads to the motor, the attach your cord to the motor. Be very careful, you are working with potentially lethal voltage. If the motor turns, it's okay.


From the maintenance manual:

The Versa Grate System should be running at all times when the stove is turned on. The power is supplied to the versa grate motor through the Purple Wire in the Harness that is connected to a short Purple wire soldered to the backside of the control board.
• Electrical - As an electrical component, the troubleshooting of the Versa Grate Motor can be broken down to a defective gear motor, a defective control board, or issues related to the wiring. The Versa Grate Motor has 2 Black wires. One is connected to the Terminal Block in the back of the stove, making the Common connection. The other is plugged into the Purple wire in the harness. If the motor is not running:
Check to see if there is voltage at the Purple wire in the harness.
If there isn’t any voltage there, check to make sure the Purple wire is soldered properly to the back of the control board and there is voltage at the ¼” Male connector.
If there isn’t any voltage at the control board, the board is bad and needs to be replaced.

Remember: The stove must be turned on when checking for voltage.
If there is voltage at the motor and the motor isn’t running, the motor is bad and needs to be replaced.

Part of the Yearly Maintenance is lubricating the moving parts that make up the Versa Grate system. We recommend using a High Temp Anti-Seize in paste form. This should be applied in the areas indicated in Figures 18 and 19 on Page 39.

[Sorry, the pics didn't come out.]



Fuses:

• The fuses on the control Board. The F1 fuse protects the Auger circuit and the F2 Fuse protects the entire control board. Check these first. (See Figure 2 on page 14 for the location of the fuses on the control board). Replace with 250 Volt, 5 Amp, 5 MM x 20 MM fast acting fuse

So, it appears that there's no separate fuse for the VG motor.

 

[61snowrider]

You can use a voltmeter at the motor terminals to check for voltage, it runs on line voltage.

To run the motor by itself, unplug the stove (for safety) and disconnect the leads to the motor, the attach your cord to the motor. Be very careful, you are working with potentially lethal voltage. If the motor turns, it's okay.


From the maintenance manual:

The Versa Grate System should be running at all times when the stove is turned on. The power is supplied to the versa grate motor through the Purple Wire in the Harness that is connected to a short Purple wire soldered to the backside of the control board.
• Electrical - As an electrical component, the troubleshooting of the Versa Grate Motor can be broken down to a defective gear motor, a defective control board, or issues related to the wiring. The Versa Grate Motor has 2 Black wires. One is connected to the Terminal Block in the back of the stove, making the Common connection. The other is plugged into the Purple wire in the harness. If the motor is not running:
Check to see if there is voltage at the Purple wire in the harness.
If there isn’t any voltage there, check to make sure the Purple wire is soldered properly to the back of the control board and there is voltage at the ¼” Male connector.
If there isn’t any voltage at the control board, the board is bad and needs to be replaced.

Remember: The stove must be turned on when checking for voltage.
If there is voltage at the motor and the motor isn’t running, the motor is bad and needs to be replaced.

Part of the Yearly Maintenance is lubricating the moving parts that make up the Versa Grate system. We recommend using a High Temp Anti-Seize in paste form. This should be applied in the areas indicated in Figures 18 and 19 on Page 39.

[Sorry, the pics didn't come out.]



Fuses:

• The fuses on the control Board. The F1 fuse protects the Auger circuit and the F2 Fuse protects the entire control board. Check these first. (See Figure 2 on page 14 for the location of the fuses on the control board). Replace with 250 Volt, 5 Amp, 5 MM x 20 MM fast acting fuse

So, it appears that there's no separate fuse for the VG motor.

 

[61snowrider]

Thanks Heat Seeker for the trouble shooting guide! I will look into those suggestions. My maintenance manual said nothing like that, just simple stuff. Thanks I will keep it for future use.

 

[heat seeker]

You're welcome, hope it helps you!

 

[The Other One]

(broken link removed to http://stcroixstoves.com/pdfs/Other%20Manuals/Digital%20Control%20Board%20Manual.pdf)
Thats the full manual. Save it somewhere. Dowloadable versions are below.