St. Croix York Electrcal Problem

[kentjw]

Six year old York insert is acting up. Whats happening; I'm frying versa grate motors. This happens when I shut the stove off and about 3 mins. into the cool down the fuse blows and I get an electric burning smell. It appears to be the versa grate motor. I have recently replaced the control board and the original versa grate motor. After replacing the control board the stove ran great for about three weeks. Then during a shut down the fuse blew. The only way to stop blowing fuses was to unplug the versa grate motor. So I replaced the motor, fired it up and it ran fine until I turned it off. Another blown fuse and electric burn smell during cool down.
I'm baffled. Help....it's getting cold!

 

[heat seeker]

You probably need to lube the versa grate bushings. There is one on each end of the shaft. You need to remove the front cover to get at the front one. Stiff bushing will put a load on the motor, although I'm not sure enough to burn it out - but maybe. See if you can rotate the shaft, after you remove the burn pot you should be able to grab hold of it, and it should rotate freely.

 

[kentjw]

Everything is turning nicely. I even watch the versa grate cam moving while it was burning...very smooth. Can I burn with the versa grate disconnected?

 

[jzm2cc]

Interesting and somewhat expensive problem. Others have unplugged versa-grate, gather they gave to tend to burnpot maintenance more to avoid clinker build up. I've considered doing the same as I don't like the whiny gearbox noise and i even repacked it with grease a year ago. May give it a trial run over the weekend. Currently i don't have to touch burnpot for two weeks during the coldest winter weeks, so it must help.

Regarding the blown fuse i agree lubing cam and bushings may help. On my Prescott when stove shuts down, the auger stops turning and the versa-grate also turns off. I can tell because the whiny noise goes away and quieter exh and convection blowers remain on for a while longer. Is this when the fuse blows on your stove? That would really be odd as the power is off to the grate motor.

Please let me know at what point during shut down that fuse blows, may be able to help electrically, but more clues would be helpful.

 

[kentjw]

Interesting and somewhat expensive problem. Others have unplugged versa-grate, gather they gave to tend to burnpot maintenance more to avoid clinker build up. I've considered doing the same as I don't like the whiny gearbox noise and i even repacked it with grease a year ago. May give it a trial run over the weekend. Currently i don't have to touch burnpot for two weeks during the coldest winter weeks, so it must help.

Regarding the blown fuse i agree lubing cam and bushings may help. On my Prescott when stove shuts down, the auger stops turning and the versa-grate also turns off. I can tell because the whiny noise goes away and quieter exh and convection blowers remain on for a while longer. Is this when the fuse blows on your stove? That would really be odd as the power is off to the grate motor.

Please let me know at what point during shut down that fuse blows, may be able to help electrically, but more clues would be helpful.

Well it is odd and thats what has me baffled. Fuse blows a couple minuets after shut off and VG motor is toast. I can't even think what's going on. Some kind of power surge to VG motor? I think I can rule out improperly wired as it ran ok for three weeks. Bad control board... I don't know. Called the dealer. They're coming in four weeks...geez! Please let me know if you run without VG motor running.

 

[heat seeker]

I have heard some users run it without the VG, but as already said, you may have to clean the burn pot more often. I seem to remember that the VG was mainly for corn burning. Have you tried moving the VG shaft by hand as I suggested? If those bushings haven't been lubed in 6 years, they're due - to say the least. I bought my stove used, and the VG was pretty noisy - gear noise. After I lubed the bushings, I can hardly hear the VG motor. There's much less strain on it after lubing.

 

[jzm2cc]

Also check that the correct fuse amperage is being used, along with type (fast blow, slow blow etc). I don't have a St Croix control board in front of me to reference.

If you measure the vg motor winding resistance with leads unplugged i can compare to mine over the weekend. Of course this assumes a functional motor not a shorted one.

I'd go ahead and run it with vg unplugged, just keep tabs on burnpot a few times a day to avoid over flows.

 

[kentjw]

Also check that the correct fuse amperage is being used, along with type (fast blow, slow blow etc). I don't have a St Croix control board in front of me to reference.

If you measure the vg motor winding resistance with leads unplugged i can compare to mine over the weekend. Of course this assumes a functional motor not a shorted one.

I'd go ahead and run it with vg unplugged, just keep tabs on burnpot a few times a day to avoid over flows.

I'm burning with VG motor unplugged. Cycled thru a few on and off...no problems. I'm doing this with my old control board reinstalled (should have never let dealer talk me into a new one!). Can't measure resistance as I don't have a good VG motor and I'm reluctant to spent another $100. on a new one. My conclusion...a short somewhere although I don't know for sure as I've checked all wiring. New control board gone bad?

 

[jzm2cc]

I wouldn't buy anymore parts either. The fuse is supposed to protect circuitry, thus the reason your old board still works. I'm still curious how many ohms your vg motor windings are. I could compare to my functional motor. You could also jump your vg motor directly to 110V to see if it still works. Of course this suggestion is best reserved for someone comfortable with home wiring. We're not talking about 5V or 12V systems and getting shocked is not a good thing.

 

[kentjw]

I wouldn't buy anymore parts either. The fuse is supposed to protect circuitry, thus the reason your old board still works. I'm still curious how many ohms your vg motor windings are. I could compare to my functional motor. You could also jump your vg motor directly to 110V to see if it still works. Of course this suggestion is best reserved for someone comfortable with home wiring. We're not talking about 5V or 12V systems and getting shocked is not a good thing.

Not real comfortable with electricity but have done my fair share and I'm still here. Might try it but, having gone through two motors I suspect the problem is something else. Should mention that the insulation around the motor winding is what gets scorched and the two black wires become disconnected from the winding.

 

[jzm2cc]

Lol, ok with burnt windings you have me convinced the versa motor is struggling trying to turn cam that powers the grate system, thus the reason the biard fuse blows. If it didn't the transistor that powers the motor would be damaged.

It's already been suggested to try turning versagrate assembly shaft with motor assy disconnected. I'm guessing its very hard to turn and time to lube all bushings in front and behind burnpot plus shaft bushing by cam. Also pull out burn pot and look for clinker obstructions. Good luck

 

[kentjw]

Lol, ok with burnt windings you have me convinced the versa motor is struggling trying to turn cam that powers the grate system, thus the reason the biard fuse blows. If it didn't the transistor that powers the motor would be damaged.

It's already been suggested to try turning versagrate assembly shaft with motor assy disconnected. I'm guessing its very hard to turn and time to lube all bushings in front and behind burnpot plus shaft bushing by cam. Also pull out burn pot and look for clinker obstructions. Good luck

The shaft is very easy to turn and has been cleaned and lubed. That's why I'm pulling my hair out!

 

[kentjw]

The shaft is very easy to turn and has been cleaned and lubed. That's why I'm pulling my hair out!

One last thought. The shaft turn freely when cold. As it heats up could something be happening with expansion?

 

[jzm2cc]

Could be heat related binding, something is obviously loading the VG motor assembly heavily. Also remember the grate shaft may turn easily, but it really strokes back and forth moving the burnpot floor plate, have you checked this motion for ease of movement?

 

[Mt Bob]

I wouldn't buy anymore parts either. The fuse is supposed to protect circuitry, thus the reason your old board still works. I'm still curious how many ohms your vg motor windings are. I could compare to my functional motor. You could also jump your vg motor directly to 110V to see if it still works. Of course this suggestion is best reserved for someone comfortable with home wiring. We're not talking about 5V or 12V systems and getting shocked is not a good thing.

Have to disagree,the fuse is to protect from starting a fire,not protect the circuitry,same as a car/truck.Solder in fuses are generaly used to protect circuitry.

 

[Mt Bob]

As your new motor "browned",the problem is not the wiring,or the motor,something in the versagrate system is causing lots of drag,maybe not all the time,but enough to overload the motor.As the fuse is to prevent a house fire,it is very conceivable a new motor can burn up before the fuse blows.

 

[kentjw]

I did notice some scratching on the cam...fingernail catching depth. So, I guess something must be binding. I'll pull it all apart again and see what I can determine. Will let you all know.