# QUAD CASTILE FEED ADJUSTMENT.



## skidozer (Oct 22, 2010)

I have been burning for the last couple nights after install.

I think my fire is to tall out of the burn pot,on high it has about a 10 inche flame and med its the 6" .
The flame does not look lazy at all not much black smoke at all.

The burn pot is clean and holes and fans are clean, I cleaned everything before installing.

How does the feed rod work. does it move up and down or side to side. It seems to be pushed all the way down. the book is a bit unclear on this

Or is there a adjustment on the control box like I read in a previous post.


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## Fish On (Oct 22, 2010)

Up towards you will increase your feed.


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## cncpro (Oct 22, 2010)

From the manual... 


```
[url]http://www.quadrafire.com/~/media/Files/Quadrafire/Installation[/url] Manuals/man_castile.ashx
```

Link wouldn't work due to spaces in the location...  Copy & paste "code" (above) into browser...



> The feed adjustment control rod is factory set, and should
> be adequate for most fuels. However, if the flame height is
> too high or too low, you will need to adjust the feed rate. Wait
> until the appliance has been burning for 15 minutes before
> ...



I'm guessing you haven't loosened the set screw ??????


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## Lineman30 (Oct 22, 2010)

Just curious, what is the factory setting for the cb1200.  I'm between the middle and + on the adjustment.  I don't remember where the setting was.


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## cncpro (Oct 22, 2010)

Lineman30 said:
			
		

> Just curious, what is the factory setting for the cb1200.  I'm between the middle and + on the adjustment.  I don't remember where the setting was.



Sorry Lineman, I don't recall.  I can tell you that I have had it at both extremes at one time or another depending upon the pellets being used and whether I am looking for maximum output or trying to reduce the number of ignition cycles...

At the moment I am running on low with the trap door only open enough so the stove won't die from lack of fuel...  (This is to reduce ignition cycles)

I'll be nearly wide open in January...


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## tjnamtiw (Oct 22, 2010)

Push the rod all the way to the left for the least flow.  Yes, there is a set screw down at the bottom at the slide plate.  You have to run the hopper dry to get at it and have an extra joint installed in your arm!  
With the variation in pellets, I can't imagine that there would be a 'factory setting'.  Adjusting the feed rod seems to be a necessity for each lot or brand of pellets to get the correct flame height.  You have to play with it SLLLL000000WLY.


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## GIPPER (Oct 22, 2010)

I would say you have bad pellets. Try a bag of hardwood pellets.Hamers,Barefoots,etc.I found Okies,Sprucepoints,etc (softwood) I back it out about a 1/4 inch.I have a 2007 Castille free standing stove.I have burned many diffent types of pellets.Some times you have to pay a little bit more for quality pellets.


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## cncpro (Oct 22, 2010)

GIPPER said:
			
		

> I would say you have bad pellets. Try a bag of hardwood pellets.Hamers,Barefoots,etc.I found Okies,Sprucepoints,etc (softwood) I back it out about a 1/4 inch.I have a 2007 Castille free standing stove.I have burned many diffent types of pellets.Some times you have to pay a little bit more for quality pellets.



There's really nothing wrong with a 10" flame on high.  It won't hurt anything to have the flames in contact with the angled baffle plates.  I think the OP just has some new-user jitters and there's no better way to get over them than to play around with the adjustment until the user is happy.

I am not seeing anything pointing to bad pellets here...


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## skidozer (Oct 22, 2010)

I kind of just wanted to play around with feed a bit.

I have good pellets Dry Creek recomended by people in my area and looked good on the chart.

It looks like it is on the min setting for feed rod. I will give it a look when I run the hopper down. I will mark the rod with a sharpie so I can put it back.


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## Fish On (Oct 22, 2010)

That's what I did with a sharpie 2!


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## tjnamtiw (Oct 22, 2010)

cncpro said:
			
		

> GIPPER said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yea, with a 10" flame, it sure isn't bad pellets!   %-P


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## Havlat24 (Oct 22, 2010)

I have a sante fe.... same innards, different outtards...    I run mine with the feed adjustment rod all the way down.... so the lowest amount of feed...and I run it on medium...  I put the control box at 7 for 10% more heat... and the thing heats like a charm....   When its super cold and If I;m feeling tropical, I may open up the feed a bit...but 90% of time its on the lowest setting...  and on medium.


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## tjnamtiw (Oct 23, 2010)

havlat24 said:
			
		

> I have a sante fe.... same innards, different outtards...    I run mine with the feed adjustment rod all the way down.... so the lowest amount of feed...and I run it on medium...  I put the control box at 7 for 10% more heat... and the thing heats like a charm....   When its super cold and If I;m feeling tropical, I may open up the feed a bit...but 90% of time its on the lowest setting...  and on medium.



Does anyone know what actually is changed when you switch to the +10% settings on the Quads?  All I've seen is speculation of things like reduced combustion fan speed, increased blower speed, or increased feed rate.  Feed rate should be pretty easy to measure with a stop watch.  

*HIGH ------- (2.2 SECOND ON TIME)
*MEDIUM -- (1.6 SECOND ON TIME)
*LOW --------(0.9 SECOND ON TIME)

What is your feed time?


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## ablejoy (Oct 23, 2010)

I set mine 1/4" to 3/8" from closed setting flame on high about 6 "  I run mine on medium when temps drop in the teens.
Running on low now to take the chill off.


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## tjnamtiw (Oct 23, 2010)

this summer I was 'exploring' the hopper and feed system and discovered that when 'closed', the plate was still far from closed.  Kind of surprising, actually.


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## GIPPER (Oct 23, 2010)

I,m not sure guys,when my castille is running perfect my flame is about 3 inches above the firepot.The flame will wander up and down a little,but no whay 10 inches.Just my 2 cents.


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## tjnamtiw (Oct 23, 2010)

It really depends a LOT on the pellets.  I switched brands and went from closed to full open to get the same flame height and then later back to half open when I was half way through the first ton.


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## ablejoy (Oct 23, 2010)

I was wrong on flame hight just rechecked looks like 3" to 4" on high


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## Bucktail (Oct 23, 2010)

tjnamtiw said:
			
		

> It really depends a LOT on the pellets.  I switched brands and went from closed to full open to get the same flame height and then later back to half open when I was half way through the first ton.



Bingo!  Correct, A change in pellets can have a big impact.


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## tjnamtiw (Oct 23, 2010)

Bucktail said:
			
		

> Bingo!  Correct, A change in pellets can have a big impact.



Yea, never assume that the feed adjustment should remain in one place for eternity.  Big mistake.


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## skidozer (Oct 23, 2010)

I have my feed rod in the all the way closed.
I have a good 4-6" flame on med 
on high it almos touches the baffle.

Im happy with it just trying to learn more about it.
I had a bag of pa pellets left from summer that I burn in the fire pit basket I made.
They dont burn as good as the dry creek and stink more, in fact they make me sneeze.

They are nice fast flame, not slow and lazy like a tourch with to much accetalyne.


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## QuadraMick (Jan 26, 2013)

HI 
Is there a setting to slow down the rate the pellets drop?
I have a Quad Castille.  I set the feed rate all the way down.  But the pellets are still coming so fast they eventually over flow the pot before burning.  
I just had the stove and all the pipes and flue scrubbed clean.
The auger is brand new.  That couldn't be the reason could it?

I see someone above, tjnamtiw, talking about



tjnamtiw said:


> Does anyone know what actually is changed when you switch to the +10% settings on the Quads? All I've seen is speculation of things like reduced combustion fan speed, increased blower speed, or increased feed rate. Feed rate should be pretty easy to measure with a stop watch. *HIGH ------- (2.2 SECOND ON TIME) *MEDIUM -- (1.6 SECOND ON TIME) *LOW --------(0.9 SECOND ON TIME) What is your feed time?


 



tjnamtiw said:


> MEDIUM -- (1.6 SECOND ON TIME) *LOW --------(0.9 SECOND ON TIME)


 

How is that stuff accessed on Control Box

PLEASE


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## SwineFlue (Jan 26, 2013)

10% is not going to cause an overflow... you have a bigger problem than that.

IMO, it's either the wrong auger or an airflow problem.  Did this problem start with the auger change?


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## QuadraMick (Jan 26, 2013)

Oh boy.Wow.  That is powerful info.
So if those are the two most common causes for this it has to be the auger was the wrong one they just put in since the airflow is actually 100% better now than it was before this started.
Thank you  SFlue !
I will contact the guy who put it in.

Maybe first I will wait till it cools down and tomorrow I will see if I can identify what kind he put in .
I couldn't find the correct part myself at first , maybe Quadrafire will have it on their website? or I will contact them.
Quadrafire Castille 1182225 bought in  Dec. 2004 

Most appreciated! 



SwineFlue said:


> 10% is not going to cause an overflow... you have a bigger problem than that.
> 
> IMO, it's either the wrong auger or an airflow problem. Did this problem start with the auger change?


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## QuadraMick (Jan 26, 2013)

I guess it is supposed to be this one

http://www.stove-parts-unlimited.com/Quadra_Fire_Feed_Motor_2_4_RPM_p/812-4421.htm


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## tjnamtiw (Jan 26, 2013)

QuadraMick said:


> HI
> Is there a setting to slow down the rate the pellets drop?
> I have a Quad Castille. I set the feed rate all the way down. But the pellets are still coming so fast they eventually over flow the pot before burning.
> I just had the stove and all the pipes and flue scrubbed clean.
> ...


It's NOT accessed on the control box.  Those are the built in times for the various heat levels.  If your stove is a 2004, you probably don't have the clear control box, do you?
There are two other people posting this week with augers that are running continuously.  Maybe you're the third!  Or the wrong auger was put in or it wasn't wired correctly.  That's pretty straight forward though.  Is you flame really active down in the pot with blue flame visible?  Almost like a blast furnace down there?  Have you cleaned out all 8 of the small holes at the bottom of the pot?  Is the trap door hanging down away from the burn pot bottom by more than the thickness of a dime?


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## Augmister (Jan 27, 2013)

Just re-adjusted the feed lever in the hopper...flame too big due to amount of pellets dropping.  Just loosened the nut when the bin what almost completely empty and slid the lever down slightly and the flame is just 4" above the pot.
Need to adjust the feed lever and monitor the flame level regularly.  Just is not a "one and done" situation.   Flame will also be higher as ash builds in the pot from continuous days running without a break to clean the pot.   This was the case from Tuesday until last night, due to the very cold weather and the stove running flat out 24 hrs. a day...


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## tjnamtiw (Jan 27, 2013)

You did GOOD!  The AVERAGE flame height should be 4" when set to HIGH.  Yep, it is a constant adjustment as you change pellet brands, see a change in pellet length, detect any other change in the pellets such as density or, as you say, the stove gets dirty.  Heck, it's the ONLY adjustment we have to play with!


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## QuadraMick (Jan 28, 2013)

That is correct.TJ.Thanks   I do not have clear control box.
The holes were cleaned out and the trap door is not hanging down.
I guess the flame is big and lazy in the beginning and then gets bluer. I wouldn't say it was a sever blast furnace, but eventually that could be because of the number of pellets sitttng there. 
It doesn't feed continuously, just much too frequently.  Once I had to hit the button in the back to keep it from dying out in the beginning but then it took off anyway.

I was trying to access the auger to see if the wrong one was put in but I couldn't figure out how to get to it.
I believe the auger itself should be the same one I had as far as I know and just the motor was replaced. They had to take it with them to take it apart and conncect to new motor apparently.

I could always put something in the hopper to partially obstruct the feed but I prefer to get this running right.

So what is the secret to getting at the auger and motor please someone? Please  Thanks!!.


In other news, the back flow sensor was also replaced. Yeah I know, amazing coiincidence, but the stove wouldn't start up without jumping around the sensor.  At least that was only $85

Yes , I am also in contact with the repairman, but am now committed to be more proactive and not in a rush like before to mitigate this winter cold



tjnamtiw said:


> It's NOT accessed on the control box. Those are the built in times for the various heat levels. If your stove is a 2004, you probably don't have the clear control box, do you?
> There are two other people posting this week with augers that are running continuously. Maybe you're the third! Or the wrong auger was put in or it wasn't wired correctly. That's pretty straight forward though. Is you flame really active down in the pot with blue flame visible? Almost like a blast furnace down there? Have you cleaned out all 8 of the small holes at the bottom of the pot? Is the trap door hanging down away from the burn pot bottom by more than the thickness of a dime?


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