# Mt Vernon Missed Ignition



## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 10, 2009)

I have recently been having a problem with my Mt Vern AE.  The other night I woke to a smokey smell in the house and found a pile of unburnt pellets in the ash pan.  The stove missed an ignition and dumped the pellets into the ash pan, on the second try the stove caught, but once it reached temp it then dumped the hot ash on the unburnt pellets, and since they were under the burn chamber the smell weeped out of the ash pan gasket instead of up the chimeny. I couldn't figure why the stove missed ignition so I cleaned the stove COMPLETLY!. When it burns it burns awsome, but right after I cleaned it it missed the first ignition, so I called my dealer, the said probably the ignitor.  They gave me a new ignitor.  I installed it and wouldn't you know missed the first ignition.  I let it run for a while and it repeated that but only when the stove had cooled for a while.  I am burning Bare Foot pellets which I had already burnt for the last two months with no problems.  Anyone have any thoughts?


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## Bkins (Dec 10, 2009)

Did you just get more of the Bare Foot pellets?  Might be a different mix in the pellet.  Are you burnpot holes cleaned and open?

Bkins


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 10, 2009)

same pile of pellets from the yearly purchase.  I cleaned it incuding the burn pot holes even the ones you need a mirror to check, when it burns it burns really clean and hot no lazy flame at all.


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## slls (Dec 10, 2009)

Have you tried unplugging the unit for a while , see if the processor resets it self.


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## kilbury (Dec 10, 2009)

There is also a fuse on the control board under the cover for the igniter. It is shown in the manual I believe but it is not easy to replace. I have had one stove blow that particular fuse when the igniter died. it was just easier to change the control board cause you have to take it out anyway. But if you aren't in warranty still it may be the fix if that is it.


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 10, 2009)

I have seen the ignitior glow, the problem is it either doesn't glow long enought or something, I had the stove unpluged while I installed the ignitor.


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## jtp10181 (Dec 11, 2009)

When it misses ignition are you getting partially burnt / charred fuel in the ashpan, or totally raw fuel?

Also when it does light, do you get a lot of rolling smoke in the firebox or does it smoke for just a few seconds and then take off?


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## kilbury (Dec 11, 2009)

does it ever come off from startup or does it make it to SSLow? can you tell me when it autocleans, during startup, SSLow, SSmed? I'm leaning towards a bad thermocouple. I know this is an obvious question, but is the stove and venting clean? Also how long does it take to light after it feeds fuel? should be lit within 3-5 minutes


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 11, 2009)

A few will be chared but not that many.  That is the part that bothers me.  It is all. Clean.  There is no smoke at all when it misses.  It seems to be an occasional    Problem it worked fine all last night.


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## BIGISLANDHIKERS (Dec 11, 2009)

Any chance this is happening after running the hopper out of pellets?  Mine will somtimes miss an ignition if I have run out of fuel and then refilled.  The auger will empty out and it will take a long time for the pellets to get in to the burnpot.  By the time they do its too late and it dumps what is there and starts another start cycle.


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## BIGISLANDHIKERS (Dec 11, 2009)

Another thought is to get a mirror and check that the ignitor hole is open.  I have seen them get filled with a clinker and even bent so it is narrowed.


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## humpin iron (Dec 11, 2009)

Did you take off the exhaust motor? What color is the exhaust motor gasket?  Did you drop the fireback?  Did you scrub the exhaust?   Everything you are describing is cleaning related. 

You have a blockage somewhere 


STAY OUT OF THE CONTROL BOARD THATS NOT THE PROBLEM.


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 12, 2009)

Yes I have cleaned it all.  Including the blower it starts off whit then gets yellow I bought a sheet and make my own gaskets.  I have removed the fire back. I have. With a mirror scraped the entire fire pot.  Being dirty was my first thought.


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## jtp10181 (Dec 12, 2009)

You know if you order a new gasket from Quad, it will be a red silicone gasket that will last for years.


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 12, 2009)

I will once I use up the sheet.  No one had them last Jan when I needed them.


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## teddy1971 (Dec 12, 2009)

I had a similar issue this week and it turned out to be that my igniter went. I am still under warranty for the igniter (2 Years). My local stove shop came out next day and replaced it without issue. The tech was happy that it was the igniter and not the fuse because the fuse is a pain to change.


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 12, 2009)

I just re re cleaned everything and it still was clean.  I tried to light the stove and just as the stove was dumping the unburnt pellets into the ash pan they caught fire


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## Gweeper64 (Dec 13, 2009)

Maybe the ignitor is getting weak. I'd have your dealer come check it out.


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## JoeS (Dec 13, 2009)

The igniter is either good or bad, no such thing as a weak igniter. It sounds as if your thermocouple in the burn pot is bad. Is the ceramic housing tight against the thermocouple? If not this could be a reason for your problem. If you are still under warranty get your dealer to come look at it.


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## aranuc (Dec 13, 2009)

I had the same problem with my stove last year. I thought that I had cleaned everything but I did not take the baffle off and clean the heat exchanger. There was a lot of build up back there and it was causing all of the problems


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 13, 2009)

I had a call in the other day he suggested a few things which I knew weren't going to work but I did try them. Adjusting flame height, which had no effect.


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## BIGISLANDHIKERS (Dec 13, 2009)

Are the pellets getting dumped too soon or is it taking too long foor them to light?  If they take a normal time to light and the stove doesn't continue to feed and then dumps it sounds like the thermo.  If they are taking too long to light check and see if your exhasut fan in on.  Unless I am mistaken the exhaust fan creates the air movement needed to start the fire.

BIH


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## BIGISLANDHIKERS (Dec 13, 2009)

Make sure the thermo wire is touching the inside end of the cover.


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 13, 2009)

it is just taking too long to light, not lighting before it goes into auto clean.  I hear the fan and when it does catch the flame is active and clean.


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## jtp10181 (Dec 13, 2009)

You never answered my question about how long it takes to light when it does work, do you get a lot of rolling smoke?

I am guessing there is something you have not cleaned, did you clean the pit below the rear fins? If you have an older unit there will be some fins in your way, I can give you instruction for snapping them off. I usually take a piece of 1/2" polypropylene tubing and tape it to the end of a crevice tool to get down in there and vacuum. There is instructions for it in the newest manual on the Quad site.


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 13, 2009)

I have cleaned the trap and removed the blower motor.  I have made a long reach crevace tool too.  When it does light there is some smokee just before ignition, always was.  The light times vary depending on weather the unit is hot, or weather it is on the scond try and the ignitor has already had a chance to heat hings up, or just plain cold.  So there is no clear answer to that question.


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## jtp10181 (Dec 13, 2009)

Well if you get a lot of rolling smoke on a cold startup, there is a problem with air flow. If you never gets a lot of smoke it is probably lighting just fine, when it does light.

One other thing you could check is the spring on the firepot floor. Does the floor still hug up tight to the firepot itself? Some of the earlier models had weaker springs and they would not work properly after all the heating and cooling. They made the springs a little tougher after they found that out. If the firepot floor sags a little it would let too much air in during ignition diluting the heat from the ignitor.


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 13, 2009)

I just want to make clear how I clean it not to be a pain or negative but so everyone knows, in case I missed something.  I Brushed the chimeny up from the T.  Then towards the stove from the T outside.  I take a long hose and Vac in towards the stove until it hits the blower housing.  I then remove the blower motor (convection). and shove that same hose a couple of feet back out towarsa the T.  Next I cleaned the trap and motor housing.  Then I re installed the motor.  I next removed the baffle and cleaned the entire heat exchanger. used the crevace tool on both sides to make sure all was clean.  I used a Mirror and a pick with a 90 deg bend to inspect and clean all the holes in the fire pot.  including the slits in the bottom whrere the ignitor is.  I am burning the same bafe foot my friend 1 mile down the road is burning, with the same stove.  To this point burned a half a ton with no problems.  It Burns great when it is running nice clean flame not dirty at all.   It just won't light the pellet before it cycles auto clean


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## jtp10181 (Dec 13, 2009)

It cycles to autoclean because its not detecting any heat, thus it assume something has gone wrong, either no fuel, or ther fuel wont light.

Did you even read my comments about the firepot floor springs above?


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 13, 2009)

Sorry the springs seem OK the floor is tight.  There are pellets in the hopper when it tries to ignite.  This is why I am baffled, I will call the dealer again tommorrow.


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## jtp10181 (Dec 13, 2009)

Do you have outside air? If you do, try disconnecting it for a little bit and see if it makes a diff, also make sure the line is clear and not blocked with any debris.


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## Gweeper64 (Dec 14, 2009)

Ok, new theory... could it be your pellets? Have you changed brand of pellets recently and did it start after the change?


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 14, 2009)

I did some looking on iburncorn.  I see the problem I have happens with corn quite a bit.  Quite a few people preach proper placement of the ignitor as being very important.  So I checked mine which I had recently replaced and it was more towards the door than the fire pot.  So I rotated it towards the fire pot until it touched and then moved it off a tiny bit.  It has started every time for two days.  We will see long term.  One thing I noticed and I think it could effect both corn and the pellets is barefoots are slightly smaller and will fit thru the holes in the fire pot .  I wonder if this happens with corn too the grains block the holes enough to prevent air flow.  Not every one but enough to delay ignition.


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## Gweeper64 (Dec 15, 2009)

Hopefully that solves it for you. Certainly sounds plausible.


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## tsmith (Dec 23, 2009)

Boogers Dad, I am having the same problem with my AE, burning corn. You said you rotated the igniter untill it touched, what do you mean you rotated it? It fits into a slot that the wing nut tightens to. Has it been working properly for you since? I talked to someone on Iburncorn that said to try to pry the igniter slot open a little bit more, if not, they now make a new burn pot with a much larger igniter slot.


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## kklockars@cox.net (Dec 23, 2009)

there was just enought play in the slot the ignitor installs into to set the tip of the ignitor just about 1/4" from one side to another, so I placed it closest to the burn pot side.  It has worked great so far


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## tsmith (Dec 23, 2009)

Last night it happened to me again, it tried for 15 minutes and auto cleaned just as it was starting to light, it dumped and burned in the ash pan. Then it tried again and lit after 7 minutes ran and reached the set temp then shut down. After it shut down I set it to the high elevation setting, this is suppossed to provide less fuel and more air. When it went into start up again, it lit in 4 minutes, I did have to increase my flame height a little. I emptied my ashpan so I can tell tonight if I have any unburned corn in it or if it continued to light properly. I will let you know how it worked when I get home tonight to check it.


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## tsmith (Dec 23, 2009)

Well the high elevation setting didn't do it  either I had lots of unburned corn in the ashpan, and right now it is on its second attempt at starting and looks like it is going to dump the second load. Really starting to piss me off a little. I also have tried adding washers to get the igniter closer but don't seem to help. I am burning corn with pellets mixed. I am going to try spreading the ignition hole on the pot to make it wider if that don't work maybe a new burn pot with the larger opening. Any other suggestions?


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## tsmith (Dec 25, 2009)

Well today I removed my pot and cut the igniter housing to match the new burn pots. I am now lighting corn within the first 2 minutes of the ignition sequence every time. It is working great. I attached pictures showing the pot the old way with my markings on it for cutting and after pics. I am very happy with the way it turned out and how it is working now.


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