Gremlins in my Mt Vernon

[beo3]

Hey,

My older Mt Vernon (non AE) is giving me huge headaches! It recently wouldnt come on unless you turned the thermostat off and then on again. This happened even when the room tempature dropped below the thermostat setting. I switched out the thermostat twice (both slide bar manual thermostats) and it worked for a few days. Now when I jog the thermostat it will come on but stop feeding pellets after a few minutes. If i hit the reset button several times it will start to feed again but then stops when the convection blower comes on. I've disammabled the unit for cleaning on Sunday and have jumped the thermostat and have the same results. I think that I have ruled out the thermostat as being the culprait. Possiblely the control box? I changed that 2 years ago along with the exhaust blower and the number 2 snap disc. The vacum tubing seems fine and its not a pellet issue (ie: no breeching in the chute)

Any help/suggestions are mucho appericated!

Thanks all,
BEO3

 

[jtp10181]

Just worked on one last week that was stumping me. Check the auger motor, make sure it is running the same direction on every cycle. If you shine a light on the end of the motor you can see one of the gears through a slot. This is how I caught it. I confirmed my emptying the hopper out except a little in the bottom and watch it. Forwards, backwards, forwards... over and over. The stove would run for a while but then go out from lack of fuel. Sometimes the startup aug would go in reverse and then it would not light at all.

The fix is replacing the auger motor and wire harness with the capacitor. The Quad tech on the phone told me it might just be the capacitor in-line on the wire harness, but I have an entire auger assembly laying in the shop so I am using that to fix it this week. Hopefully it works!

 

[Bkins]

If what JTP suggested doesn't help you go over to iburncorn.com and login. Go to Quadrafire and state what you have done to your stove. Give it a day or so and you should get some answers. Usually there is a Quad tech, named Kap, that will help you out.
Let us know what you come up with.

 

[beo3]

Thanks guys, I did just post on iburncorn.com hopefully some there could also shed some light on my issues. I am thinking about swapping out the control box and see how that works. According to the manual all of my symptons could possibley be that box. Spending close to $300 on a non returnable part though is not my idea of a good time.

Thanks again

 

[jtp10181]

We replaced the board on this one also, it did not fix anything. Check the auger, let me know what you find.

 

[TboneMan]

"Gremlins in my Mt Vernon"...... Gee, I never thought about burning "gremlins" in my pellet stove.

Come to think about it, what a great source of fuel. Simply get them wet, and they pop out a new and continuous supply of more gremlins. Just kill them, dry then and grind them up (a blender should do) and throw them into the hopper. ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIrd4172Czw&feature=related


Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[beo3]

TBONE,
Very funny! I of course I didnt mean it that way but it sure would be economical!

JTP,

On Iburncorn a service tech for Quadrafire gave me a checklist of thing to do. All of which I had already done except the capacitor. I will try at get one on Saturday hopefully at radio shack. Till then I am still on oil. Blah!

Thanks again,
BEO3

 

[jtp10181]

Did you check if the auger is running in reverse at all????? If it is not, then messing with the capacitor will be pointless.....

 

[beo3]

JTP,

I only checked the auger by putting my hand into the hopper and feeling it turn. It consistantly turns clockwise. I also do not see the gear that you mention on the auger motor. If the auger is running correctly swapping out the capcitor you believe would be senseless?

Im begining to believe that I might have to break down and call in a tech...ARGH!!

 

[jtp10181]

Yeah do not mess with the auger if it is working fine.

Bypass the vacuum switch and try it. Unplug the stove, take the wires off it and jumper them together. Do not run the stove unattended with this setup, if the combustion blower fails or stops it will keep feeding and could burn the house down with the vac switch bypassed. Anyway, see if it runs better like that. I have seen some vac switched where the plastic terminal block gets loose form the metal housing and then it is unreliable and cuts in an out at times causing the feed to stop.

Have you also watched the lights in the control box? You should start with no lights IN the box, then go to green, then red. Once red it should be going normally full speed.
Also the red call for heat light, did you check if that remains on, or does it go off at all?

 

[Baston8005]

Quick ?...I'm an owner of the same stove. How well did you clean behind the cast iron box(baffles, exhaust tube...)? I had a similar problem years ago. Burning bad pellets and going to long between thorough cleanings was my culprit. When was the last time you replaced the little white igniter cover?

 

[beo3]

I have the vacum switch bypassed and the series of light in the control box are working properly. If the thermostat does not trigger on, the red light is still lit calling for heat.

As for cleaning, I had it totaly disammbeled over the summer and clean it at least once a week during the burn season. I went to remove the back plate last Saturday to acces the baffles and one of the allen head bolts must have slipped a backplate. It just keeps spinning in place. I planned on drilling it out and replaceing it over the summer. It seems to be clean though, no visible ash build up under the rear plate or when I removed the right side cast plate I can reach up into the baffles and they seem very clean.

I also have never replaced the thermocouple cover.

Today I cannot do anything with it as Im at work for 14 hours. Tommorrow may be a better day.

Thanks

 

[jtp10181]

Need to figure out why it stops feeding. The power should come out of the control box, go through the vac switch and a snap switch, then to the motor. Need to figure out where the power is stopping. If you have both the vac switch and snap switch bypassed then I would suspect the control board. With that setup, if the red light in the control board is red or green, and the call for heat light is on, then check to see if the control board is still sending power to the auger. It will not be constant power, but in cycles. You should be able to trace the wire back to where it exits the board wire harness, then find the first connection point and test it there with a meter. You should get 120v every few seconds.

 

[Baston8005]

I bet you have a tremendous ash build up behind the top cast iron plate that it is never letting your stove build up to temp, therefore shutting it down prematurely. Same thing happened to mine as I said earlier. I would get the allen head screw out and really clean everything before driving yourself nuts with the control boards.

 

[beo3]

I wired thru the number 2 snap disc this morning and so far it seems to be working. I'll let it cycle itself all day long (I'll be home so god forbid of fire) if it works, off to the parts store for a new snap disc. I hope thats it because its a real cheap and simple fix.

 

[jtp10181]

Does your #2 disc have a manual reset on it? If not, I would be concerned if it is tripping and that's why the stove is shutting down. If its a manual reset and it is not tripping then there must be something wrong with it (if bypassing it fixes the problem).

 

[beo3]

It does have a manual reset and has not tripped. Thats another reason for me to believe that its gone bad.