cab 50 problems

[Lousyweather]

Never "assume" anything

yea, one of those ubiquitous quotes some genius comes up with (cause it sounds so good to have others follow tenets that we ourselves don't have to).....fact is, we have to assume stuff everyday, otherwise we wouldn't get thru the day.....
1. never assume
2. customer is always right
3.?

 

[samdweezel05]

Cubex has a bad lot last year and thousands of tons were replaced....give them another try. You also may want to look in to an outside air connection too, if you do not already have one.

My PS35 has a fresh air kit.

As far as dumping the pot daily, for me it's a necessity or the stove will not run more than a day. The PS35 at the dealer gets dumped once a week and it heats most of their showroom. I will try a small quantity of cubex again this year and see if they are any better than last year.

 

[samdweezel05]

The control box has multiple settings, yes?. I think there is a 10% more option...

The 10% option is only for the pellet feed auger. Not to get more air.

 

[smwilliamson]

The 10% option is only for the pellet feed auger. Not to get more air.

I don't think so...I believe there is a voltage change to the motor as well..

 

[samdweezel05]

I don't think so...I believe there is a voltage change to the motor as well..

If their is and it also works for the PS35 I would love to hear it. The service guy from the dealer (who seamed pretty knowledgeable) told me that they could only add 10% to the feed rate.

 

[smwilliamson]

I'm fairly certain that its more of an air thing. Commonly used when the stove is installed at a higher altitude. At higher altitudes you need more air, not more fuel. Give it a try.

 

[imacman]

......Commonly used when the stove is installed at a higher altitude. At higher altitudes you need more air, not more fuel. Give it a try.

Makes sense to me

 

[coldinmich]

Did you buy this Cab 50 used?[/quote no, I bought it new from a local dealer.

 

[coldinmich]

sure, once to "problem" is diagnosed (and if ya Big Boxed it, far as I am concerned, yer on yer own) ........I guess we are waiting for the OP to tell us where he or she got it?

bought it new from a dealer

 

[coldinmich]

somewhere around page 12 on your manual, there should be a maintenance chart.......correct me if Im wrong, but I believe it states that the burnpot should be dumped daily, or with each bag of pellets burned. It doesn't seem like its really operating any differently than expected, just an issue if you don't follow the instructions as per the manual. From a money standpoint, if you want less maintenance, there are other types/brands out there which require less maintenance......but they cost more. Ya get what ya pays for?

I have followed the owners manual. In the winter months I dumped the burn pot In the morning before going to work and had to drive directly home afterward to do it again. Had to push the ash aside or it would overflow into firepot. Vac every other day. clean glass twice a day. Burned about a bag every 24hrs. a lot of nights it wouldn't run till morn. woke up a lot to a freezing house.

 

[coldinmich]

So let me get this straight.....you got the stove, had problems right away, and you didn't get the dealer to come out to fix it?

And this is the phone # you called? 1-877-427-3316

 

[coldinmich]

Talked with the dealer and all he would say is I am burning the wrong pellets

 

[slls]

Strange it's not blowing the ash out, that's what it's suppose to do.

 

[Lousyweather]

Talked with the dealer and all he would say is I am burning the wrong pellets

yea, standard answer when ya don't know what the issue is......its almost NEVER the wrong pellets, tho some will burn better than others......dealer's responsibility

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Haha, this is making me chuckle. Now where is my cape, I know I put it here someplace. I will be back.

Eric

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Ok, I found the cape and it is a little dusty. Now where is that mask, whoops found the zipper and the ball mask, hmmmmm. Hold on!

Eric

 

[kinsmanstoves]

Bought a cab 50 in nov and had problems since day one. Likes to shut down a lot, leaving the house very cold. I was told it may be the hopper lid switch. Where can I get a parts catalog to order parts.
Also, tons of ash. I can burn one bag and the firepot has lots of ash and needs cleaning. I have tried different types of pellets and always the same.

Welcome to the forum. The CAB-50 is an awesome unit for the money.

Did you read the manual from front to back?

Now lets go through your checklist of issues.

On day one of problems you should have been on the phone with the dealer. On day two you needed to be on the phone again asking why is the stove not fixed.

FORGET THE HOPPER SWITCH ! (notice the yelling?) Might not want to listen to the person that told you that.

Parts are obtained through your dealer but I would bet you a weeks worth of beer there is not a broken part on your stove.

Tons of ash from a bag of pellets, REALLY?

Now lets get to the problem so explain how the stove shuts down and does not re light? How about telling me all the parts in the venting system including diameter and brand of pipe. Where is the stove located in the house? Who installed the stove?

Eric

 

[coldinmich]

Welcome to the forum. The CAB-50 is an awesome unit for the money.

Did you read the manual from front to back?

Now lets go through your checklist of issues.

On day one of problems you should have been on the phone with the dealer. On day two you needed to be on the phone again asking why is the stove not fixed.

FORGET THE HOPPER SWITCH ! (notice the yelling?) Might not want to listen to the person that told you that.

Parts are obtained through your dealer but I would bet you a weeks worth of beer there is not a broken part on your stove.

Tons of ash from a bag of pellets, REALLY?

Now lets get to the problem so explain how the stove shuts down and does not re light? How about telling me all the parts in the venting system including diameter and brand of pipe. Where is the stove located in the house? Who installed the stove?

Eric

ON DAY ONE I WAS ON THE PHONE WITH THE DEALER! [notice the yelling]. thanit ran fine for a few weeks and then problems resurfaced. I stopped at his shop and he advised I use a different brand of pellet. I have spoken to the dealer a few times and it always the same... buy my pellets. the stove was installed by a company the dealer recommended. I also called the 1-877 number to ask for a refund and was told I needed to buy replacement parts and try to fix it before any kind of refund can even be discussed. I was getting up half hour early in the winter to work on the damn thing to get heat into the house before I went to work. at one point I hit the side of the top of the stove and pellets began to drop. I concluded the switch wasn't engaging. my conclusion is that the cab 50 is just cheaply made product from a company that doesn't stand behind their work. for the money I spent I should have had heat in the past winter. I PAID FOR A PELLET STOVE TO HEAT MY HOUSE, NOT FOR A STOVE I NEEDED TO WORK ON notice the yelling.

 

[coldinmich]

ON DAY ONE I WAS ON THE PHONE WITH THE DEALER! [notice the yelling]. thanit ran fine for a few weeks and then problems resurfaced. I stopped at his shop and he advised I use a different brand of pellet. I have spoken to the dealer a few times and it always the same... buy my pellets. the stove was installed by a company the dealer recommended. I also called the 1-877 number to ask for a refund and was told I needed to buy replacement parts and try to fix it before any kind of refund can even be discussed. I was getting up half hour early in the winter to work on the damn thing to get heat into the house before I went to work. at one point I hit the side of the top of the stove and pellets began to drop. I concluded the switch wasn't engaging. my conclusion is that the cab 50 is just cheaply made product from a company that doesn't stand behind their work. for the money I spent I should have had heat in the past winter. I PAID FOR A PELLET STOVE TO HEAT MY HOUSE, NOT FOR A STOVE I NEEDED TO WORK ON notice the yelling.

as far as the tons of ash remark, I cannot burn one bag through the stove without cleaning the ash out so it doesn't spill into the firepot. usually 1.25 bags require two ash, firepot, and glass cleanings.

 

[Lake Girl]

Cold, we need more info on your exhaust set-up to be able to give you ideas on what's going on with your stove (there are several pellet stove repair techs on the forum). Diameter, total length, elbows... do you have an outside air kit (OAK for short)?

Pellet brand usually does not make that big a difference on amount of ash - usually more of a difference of color and density of ash (softwoods lighter color and burn hotter). What brand did you use and what is the dealer recommending? Did the dealer even come out to check the stove and bring some "golden" pellets with him? If you ever talk to the folks at the manufacturer, you should make them very aware that dealer support has been horrible. There are places on the net where you can leave comments about dealers so someone else doesn't get stung too. Feel free to mention the dealer here too so others that are researching can avoid them...

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You could have something as simple as the door not closing properly against its gasket.

A pellet stove must have the proper air flow through it to operate correctly anything that interferes with that air flow causes a bad burn, bad burns result in lots of ash, black soot, and burn pot buildup.

The stove you have has what is basically Quadrafire guts inside it.

Things that interfere air flow are:

Bad gaskets, loose or failing latches, ash in the exhaust system which starts just above the burn pot, a blocked or partially blocked air intake, a house that suffers negative pressure if the stove doesn't have an OAK installed (this can be hard to nail down because it is controlled by a number of factors all of which are coming together in your house (things like operating exhaust fans, number of floors and location of the stove on a lower level, how well the house is sealed, and so on), altitude at the house location (there are usually ways to handle even this).

While pellet quality does play a part in how well a stove burns it is usually low down on the problem causing end of the spectrum (more apt to be an issue if the pellet maker is new, just recovering from damage to their plant, or is using some form of reclaimed materials other than sawdust from a milling operation). This is also about the easiest to change, buy a few bags of a different pellet and try them. The one thing that is directly related to a particular pellet being burned is the amount of ash produced. There is a 5 to 1 ratio in ash produced across the range of pellets out there marked premium grade. Just because ash is being produced doesn't mean it has to cause trouble, your stove should be ejecting most of the ash from the burn pot, those sparkles that should be seen above your burn pot when a fresh load of pellets is dropped into the burn pot. This is also powered by the air flow through the stove.

 

[Delta-T]

be aware, stoves do not make ash, pellets make ash when they burn. good combustion usually leads to fluffy, powdery ash (assuming the pellets are decent). poor combustion usually leads to black, sooty ash that can be very clingy.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

ON DAY ONE I WAS ON THE PHONE WITH THE DEALER! [notice the yelling]. thanit ran fine for a few weeks and then problems resurfaced. I stopped at his shop and he advised I use a different brand of pellet. I have spoken to the dealer a few times and it always the same... buy my pellets. the stove was installed by a company the dealer recommended. I also called the 1-877 number to ask for a refund and was told I needed to buy replacement parts and try to fix it before any kind of refund can even be discussed. I was getting up half hour early in the winter to work on the damn thing to get heat into the house before I went to work. at one point I hit the side of the top of the stove and pellets began to drop. I concluded the switch wasn't engaging. my conclusion is that the cab 50 is just cheaply made product from a company that doesn't stand behind their work. for the money I spent I should have had heat in the past winter. I PAID FOR A PELLET STOVE TO HEAT MY HOUSE, NOT FOR A STOVE I NEEDED TO WORK ON notice the yelling.

The CAB50 is an awesome unit for the money. It is not the best unit or the worst unit out there but the best for the money. DO NOT mess with the computer, do not hit it, and do not bypass components unless you know what might happen. Remember you are bringing fire into your house. What components do you have in the venting? If you want help please answer the questions we ask. FYI if I hit anything hard enough I will see something fall out, trust me!

FYI a pellet STOVE is not designed to heat a house. It is an appliance that has limits just like refrigerators and AC units. The other factor is how it was installed and just cause you paid for an install does not mean it is correct.

Please answer the questions if you want this problem solved.

Eric

 

[St_Earl]

just finished my second winter with the PS50,. same stove, smaller hopper.
the only problem i have ever had was one single pellet jam at the top of the auger.
i am very happy with my stove.

while it is a budget model, it is not cheaply/poorly made.

folks like eric who just posted are a great resource. and as you can see, very patient.
hopefully you can sort through the issues.

getting ahead a bit here, but after you get the burn fixed, you might notice from reading here, that distribution of heat is a whole different issue people have to factor in.

there are several threads on moving the air throughout the space.
good luck.

on this forum you have the ear of people who do this for a living. and do it well.
the FREE advice people get here is one of the things makes this place the best hearth site around.

*i don't want this post to distract from eric's just above. his and the other's questions are the real starting place to get to the solution.

 

[mattyice5290]

maybe you shouldve spent an extra couple hundred bucks and got a harman heatilators are hhts attempt to compete with the big box stores they are cheap poor heaters but the price point is low