In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Quadrafire Contour Starts and dies out because it stops feeding pellets? Comments?

Discussion in 'Pellet Stoves, Pellet Fireplaces, Pellet Furnaces' started by don2222, Jun 23, 2014.

  1. don2222

    don2222

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    Hello

    Working on this Quad Contour. I did a little rewire because I did not like the fuse. :)
    http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/for...-to-re-wire-this-old-aladdin-quadrafire.4657/

    The stove fires and starts feeding pellets when the T-Stat terminals are jumped.

    Tried cleaning the thermocouple cover but still did not work. Also changed control boxes and still did not work.

    Could it be a bad thermocouple? Any good way to test? How many millivolts should it read with a flame present?

    I heard if you pull the Thermocouple cover off and put a flame under it, then a meter should read 15 - 18 Millivolts?

    See pics below. Click pics to enlarge:
     

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  2. don2222

    don2222

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    Ok, this is being a tough one, so we havee to roll up our sleves!
    Luckily I have a good stove to compare this one to, so I pulled out the butane lighter and the Digital Multimeter with the Millivolt scale!
    Also the stove under test did not have a TCouple support bracket so I made one.

    It appears that a good TCouple goes from 0 to 18-22 millivolts DC

    Stove issue
    Stove starts, auger turns and feeds pellets during startup and pellets catch fire.
    Then pellets stop feeding and fire dies out and stove shuts down.

    Here is the diagnosis.
    Checked all snap discs and vacuum switch. All test good. Also new wiring harness was installed to eliminate bad connections and installed correct fuse holder.
    Lighting the TCouple tip, I could see the voltage rise from 0 to approx 22 milivolts DC on both stoves. Therefore TCouples seemed good.
    Tried known good control box and still same problem.
    Removed auger for service. Completely wire brushed cleaned, ground down a little pox and smoothed with emory coth.
    Then used Dry Moly spray to protect and further smooth auger. Also lubed motor bearing with light weight machine oil.

    Result of auger service.
    Stove ran longer before it died and fire went out. Stove got hot and convection blower came on for the very first time.

    Final test
    Using moles to spade connector, plugged AC test cord into auger motor right after failure and motor still did not turn.

    Summary
    Auger motor heat failure. When stove heats up, the auger motor quits.

    Could it be anything else? Any comments?

    Pic 1 & 2 - Working Stove Testing ThermoCouple Near max DC output with tip engulfed in a flame
    Pic 3 & 4 - Working Stove Testing ThermoCouple Near max DC output with tip engulfed in a flame
    Pic 5 - New Stainless Steel Burn Pot bolts. Old Bolts were worn!
    Pic 6 - New SS Bo;ts and cleaned Thermocople with new support bracket.
     

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    Last edited: Jun 23, 2014
    RockyMtnHigh likes this.
  3. RockyMtnHigh

    RockyMtnHigh

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    Hmmm, rare but not impossible. I've seen them run backwards every 3 cycles more than I've seen them quit when warm but...
     
  4. DexterDay

    DexterDay Administrator

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    Backwards. Or not getting hot enough, fast enough?

    If it doesn't get to temp quick enough? It goes into shutdown.
     
  5. don2222

    don2222

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    It definitely got hot enough in the last test when the convection blower came on. Just got confirmation from one of my big hearth buddies that heat failure does happen quite a bit. Granted the quad feed motors last a very long time but now that I think about it, the shed feed motor had the same failure after 14 years! Anyone have a new feed motor lying around?
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2014
  6. don2222

    don2222

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    Hello

    "The Auger Motor failed when hot"


    Works Perfect now - See pics of new auger motor and firebox new paint.
     

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