Quadra Fire pellet stove - fire goes CRAZY

[q-fire]

my guess is that you are the pro. I am not wrong. quadrafires just arent that good. you ever notice that as products progress a lot of changes are made? quadrafire does r&d in the field. and when i bought my stove I was told i can run 100% corn by quadrafire themselves. so once again you are wrong. How can you help people by telling them to go and pay 50 bucks an hour to fix their stuff. it may not be a diy site but i am sure any help people can get is worth it. why would they go to this site why not call quadrafire themselvs. so as the super guru you think you are if you help people by telling them how to fix it then you are a hipocrat. so maybe your reign is over. and who cares about how i write or spell. that is just a cheap shot.

[Stamas]

Hearth has some good advice. And leans towards safety.
His comments on typing weren't meant as a cheap shot, at least I didn't read it that way. It would help getting the gist of what you're trying to say. We all try and make these clearer.
Keep it civil.

[sparky7354]

When was it professionally serviced last?

serviced same day they put in a new board

[Quadrafire Joe]

Thanks Hearthman, that makes sense. Trying to find this much info anywhere else is impossible. This is a great site.

[SmoSki]

Been using our QFire Castile since 2002. Great Success. I read the manual early on, and glad I did. The comments about cleaning by kroneage were right on. I never thought of using the Castile for more then about a month or more without cleaning benhind the steel plates and the top heat exchange tubes. I've used 4 types of pellets, sometimes 30%corn, (had a residue in firepot with corn, so don't use them anymore). Some pellets work better then others, but all seemed to work.
I feel the imoprtant point is keeping the stove clean. While doing some preseason cleaning this year, I found a bit of ash in my vacum sensor line. Cleaned that out.
Listen to Hearthman though, I've found throughout these threads, you can get great advise from his posts.

SmoSki

[tricki77777]

I purchased a Quadra Fire pellet insert about three months ago. I had it installed and adjusted to where it kept my house like I wanted it, fire about three to four inches above the fire pot and convection blower on medium. About two days ago the blower started cutting off while the fire was still going and then coming back on. I called the dealer and he suggested replacing the heat sensor in the heat exchanger which I did. With the new sensor I continued to have the same problem. I again called the dealer and he said to increase the feed rate and run the blower on high. This fixed the problem of the blower cutting off while the fire was on. I would prefer to run the heater as I shad , been doing, medium fire and medium blower speed, any suggestions as to how I can do this without the blower cutting off.

[Bob Tompkins]

I purchased a quadra fire santa fe stove 2 years ago- it had problems right from the start. Fumes coming back into the house- after 2 visits tech tells me that the exhaust pipe has been re designed and needs a stuffing added to pipe! that fixed it, but they they acted I like I was an idiot!! 2 months into the stove stove's use and this problem started with the fire box running out of control (sounds like a jet engine running and wakes up everyone) I've had the fire dept. to my house over this stove (it sets off my my fire alarm's heat sensor) The dealer uses his son in law with a separate business to handle service work (it makes the buck easier to pass) They have been back at least 6 times and changed the control box 3 times or more. After they leave it will work ok for 2-3 days and then the fire starts the roaring, they keep making adjustments.....only tying to drag out any possible warranty. They're coming again tomorrow again and unless they find something actually wrong that they haven't tried before, I'll be taking them to court- people shouldn't have to diagnose Quadra Fire's problems!
I like the stove but I'm at wits end, after reading some of these post I realize That Quadra fire needs to resolve these issues for people at NO Charge and stop trying to pass the buck onto the end user. I have a quadra fire wood stove and love it, so perhaps they should stick to wood stoves.

[sysint]

...you ever notice that as products progress a lot of changes are made? quadrafire does r&d in the field. and when i bought my stove I was told i can run 100% corn by quadrafire themselves. ...

Well, you are right about Quadrafire doing R&D in the field. At least that's the result. Obviously their testing or hardware is not nearly good enough. Which is the plague of most of these units. To be fair there is no way corn and pellets are completely consistent.

But, I don't doubt that QF errs on the side of cheap instead of quality and I don't doubt your local place with where you bought the product told you 100% corn is A-OK. That's because they are "professionals" (quotes needed).

I have about 25 years in the HVAC business and if I didn't have that under my belt probably I would not have bought the QF Castile I own because there is virtually no way I get good service from authorized dealers in my area. QF seems to have shut off their customer support department years ago already. Actually, I'm lucky because one of the better guys posting here is located in my state. It probably only takes an hour travel time for him to get to my location.... so much for positives.

So, no doubt hearthman is rather good also, but he needs to face the facts that this part of the industry he is involved with is largely substandard.

Buyer-be-big-time-aware when considering buying a pellet stove.

[jtp10181]

when i bought my stove I was told i can run 100% corn by quadrafire themselves.

I did not see anywhere that you said what stove you have? The only stove Quad boasts will ignite and burn 100% corn is the Mt Vernon AE. I know this is true also, because in the showroom we burned an entire hopper of straight corn on and off through the course of a few days and it never had any problems. This was cleaned and dried corn specifically processed and bagged for burning in pellet stoves.

[airforcvt]

Thank you all for showing me I am not crazy. I have had Two Quadra Fire Pellet Stoves. The first one lasted for around 10 years without problems, until the end. Since we had such good luck with this stove, I invested in another Quadra Fire pellet stove. I am having problems with this stove. It is not three years old yet, but we began having problems with it almost immediately.

The biggest problem now is that it will not feed pellets correctly. The flame either burns too high, or else not enough pellets are fed to start the stove. The pot has overflowed with pellets on more than one occasion (such as this morning). I was horrified to see this when I went to check on the stove. I have had a technician come several times, and I am charged for a service call, but the stove has not been repaired. The Technician was there Wednesday of last week. He made it sound as though we were the ones responsible for the problems we are experiencing with the stove. In my experience, the ash has been white when there is normal burning. In the last three or four months, the entire stove has been black.

This stove requires more maintenance than the first one did. We clean the pot, vaccum the the feed box, clean the plates, empty ashes and everything else we have been told to do. The stove does not provide much heat, the blower is weak and it appeared it was "wheezing". It will burn properly during the day for a period of time, when we are there to keep an eye on it. I am constantly adjusting the feed rate of pellets because either we get too big a flame or else not enough of one and the stove turns off. It will take awhile for the stove to start when it turns off. Even when there is a huge flame, there isn't much heat coming from the stove, which is frightening.

What could it be? I printed some of the posts that I am going to take to the Technician and see if the problem can be repaired. I am so frustrated right now, I could cry. This stove is a huge investment, and I feel that if the Company knows there are problems with their stoves, they need to let us know. Does anyone have a clue?

[jtp10181]

What model?

Burning "black" is a dirty burn. This will usually be caused by lack of maintenance. The air flow path (intake or exhaust) is restricted somewhere. Usually when you experience and "over feed" situation it is also a maintenance issue. Its not that too much is being fed in, but the pellets are not burning fast enough due to a restricted air flow path.

Thank you all for showing me I am not crazy. I have had Two Quadra Fire Pellet Stoves. The first one lasted for around 10 years without problems, until the end. Since we had such good luck with this stove, I invested in another Quadra Fire pellet stove. I am having problems with this stove. It is not three years old yet, but we began having problems with it almost immediately.

The biggest problem now is that it will not feed pellets correctly. The flame either burns too high, or else not enough pellets are fed to start the stove. The pot has overflowed with pellets on more than one occasion (such as this morning). I was horrified to see this when I went to check on the stove. I have had a technician come several times, and I am charged for a service call, but the stove has not been repaired. The Technician was there Wednesday of last week. He made it sound as though we were the ones responsible for the problems we are experiencing with the stove. In my experience, the ash has been white when there is normal burning. In the last three or four months, the entire stove has been black.

This stove requires more maintenance than the first one did. We clean the pot, vaccum the the feed box, clean the plates, empty ashes and everything else we have been told to do. The stove does not provide much heat, the blower is weak and it appeared it was "wheezing". It will burn properly during the day for a period of time, when we are there to keep an eye on it. I am constantly adjusting the feed rate of pellets because either we get too big a flame or else not enough of one and the stove turns off. It will take awhile for the stove to start when it turns off. Even when there is a huge flame, there isn't much heat coming from the stove, which is frightening.

What could it be? I printed some of the posts that I am going to take to the Technician and see if the problem can be repaired. I am so frustrated right now, I could cry. This stove is a huge investment, and I feel that if the Company knows there are problems with their stoves, they need to let us know. Does anyone have a clue?

[terrahertz]

Not a QF tech, but have replaced many parts and do see the overfiring on occaision.
I've read many of your posts and must make the assumption that the install is according to code/ QF instructions. Number one- has a clean air feed, minimum 2 1/2" pipe for combustion to the outside air. Number two, is thoroughly cleaned at least once a year, minimum daily cleaning.
I have an older Contour, now called Santa Fe and a 1200.

The 1200 while very reliable, will produce the scary "whole box" flame on mine only when it is dead cold outside.

I've traced this back to a simple problem: the interval between cycling is not enough. This means that the thermostat is calling for heat without a MINIMUM of 5 minutes between cycles.
Solution here is to have a thermostat with it's internal offset adjusted correctly OR an external timer that will not allow the heater to call for heat more frequently than 5 minute intervals.
The 1200's firepot cannot rid itself of the glowing embers and ashes in less than 3-5 minutes of "rest" time.

This is obvious to the eye. So, if it's like 40 degrees outside, normal cycling should be maybe every 15 minutes or more.
If it's near zero outside, there will be a minimum interval between cycling, the ash will cumulatively build up and the next thing you know, the firepot is half full of ashes, it never fully burns down to the bottom. This is visible.

At this point I can expect huge flareups.

Have a look at what is remaining in the firepot to determine if this is the case. As soon as you hear the heater come on, look to see what is left in the firepot before it starts dumping in new pellets, it should be near empty.

Try to make a mental or written note of the cycling (i.e., one minute, five minutes, ten minutes, etc.) Time the cycle between when the heater combustion fan stops and comes back on.

If the bowl is empty and you overfire, look elsewhere. If it appears to already have residual ash, particularly glowing embers, then you're cycling too frequently.

Tom

[hurtback]

[QUOTE=bcb1;676031]I appreciate your advice. The first time I called (2 days ago) I got stuck with a low-level person that basically told me to check the resistor on the side of the control box and said "gee, we might have to get one of the tech support guys involved". Not real helpful.

I have a new santa Fe and am having the same problem with over feeding...

I have moved the feed plate as low as it will go by modifying it and still get an over feed condition on startup and on run setting.

I have a bleu plastic plug on the side of my control box and it has a copper jumper on top of that with some wax like glue???

The manual says nothing about the plug other than it might be a accessory jumper???

If I unplug it it really overfeeds and sounds like a rocket and fills the box with flames.

the copper bar jumper thingie just sits on top of the pins and is loose and not "pluged in" so if I stand there and hold it down it seems to feed ok...

Anyone know what this plug is and what it does???

Seems to me if it is a feed jumper they are taking a big risk by leaving a meltdown to such a poor conection.

[reddoor63]

I have aQuadra- Fire pellet stove, i replaced the old ceramic pot with areplacement steel pot kit, at start up i get sparks and some flame then it goes out, i pst the reset button it lights runs fine until it trys to start again CAN ANYBODY PLEASE HELP ME?

[hurtback]

do you get both temp lights on the controll box? if not it is the thermocouple. it is located on the edge of the pot. looks like a ceramic cap with two soldered wires inside.

[hurtback]

do you get both temp lights on the controll box? if not it is the thermocouple. it is located on the edge of the pot. looks like a ceramic cap with two soldered wires inside.

[sedort]

I have had many problems with my stove from day one. And dealer will not help and factory passes the buck to them. First of all the stove was manufactured 4 years from when I bought it almost 2 years ago. That should have told me to not even hook it up/
Flame is high than low, and dealer told me this is normal and have to live with it/
But I read there are new control boxes to install but know my dealer will not install/
The flame varies depending on the pellets I burn. Feed door is closed all the way and come time flames hit the top of the stove/
Plus depending on the size of the pellets it jams up and i have to put a clothes hanger up the chute to unjam them/
I know this stove should have a faster fan in it also , because it gets so hot from high flames.
.

[darthvader]

The high/low flames is somewhat normal, this is cause by variances in the amount of pellets in the particular section of auger that is at the top of the chute.

The stove does have over temp snap disks that will trip in the event that the stove "runs away" gets too hot.

high flames can be a sign that your stove is dirty, I'm not saying yours is just putting that out there, if you have any questions on cleaning this stove just ask.

if the pellets are consistently longer that 1.25-1.5 inches this can and will cause constant auger jams, try switching to a different brand of pellets if this is the case

[sedort]

I do notice less jamming with shorter softer pellets
But these flames often hit the top of the stainless plate , which I do not like and this is also more when I use certain pellets. I think I may grind the chute adjustment like one person did to keep it from hitting the top.
My son has the larger Quadrafire and never a problem.
Sorry I did not buy that one

[hurtback]

I have mostly solved my HIGH fire and lazy flame issues!!!

First i put in a replacment "round" fan that has more torque. $25 on ebay! I just got a fan with same specs. the problem was they all have a ccw rotation so i reversed the coil to clockwise rotation.

Second I had to beat the floor of the stove to make the pot fit flush since everyone pulls the lever so hard that it bends the mounting and causes an air leak.

still too much flame so i removed the pot and drilled out the holes the next size over and that cleaned the burnt on rust and hard crud. I also added 6 small holes in the floor of the pot like the castiles stoves have and that has fixed the lazy flame issues 100%!!! it also helped with the build up of klinker in the pot so I dont have to clean it 2 times a day.

I think I could add a few more holes and that would help burn up the ash in the bottom better and it also reduced the whistling noise the stove makes by 2/3rds.

it still makes the vibrating buzzing noise when starting up I will make some changes when I do the fan pull again after the season is over.