Hi guys, hopefully this will be an easy one. I've got a QF 1000 that I have used for several years previously. I moved about 2 years ago and left my stove at the old place. I just recently made a trip back to pick it up to install in my basement at my new house (finally have my old house sold). I got it installed and the exhaust plumbed and was ready to fire it up. I loaded a fresh bag of pellets and turned the t-stat up. The exhaust fan came on and everything seemed normal, the igniter was even glowing away in the bottom of the pot. After a few minutes it shut down, no pellets ever came out.

To make a long story short, I checked the vacuum switch and it was working fine. I put my meter on the leads going to the feed motor and it showed it was only getting 8 VAC. I traced the leads all the way back to the j-box and then to the control box. Is there any way there could be 8VAC going to the feed motor, shouldn't it be getting line voltage (110 VAC?). I "hot wired" the feed motor to 110VAC and it runs fine and drops pellets just fine.

I'm thinking the relay in the control box has failed, anyone know which one it is? I'd rather try my luck at swapping it out before I toss some cash for a new control box for a 20 year old machine.

any more experienced thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob

I'm sure the real experts will be along soon, but my first thought would be a plugged vacuum hose I have had that problem a couple times on my Mt Vernon. I unplug the hose from the vac switch and shoot some air through the hose. Or possably the snap disc has to be reset.

jeff

Hi Cliff and welcome to the forum. From what you say, it does sound like the control box, but first i would unplug stove, and then try to re-seat the control box to make sure it didn't get jiggled part way loose, and is making a bad connection. I would also check the wire connections for loose, or corroded ends. As far as which relay it could be is beyond my capabilities. You would have to take it to someplace that knows about those things. If you know someone that has a box you could try would also help you eliminate the problem. There used to be a guy on the old forum going by the name RCA. He could fix them. You could try pm-ing him on the old forum to see if he is still around. Stay in touch. Kap

I thought like you Jeff, I jumped out the vacuum switch and checked the snap discs right off, but to no avail.

I think you're on it Kap. After digging into the j-box a bit further, I think the connection block in the junction box that connects to the control box is the culprit.

I think the connection block got a bit hot at some point and then the trauma of moving the unit 1000 miles strapped to the back of my suburban loosened up a few connections. I wiggled a few wires around and the neutral line coming in off the power cord was nearly severed and broke off. I traced out a few of the other wires that go to the motors and they are not making good contact. I think I know the problem, but I am thinking it will be hard to find another connection block. If you guys have any ideas, I would love to hear them.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll keep you fellas posted if I get the old girl fired up again.

Thanks,
Rob

Update: I just ordered one of these

classicapi.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=147

It's a perfect match to replace the connector to the control box. I'm planning on soldering pigtail wires on it and then filling the area around the connecting pins with epoxy to keep them from failing due to fatigue. I can then solder the old wires to the pigtails and heat shrink them to make a solid connection. That should well outlast the rest of the unit.

I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

Rob

You could of gotten new parts thru Quad also. Hope it works. Keep us updated.