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Vermot castings stove won’t start

emaxxman00 | Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on September 27, 2009 05:21am

I have a Vermont Castings gas venting stove – model Radiance 2600. I can get the pilot to light. However, when I turn the main switch to on, it doesn’t heat up. It’s like the gas valve stays shut.

There is an on/off toggle switch on the back of the stove. Underneath the stove is a gas dial that has “off/pilot/on”.

The lighting instructions tell me to turn the electricity to the stove back on after lighting the pilot. What is strange is that there are no electrical supply lines to the stove. Never has been. I’ve used the stove in prior seasons so I know it has all that it needs to run.

What is supplying the electricity to this stove? Is there a battery in a back panel somewhere?

I don’t have the manual (previous homeowner didn’t leave one). Vermont Castings website is horrible and has documennts only for current models. My stove is at least 10-15 years old.

Any ideas?

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Replies

  1. renosteinke | Sep 27, 2009 06:35pm | #1

    I cannot speak to the mystery switch in the back, but I can explain the off/pilot/on control to you.

    You know how to get the pilot lit - great. Now, you need to turn that dial just a bit more to "on" for the valve to operate. Since it's been sitting all summer, you might have to give it a rap with a screwdriver handle.

    Where does the electricity come from? Look to the pilot flame. There needs to be a little metal rod sticking into that flame. That is the 'thermopile,' and is what generates the electricity to power the gas valve. If there's no heat on that thing, the gas gets cut off. That's why you need to hold the pilot valve for a bit when lighting the flame; you need to warm up that gizmo.

    There is also -usually- a second gas valve, thet you need to open manually. I have seen these valves let just enough gas through to light the pilot, but nothing else.

    1. emaxxman00 | Sep 28, 2009 04:55pm | #3

      The switch in the back is supposedly the on/off switch. From what I gather - based on the instructions from the previous homeowner - after the pilot is lit, you keep off/pilot/on dial in the on position. Then when you want use the stove, you hit the switch on in the back. I imagine that it's creating a closed circuit and therefore allowing the gas valves to open.The thermopile concept is interesting. Since I've only used it a few times in 10 years, I guess I need to let it heat up sufficiently. The pilot light actually has 2 flames. Once is pointing towards the burners and the is pointing to a metal rod of some sort...I guess that's the thermopile.I really wish Vermont Castings had the manual online.

      1. rdesigns | Sep 28, 2009 05:23pm | #4

        I have the same stove of the same vintage, and I've never had any trouble for 13 winters except something similar to yours.

        On mine, the pilot flame generates electricity for 2 devices: one is the thermocouple for the safety pilot, and the other is a thermopile that puts out enough current to operate a t'stat, which I suspect is the same thermopile that, on yours, goes to the on/off switch.

        When mine quit, it was nothing worse than poor electrical connections. All I have had to do is use a screwdriver to tighten/wiggle the connections, and it stats right up.

        If you suspect that the thermopile has failed, you can test its output with a millivolt tester.

        But do the simple stuff first.

        1. DanH | Sep 29, 2009 01:36am | #5

          Yeah, I was wondering if it might have both a thermopile and a thermocouple. No big need to, since the two are effectively the same thing (the thermopile is just a bunch of thermocouples, so it produces more juice), but using the two would permit using a more conventional gas valve, and would also make it easier to light, since you wouldn't have to wait for the larger thermocouple to warm up before releasing the red button.Certainly thermocouples fail on occasion, so I'd assume thermopiles can fail too. But, as you say, a bad connection is also likely, especially given how little juice you're dealing with and therefore how thin a layer of corrosion it would take to muck things up.
          As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz

      2. Hornet305 | Nov 06, 2011 05:35pm | #7

        Vermont Castings Paper on thermocouple/Thermopile

        Here a link to the FAQ sheet on the Vermont Castings Website explaining how the Thermocouple and thermopile work

        http://legacy.vermontcastings.com/catalog/elements/files/GasStoveFAQs.pdf

        Yes, I know this is several years after the original post, but in case somebody else has the same problem and is looking for it.  Also, on the valve body there are several connectors going to these devices. You may have corrosion on the connectors - so pulling them off and cleaning might help.

  2. User avater
    Dinosaur | Sep 27, 2009 10:31pm | #2

    I don't know that type of stove, but if there's an electrically controlled gas valve, there could be an electrical igniter. And there should be some sort of electrical power to the igniter.  ???

    Igniters do wear out and need to be replaced. Usually when the igniter doesn't draw at least a specified minimum number of amps, the gas valve won't open. It's a safety device to prevent gas being allowed into the stove when the igniter isn't hot enough to light it.

    If, OTOH, you've got a thermostatically-controlled gas valve, the pilot light has to heat up the bi-metal element enough to get the valve to open. If you have a bad back-draft of cold air blowing in through the exhaust stack or chimney, it could be blowing the pilot flame away from the thermostat and preventing it from getting hot enough.

    Dinosaur

    How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
    low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
    foolish men call Justice....

  3. dovetail97128 | Sep 29, 2009 05:57am | #6

    Spider nest in the gas valve?

    Life is Good
  4. tinkerbel55 | Oct 06, 2013 01:35pm | #8

    Need info on the older stove

    My stove happens to be an older Majestic that was manufactured by a Canadian Co. that has gone bankrupt and is not being supported by the Vermont Casting company. My puppy got under the stove and pulled some wires off. There are 2 cables that were diconnected. One has an odd connector on the end, the connector is a white plastic shaped in a Y. The top to legs of the Y are spade connectors and the bottom of the Y are 2 flat conductors separated by part of the plastic connector. I'm gussing that the bottom of the Y connector gets connected between the thermocouple and the control module.  So I guess I would have to loosen the thermocouple and slide the bottom of the Y in and tighten the thermocouple. The other cable has two spade connectors, one spade connector is attached to a red wire and the other spade connector is attached to 2 wires, one is black and the other is white. There appears to be 3 spades that I could Attach them to and the are on the side of the controller towards the front of the stove. Any help would be greatly appreciated.  

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