QF 7100 Outdoor Air / Cold air Question

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kiltedpiper98

New Member
Dec 22, 2011
26
North Carolina
This is a great forum and I learned a lot while choosing which ZC fireplace to buy. I settled on the Quadra-Fire 7100. I have a newly installed Quadra-Fire 7100. Only had a few fires in it so far. However, there is cold air leaking out the front by the ACC lever when there is no fire, also there is a slight woodsmoke smell in the house without a fire in the FP.
I read one way to check if the outside combustion air shutoff is working is to start a fire with newspapers, then shut the outside air damper (clockwise on the knob) and the fire should go out, then rotate counter clockwise and it should start back up. It made no difference. After the fire died, and over two minutes after the OAK shutoff was closed, there was still a good draft present within the fireplace (I could see embers and the burned paper moving around).
My dealer said that he checked with Quadra-Fire and they said that when you shut off the outside air, the damper opens to inside air and the fire drafts that way.
I understood that the knob and shutoff were installed in the newer 7100s to prevent cool air drafts into the house from the unit when no fire was present, but if it just rotates to inside air, why would this help?
Thanks for your help on this!
 
kiltedpiper98 said:
This is a great forum and I learned a lot while choosing which ZC fireplace to buy. I settled on the Quadra-Fire 7100. I have a newly installed Quadra-Fire 7100. Only had a few fires in it so far. However, there is cold air leaking out the front by the ACC lever when there is no fire, also there is a slight woodsmoke smell in the house without a fire in the FP. I read one way to check if the outside combustion air shutoff is working is to start a fire with newspapers, then shut the outside air damper (clockwise on the knob) and the fire should go out, then rotate counter clockwise and it should start back up. It made no difference. After the fire died, and over two minutes after the OAK shutoff was closed, there was still a good draft present within the fireplace (I could see embers and the burned paper moving around). My dealer said that he checked with Quadra-Fire and they said that when you shut off the outside air, the damper opens to inside air and the fire drafts that way. I understood that the knob and shutoff were installed in the newer 7100s to prevent cool air drafts into the house from the unit when no fire was present, but if it just rotates to inside air, why would this help?
Thanks for your help on this!

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the 7100FP! There are several of us on here that have this unit; I am on my third season of burning w/mine as the primary source of heat for our 2900sqft house. Re: the OAK shutoff, I think you may have it backwards. Note on page 15 of the manual that rotating the knob on the bottom right "clockwise" opens the outside air (see diagram on that page--turn left is closed, turn right to open). If I do not have a fire going, like mine right now actually...our fire has been out since this am b/c it's not too cold right now...I slide the ACC lever ALL the way to the left (past the click, which still leaves it ~1/4 open) and then rotate the OAK knob counter-clockwise to the left to shut off the outside air/or as the manual says "to prevent cold air infiltration". This should pretty much shut down all air flow and drafts.

Let me know if this works, good luck! BTW, please post pics of your install...we love pics here. Again, welcome!
 
Now this is only a guess, but I suspect cold air is coming down the flue, not via the OAK. Air from the flue would bring with it the smell of creosote.
 
Thanks for the replies. I haven't quite finished the hearth area, but I will post pics once done. Interesting about your manual. The manual that I got online (off of hnh tech website) to read prior to the install, has on page 14, M.1. Open Outside Air by turning know counter clock-wise. When I first fired up the unit I did not have the faceplate on yet, backordered. I picked it up and installed in last Thursday and the sticker on the OAK knob showed, clockwise for open, CCW for closed. So this is in opposition to the manual, but the same as your manual.
When it is closed, I get a light smoke smell, with the ACC lever all the way left (I didn't feel a click or stopper, but I have to jiggle the lever a little to make it move).

LLigetfa, I would think that the air coming down the flue would be the only way to get air into the fireplace with the OAK closed. However when I rotated the OAK closed, and got some smoke smell, it was about 35 outside and 70 inside (no fire), so I would think that the draft wouldn't be down at that temp. My chase is insulated, but no the best, and I have a SL300 air cooled chimney. Also, there has only been about 4 fires in the unit, so I would hope not a lot of creosote build up.

The dealer thought that if I opened the OAK and opened the ACC lever all the way, that would allow the air to escape (OAK inlet is below the fireplace), and would keep the cold air infiltration down. I haven't tried that yet, but with the ACC lever to the left, and the OAK open I get enough air infiltration to move a candle flame.

So, I would rather not have the cold air infiltration, but I really don't want the smoke smell that I get with the OAK closed. Is there a way to stop air from coming down the flue, or is the ACC lever to the left or mostly closed supposed to stop that?

Thanks,
Jim
 
It sounds like there is a pressure balance problem with the house, that the neutral pressure plane is higher than the stove. The negative pressure can reverse the flue when there is inadequate makeup air to the home. I understand that people are reluctant to let in cold air, but the home needs it. Instead on concentrating on sealing up everywhere cold air can enter, find and seal up where warm air is escaping.
 
Ahh, I had a blower door test done a while back and they did say the house was tight. The smokey smell happened when I didn't have any devices running that exhaust to the outside (dryer, HVAC system (propane heat), bathroom fans, etc). However, I have thought about opening up a fresh air line to the utility room with a backdraft damper to let in outside air in the event of negative pressure (and to bring in fresh air). I guess I could test this by cracking a window and seeing if I still get the smoke smell. Should I crack a window above or below the fireplace, and how much time is needed to stabilize?
Thanks!
 
So, an update to my situation. We have been running the fireplace for almost a month now, definitely not continuous. I have not really noticed a smoke smell when the fireplace is off, and typically don't remember to close the OAK once the fire is out. I do notice a smoke smell a bit when I open the left door on a reload on more than a bed of coals, but I can generally reload on with the right door only without smoke. A few times, when starting the fire cold without proper newspaper knots and kindling, we have gotten a pretty bad backdraft with lots of smoke. We now make sure we use quite a few newspaper knots, and that has solved the situation.

Jim
__________
Quadrafire 7100
 
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