Quadra-Fire Castile Question...

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kbjelka

kbjelka

Feeling the Heat
Jul 10, 2008
258
Western CT
I noticed that my new Castile is sucking some fly ash embers into the exhaust vent area at the lower right corner of the right side cast brick back plate. The plate has a slight gap near the bottom on the right. Any of you other Castile owners ever see the same issue?

Thanks
 
The same with my Castille and I believe that it is 100% normal. Behind that cast-iron plate (on the right side) you'll see the actual exhaust fan which during a weekly cleaning can be quickly vacuumed out too. That's why the fly ash builds up more on that side/corner.

This is our first season with our stove and so far it is performing beyond our expectations. We are very pleased!

Happy heating!

Steve
 
I've had my Castille insert for about 2 months now, and I noticed the same thing on my back plates. I've removed them and cleaned behind the plates as shown on the video that came with the unit. There was some ash behind them, but I've only used about 5 bags of pellets so far, so I would think thats normal. I dont think you can get a perfect tight seam on those plates due to the way you have to put them in and remove them, however mine do fit nice and snug, and the amount of ash I found behind the plates was very minor, I could have put off cleaning that area much longer I would think, but I clean the unit regularly as recommended to keep it working smoothly.
 
This does happen to some extent although there is a gasket on that side. most of the fly ash in the fan comes up over the top (around heat xchangrs) through the vent path. pellets esp poor quality pellets equals more fly ash. burning a higher ratio of corn equals less fly ash at the cost of a clinker. If I use pellets only, I clean the exhaust path at least monthly.
 
shawnjhawn said:
This does happen to some extent although there is a gasket on that side. most of the fly ash in the fan comes up over the top (around heat xchangrs) through the vent path. pellets esp poor quality pellets equals more fly ash. burning a higher ratio of corn equals less fly ash at the cost of a clinker. If I use pellets only, I clean the exhaust path at least monthly.
Click to expand...

That's interesting, my Castile manufactured in June of this year has no gasket on either of the brick plates. I ended up loosening the hex bolt on the center brick plate surrounding the drop chute. I then shifted it counterclockwise a bit to try to close the gap on the bottom of the right side plate. This did close it a bit although it still sucks up an ember here and there. I figure that is as good as it is going to get.
 
I have never seen a gasket back there...? I have cleaned quite a few of these units.
 
Maybe that is the issue with mine. Can you post a picture the next time you do a full cleaning?
 
My stove also has a rope type gasket on both sides date of manufacture Aug 2008
Same gasket thats on the side and top of door.
I also get some fly ash back near right side of panel inside near blower hope this helps
 
Groundhog said:
Maybe that is the issue with mine. Can you post a picture the next time you do a full cleaning?
Click to expand...




the gasket is on the right next to fan
 

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Maybe the insert does not have that gasket, probably should based on my experience. I'll post a picture next time a take mine apart. The exhaust fan design is completely different on the insert which might explain the lack of the gasket.
 
It may be a new thing they added. I have worked on inserts and stoves (older models) and have never seen that gasket.
 
jtp10181 said:
It may be a new thing they added. I have worked on inserts and stoves (older models) and have never seen that gasket.
Click to expand...

My insert has a manufacture date on 06/08 and does not have one. I would love to find out if any newer inserts do. If so I wonder if the plate mounts changed to accommodate the new gasket. I can't tell if the mounts are different from the picture. I'll post a picture of mine next time I tear it apart for a cleaning.
 
Mine has the gaskets as well. Had it installed January 2008
 
It is intriguing the differences in structure betw fs and inserts. Mine is the fs. Keep it clean and it will function better, just like a carburetor
 
'06 Freestanding, has gaskets. You can use 3/4" generic door gasket to replace. It is very easy to suck these up with a shop vac when cleaning, just a thought?
 
GotzTheHotz said:
'06 Freestanding, has gaskets. You can use 3/4" generic door gasket to replace. It is very easy to suck these up with a shop vac when cleaning, just a thought?
Click to expand...

Good thought on the shop vac but I am 100% sure my insert never had a gasket there. It is very interesting, I will post a picture of the insert tonight for the group to check out. It looks like the exhaust fan is right there on the free-stander while on my insert the fan is about 6 inches back and through a chamber. Maybe the engineers thought the gasket is not needed on the insert due to the fan placement? I can only hope that people smarter than me are designing these. Seems to me that the gasket might help keep the exhaust path a bit cleaner. I may add my own. Any pictures of these gaskets would help. I sure wish Quadra-Fire provided better exploded parts views for these, I think the manual is seriously lacking in detail.
 
xpellet freakx said:
Groundhog said:
Maybe that is the issue with mine. Can you post a picture the next time you do a full cleaning?
Click to expand...




the gasket is on the right next to fan
Click to expand...

Take a look at my Castile insert manufactured 06/08. No gasket on either side.
 

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Ground, the stove looks very clean. My folks have the same one and they called tonight with stove 'issues'. I plan to go over and visit tomorrow and work on their stove, I'll post what I find. Love that white ash on the center brick, makes me think it is burning nice.
 
Ya know... now that you say your 06 stove has the gaskets and I'm looking at the pics... I think every castile I have worked on has been an insert. Seems most of the small stoves we have around here are Santa-FE's. Which is why I have never seen one with the gasket in it.
 
There was some issues with the Castiles having a very slow lazy flame. Quads fix to this was to do an upgrade that put the baffles at an angle so to speak. If your baffles are all squared you will not have the gasket material. But if your baffles are angled then you will have an extra piece of metal and the gasket material. Some dealers may have upgraded before installing to prevent the problem. It really does make the fire look alot better and not so much ash buildup inside the stove.
 
Would a dirty chimney liner be a reason for dirty glass. ive had my castile insert for 4 years and ive never cleaned he chimney. ive vacumed out the exhaust fan real good and cleaned it the whole stove every other day but havent cleaned the chimney. I just replaced the tadpole seal on the door but it still gets dirty after a few hours except along the bottom. My chimney is lined right up to the top about 20 feet or so.
 
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