Quad Santa Fe review

4124elad · Oct 29, 2008

Hey Folks

This is my first post here.

Craig prompted me with a very nice e-mail.

So I will relate my experiences with my Santa Fe

I purchased it on 4/04/08 for 2432.85 with everything needed to do the install myself. It came with ten bags of pellets (energex) but they would have given me a ton. The dealer in Danvers Mass has since given me bags of pellets to try from most every supplier of pellets.

I abused the stove for the first half ton of mixed pellets.

Have installed it in a 14x48 mobile home. It will drive me out of the living room and Kitchen space any time I choose to crank the cheap thermostat that came with the stove.

I have burned a ton of pellets and a hundred pounds of corn through this stove to date.

The Santa Fe does make some noise and seems to be putting alot of heat up the chimney. It has a pretty high air fuel ratio from my observations and reasearch.

However, the stove is a really nice companion if you take care of it. Clean the burn pot once a day and vacuam the ash once a week and the stove will burn any type of pellet you through at it. That is good advice for any wood burning appliance.

Owning any pellet stove will involve your participation. The stove needs your attention and cannot be attended to once a year like your oil furnace.

If you just dump the burn pot and vacuam the ashes when the glass needs cleaning the the Santa Fe or any pellet stove will do what it is designed to do. If you want to fill and ignore then your not ready for a pellet stove of any kind.

Any pellet stove needs your thought and understanding about what is going on to heat your home.

From my experiences to date. The Santa Fe is a nice foolproof stove When you abuse it it just shuts down.

It will burn anything that you through at it and suck up the fines also.

My only problem with dust is from the end of the bags.

More to come later

Elad

kt1i · Oct 29, 2008

Wow, I guess that you have abused it. I agree that it is a good working stove, the only problem that I have had is the burn pot door sticking. I have found that a shot of WD40 will free it up. I am burning Canadian softwood pellets and get very little buildup in the burnpot mostly some fly ash above. Just a few minutes attention every few days seems to do it. The hopper holds JUST one bag of pellets, wish it was a little larger, but I just fill it when necessary. I have been running it on medium setting since it turned colder and letting the setback thermostat do it's thing. Al in all, a good stove.

4124elad · Nov 11, 2008

To continue my review I would like to tackle the burn pot door.

Sometimes I have a problem working the door. Sometimes I do not.

The reason in my (disturbed) mind is:

1. The burn pot is a cast iron part.

2. The door is a piece of plate steel.

These two part expand an contract in different manners according to how many cycle they have been through.

The plate steel is really the culprit. It parks itself in a completly different way every time one cools the stove off for cleaning.

One day it sticks the next it does not. Lubricants will not change this.

Adding a shim or two might make the lever move freely at all times. However, you now have modified the stove, voided your warranty, and made any insurance claim a bit dicey to say the least.

If you want to modifiy your stove you are responsible. You might very well find yourself talking with an insurance investigator. That person does not have your interests at heart and is very good at doing his/her job.

My solutions for dealing with the plate when it does become sticky is:

Do not force anything.

Loosen everything in the burn pot. If the lever still does not want to move then try a little downward pressure while working the lever. If it does not want to move I then just vacuam the burn pot and proceed to cleaning the rest of the stove.

If you force the plate open then make damn sure you have closed it when your done. Reach in and work it back and forth until it is fully closed. Make sure it is closed by feel and observation.

Any pellet stove is going to need your full involvment to keep it clean and safe. Maybe ten minutes a day to keep a pellet stove happy. Much less than a wood stove.

However, any pellet stove is going to need daily maintenance. This is not hard. It is a commitment though.

So far with proper attention my Quad Sante Fe is quite pleasant to have in my home.

Have to go now It is firing up now.

kt1i · Nov 11, 2008

I agree, Quadrafire should hear these comments and do something about it. Yes, you certainly do want to make sure that it is completely closed, otherwise no vacuum and no fire.

slls · Nov 11, 2008

I have the same basic burn pot, maybe a little larger. When I pull the pot dump and it binds it means there ash build up on the plate, that is the reason for the dump, to dump ash. I push and pull it a few times and it is free again, some times I pull it and no bind, means no hard ash. More than satisfied with my Quad.

moralleper · Nov 11, 2008

I loosened the nut that holds the bottom plate in place, then I put 2 business cards in between the plate and the pot and retightened, removed cards, I have had no issue with the door since I did this. I believe the manual says to do a similar procedure for this issue.

ssupercoolss · Nov 11, 2008

i too have had to adjust the nut and bolt on the burn pot lever. i too have run tons, like 12-15, sometimes 50/50 corn or more so on the corn side for a while. i think if you droped rocks in the hopper, they would not jam the stove up, but find thier way into the burn pot. my circuit board fried once, due to a power surge. i reccomend a surge protector. other than that i just dump pellets into it. clean like mentioned above, and it keeps me warm. a very good, solid stove. the rumor i heard on another board was that there is a sante fe sitting in the manufacturers plant, that they run nuts and bolts in show that the auger is pretty stout. the guy has no affiliation with quad, but claims he has seen it. and replace the crappy thermostat that comes with it, that one has too big of a swing.

kbjelka · Nov 13, 2008

I just had the burn pot door stick on my Quadra-fire Castile Insert so bad it would not budge. Pulling the lever I could see the whole floor of the stove flex. After reading a few posts I was ready to bust out the wrenches but upon closer inspection I could some build-up on the bottom plate. I can only describe this as somewhere between varnish and cement. Being new to the pellet scene I'm still learning the maintenance routine. With a wood stove A good hot burn takes care of most build-up. I had to scrape and chip the hell out of this thing to get the bulk of it off. Once I worked most of it away the pot door opened like new. This whole thing makes me question if changing the door gap is the right approach for all sticky door issues on a Quad. You might want to try giving the bottom door a really good scraping first.

Shortstuff · Nov 13, 2008

Exactly my experience too Groundhog. When I clean my burn pot every few days I notice this black hard tar-like buildup in spots on the bottom plate and the rear angled portion and use the tool that came with the stove to scrape hard to get it all off. It takes a little work, but I have not had my plate stick on me one time. I would also guess that if I had to loosen the plate to allow it to slide then I'm allowing more air into the bottom of the burn pot which could throw my air mixture out of wack.

Happy heating!

Steve

welshcob · Nov 13, 2008

Wow! And I thought it was just me and my Clean Fire pellets....I run the pot cleaner once or twice a day and often have a real problem with it, to the point of taking a hammer to get it back in there. I have discovered that yes, pushing it DOWN a little bit seems to help - as I get more accustomed to the whole process I seem to have fewer problems. Guess both the stove and I are being "broken in".

4124elad · Nov 13, 2008

My son who currently installes Quads had this to say:

Some (not all) of the Santa Fe and Castille augers are just a little too long and tend to bind up on the seam inside the auger tube, we only shorten them a 1/4inch if even that much, normally just cut em with a hacksaw then file the edges smooth again, bench grinder would be the best tool for the job though. If your not having a problem with yours then I wouldnt even worry about it.

As for the burnpot bolts, we only replace them when they snap (oh and do they like to snap!) when we have to loosen a burnpot flap that is either way to tight (like yours) or needs a slight adjustment. They only snap when they've been in a stove that has run for a few years though, tend to get rusty so we replace them with stainless hardware on re-assembly.

There is no actual repair manuals that I am aware of, all we have is the owners manuals, really isnt too much of a need for a repair manual. The stoves are extremely easy to troubleshoot and work on, not too much you can repair, most problems just require part replacements
.....................................

Personally I believe the burn pot door problem is a combination of the plate steel heating and contracting and build up of carbons and such.

You can pull the ash pan and help the thing along with one hand while working the lever with the other.

If I was going to replace the bolt. I would use a silicon bronze bolt.

Having been a proto-type machinist for many years I know it is easier to drill a bronze bolt out of a casting than any other type.

kbjelka · Nov 13, 2008

Shortstuff said:
Exactly my experience too Groundhog. When I clean my burn pot every few days I notice this black hard tar-like buildup in spots on the bottom plate and the rear angled portion and use the tool that came with the stove to scrape hard to get it all off. It takes a little work, but I have not had my plate stick on me one time. I would also guess that if I had to loosen the plate to allow it to slide then I'm allowing more air into the bottom of the burn pot which could throw my air mixture out of wack.

Happy heating!

Steve

I'm with you Steve. I think an air gap in the bottom of the burn-pot would tend to mess up the air mixture and vacuum. Tar-like is a perfect description of what I saw. I ended up grabbing a screw driver as the Quad tool did not seem up to the job. I am thinking of picking up a small chisel for this chore. Also thought a Dremel tool might work on those really tough build-ups and I've been looking for an excuse to buy one. Despite this and a few other learning curve items I'm not complaining, sure is a hell of a lot less work than my wood stove.

-Ken

slls · Nov 13, 2008

Groundhog said:
I just had the burn pot door stick on my Quadra-fire Castile Insert so bad it would not budge. Pulling the lever I could see the whole floor of the stove flex. After reading a few posts I was ready to bust out the wrenches but upon closer inspection I could some build-up on the bottom plate. I can only describe this as somewhere between varnish and cement. Being new to the pellet scene I'm still learning the maintenance routine. With a wood stove A good hot burn takes care of most build-up. I had to scrape and chip the hell out of this thing to get the bulk of it off. Once I worked most of it away the pot door opened like new. This whole thing makes me question if changing the door gap is the right approach for all sticky door issues on a Quad. You might want to try giving the bottom door a really good scraping first.

You must have a pellet problem, Energex or a little Pennington has never built up carbon like that in mine. Either that or you don't pull your dump often enough, mine 3-4 times a day.

kbjelka · Nov 14, 2008

slls said:
Groundhog said:

I just had the burn pot door stick on my Quadra-fire Castile Insert so bad it would not budge. Pulling the lever I could see the whole floor of the stove flex. After reading a few posts I was ready to bust out the wrenches but upon closer inspection I could some build-up on the bottom plate. I can only describe this as somewhere between varnish and cement. Being new to the pellet scene I'm still learning the maintenance routine. With a wood stove A good hot burn takes care of most build-up. I had to scrape and chip the hell out of this thing to get the bulk of it off. Once I worked most of it away the pot door opened like new. This whole thing makes me question if changing the door gap is the right approach for all sticky door issues on a Quad. You might want to try giving the bottom door a really good scraping first.

Click to expand...

You must have a pellet problem, Energex or a little Pennington has never built up carbon like that in mine. Either that or you don't pull your dump often enough, mine 3-4 times a day.

I don't think it's the pellets. I'm burning Lignetics Hardwood pellets and the general consensus I've read is they are among the best of the best. I usually only dump and scrape the burn-pot once a day but I think that is Quad's recommendation. Sounds like I am not the only one to see build-up on the burn-pot floor. Maybe you burn yours hotter, mine has been on low recently due to mild temps.

slls · Nov 14, 2008

I burn medium only, why use low on thermostat. In warm weather the stove maybe off for 3-4 hours, other than that I still burn medium.

kbjelka · Nov 14, 2008

Seems like low provides less cycling and more even heating in my house when the temps are above 40. I have also found it burns less pellets on low than medium on those warmer nights. The installer suggested low before thanksgiving, medium through christmas and high in the dead of winter was a good rule of thumb for around here. Obviously some days are colder in a given month and vice versa. Still getting a feel for the best settings myself but I think the low is working best when it's above 40 outside. I am not convinced that the low setting is to blame for the burn-pot residues, just one possibility.

slls · Nov 14, 2008

I am curious at what point in the winter the medium setting will not keep the house warm running constantly. Medium really throws out lots of heat, I don't think that will happen.
I plan to run my oil furnace this winter when we have severe cold waves, -10 to-20 below, after all this is just a space heater. I remember in my younger years heating a whole house with a K1 pot heater, we had to bundle up when -30 below.

alexdrozd · Nov 14, 2008

Has anyone tried deburring the holes in the burn pot to quiet it down a little? My dealer said this might work because the edges of the holes are sharp. Use a file or dremel tool. It may reduce the whistling because of a smoother surface for the air to flow over?

tonyd · Nov 15, 2008

I did on mine. Used an over sized drill bit in hand and eased the edges. Get a burn pot gasket before you remove the pot. No problems with annoying whistling.

4124elad · Jan 8, 2009

Well folks it turns out that my sante fe was not up to the task of heating under 700 sqaure feet.

Once the temps hit zero the stove could not compete with my propane stove rated for the same output.

I had a long talk with the dealer who sold me the stove.

Having purchased this stove instead of the larger stove on his recomendation we eventually began to have a conversation worth repeating.

Turns out the Sante Fe never heats the square footage it is sold to.

Unless.......................

You simply change the setting on the control board from six to seven.

By making this change it slows the combustion blower and increases the feedrate on the auger.

If you want more heat out of your Sante Fe then pm mail me and I will show you how to do it.

NHenergy · Jan 8, 2009

Groundhog said:
I just had the burn pot door stick on my Quadra-fire Castile Insert so bad it would not budge. Pulling the lever I could see the whole floor of the stove flex. After reading a few posts I was ready to bust out the wrenches but upon closer inspection I could some build-up on the bottom plate. I can only describe this as somewhere between varnish and cement. Being new to the pellet scene I'm still learning the maintenance routine. With a wood stove A good hot burn takes care of most build-up. I had to scrape and chip the hell out of this thing to get the bulk of it off. Once I worked most of it away the pot door opened like new. This whole thing makes me question if changing the door gap is the right approach for all sticky door issues on a Quad. You might want to try giving the bottom door a really good scraping first.

If you have build up like that, you are not cleaning it properly or using garbage pellets. Daily means EVERY day, not every day you feel like it.

vt657 · Jan 8, 2009

We recently had a cold snap with the temps staying around zero and the wind blowing. I thought our Santa Fe did a good job heating our 1000Sq/ft ranch house. The stove is situated in the living room, with it running on high the living room was around 72 and the furtherest bedroom from the stove was around 65. We have found however, that running our living room ceiling fan makes a big difference in heating our house.

www_godzilla · Jan 10, 2009

I just picked up my stove yesterday. What a groan that was to get it into my house. I didn't see any "Made in China" signs on it. I'm just waiting on my tiles that we special ordered. I would have had this all done prior,but I have been so busy with another project. I'm looking forward to doing this.

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