Cracked Baffle on Mount Vernon AE

I also have a cracked baffle on my Mt. Vernon AE. It's towards the top on one of the back support for the opening and is only a hairline crack. Dealer has one on order. The stove is covered for 5 years on these cast parts.

Teddy...where is your's cracked? Mine is cracked at one of the top tabs and Quad says it's no big deal and won't cover under warranty. I think I have another crack forming on the diamond. I can barely see it on the back side and will keep an eye on it.

BIH

I noticed mine cracking at the top near the exhaust at the end of last season. This season I noticed that a crack has also formed in the diamond. My dealer ordered and provided me a new replacement but who's to say that one won't crack? I'd be fine if I knew that they had a 'bad batch' but I'm just not sure that that is the case.

I purchased my Mt. Vernon this past spring and I have two cracks in the cast iron as well. My dealer has one on order for me and I should have it in 2-3 weeks. I do believe that it is either a defect in the design or an issue with the quality of the materials used in the manufacturing of the plate.

If its cracked on one of the little tabs near the air flow slot on the top its not a problem. If its cracked anywhere else it should be under warranty.

jtp10181 said:

If its cracked on one of the little tabs near the air flow slot on the top its not a problem. If its cracked anywhere else it should be under warranty.

Click to expand...

A crack is a crack.... the location of the crack in the cast iron plate should have nothing to do with whether it is covered under warranty. I have had my cast iron boiler for 16 years with no cracks

Quadrafire's cast parts are made in China according to a recent post. 'Nuff said.

my chinese pellet stove doesn't have any cracks yet...

kimeric said:

my chinese pellet stove doesn't have any cracks yet...

Click to expand...

I bragged about my 8 year old tv like that a few weeks ago and within days it broke. That message just started your soon to be coming crack ;-)

jackovalltrades said:

kimeric said:

my chinese pellet stove doesn't have any cracks yet...

Click to expand...

I bragged about my 8 year old tv like that a few weeks ago and within days it broke. That message just started your soon to be coming crack ;-)

Click to expand...

I knocked on wood as I was typing that

kimeric said:

jackovalltrades said:

kimeric said:

my chinese pellet stove doesn't have any cracks yet...

Click to expand...

I bragged about my 8 year old tv like that a few weeks ago and within days it broke. That message just started your soon to be coming crack ;-)

Click to expand...

I knocked on wood as I was typing that

Click to expand...

I HOPE you didn't knock on Chinese wood!....hahaha

The tabs near the top are for the casting process only. They don't serve a purpose other than that. Quad will not warranty the baffle if this is where it is cracked. Quad also suggest making sure the baffle is placed as centered as possible so the heat will not put uneven pressure on the baffle. They should remove the 2 tabs but then your just adding more cost the the stove.

balls of fire said:

The tabs near the top are for the casting process only. They don't serve a purpose other than that. Quad will not warranty the baffle if this is where it is cracked. Quad also suggest making sure the baffle is placed as centered as possible so the heat will not put uneven pressure on the baffle. They should remove the 2 tabs but then your just adding more cost the the stove.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the providing specifics. Your information is based on personal experience or conversation with Quad over this issue?

Went to Quad dealer training last summer and they filled everyone in on the baffle situation.

baffling

krooser said:

Quadrafire's cast parts are made in China according to a recent post. 'Nuff said.

Click to expand...

Dead Wrong. SOME of the stoves (one or two models I know of) are assembled in china. The parts come from various places all over the world. I have not heard of any casting being made in china. A lot of the electronics are made in the china unfortunatly.


balls of fire: thanks for clearing that up for me.

Rumor has it that this Baffle Plate is being redesigned by Quad. I also have a crack in the Baffle Plate but not in an area that will have an effect on the stoves performance. My dealer suggested that we wait until the new design is out before we replace it.

update... my second baffle now has a crack at the top on one of the tabs. didn't take very long :down:

I have just found the famous Mt Vernon AE crack, mine snakes up around the right side of the diamond. I have emailed a question on quadrafire.com asking if they are re-designing this baffle or what, and I am about to call the dealer here about replacement.
My questions to the forum in the mean time, are:
1) can I remove the baffle for cleaning without risking it falling apart?
2) does the crack have effect on gasses that make it into living area, or does the crack effect the burn?
Any advice is appreciated.

Mt Vernon AE made in Nov08 installed a couple of weeks later, first timer.

An email from quadrafire.com includes the following (in reply to query about whether a re-design of the cracking baffle in the Mt Vernon AE is in the works or not):
"Thank you for your inquiry.

We have not received any redesign information.

Regarding potential repairs of your appliance, we recommend that you work
with your local dealer. ... "

here is a pic of the crack, it rises from the top edge of the bottom opening, up along the sculpted ridge on the right side of diamond, and nearly up to the vent at the top of the baffle.

Would you chance lifting this baffle out to clean before the replacement arrives?

Macrovertigo, I don't like the looks of that. The cracks on mine have never been that long. Looks like you're going almost end to end.

That is one of the worst I have seen. If you need to keep using the stove I would drill a very small hole at the end of the crack to keep it from spreading to the top. If the baffle splits in two pieces and falls into your glass you could have a major problem. When can you get a replacement from your dealer?

accidental re-post pls ignore