Baffle protector on a 7100fp

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Greg D

Member
Nov 20, 2011
14
Eastern PA
Hi all,

My name is Greg and this is my first post. I've been heating our house for 2 years now with a Quadrafire 7100 fp. I am really pleased, and as I get more ahead with the splitting, the experience gets even better. One minor question: The metal cross piece that protects the baffle board and fire blanket tends to tilt down and almost block the the holes of the first air tube. I thought it might be related to just expansion after a hot burn. The board and blanket rest on top of the bracket, and it hooks over the first air tube. As far as I can tell, I have it installed correctly. Any thoughts? Thanks, and I do enjoy all the helpful information here.

Greg
Zionsville, PA
 
Welcome to the forum Greg! I'm running a 7100FP and mine does this as well. Not a big deal as I usually just give it a gentle nudge back up w/my iron poker when I reload. During my last pipe cleaning at the beginning of the season I bent the tabs on the ends down ever so slightly, which seemd to have helped prop the cross-piece up a bit more and resist tilting down. If the baffle board is placed properly it should rest on inside edge of the cross-piece so there is no danger of it slipping out. The only issue is as you mentioned, possibly blocking the front burn tube holes.

I'm on my 3rd year w/the 7100FP heating a 2914sqft 1-story house. I think I've finally learned how to optimally operate this thing, most of which I've learned from this forum. This season I've been able to consistenly get 7-8hr burns, with enough coals in the am to simply put on splits and get running again. Some pics of my install in this thread: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/81729/

Please post pics of your install; we really love to see pics here! :) Here's a recent shot of mine w/our Christmas tree going up. Good luck!
 

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Attached are some pictures of our 7100, the old stove in the basement, current wood "storage" setup, and future storage thoughts. The mantle was a quick temporary install- just so my wife could put pictures there when we moved in. Someday, when I finish building our house... It hasn't gotten super cold here yet, but I have been able to keep the entire house right around the 70 degree mark, without having to turn on the electric baseboards. (A little bit of sweat goes a long way). The blower and ceiling fan really do a nice job of circulating air throughout the house.

When I built the structural concrete hearth, I core drilled a 6" hole through it (not fun) and connected a duct that we fabricated to the side auxiliary air opening of the unit to that hole, with the thought that if I ran the stove in the basement (which I only do occasionally), that the warm air generated from the basement stove would "pre-heat" the air for the blower. It turns out that I could feel a significant cold air leak from the bottom front grille of the 7100 every time the fire would cool off. I have since switched the lever to "room air" circulation and this cold air leak has been lessened. I still have plans for using the blower of the 7100 fp to circulate cool air from the basement during the hot summer months (central air from a fireplace?) We'll see if it pans out...

I notice that the automatic combustion control does not seem to go past the half-way point, and that it seems to based on a timer rather than responding to the temperature of the fire. Since my wood is not seasoned to full dryness (only 3-4 months), I rarely slide the air control below 50%. That said, I burn about 5 or 6 five gallon buckets full of wood a day. Last load goes in about 10:30, and most mornings, I can wipe the glass clean with a wet towel, and start kindling right up with the coals that remain at 6:30. I'm home during the day, and I load it up every 3-4 hours, after heating up the coals a bit. Fall and winter are my favorite times of the year.
 

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gregdigiacomo said:
Attached are some pictures of our 7100, the old stove in the basement, current wood "storage" setup, and future storage thoughts.

I notice that the automatic combustion control does not seem to go past the half-way point, and that it seems to based on a timer rather than responding to the temperature of the fire. Since my wood is not seasoned to full dryness (only 3-4 months), I rarely slide the air control below 50%. That said, I burn about 5 or 6 five gallon buckets full of wood a day. Last load goes in about 10:30, and most mornings, I can wipe the glass clean with a wet towel, and start kindling right up with the coals that remain at 6:30. I'm home during the day, and I load it up every 3-4 hours, after heating up the coals a bit. Fall and winter are my favorite times of the year.

Nice setup Greg! The new wood shed plans look great, what are the dimensions and how much wood will it hold (cords)?

The ACC is on a spring timer, not temp controlled, and only moves down to the 1/2way point on its own as you said. Well seasoned wood will make a HUGE and noticable difference. I rarely engage the ACC, even on start up, and if I do it's about .25inches over to the right past the mid point. Once the fire is going, I throttle things down by moving the slider air control left almost to close. The slider actually "catches" about 1/4 of the way before full close and that's where I tend to leave it and still get significant secondaries and flames out the burn tubes. At night, I stuff the box full...I mean packed. When it gets going, I throttle it down as mentioned before and can get 7-8hrs with enough coals in the am to restart again w/o kindling. During the day, I (or my wife) only put 1 or 2 splits in every 4-5 hrs or so to keep things going.

I am using the aux convection air (bottom duct on right of unit per the manual) and have a 6in flex duct run to a return in the floor of the furthest hallway in the house. Supposedly, according to the manual, this allows air to be drawn by the box/blower from another room than the room w/the unit to help facilitate convection and air flow/distribution. I have the aux/room slider at the bottom of the unit all the way to the right.
 
Blue2ndaries said:
gregdigiacomo said:
Attached are some pictures of our 7100, the old stove in the basement, current wood "storage" setup, and future storage thoughts.

I notice that the automatic combustion control does not seem to go past the half-way point, and that it seems to based on a timer rather than responding to the temperature of the fire. Since my wood is not seasoned to full dryness (only 3-4 months), I rarely slide the air control below 50%. That said, I burn about 5 or 6 five gallon buckets full of wood a day. Last load goes in about 10:30, and most mornings, I can wipe the glass clean with a wet towel, and start kindling right up with the coals that remain at 6:30. I'm home during the day, and I load it up every 3-4 hours, after heating up the coals a bit. Fall and winter are my favorite times of the year.

Nice setup Greg! The new wood shed plans look great, what are the dimensions and how much wood will it hold (cords)?

The ACC is on a spring timer, not temp controlled, and only moves down to the 1/2way point on its own as you said. Well seasoned wood will make a HUGE and noticable difference. I rarely engage the ACC, even on start up, and if I do it's about .25inches over to the right past the mid point. Once the fire is going, I throttle things down by moving the slider air control left almost to close. The slider actually "catches" about 1/4 of the way before full close and that's where I tend to leave it and still get significant secondaries and flames out the burn tubes. At night, I stuff the box full...I mean packed. When it gets going, I throttle it down as mentioned before and can get 7-8hrs with enough coals in the am to restart again w/o kindling. During the day, I (or my wife) only put 1 or 2 splits in every 4-5 hrs or so to keep things going.

I am using the aux convection air (bottom duct on right of unit per the manual) and have a 6in flex duct run to a return in the floor of the furthest hallway in the house. Supposedly, according to the manual, this allows air to be drawn by the box/blower from another room than the room w/the unit to help facilitate convection and air flow/distribution. I have the aux/room slider at the bottom of the unit all the way to the right.


You say you have the slider all the way to the right. Mine only goes about 1/3 the way right. Is this not fully opened?
I can feel the air being drawn into the duct I had run into the basement.

sorry for the hijack.


BTW... nice fireplace Greg
 
mecreature said:
You say you have the slider all the way to the right. Mine only goes about 1/3 the way right. Is this not fully opened? I can feel the air being drawn into the duct I had run into the basement.

sorry for the hijack.

BTW... nice fireplace Greg

mecreature, here's a pic of my aux air slider. in order for the slider to go all the way to the right, you have to take the fascia trim plate off and remove the set screw. There's a "convection air" lock screw that keeps the slider from going all the way to the right (see manual page 18 section "C")
 

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mecreature, I updated my previous post w/info re: the slider. There is a convection air lock screw that needs to be removed in order for the slider to move all the way to the right.
 
Blue2ndaries said:
mecreature, I updated my previous post w/info re: the slider. There is a convection air lock screw that needs to be removed in order for the slider to move all the way to the right.

I have read that over a few times. I wondered if the installer did it. I will take a peek.
thanks for the pic that is exactly what I wanted to see.
 
mecreature said:
Blue2ndaries said:
mecreature, I updated my previous post w/info re: the slider. There is a convection air lock screw that needs to be removed in order for the slider to move all the way to the right.

I have read that over a few times. I wondered if the installer did it. I will take a peek.
thanks for the pic that is exactly what I wanted to see.


I removed the screw and it all works as advertised..

thanks Blue2ndaries. I had if figured out just needed that pic to see.
 
mecreature said:
mecreature said:
Blue2ndaries said:
mecreature, I updated my previous post w/info re: the slider. There is a convection air lock screw that needs to be removed in order for the slider to move all the way to the right.

I have read that over a few times. I wondered if the installer did it. I will take a peek.
thanks for the pic that is exactly what I wanted to see.


I removed the screw and it all works as advertised..

thanks Blue2ndaries. I had if figured out just needed that pic to see.

Good to hear!
 
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