A real NEWBE with a few questions.

[helismash]

First of all I want to say hello to everyone. My name is Rocco and I am a real newbe to the pellet stove world. A few weeks ago I had a Quadrafire Classic Bay 1200I insert put in my living room. I must say that I love it. Since my living room is upstairs along with all the bedrooms I opted to put a stove upstairs. So far so good and I love it. About a week later I decided to put one downstairs in the dining room and heat the downstairs as well and hopefully not burn hardly any oil. Downstairs I chose the Quadrafire Santa Fe. I realize there are better stoves out there but I did what I could afford. My dealer installed both stoves and really took some time and answered all my questions and showed me what I should be doing to keep it clean. As one would expect, when I put the Santa Fe downstairs, the stove upstairs does not run as much.

My first question is this, when the Santa Fe starts up, there is a slight smoke smell. I read the other topics and tracked it down to what looks like a small leak in the elbow at the joint. I read on one of the topics here that all joints should be calked. What calk should I use and why would my dealer not have done it when they did the install?

My second question deals with pellets. I am using Curran Hardwood / Softwood blend. According to the bag, they are premium pellets with an ash content on 1% or less. The bag also said the fines were less than 0.5% and a sodium content of less than 300PPM. I am paying $200 per ton picked up or $225 per ton delivered and stacked. Is this a good pellet or should I look for something else when these are gone?

Thanks in advance for any questions or comments anyone may have.

Rocco

 

[imacman]

Welcome to the forum Rocco, and congrats on the stove installs.

IMO, the easiest fix for a leak in an elbow is not to glop a lot of silicone all over it, but to simply buy a roll of furnace tape at the hardware store and wrap it around the leaking area. It can be painted as well if your pipe is black.

As for the Curran pellets, they are NOT an upper tier pellet....below average, IMO. I am currently burning Northern Pellets (Curran's re-bagged for Lowes), and they are NOT a great pellet. I'm getting by with them only because the temps outside are fairly high. But as soon as the weather turns cold, I'll be switching to better pellets.

If you want to see a comparison, take a look at Jay T's pellet testing links....The Curran's are listed in the first link....take a look at their burning temps:

www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/42511/

www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/50101/

 

[Trickyrick]

First of all I want to say hello to everyone. My name is Rocco and I am a real newbe to the pellet stove world. A few weeks ago I had a Quadrafire Classic Bay 1200I insert put in my living room. I must say that I love it. Since my living room is upstairs along with all the bedrooms I opted to put a stove upstairs. So far so good and I love it. About a week later I decided to put one downstairs in the dining room and heat the downstairs as well and hopefully not burn hardly any oil. Downstairs I chose the Quadrafire Santa Fe. I realize there are better stoves out there but I did what I could afford. My dealer installed both stoves and really took some time and answered all my questions and showed me what I should be doing to keep it clean. As one would expect, when I put the Santa Fe downstairs, the stove upstairs does not run as much.

My first question is this, when the Santa Fe starts up, there is a slight smoke smell. I read the other topics and tracked it down to what looks like a small leak in the elbow at the joint. I read on one of the topics here that all joints should be calked. What calk should I use and why would my dealer not have done it when they did the install?

My second question deals with pellets. I am using Curran Hardwood / Softwood blend. According to the bag, they are premium pellets with an ash content on 1% or less. The bag also said the fines were less than 0.5% and a sodium content of less than 300PPM. I am paying $200 per ton picked up or $225 per ton delivered and stacked. Is this a good pellet or should I look for something else when these are gone?

Thanks in advance for any questions or comments anyone may have.

Rocco

Take a look at the price of the sealer. The dealer is going to do the minimum needed to get you up and running and if he doesn't need to seal every joint then he will not. Some times the really small leaks do not show up on that first start up. It takes a couple heat histories to show up.

On the pellets they are not a bad pellet but you can find better and worse. You just need to sample some bags of what is available. find what works best and run with it. Not sure where in NY you are but I'm between hudson and Albany and there are quite a few options available and you can find which works best at the best price based on your cleaning schedule. The more you are willing to clean the lower quality you can use, especially in the insert.

 

[helismash]

Thanks for the fast replies! I am located in Gloversville, NY about 45 miles west of Albany. I am going to try other pellets as soon as I use up what I have. Unfortunately, I have 3 ton's of the Curran's. I wish I had known about this site BEFORE I bought stuff but live and learn I guess. I have been reading a lot here and I must say that I have learned a lot here. Here are a couple of pictures of my stoves.

Thanks again guys!

 

[tjnamtiw]

Since you had the stove professionally installed, I'd get them back in there to finish their job!
Nice looking installs. Is that a tile floor that the Sante Fe is sitting on and not linoleum? Make sure you get the stoves plugged into surge protectors ASAP to protect the electronics.
Your fire extinguisher IMHO should not be close to where there is a possibility of fire. You don't want to run INTO the fire to get the extinguisher. Put it across the room so you have it in hand when you go toward the fire. Hopefully, that will never happen.
I don't mean to be picky but it's just things that caught my eye. Nice installs, though. They look good.

 

[imacman]

.....Unfortunately, I have 3 ton's of the Curran's. I wish I had known about this site BEFORE I bought stuff but live and learn I guess......

Yes, for future reference only buy pellets AFTER you've test burned 2-3 bags first.

Stoves look great!!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Welcome to the forum Rocco.

About the pellet situation, you can try a couple of bags of several different pellets and when you find one that really burns well in your stove you can mix the Currans and the new one on a 1 to 1 Curran to new and use them that way.

But tell us how those Currans are doing in your stove. If they are fine you have two stoves to help through the cold times and they may work just fine for you.

On the smoke issue I really agree with tj but that can be like pulling teeth, so imacman has the solution that you can control, you want the 3M high temperature aluminum flue tape.

tj is also spot on about the fire extinguishers and the surge protectors.

 

[helismash]

Since you had the stove professionally installed, I'd get them back in there to finish their job!
Nice looking installs. Is that a tile floor that the Sante Fe is sitting on and not linoleum? Make sure you get the stoves plugged into surge protectors ASAP to protect the electronics.
Your fire extinguisher IMHO should not be close to where there is a possibility of fire. You don't want to run INTO the fire to get the extinguisher. Put it across the room so you have it in hand when you go toward the fire. Hopefully, that will never happen.
I don't mean to be picky but it's just things that caught my eye. Nice installs, though. They look good.

I will call tomorrow and have them come back to fix the problem. I don't think there wil be any problem as these guys have a pretty good reputation in this area.
The stove is sitting on a tile platform that the installers brought in. The floor in that room is a hardwood floor so they brought that platform in to set the stove on.
Great point on the fire extinguisher! I will move it to the other side of the room. What surge protector do you recommend or will anyone work? I have access to a couple of larger UPS's I could use in place of a surge protector. I thought that if the power went out, it would at least give me a few minuted to shut down the stoves if the power goes out.

imacman:
I plan on checking around for other brands of pellets this weekend. There are 6 or 8 places in the area I can get them.

 

[IHATEPROPANE]

Since you had the stove professionally installed, I'd get them back in there to finish their job!
Nice looking installs. Is that a tile floor that the Sante Fe is sitting on and not linoleum? Make sure you get the stoves plugged into surge protectors ASAP to protect the electronics.
Your fire extinguisher IMHO should not be close to where there is a possibility of fire. You don't want to run INTO the fire to get the extinguisher. Put it across the room so you have it in hand when you go toward the fire. Hopefully, that will never happen.
I don't mean to be picky but it's just things that caught my eye. Nice installs, though. They look good.

I will call tomorrow and have them come back to fix the problem. I don't think there wil be any problem as these guys have a pretty good reputation in this area.
The stove is sitting on a tile platform that the installers brought in. The floor in that room is a hardwood floor so they brought that platform in to set the stove on.
Great point on the fire extinguisher! I will move it to the other side of the room. What surge protector do you recommend or will anyone work? I have access to a couple of larger UPS's I could use in place of a surge protector. I thought that if the power went out, it would at least give me a few minuted to shut down the stoves if the power goes out.

imacman:
I plan on checking around for other brands of pellets this weekend. There are 6 or 8 places in the area I can get them.

Nice Stoves!!

I have a UPS and it works great. My stove really preferred the pure sine wave modelas opposed to the step-sine wave model.

 

[imacman]

What surge protector do you recommend or will anyone work? I have access to a couple of larger UPS's I could use in place of a surge protector. I thought that if the power went out, it would at least give me a few minuted to shut down the stoves if the power goes out.

imacman:
I plan on checking around for other brands of pellets this weekend. There are 6 or 8 places in the area I can get them.

Yes, if the UPS is large enough, it will work....make sure it has more wattage capacity than the stove calls for, just to be safe.

As for the surge protector, many of us are using this TrippLite unit....nice unit, great specs:

www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-ULTRABLOK...B81D/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321495256&sr=8-1

 

[DexterDay]

Very nice installs.... The Quadrafire line is a Great line of stoves. Some of the easiest to operate in the industry...

Try all pellets before you buy. I do not have the selection up North like you may have. But if you come across a brand called Somersets. Buy a few bags and try them.

The Tripplite surge protector is a good one....

You seem to be off to a good start. Buying 2 stoves before season even starts is Awesome!

How many sq ft is your home?? Its obvious you have a split level, or a finished basement.

 

[celticsgreen]

Thanks for the fast replies! I am located in Gloversville, NY about 45 miles west of Albany. I am going to try other pellets as soon as I use up what I have. Unfortunately, I have 3 ton's of the Curran's. I wish I had known about this site BEFORE I bought stuff but live and learn I guess. I have been reading a lot here and I must say that I have learned a lot here. Here are a couple of pictures of my stoves.

Thanks again guys!

The Currans are worth $200 a ton and for a bargain pellet they are low ash.

 

[xraycer]

Wow, 2 pellet stove on a single shot. Now you're just showing off. Welcome, Rocco.

 

[helismash]

I called my dealer today and told them where the smoke was coming from. He told me he would send someone down later on in the day. I asked him if it was an easy fix and he told me it would take less than 5 minutes to do. When he told me what the issue was I told him I would try to seal it myself because I wanted to learn. My dealer said if I had any problems just to call back and someone would be on the way. It took all of 2 minutes to fix and no more smoke.

 

[whit]

I have access to a couple of larger UPS's I could use in place of a surge protector. I thought that if the power went out, it would at least give me a few minuted to shut down the stoves if the power goes out.

I use one of these UPS's with my Santa Fe. Keeps the fans running fine for many minutes. The igniter is too much for it though, draining it in about one cycle. So finally I put a relay on the thermostat line, so that when power goes off the thermostat stops requesting the stove to run (so no igniter action), while the UPS keeps the fans running until the current cycle is exhausted.

Otherwise, since my vent goes straight out, it definitely gets some smoke in the house on a power failure.

 

[helismash]

Whit, that's a pretty nice ups! I was going to use one from a server because we replace them all the time. There is nothing wrong with it but they get changed out all the same. I was thinking it would give me enough time to get the generator running. I'm not sure about my generator though. It's 5500 watts but probably not the best for running a stove off of. I should get a better one........ someday I guess.

 

[whit]

I was going to use one from a server because we replace them all the time. There is nothing wrong with it but they get changed out all the same.

Probably do you fine. The only thing to watch out for is that the batteries are still good. Over time their capacity goes down. After a few years they can just start failing. But your firm could easily be on the super-cautious side and surplussing those puppies while they've still got plenty of life.

There are old discussions here taking both sides of the question on whether a stove needs a generator with a good sign wave. I don't know. Maybe it depends on the stove?

 

[helismash]

I was thinking that since the UPS's are also line conditioners, this could solve the problem with the generator. What do you think?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I was thinking that since the UPS's are also line conditioners, this could solve the problem with the generator. What do you think?

UPS units sometimes do a pass trough of line current and do not always condition it.

 

[whit]

I was thinking that since the UPS's are also line conditioners, this could solve the problem with the generator. What do you think?

UPS units sometimes do a pass trough of line current and do not always condition it.

See the description here about the difference. Basically, if you're talking about UPS's that were used for racked computer servers - the sort of thing that can cost $1,000 each - they're doing full-time power conditioning. The "UPS" I linked to above that my pellet stove's plugged into, on the other hand, just passes the power through unless the power's actually off. So if what your work is surplussing is a true UPS and not an SPS merely labeled a UPS, then it would be a very good thing to put that between your generator and any sensitive electronics (even if its batteries have gotten weak, the power conditioning's probably working fine). If it's an SPS though - like most all the UPS's sold for the home market - it's useless for that.

 

[helismash]

I'm not 100% sure just exactly what they are but I'll find out Monday. I'm going to ask for a couple when they take them out of service next month. I know that they are the rather large rack mount type. I have always wondered why they just don't swap out the battries yearly. I suppose though that they go bigger becaus we keep adding servers for the different companies so that may explain it. I can tell you this though, I love my stoves.
I have been saving for a long time to get one and I am glad I finally took the plunge. I'm not going to be wearing sweatshirts this winter!

 

[DexterDay]

I'm not 100% sure just exactly what they are but I'll find out Monday. I'm going to ask for a couple when they take them out of service next month. I know that they are the rather large rack mount type. I have always wondered why they just don't swap out the battries yearly. I suppose though that they go bigger becaus we keep adding servers for the different companies so that may explain it. I can tell you this though, I love my stoves.
I have been saving for a long time to get one and I am glad I finally took the plunge. I'm not going to be wearing sweatshirts this winter!

Or underwear! :bug:

 

[jtakeman]

Welcome helismash,

Nice looking stoves you got there!

Enjoy! ;-)

 

[76brian]

I'm not 100% sure just exactly what they are but I'll find out Monday. I'm going to ask for a couple when they take them out of service next month. I know that they are the rather large rack mount type. I have always wondered why they just don't swap out the battries yearly. I suppose though that they go bigger becaus we keep adding servers for the different companies so that may explain it. I can tell you this though, I love my stoves.
I have been saving for a long time to get one and I am glad I finally took the plunge. I'm not going to be wearing sweatshirts this winter!

Note that most rack mount type UPS or PDU devices will not plug in to your standard 120v outlet, it may require a 20 or 30 amp "twistlock" socket, or it may even be 240v.

 

[helismash]

Note that most rack mount type UPS or PDU devices will not plug in to your standard 120v outlet, it may require a 20 or 30 amp “twistlock†socket, or it may even be 240v.

I totally forgot about that. Now that you mention it, I remember when the electrician came in and rewired the server room a couple years back! Oh well, it was a good idea until reality set in. On to plan "B"