Help, my QuadraFire is burning my . . .

[nshif]

Hey,

I've have my temp gage on the pipe. Is this all wrong?

I do have the timer on the draft. Are you saying your temp actually goes up when the bottom damper closes?

On the pipe is not wrong you just need another for stove top temps.
Yes when the ACC cuts off is when the secondary cuts in and temps will rise, up untill then youve just been burning wood. But you have to rember to pull the handle forward after starting the ACC or you just burn up the wood. I usually pull it forward about 3/4 of the way and set the other about a 1/4 up from the bottom. For overnight burns I close them both almost compleaty. To burn off coals i open both fully.

 

[precaud]

I've have my temp gage on the pipe. Is this all wrong?

No, nothing wrong, I have come to prefer it. The chimney is the engine, the temp guage there tells you how it's pulling, which is essential. Besides... there is nowhere in the stove body that you can place a thermometer that actually tells you what the temps are inside.

 

[nshif]

I've have my temp gage on the pipe. Is this all wrong?

No, nothing wrong, I have come to prefer it. The chimney is the engine, the temp guage there tells you how it's pulling, which is essential. Besides... there is nowhere in the stove body that you can place a thermometer that actually tells you what the temps are inside.

Sorry but with my setup you can put the sensor in the fire box. The probe is rated to 1000c and the meter will read to 1500c. But not many of you are going to pay close to 1000$ for this set up. ( note I didnt either it was a piece of test gear we bought once where I used to work and after that job it was not needed )

 

[jtp10181]

I was just reading some of the stuff here and wanted to jump in so no one gets confused.

nshif has an "ACC" stove which has a timer for the startup air. The startup air actually comes in through the doghouse in the front on this model, and the primary air comes in the four holes in the back and the airwash. Both startup and primary are controlled by one lever, and there is another air control up above which I think lets you adjust the secondary air a little.

It sounds like Gary Russell might have the older "ACT" stove which has two separate levers for primary and startup. The startup air comes in the two large holes in the back and the primary comes in the front doghouse and airwash.

From the pics and info about the small holes in the back on Gary Russell's stove it sounds like an ACC, but I can't be certain. The big visual difference in the ACT will have one or two large holes in the back right through the bricks and the ACC has more smaller holes through a steel box on the back. Also the ACT does not have the pie slider up above for the secondary air or whatever that controls.

 

[nshif]

I was just reading some of the stuff here and wanted to jump in so no one gets confused.

nshif has an "ACC" stove which has a timer for the startup air. The startup air actually comes in through the doghouse in the front on this model, and the primary air comes in the four holes in the back and the airwash. Both startup and primary are controlled by one lever, and there is another air control up above which I think lets you adjust the secondary air a little.

It sounds like Gary Russell might have the older "ACT" stove which has two separate levers for primary and startup. The startup air comes in the two large holes in the back and the primary comes in the front doghouse and airwash.

From the pics and info about the small holes in the back on Gary Russell's stove it sounds like an ACC, but I can't be certain. The big visual difference in the ACT will have one or two large holes in the back right through the bricks and the ACC has more smaller holes through a steel box on the back. Also the ACT does not have the pie slider up above for the secondary air or whatever that controls.

From what I can see in the pics his rear air holes look the same as mine not the larger ACT type

 

[jtp10181]

Thats what I was thinking.... I think he has an ACC

 

[theruss]

In theory, wouldn't a person want the secondary combustion operating at maximum efficiency all the time? Understood, one's needs to control the temp for comfort, but in terms of making the most of the fuel?

The stove does have the four vents in the back coming through the steel plate. It is supposed to be equipped with advanced combustion control.

 

[begreen]

Welcome Gary. What you are experiencing is typical as one shifts from the older style stoves to new. You'll need to do some relearning, but in the end you'll be a happy camper. The 4300 is a nice performer.

What kind of wood are you burning this year? I've found some wood is terrible for creating ash and others are great for minimal ash. FWIW, many new stoves have grate/ash pan systems. I really like them. As noted, the ash pan door is gasketed so air leakage there is not an issue.

Secondary combustion does not occur for the entire burn cycle. It starts with a fresh load of wood once the firebox and wood is up to temperature and the wood starts to outgas. Reducing "primary" air at this point will encourage a hotter burn. That's because the oxygen needed to burn off the gases comes from the "secondary" air supply. On my stove a 100+ increase in stove top temp is not uncommon at this point. Secondary combustion time will vary depending on the stove, the wood, firebox size, etc. After that is the coaling stage which can last for a few hours. At this point, there is little gas left in the wood, but plenty of heat. When the fire finally burns down to the level you show in the picture, rake the still hot coals to the front of the stove, pushing the ash to the back. Then shovel the ash out scooping it up towards the back of the stove. Refill and start the light show again.

Here's a nice video on burning in a modern EPA stove. It's a PE which has a similar design.
http://www.ec.gc.ca/cleanair-airpur/default.asp?lang=En&n=8011CD70-1

 

[theruss]

Thanks,

Being typical actually helps for some odd reason. I was feeling more like, "What the heck? The king's stark naked, doesn't anybody see it?" Thanks for the address, I will try to make the best of this situation. It does seem like the truly revolutionary woodstove is yet to be created, however.

I'm burning mixed hardwoods. My wood is well seasoned. The pile has been turning up a little more birch lately.

 

[begreen]

Yeah, it's a big shift in burning habits and patterns. If you search back just this past month you will see several turn arounds as people discovered the real heat and benefits of their new stoves. You will too, especially when it comes to the first chimney cleaning.

Pellet stoves are a revolutionary way to burn wood, especially some of the newest designs. But that's a different forum.

 

[Corie]

The way I see the drawings and from the stoves I've seen, the pie slider IS the primary air control.


Here is how I take the system to work, form the manual:


1) Primary Air Pie Slider - This is used for normal, day to day heat output regulation.

2) Start-Up Air - This is the part that is controlled by the ACC system. This air enters at the "dogbox" location and is timed to automatically close after 25 minutes of burning. You have no choice but to operate the stove with this closed after the 25 minutes timer is up.

3) Back burn air - You can use this to help with combustion of wood at the rear of the firebox, especially when burning at high burn levels.

 

[nshif]

2) Start-Up Air - This is the part that is controlled by the ACC system. This air enters at the "dogbox" location and is timed to automatically close after 25 minutes of burning. You have no choice but to operate the stove with this closed after the 25 minutes timer is up.

.

Not quite, with the start up air control all the way to the rear it stays open for how ever long it is in that position, Sliding to the rear and startin the fire and then moving the lever forward out of the start up mode it is then timed and you can control the remainder of the air as needed. From the manual "High setting over rides timer "

 

[Corie]

Ahh, gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. Always easier to understand when you actually have one to use.


Are you liking the system, working well for you?

 

[nshif]

As far as how well as the stove works I think its the best stove Ive ever owned and Ive owned or run a bunch, none of them moderen stoves though. I didnt trust the ACC at 1st so I sat and watched it a few times. Works GREAT. Start up a fire, slide the knob to start up, and then position to desired setting. Stove fires up gets hot and the secondarys light off and it resets to desired burn in 25 min. No hangin around making sure you dont overfire on start up. Once you learn your setting for desired burn temps its set it and forget it. Once a day or so I will open the start up and burn rate all the way to burn down the coals, then rake out the ash and start over. Couldnt ask for a more user friendly stove unless it would dump the ash drawer.

 

[jtp10181]

Heh yeah Corie is pretty much right... maybe I should pick up a manual once and a while. Usually I really start to learn about the units when either customers ask me questions, or when I have to go to their house and show them how to use it. They really changed the airflow and controls on the new ACC units and its confusing everyone including the dealers apparently. I had it all wrong. Only thing I knew for sure was the startup air came in the front.

 

[nshif]

Well whereever the air comes from it works great, ( untill the timer fails ) I dont think you could overfire this stove unless you loaded it with a full load of 2" dry cedar spiits with the ACC set right. Now it can still be done if you dont reset the ACC after you fire the stove, Actually I guess you could just slide the knob all the way to the rear and return it to is normal position and then start the fire. Just depends on when you want your 25 min to start. Im still going to watch it at least once a month till Im sure

 

[glassmanjpf]

What model Quadra fire do you have? I have a Cumberland Gap wood stove (in avatar) and I'll burn 24/7 for two weeks with no problem. I do remove ash from the stove weekly.

 

[nshif]

Who are you asking ? I have a 4300 step top he has a 4300 Millinium. I dump my ash pan about once a week, he has no ash clean out system

 

[RonB]

I've got the 5700 Quad and I try to catch the larger charcoal type chunks when they are still hot/glow. I then open up both the startup air (flows from 2 large holes in the back) and the main air control (glass airwash and 2 small holes in doghouse in front) to burn these down. If I find these chunks cold and numerous it means I ran the stove too lean while I was away. I then do a quick restart with a couple of smaller splits to burn them all up. I too think it is the new stove learning curve issue. Really, for me it goes deeper than that. It was my lack of knowledge about the wood/fire cycle because I was getting the large black chunks at times in my old pre EPA stove. I threw them away--I didn't know how to properly burn them down. Boy, the newer timed startup air on the Quads sounds nice!! I find myself babysitting the stove during this period so I can shut the primary off the manual way because that is all I have.