i purchased a Napoleon 1900 in May of 2010. We noticed last year that the house was cold. This year we finally called the dealer and had him look at it. We were burning lots of wood but the stove was not throwing any heat into the room at all. The kids were sieeping in front of the stove because the bedrooms were cold and they were still cold right in front of the stove. The dealer claims that the warranty probably won't cover the stove because it looks like it overheated. We are very honest people and i promise that we have NEVER overheated our stove. In fact it is very difficult to get it above 350 degrees. We have never used accelerants and we burn very good wood. We have 40 acres of pine and we never burn that. we always buy tamarack, red fir and birch. The wood is very seasoned. It is very disheartening to be told that the warranty may not cover the stove due to abuse because we are positive the stove has never been abused. it has been two weeks now and we have been told the rep can't look at it for another week or so. The dealer claims that even if the rep decides that it is covered under warranty we wont get a new firebox for 30-45 days and that we will have to pay a hefty fee to have the stove put back together. This means that a lifetime warranty means nothing. We are freezing as this is our sole source of heat. We are experienced wood stove users as we have used nothing but wood heat for 13 years now. I work on a computer about 15 feet from the stove and last winter i heart a loud metalic ping as i was working. I believe this is when the stove warped on the outside. I wonder if the manufactuer used a bad batch of steel from China or something. Has anyone had problems like this and has anyone had any experience dealing with Napoleon. I have to admit that Napoleon's customer service has been very responsive. (the dealer was moving slowly so i contacted Napoleon directly. They have pics and now they are asking for proof that we had the stove serviced every year (which we have had done). Any help would be appreciated. (We have always had a thermostat on the stove pipe to monitor temp as we are fearful of chimney fires.
Napoleon 1900 advice needed
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wenger7446
Feeling the Heat
i will try to get some pics up. the pipe goes straight up through 2 stories. the draft is good. the stove lights very easily and the chimney cleaner said the pipe was in great shape and needed very little cleaning after a year of burning 24/7 during the cold season. the stove was professionaly installed. when the dealer came out to take pics he said that the stove looked well taken care of . the cord around the window was in great shape. the stove is warped on the side and the insides are toast according to the dealer. I assume that means the baffles. the bricks are in great shape.
i asked the dealer to send the pics he took that were sent to the rep and Napoleon. i will post them when they respond.
Rickochet
Member
I still do not have my stove issue resolved. The rep never came out to look at it after all. i received an email from napoleon telling me that the warranty would not cover it because it looked like it was overheated. I ran the situation by another stove dealer that is reputable. He told me he has had four Napoleon 1900 models go bad and he is working on getting them covered under warranty. He told me that he was able to get them covered under warranty because his customers had replaced the baffles and the protective plate. I have had our stove and chimney serviced yearly and was never advised that i needed this done. Because i have not had the baffles and protective plate replaced during the two years that i used the stove he could not get it warranted. I finally tracked down the dealer that sold me the stove and he came out on Monday. He was shocked at how my stove had warped and had no explanation as to how it happened. He is contacting his rep to see if he can get us a new firebox but he told us that Napoleon is not good about being responsive to him so i'm not hopeful. I may take it to small claims because I'm sure there are more of us that have had the problem and if we don't do something there will be many others suffering the same problem. I will let you know what happens.
Rickochet
Member
i have not bought a stove yet. We spent so much on this one $4200 that to buy another one after only a few years seems like such a waste. We are freezing. We have a 40 year old electric furnace that came with the house that has not been used for 15 years that we turn on rarely to keep the pipes from freezing but something is wrong with it because it keeps tripping the breaker. Hopefully we will hear something on this stove soon! We might get a new firebox for this stove but i honestly don't know what we would do differently to keep it from getting damaged again. Maybe it would be better to ditch the Napoleon and get a different stove.
Here is an update on our Napoleon 1900 that failed. We have been unable to get the stove warranted. There are other dealers that have had these stoves fail. We just bought a quadrafire Isle Royale. We liked the Soapstone Equinox but it needed an 8" flue and we only have a 6" so we went with the smaller Isle Royale. It sounds like the smaller Napoleon stoves are performing well. For some reason the 1900 is not holding up. I plan on contacting another manufacturer, shipping the stove to them, and having them take a look at why it failed. I know it will cost some money but there has to be a reason why a stove like this fails because i know that we did not abuse it.
northwinds
Minister of Fire
If you need help on operating tips for the Isle Royale, please ask. Lots of satisfied customers here. The stove is a powerful heater. The fact that you were going
through a lot of wood but your Napoleon stove temps never got above 350 suggests the possibility to me that a lot of your heat was going up the flue. Most folks
can gradually dial the air down almost all the way on the Isle Royale (once you are at operating temps of 500-550) and settle into powerful heat throwing
burn of 550-600 for a few hours before gradually tapering off. You want to have a thermometer on the stovetop (most folks put it near the middle of the
griddle top--mine is a little left of center). Is your flue single wall or double wall? It's not clear to me whether the 350 degree temp you mention was the flue
temp or stovetop temp.
through a lot of wood but your Napoleon stove temps never got above 350 suggests the possibility to me that a lot of your heat was going up the flue. Most folks
can gradually dial the air down almost all the way on the Isle Royale (once you are at operating temps of 500-550) and settle into powerful heat throwing
burn of 550-600 for a few hours before gradually tapering off. You want to have a thermometer on the stovetop (most folks put it near the middle of the
griddle top--mine is a little left of center). Is your flue single wall or double wall? It's not clear to me whether the 350 degree temp you mention was the flue
temp or stovetop temp.
I'm very sorry to hear of your problems with the 1900. When they are working right they are a good heater. I am wondering if some are coming out with defective welds that are breaking loose. Did you hear any loud bangs or pops from the stove at any time?
The Isle Royale is a great stove. How are you liking it so far? Are you staying a lot warmer?
The Isle Royale is a great stove. How are you liking it so far? Are you staying a lot warmer?
mepellet
Minister of Fire
Not top hijack a thread but I have heard pretty decently loud pops from my Napoleon 1100c. There's the normal tinging most of the time but every once in a while it gives off a loud pop. What should I look for to see if there is any damage?
It might not be anything if this is just expansion of the outer shell. Still, examine the interior of the stove closely. Look for broken welds, misaligned pieces, cracks of any sort.
i was sitting about 10 feet from the stove when i heard a loud metalic PING. I believe that is when the stove warped.
Grisu
Minister of Fire
Sorry to read about all your problems with the Napoleon. To make sure that you will enjoy the Isle Royale for years to come, please put the thermometer on the stovetop preferentially in the hottest spot you can find. A modern stove is designed to maximize the heat output from the stove while sending less heat up the flue. You can actually overfire the stove while the flue temps are still nothing to be concerned of.
Regarding the pine: It is more work than hardwood but when dried properly (split, stacked and top-covered for one summer at least) it is great for start-up fires or in the shoulder season. I also like to use it when it is really cold outside and I need to keep the stove humming. It burns quickly with little coals meaning there will soon be room for more wood. Nevertheless, monitor the stovetop temps closely as a full load of pine can quickly lead to an overfire situation.
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