Quadra Fire... Why the bad Rep?

[Woodchuck1378]

Woodchuck - thank you for your service!

I think what everyone needs to understand is that too often people give comments about a specific product they have little to no experience with (do not own). Typically this is what ruffles feathers, especially when those opinions seem to contradict feedback from those that own the product - especially within a forum where someone is asking why there is a negative perception about a manufacture. This is not limited to wood burning devices...just insert any product on any given forum.

Glad you enjoy your unit and more importantly, feel safe with your decision while your gone.

Thank you very much. That is exactly why I posted in the very first response, "I have no idea why Quad's were getting a bad reputation." I will say, the negative feedback did effect my purchasing of a new stove. I am hoping whatever issues they were having have been cleared up, and that you get many years and enjoyment out of your stove. Have a great day.

 

[northwinds]

I've already had many of years of enjoyment out of my Quads. The thread title is not consistent with my experience. I wouldn't trade my Isle Royale for any other stove on the market. Many of the complaints on this forum for stove manufacturers come from people who haven't owned their stove very long, have installation issues, or poor wood. I've been reading this forum for a long time, and Quad generally has a good rep, and the Isle Royale has an excellent rep.

 

[BrowningBAR]

Sorry sweetie,

I went away on a business trip for a few days and the thread was locked when I came back.

Right. Sure you did. So, you just felt the need to complain, AGAIN, about the product and not listen to any one.

But while we're on the subject, please tell me how I need to clarify my operation of the heat shields and blower. Perhaps I should adjust the smokeshifter, muffler bearings and fusion coupling

Sure, cupcake, but lets talk about your original claimed problems and not these new ones:

It eats a lot of wood, doesn't put out much heat, makes a ton of ash and unburnt coals

That's operator error. Not the stove. Again, people asked how you operated the stove, you ignored it.

the primary air would not close all the way

Just like every other EPA stove on the market. Not a Quad issue.

that one and the runaway fire was tamed a bit.

followed by:

What was really strange was after taking the heat shields off, the stove was able to hit 600 degrees on the stovetop with no issue

So, which is it; runaway fire or not being able to get the stove top temps up. It's one or the other. Not both.

 

[cjw8]

I hate to revive an old thread but needed a year to evaluate my Voyageur. There is defiantly a learning curve with this stove and the documentation sux. Thanks to this forum and my dealer who did make a return trip to show me the tricks. Mine is undersized for my home but it is what would fit in my existing fireplace, or so I thought at the time. I now know there are larger stoves that would fit. I have no problem restarting from coals after 7-8 hours and the fan is still on. The fan is louder than I'd like but it is just fan noise, no rattling noise as some have reported. We love the large viewing window but it does require cleaning often. I clean mine about once a week with Rutland's which is amazing stuff and the only product I'd recommend. I am away sometimes and my wife has been able to run this stove after I taught her how.

 

[Jags]

Yeah - a 1.8 cuft firebox in a 3300 sqft home is probably not a good match up if whole house heating was intended.

 

[cmarc]

I'll pipe in as well. I just had a Voyageur Grand installed over Thanksgiving. With the warm weather I've only burned it a handful of times, but here's my impression.

Looks wise, it's about a good looking an insert as I've ever seen. Although I did have some flaking paint on the on the front of the insert after the first burn but it was minor and nothing that a can of high temp black paint couldn't fix.

Performance wise, while I'm still learning to use it, the info I found on this forum has been really helpful. I did learn a valuable less regarding seasoned wood. I had some wood left over (seasoned 1.5 years) for my first few burns. Startup, and heat output were very good. I have a 2500 sq ft two-story home built in the mid 90's with a 30ft chimney, outside temp was 35F, room temp was 75F, all rooms downstairs were 68F+, and all rooms upstairs were 68F+ (Note: I ran the fan in the room with the insert and ran the circulating fans only on my HVAC systems). The head had not run most of the night. When I ran out of my wood, I ordered a new load of "seasoned" wood that turned out to be fairly wet (a moisture meter is on my Christmas list ), but as I would reload the wood would sizzle and hiss. I had to supplement with smaller splits to keep the fire going and the heat output was terrible. So the lesson I learned is that fuel quality is key to good performance.

A few pointers / notes to Voyageur owners (not in that poorly written document package provided with the insert):
- ACC (automatic combustion control) - To start the ACC push all the way in, pull all the way out, and if the room is quiet you can hear the timer clicking. Note: The nob does NOT automatically pull back in as the time ticks down.

- Rattle when running the fan - Mine rattled like crazy. Mine ended up being the pull out metal safety cards that are underneath the two blowers. To access the cards, open the door to access the fan control. Remove the upper bolts holding the frame around the blowers in place. Remove the frame by pulling straight out. Below each blower you will see a metal handle. Pull the handle and you will notice these are thin sheets of metal with warning instructions on them. One of mine was bent in several places such that it would not lay flat in the bay, thus causing the rattle. I straightened the sheet out and reinserted it properly and viola I'm now rattle free!

- Loud Fan Noise - yes it is fairly loud at high speeds, but I don't find it intolerable. One thing that comes to mind is because this is a flush mount you do need to run the fan at higher speeds to compensate for the reduced radiant heat when compared to inserts that extend onto the hearth.

- Dirty Glass - My experience, seasoned wood no issues with dirty glass (maybe a bit around the edges as the fire burned down), unseasoned wood = low temp and dirty burn = dirty glass.

Overall I love the insert. It's everything I was looking for. My priorities were #1 capture some of heat being lost up the chimney with my old drafty fireplace, #2 maintain a good view of the fire, #3 supplement my central heating a bit when possible.

 

[Kaper Evets]

Hello all. I'm not sure if it's bad etiquette reviving old threads (honestly I am not sure) but I'm going to anyway.

I personally have a high valley 2500 insert, which came with the house. I had never had stoves before, so I thank everyone on here for the VITAL education. It's about 20 years old, and I can only assume that the cats are original. The prior owners left me with a "slam install" that the home inspection never mentioned, but after having a new liner installed, I absolutely love this thing.

Which leads me to the voyager grand.

My in laws, after seeing our stove, purchased a v grand, and being relied on heavily for technical advise on many fronts, I had to learn how to run this thing.

So far I'm sad to say I'm not impressed, if only for the dirty glass. Now, as a disclaimer, I continually scold my f.i.l. for burning less than seasoned wood. So for future readers, this is a known factor that if I can see corrected, I will post any improvement in glass filth, aka the "butt print". I also can't help but think those iron stakes in front help cool the air, hurting the hot air wash of the glass.

Though my biggest complaint is the glass filth (which I'm hoping is the few month seasoned wood), I'm also concerned with burn times. I think 6 hours is his average burn time, and he has told me that it is deceiving at low burn since the coals get burried in all the ash.

I know it is apples and oranges with cat vs tubes. And also the v grand is being ran but not one but two amateurs. AND the v grand is being fed what I would consider unseasoned wood. AAANNNDDD this is only their second year burning in it. But.....

I feel that the learning curve is quite step with this one, especially since there are no thermometers on it. I'm not even sure where I would shoot this one for a revealing temp. *thoughts?

So to be fair, I am still working on getting him to rotate his wood pile. But is there any advice on what Temps we should see, and where are you shooting those Temps at? I also think that they might be cutting the air too early and not getting to a proper temp in the first place.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[firefighterjake]

Hello all. I'm not sure if it's bad etiquette reviving old threads (honestly I am not sure) but I'm going to anyway.
. . .

Meh, this one is only a year or so old. Just read a thread about butchering pigs/hogs that was five or so years old . . . and the worse part of that zombie thread is now I can only think about making bacon for breakfast.

 

[webby3650]

Hello all. I'm not sure if it's bad etiquette reviving old threads (honestly I am not sure) but I'm going to anyway.

I personally have a high valley 2500 insert, which came with the house. I had never had stoves before, so I thank everyone on here for the VITAL education. It's about 20 years old, and I can only assume that the cats are original. The prior owners left me with a "slam install" that the home inspection never mentioned, but after having a new liner installed, I absolutely love this thing.

Which leads me to the voyager grand.

My in laws, after seeing our stove, purchased a v grand, and being relied on heavily for technical advise on many fronts, I had to learn how to run this thing.

So far I'm sad to say I'm not impressed, if only for the dirty glass. Now, as a disclaimer, I continually scold my f.i.l. for burning less than seasoned wood. So for future readers, this is a known factor that if I can see corrected, I will post any improvement in glass filth, aka the "butt print". I also can't help but think those iron stakes in front help cool the air, hurting the hot air wash of the glass.

Though my biggest complaint is the glass filth (which I'm hoping is the few month seasoned wood), I'm also concerned with burn times. I think 6 hours is his average burn time, and he has told me that it is deceiving at low burn since the coals get burried in all the ash.

I know it is apples and oranges with cat vs tubes. And also the v grand is being ran but not one but two amateurs. AND the v grand is being fed what I would consider unseasoned wood. AAANNNDDD this is only their second year burning in it. But.....

I feel that the learning curve is quite step with this one, especially since there are no thermometers on it. I'm not even sure where I would shoot this one for a revealing temp. *thoughts?

So to be fair, I am still working on getting him to rotate his wood pile. But is there any advice on what Temps we should see, and where are you shooting those Temps at? I also think that they might be cutting the air too early and not getting to a proper temp in the first place.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

The problems you are having are due to the wood quality. Dirty glass will happen every time with wet wood. The stove is designed to work with seasoned wood.

 

[JA600L]

The less than seasoned wood is causing less secondary combustion and requiring more primary air. As a result the wood is being consumed faster than it would if the off gassing of well seasoned wood were happening. A large amount of the heat produced is going right up the chimney.

 

[Kaper Evets]

I'm 99% sure most if not all of these problems are directly due to the wood quality. If I could get him to rotate his wood pile yearly then I would be a solid 100%. When the stove runs hot it does seem to wash itself for the most part. It still has a butt print but considering the hurdles it's going through, I guess it's not so bad.

Would I be out of line to say that it's definately not as forgiving as a cat stove? I do season my wood, but I have burned wetter wood in it without as much fuss as his stove gives.

Also, I don't seem to need to shovel mine nearly as often as his. But again, inefficient burning = more ash. (Hey look ma! I learned something)

 

[Ashful]

Quad = huge dealer network, with a big marketing budget, vs. many other stove companies. The result of this seems to be dealers pushing a lot of these stoves toward more casual burners. I suspect this demographic may be more likely to have poor quality (eg. bought and delivered this fall) firewood, which may be the source of most problems.

 

[cjw8]

I own the stove in my signature. The first year of ownership it had a bad rep with me. Now I am fine with it. Unlike any stove I have ever owned, the learning curve with these stoves is much steeper. That is why I joined this forum! I never thought I need a wood stove forum. The quad documentation could be better as well. Their videos are nice but they do not match the stove that I have and that added to the confusion. Photo is of a nice blueish flame.

 

[TheMountain]

I have owned a voyageur grand for about 3 years now and I'm very happy with it. As many have already said, the most important variable is the quality of your wood. Almost all my headaches in the first year were due to wet wood that I had been told was well seasoned. When burning good wood, I get very little soot on the glass until the end when I let the coals die down or sometimes if I let the heat drop too much and put a big log on the coals. Usually just a wipe with newspaper at the next startup will give me crystal clear glass again.

I've learned that I have to leave the door cracked for startup longer than I would normally expect.
I don't think the ACC makes a huge impact unless I'm burning really hot.

My house is an old cape cod which makes it difficult to spread the heat evenly between the rooms. Therefore I don't burn quite as hot or load with as much wood as I could to prevent overheating my living room. With my burning style I don't see the 10 hour burn time that some claim. Usually 3 hours is my average.

 

[Benchwrench]

Did plenty of research before purchasing both this current 5100i and one of their free standing stoves back in 1991.
I compared it with the Lopi and some other name brand that I can't recall.
I will admit the newer version of Quad's current secondary combustion system (ACC) isn't rated as high in BTU's as this older ACT version.
I would lean to believe that the majority of (ANY) complaints may have to do with install issues, rattles and blower noise, operator error, heating expectations, and the like, as I feel Quad makes one of the best high end stoves on the market and have done so in the past. They surely charge for it!

 

[Jeffm1]

I've seen a lot of bad reviews on Quadra fire stoves like mine.. I am just wondering why they are not favored? Mine seems to work good but I've never used another one so I can't compare it. Different places I've read about them online have had pretty rough reviews. I don't see the name tossed around much on here either. Maybe I'm missing out on a much better stove. Just checking. thanks!

I have a quad and love mine. No complaints. No idea what anyone is talking about...

 

[dfelicia]

I'm still looking for anyone to say a good word about the Voyageur. It seems that anyone that installs one bitches about it ... burning issues ... and then disappears from the forum. Another candidate for Quad's "red headed step child".

I like my Voyageur Grand well enough but I am amazed that the ACC operation documentation for both the V and the V Grand are so poor. Also amazed that the company is so unresponsive to inquiries regarding this issue. After sending them an email on this subject and getting no response, I sent them another 4 days ago that said if they didn't fix their totally inaccurate "instructional" ACC video on their website within 60 days, I will post one on youtube and it won't be kind. Stupid company in that regard.

I've had my Voyageur Grand for about 3 months. 1/2 cord burned so far (we only burn for ambience in our big room). I think it's fantastic. ACC is dead simple, and the manual explains it well. What do people say badly about it? Push it in and pull it out to start the timer when you light or add wood. That's it. Maybe they're burning wet wood...

Plus, the thing is gorgeous.

 

[Jeffm1]

..,
I will admit the newer version of Quad's current secondary combustion system (ACC) isn't rated as high in BTU's as this older ACT version...

I don't understand what you were talking about. The ACC is s dampener system that is part of the whole stove. It's doesn't burn. It's not a species of wood with btus...?

 

[JA600L]

I have a quad and love mine. No complaints. No idea what anyone is talking about...

This is a pretty old thread. Things have changed a bit since I started this back in 2014.

 

[bholler]

This is a pretty old thread. Things have changed a bit since I started this back in 2014.

Yes but it was pretty innacurate back then to. Quad has always been a pretty good manufacturer. Yes they had some issues with cracked manifolds but so have many other tube stove manufacturers. They made repair kits that work well and the newer stoves seem to have addressed the issue.

 

[JA600L]

Yes but it was pretty innacurate back then to. Quad has always been a pretty good manufacturer. Yes they had some issues with cracked manifolds but so have many other tube stove manufacturers. They made repair kits that work well and the newer stoves seem to have addressed the issue.

I don't think I was saying that the stove itself was bad, it was more that nobody was talking about them and the stuff I had seen written was negative.

My 4300 did have cracks in the back. I welded a plate over top of the cracks with drilled holes. I welded any other cracks. I was pretty certain the previous owner overfired it because the deck was also bowed down. I stuck a bottle jack in there and straightened that out too. It still runs great today.

 

[Nic]

I'll pipe in as well. I just had a Voyageur Grand installed over Thanksgiving. With the warm weather I've only burned it a handful of times, but here's my impression.

Looks wise, it's about a good looking an insert as I've ever seen. Although I did have some flaking paint on the on the front of the insert after the first burn but it was minor and nothing that a can of high temp black paint couldn't fix.

Performance wise, while I'm still learning to use it, the info I found on this forum has been really helpful. I did learn a valuable less regarding seasoned wood. I had some wood left over (seasoned 1.5 years) for my first few burns. Startup, and heat output were very good. I have a 2500 sq ft two-story home built in the mid 90's with a 30ft chimney, outside temp was 35F, room temp was 75F, all rooms downstairs were 68F+, and all rooms upstairs were 68F+ (Note: I ran the fan in the room with the insert and ran the circulating fans only on my HVAC systems). The head had not run most of the night. When I ran out of my wood, I ordered a new load of "seasoned" wood that turned out to be fairly wet (a moisture meter is on my Christmas list ), but as I would reload the wood would sizzle and hiss. I had to supplement with smaller splits to keep the fire going and the heat output was terrible. So the lesson I learned is that fuel quality is key to good performance.

A few pointers / notes to Voyageur owners (not in that poorly written document package provided with the insert):
- ACC (automatic combustion control) - To start the ACC push all the way in, pull all the way out, and if the room is quiet you can hear the timer clicking. Note: The nob does NOT automatically pull back in as the time ticks down.

- Rattle when running the fan - Mine rattled like crazy. Mine ended up being the pull out metal safety cards that are underneath the two blowers. To access the cards, open the door to access the fan control. Remove the upper bolts holding the frame around the blowers in place. Remove the frame by pulling straight out. Below each blower you will see a metal handle. Pull the handle and you will notice these are thin sheets of metal with warning instructions on them. One of mine was bent in several places such that it would not lay flat in the bay, thus causing the rattle. I straightened the sheet out and reinserted it properly and viola I'm now rattle free!

- Loud Fan Noise - yes it is fairly loud at high speeds, but I don't find it intolerable. One thing that comes to mind is because this is a flush mount you do need to run the fan at higher speeds to compensate for the reduced radiant heat when compared to inserts that extend onto the hearth.

- Dirty Glass - My experience, seasoned wood no issues with dirty glass (maybe a bit around the edges as the fire burned down), unseasoned wood = low temp and dirty burn = dirty glass.

Overall I love the insert. It's everything I was looking for. My priorities were #1 capture some of heat being lost up the chimney with my old drafty fireplace, #2 maintain a good view of the fire, #3 supplement my central heating a bit when possible.

Great post. Thank you. Looking to have a g. voyager installed. Do you notice any humming from the fan that seems louder or if you have the tv on you don’t hear it?

 

[ratsrepus]

I would let my sister marry somebody that owned a Quadra-Fire stove.

Send me a picture of your sister

 

[BrotherBart]

 

[Rockey]

Send me a picture of your sister

Take his avatar and add a heavy beard, oh and a beautiful mullet. She's out of your league dude.