Questions on 7100?

[Sean the Nut Grower]

I believe that I read in the manual that this stove does not require a raised grate to place the wood in. So I have been burning with no grate, however occasionally it seems like my burn kinda loses its oomph; I open the door, let it breath for a few mins and then am able to shut the door again for quite a while. Would a raised grate help keep my wood burning nicely? Am I barking up the wrong tree here or what...

How often are you guys cleaning the ash out of your stoves? And, Does anyone know where the air from the combustion intake infiltrates the fire area?

Thanks for any help

 

[Grisu]

Do you mean the Quadrafire 7100? You can put your stove in your signature line which will help in giving specific advice. Nevertheless, your problem sounds more like insufficient draft. Is your wood properly seasoned? How tall is your chimney and is it lined? Is the liner insulated? What are the outside temps when you see that slow burn? Does it help when you crack a window close to the fireplace open a bit? Is the air control fully open?
In general, modern EPA wood stoves and fireplaces should not be used with a grate. It messes up their intricate air supply system that feeds the fire and gives you long, efficient burns.

 

[Blue2ndaries]

I am on the 4th year of heating our home w/a Quad 7100 FP and have never used a raised grate. My practice, in general, is to rake coals towards the front AND split them down the middle making about a 3inch wide "tunnel of love" that helps air flow front to back underneath new splits palced on top of the coals. Try searching "tunnel of love" on the forum (I know, I know... ) but there are a few discussions re: how that helps airflow thru the stove, especially when packed w/splits.

Functionally, assuming the install was done correctly (e.g. pipe, height of chimney, etc.) make sure that the outside air is open (knob on the bottom right corner) and that the baffle board and fire-resistant blanket are situated correctly abover the burn tubes. If the blanket is bunched up, it may decrease your airflow/draft.

Depends on how much I've been burning, but I scoop out the ashes when it starts overflowing the bottom front lip of the stove.

 

[Blue2ndaries]

Oh, and BTW, welcome to Hearth.com Sean! Please post pics of your install if you can...it's always great to see other 7100 installs, well any install actually.

 

[mdc0326]

I do not use any sort of grate in my 7100, I simply rake the coals forward and reload the stove on top of the hot coals, open the ACC control all the way open and set it to about 1/3 open and let it do its job.

If you can view the outside air intake, inspect it and make sure that no critters have made a nest in it to block off the intake.

The combustion air enters the fire box at the bottom where the ash lip dips town. There is a dog house in the center by where the doors latch with two holes in it, and of course through the burn tubes.

I empty out the ashes when the ash is starting to spill out over the dog house.

 

[WoodPorn]

Sounds like your wood is not quite seasoned

 

[Sean the Nut Grower]

Thanks so much for the replies!

I am a total noob to running a fireplace, this is a new install in our house, I will get pictures up soon.

The chimney is at least 25' tall, lined and insulated, and I believe tha 7100 also vents the outer sleeve of the stack. The air vent is clear and I can hear and feel the air rushing in.
I will certainly try this tunnel of love concept, sounds smart. I know for a fact that the wood we are using is not prime, we are burning almond wood(we are almond growers "a can a week that's all we ask!") as it is plentifully available. The wood is not all split, some simply being 3-6" diameter logs( estimate ) and has only sat to dry for about a year. I have already begun working on a proper system for storing, splitting wood etc....built me a nice hydraulic wood splitter that I can hook up to a three point on a tractor.

So I guess this leads to a follow up question....would the poor quality of my fuel be enough to handicap my performance? I'm guessing the answer is yes after all the reading I've done on this fabulous forum.

 

[Blue2ndaries]

...The wood is not all split, some simply being 3-6" diameter logs( estimate ) and has only sat to dry for about a year.....would the poor quality of my fuel be enough to handicap my performance?

Absolutely will handicap performance. Sorry, probably not the answer you want to hear. The 6" dia. logs are a bit big and really need to be split to promote seasoning.

With well seasoned wood and good kindling, I actually never even engage the ACC control on startup. The fire gets going within 5min and I throttle the air control down to the click, ~ 1/4 all the way to the left before full close. The stove just burns w/lots of secondaries.

 

[Sean the Nut Grower]

Finally got a picture uploaded.

Thanks for the help, I split what I figure to be about 5-6 cords of wood this last week. Not sure what to ecpect to use through the winter but I hope I will be ready. Actually I hope I dont use more then half so that I can have some better fuel for next season.

Thanks again.

 

[begreen]

The fireplace looks great. Nice installation.

Almost for certain the wood is the issue. It should have been split a year ago or at least in the spring if it was standing dead wood. If oak it should have been split a couple years ago. Get yourself a moisture meter to learn when the wood is dry enough to burn. Resplit a split of wood and test the freshly exposed surface of the wood. Ideally it will be in the 20% range.

 

[WoodPorn]

Get back out there and split a few more cord so you can be assured you have good seasoned wood next year!

 

[dafattkidd]

Great install and beautiful unit. Welcome to the forum. For this year maybe consider purchasing biobricks or some sort of compressed logs to substitute for not so seasoned wood.