Whitfield Quest Plus thoughts

[Ro3bert]

I’ve had my Quest Plus for about 10 years and have never had a problem with it (I don’t run it 24/7).

It gets a daily cleaning (the business end), brushed out, glass cleaned, burn pot cleaned out and ash brushed to the ash drawer, other than that no maintenance to the innards. About four years ago I decided it was time to have the professionals come in to do a through cleaning. So much for maintenance.
After reading the forum where everyone seems to do their own deep cleaning I decided this morning to check out a few things. The stove has been down for a day since the temp yesterday was 50° so it was cold enough to work on.

I took the back off to check the blowers and generally looked it over. One I could see the squirrel cage and was delighted to see it was only slightly dusty, no dust bunnies or clogging. Tow, the other one, the exhaust blower must be removed to be able to see the innards, so that will have to wait until spring.

I have been concerned with the damper as it didn’t seem to close all the way (I realize that wouldn’t be such a good idea) because when originally adjusted the adjustment collar was against the side panel and now is about ¾ to ½ inch out. Today I took the side panel off and found that the damper is a slider rather than a flapper type. Also the damper slider seemed to stop firmly against some piece of metal, so a question: is the damper designed so it is unable to completely close off the exhaust? Also after closing every thing down and starting the stove it seems no matter where I set the damper it makes no difference to the fire intensity or burn rate.
One other thing; I have the combustion air set at almost the lowest setting but adjusting it didn’t seem to make any difference to the burn rate or fire activity. Ooops, this morning I decided to try turning it up and what a difference it made—almost blew the fire out, huge embers all over the place so I had to turn it down again.

It seems I’m constantly adjusting the pellet feed rate but I suspect that is because the pellets are stored outdoors under tarps and plastic sheeting. Still, I suppose the water content is higher than it should be. Unfortunately I have no where else to store them, no garage or basement and there is no way they will go into the attic.

We are as satisfied as we can be with the thing and have no idea of getting rid of or replacing it.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I had a Quest (not a Plus) for 12 years. It never had enough combustion air, even at maximum setting with the pellet feed at minimum. I finally just gave away the stove.

 

[Stovensen]

[quote author="Ro3bert" date="1292274183"] a question: is the damper designed so it is unable to completely close off the exhaust?
quote]

Ro3bert, now that's an important question I can help you with... based on my annual cleaning of the combustion blower and its housing. When the combustion blower is pulled there's direct acces to the damper inside the duct and... I've checked it visually... by no means will the exhaust be fully closed off/choked when the damper is pushed all way in.

Fully closed, I guess the flow is reduced to approximately 20% compared to the flow at fully open position, but the exhaust will never be choked.

You may have some high humidity in your pellets due to the outdoor storage and that's why you need to constantly fiddle with the air setting. Mine runs fine with the damper 2 inch out and the trimpots around neutral.

One thing that amazes me is that it's four years ago since you had the stove cleaned in the entire smoke-path... you know, from the heatexchangers over the cavity below them and all the way to the combustion blower housing. Including it's fins.
My stove runs like it's totally new every time I clean it that way ( start of season ). It's just a matter of routine really and with a little care when pulling the smokeblowermotor the fiber gasket on it may be reused.

 

[Ro3bert]

Stovenson

Thanks for your input. I suspected it could not be completely closed as the fire still burned but was unaware of the setting. Mine burns well at about 1" (13mm?) and seens to make little difference no matter where I set it.

From all I've learned here on this forum I know I will be disassembling the thing next spring and give it a through claning even more through than the "professionals". After all I've seen and heard here I, too, am amazed that I've never had a real problem with it, nothing replaced, even the gasket around the door is still firm with no leaks and the opening over the glass is still allows a dollar bill to slip easily through.

The pellet stove gods must be looking after me.

 

[Stovensen]

Here you see before and after cleaning the fan blades. Note the geological timetable revealed on the blade where I've scraped a little in the surface... the latest layer is very dark = bad combustion, not enough air flow, whereas the oldest layers are more light greyish = good combustion, plenty of air.

With a little luck it shouldn't take more than half an hour to clean the entire smoke-path. If you have any questions I'll be happy to help.
I usually check the pressureswitch and clean it's tube and orifices at the same time, since it's right next to the combustionblower.