Yosemite Top Still Smells

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embers aplenty

Burning Hunk
Mar 17, 2011
118
East Tennessee
Hello Everyone. I've been following this forum through the biggest part of the winter and I must say it's a great wealth of information and a very enjoyable place to just relax and enjoy the posts.

I'm a newbie here but I've been heating my 1000 square ft 60 year old house totally by wood stove for nearly 20 years. I've never bought any wood. Always cut my own wherever I can. I've used a Mama Bear Fisher almost the whole time "little big I know" then a Baby Bear. I still use a Grandma Bear in my garage. I know they are outdated and burn on the dirty side but they're tough as nails and have had their place in the world.

After doing a lot of reading on this forum I've stepped into the world of the newer epa stove. For the last month I've been using my new Quadrafire Yosemite which I got a great deal on and I do indeed love this little stove. It burns a good bit less wood then the Fishers did, throws out plenty of heat and the view of the fire is phenomenal. I'm using my old unlined masonry chimney which I now know is a definite no no. I plan to install a 6" insulated liner next month when the stove season here is over with the block off plate and all, via what I've learned from this forum.

I only have one kwirk with my new Quad Yosemite. I just can't seem to get the stinky paint smell burned off the nice little parlor top or lid as I call it and I've burned a lot of good hot fires in it with temperatures above 500. My wife and I have been getting headaches from it. The wife bailed out and went to her mothers for a few days to avoid the smell. When I remove the top the smell goes away. The seal is good around the pipe connection. When you stick your nose down close, it's the paint on the top. I got the bright idea to take it out in the garage and bake it out on the upper level of the Grandma Fisher over the weekend which I did for two days. Most of the time I burned the Fisher in the red and flipped the top over on each side a few times. I figured for sure this would bake it out smell free but no cigar.

Just wandered if anyone else has ran into this. I emailed Quadrafire about it this past Monday but haven't got a reply yet. I'm about to the point to have the lid bead blasted off and try some other paint like Stove Bright or something else. Anyone know what other paint would closely match the black that Quadrafire uses. I'd hate to paint the whole stove since it's so new. Anyway sorry for the lenghty first post.
I'm just glad to be here. :)
 
Welcome embers. We have had two other posts with stinking paint jobs that never seemed to cure. Both were Osburns if I recall correctly. In both cases the stove had to be replaced by the manufacturer. It's possible this is the case for your stove. This is the first time I have heard of this kind of problem with a Quad stove, but it's possible. It sounds like you are proceeding intelligently by trying to isolate the cause. If the problem is completely eliminated by removing the top, then that is an indication of where the problem lies. Your dealer should stay in the loop here and be helping you. I would expect them to work with getting a replacement top in case your top has a defect. They should return your top to Quadrafire for lab testing.

A couple questions for you: What is the "parlor" top? I haven't heard this term for this stove. We've also had some interesting stinks come from stoves from children losing toys in the stove top or heat shields. It might be good to remove the rear heat shield to check if something dropped back there.
 
Thanks Be Green. I contacted my dealer today after getting another headache from burning my Yosemite with the top plate on last night. He said he would contact Quadra Fire and get the ball rolling on getting a replacement top or whatever it takes. I guess I got the term "parlor style top" from some of the product advertisements for the Yosemite. In some adds it is described as a parlor sized stove. It has a raised oval design in the middle of the top with a twisted like braid surrounding the oval. Looks really cool if it didn't smell so bad. Ha ha.

I've had the back panel off before I installed it with no obstructions seen. I'm burning it tonight with the top removed and no smells at all so I figure it's got to be some chemical in the paint that won't leave. Maybe when the top was painted they were using some paint from the bottom of the can that had way more of one chemical then of the normal mix. Iduno. Just want to be able to install the top and experience a good burn without the ill effects that follow you into the next day.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Much abliged!!
 
Got it. You certainly should be able to burn the stove at normal operating temps without side effects. Hang in there and let the dealer go to bat for you.
 
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