Advice for Travis xtrordinair 44 Elite

[Sierra High]

We recently bought a cabin with a Xtrordinair 44 Elite in the family room. The unit was installed around 2004 and as far as I can tell has seen very little to no maintenance. There are a couple of issues with it and I would love to get some advice from members of the forum:

• it seems that the firebox is starved of air. I can only operate the unit with the air control on the max setting and in some cases I have to open the door to provide enough air for the fire not to collapse and the glass to be covered in black residue
• The blower fan is sometimes barely noticeable (i.e. quiet) and sometimes quite noisy, especially from the back of the fireplace

 

[webby3650]

The starving for air problem and black glass is typically caused by under seasoned wood. How’s your wood quality? Split and stacked for at least a year in the sun and wind?
The blower is located on an outside wall, the grill has a filter in it, make sure it’s not clogged. There’s a few other things that could prevent the blower from working properly. We can address that once you’ve located the blower.

 

[Sierra High]

Thanks webby.

We bought the wood last summer and it has been sitting in a cold garage since then. I suspect that the wood could well be under seasoned. I am struggling to think of a way to deal with this issue.

I have done some research since i posted (incl. reading a lot of these threads) and discovering that this wood-burning thing is way more complex than I knew. I am now planning to clean the blower filter and the cat combustor. Do you think that cleaning should be enough or that i should plan to replace either of these?

I am not at the cabin right now. I will return there in mid June for the rest of the summer.

btw, the cabin is at an elevation of almost 8000'. Could it be a factor?

 

[webby3650]

I wouldn’t plan on replacing the cat, a good cleaning will hopefully take care of it. The blower comes out pretty easily for cleaning and inspection. Putting it back correctly is where people mess up. It has a flapper that must be opened and inserted into the blower housing while mounting the blower. Otherwise it’s trapped shut, the blower will run, but moves almost no air.

 

[Woody Stover]

the cabin is at an elevation of almost 8000'. Could it be a factor?

Yes, altitude will decrease draft. Looks like you might need 10' more chimney height than what is called for in the manual.

 

[Sierra High]

Thanks to both of you.

I'll do the cleaning when I return to the cabin and will come back to this thread then.

 

[webby3650]

It’s a pretty easy breather, I doubt the chimney is the issue.

 

[Sierra High]

I just finished cleaning the cat. It was pretty dusty (ashy?) but it cleaned nicely and it seems to be structurally intact. I put it back using the old insulation material which was not in good shape. Do you think that it could create an issue?

I am struggling to find the blower and the filter. The fireplace is in the middle of a room and reaches all the way to the ceiling. Could the air intake and filter be on the roof?? Any suggestions on where to look?

 

[begreen]

The blower may be remote. Is there a basement or crawlspace? If so look below the fireplace. Or it may be mounted in the fireplace enclosure if this protrudes into the room. Is there an intake grille on the side?

 

[Sierra High]

there is another floor below the fireplace with a gas fireplace. There is no crawl space and the basement is 2 floors below. There is no intake grille anywhere close to the fireplace. I am wondering if they installed the blower behind or on the side of the fireplace and have the intake grille in the chimney on the roof (which means no access to the blower !??)

 

[webby3650]

there is another floor below the fireplace with a gas fireplace. There is no crawl space and the basement is 2 floors below. There is no intake grille anywhere close to the fireplace. I am wondering if they installed the blower behind or on the side of the fireplace and have the intake grille in the chimney on the roof (which means no access to the blower !??)

You should also see 2 cooling vents somewhere. They would look like dryer vent hoods. These are very important, these and the remote blower make it very difficult to install in the middle of a room.

 

[Sierra High]

I think that I found the vents. The way I understand it now, the blower is located behind or on the side of the fireplace (i.e., not accessible) and there is a duct in the sub-floor between the 2 floors going to the side of the house. I am still wondering where the filter is located. Below is a picture of the vents. What is the 2nd vent for?

 

[webby3650]

I think that I found the vents. The way I understand it now, the blower is located behind or on the side of the fireplace (i.e., not accessible) and there is a duct in the sub-floor between the 2 floors going to the side of the house. I am still wondering where the filter is located. Below is a picture of the vents. What is the 2nd vent for?

Both vents are attached to the top of the fireplace jacket. It allows cooling air to circulate naturally.
The filter is attached to the blower housing. It has to be accessible for service.

 

[Sierra High]

Webby, thanks for all the advice!

it seems obvious that the blower has to be accessible for service but i do not think that's the way they installed it. I took the front plate off (see pictures) and it seems that the blower is somewhere low on the right side of the jacket. The fireplace is in the middle of the room and there is no access door anywhere on any side of the chimney.
Any thoughts?

 

[webby3650]

The blower can connect to the jacket of the unit on either side or the bottom.

 

[theemethod]

I wouldn’t plan on replacing the cat, a good cleaning will hopefully take care of it. The blower comes out pretty easily for cleaning and inspection. Putting it back correctly is where people mess up. It has a flapper that must be opened and inserted into the blower housing while mounting the blower. Otherwise it’s trapped shut, the blower will run, but moves almost no air.

Do you have a picture of this? I thought this was my issue so I just removed the flapper and now we get actual heat from the fireplace/blower, before there was really no airflow. I was reading (broken link removed to https://bowdensfireside.com/product_brochures/fireplace_xtrordinair_wood_burning_fireplace_brochure.pdf) and it mentions the flapper keep cold air out of the heat chamber when the fireplace is not in use. When I removed the blower from the housing I couldn't see how to install the blower without the flapper in the closed position.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[webby3650]

Do you have a picture of this? I thought this was my issue so I just removed the flapper and now we get actual heat from the fireplace/blower, before there was really no airflow. I was reading (broken link removed to https://bowdensfireside.com/product_brochures/fireplace_xtrordinair_wood_burning_fireplace_brochure.pdf) and it mentions the flapper keep cold air out of the heat chamber when the fireplace is not in use. When I removed the blower from the housing I couldn't see how to install the blower without the flapper in the closed position.

Any help is appreciated.

You have to open the flapper with your hand, while holding it up in the open position install the blower. Also make sure that no screws that attach the duct are preventing the flapper from opening.