To date there have been no issues reported for the Alderlea series other than a door misalignment if I recall correctly. They are built a bit beefier in some areas and tend to heat up differently than the regular PE stoves from my observation.
Another cracked PE insert replaced
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wxman, thanks for posting the pics. as u can see in my pics, pe has made some changes in the pacific insert. the ash lip is different, but also there is a seam running vertically down from top to bottom along the edge of the door. that seam is welded on your stove, but on mine its not welded, so they definitely have changed the way they put the fireboxes together.
I don't think that seam on mine is welded, I think the pictures are decieving. Will check it tonight.
Emailed Cory at PE this morning. Did not get into specifics except the $150.00 limit that was being imposed. He said $150.00 is based on average repair for this type of failure. He instructed me to get an estimate to reweld and then we can discuss any reimbursment limitations. I will also get the welders opinion as to whether or not a weld is the correct repair. Third time a charm?? Any good mobile welders on Long Island??
wxman said:
You may have a hard time getting a welder to do it in place. When I called a few places for my stove, they wouldn't go near it with a ten foot pole once they found out it was in a residence. They said their insurance co. would take a fit if they found out, or something happened. I was lucky to have welder who lived a few miles down the road who was willing to do it in place.
Something gnawing at me is that I was told that they've never had problems before, etc.... but then we find they have an "average price for this type of repair" or they "usually like to get these welded" - what gives?
I guess no matter what stove you buy, there's bound to be someone who has had a problem while using it.
I've thought for a while now that every stove should have thermometers in or near their secondary burn chaimbers, especially with a cat stove. But with all stoves the flue temp thermometer and firebox temp thermometer are so essential. I used my DW in two different settings, the first one was (top) vented through the wall which allowed me to measure flue temps, the other was (rear) vented into a fireplace. The second setting would not really allow for "conventional" flue thermometer reading. I felt as if I lost a great beacon by giving up flue temperature themometer. Often times the flue temps would rise and be detected so much faster than the firebox temp thermometer could ever read it. I don't know of any inserts that give you the "luxury" of being able to read the flue temperatures. Stove manufacturers want people to think their stoves are easy to operate. But the truth is, they are not. Inserts are no different, I bet if you had a flue thermometer that recorded the peak temperatures, you'd find at times they are probably well beyond the recommended high. Which is not to say you should be held responsible, afterall how are you supposed to know what the flue temp is? The makers should provide a way for the user to measure temps inside the firebox, flue and near the secondary burn chaimber. But it would probably cost too much for them! :-/
Good luck wxman, I hope they cough up enough $ to make proper repairs!
Chris
I've thought for a while now that every stove should have thermometers in or near their secondary burn chaimbers, especially with a cat stove. But with all stoves the flue temp thermometer and firebox temp thermometer are so essential. I used my DW in two different settings, the first one was (top) vented through the wall which allowed me to measure flue temps, the other was (rear) vented into a fireplace. The second setting would not really allow for "conventional" flue thermometer reading. I felt as if I lost a great beacon by giving up flue temperature themometer. Often times the flue temps would rise and be detected so much faster than the firebox temp thermometer could ever read it. I don't know of any inserts that give you the "luxury" of being able to read the flue temperatures. Stove manufacturers want people to think their stoves are easy to operate. But the truth is, they are not. Inserts are no different, I bet if you had a flue thermometer that recorded the peak temperatures, you'd find at times they are probably well beyond the recommended high. Which is not to say you should be held responsible, afterall how are you supposed to know what the flue temp is? The makers should provide a way for the user to measure temps inside the firebox, flue and near the secondary burn chaimber. But it would probably cost too much for them! :-/
Good luck wxman, I hope they cough up enough $ to make proper repairs!
Chris
Well I found a good mobile weld I can trust that will do the work in house. Shot him some pictures and am waiting for an estimate. Just wanted to give you all an update.
wxman said:
Sounds great wxman!Look forward to hearing how the repairs go..
Right now I am in Lebanon NH with Dennis and his wife.. Very nice people andf got to see the progress hybrid burn in person!
Ray
raybonz said:
WTF?! And you didn't post any pics of this? If I had any power around here I'd ban you for letting the group down!
BrowningBAR said:raybonz said:
WTF?! And you didn't post any pics of this? If I had any power around here I'd ban you for letting the group down!
LMAO! The camera is in the car right now and I just checked into the hotel.. I will go get that right now.. Sorry
Ray
No, I have not contacted PE regarding the cracks that came back. I see a couple small ones inside, nothing that worries me terribly. The face ones have stopped growing it seems. Going to burn this season and check during, and then again next year. I will not go for a repair again. I want the thing replaced as I gave it a shot repairing, and will not keep repairing something that is obviously an issue, at least for the inserts manufactured during this time period.
Well I talked to the welder today (finally) and expect an estimate to repair some time tomorrow. His take is that the welds are not the solution and the cracks will recurr. Will forward the formal write-up to BAC Sales and PE once I get it. Also, it is going to come in way higher that $150.00. Eastern Long Island is an EXPENSIVE place to live and the mobile welder set-up gets $120.00/hr plus travel. Thinks about 2 hours on site. Biggest problem will be keeping weld surface clean enough he said. Do any of these cracks have the possiblily of leaking CO out of the stove with the fan running and distributing it in the house?
wxman said:
My guy was here not even an hr.....looked the stove over, cleaned it, drilled it, cleaned it welded cracks on the outside, the door frame, welded some on the inside... And was gone.. ok maybe an hr, but did say it should be fine and it looked like external cracks nothing major
On a side note.... She did me fine burning week without power ...
I don't think these cracks will be leak's. Just suckers allowing more air in for difficultly of controlling the fire. I imagine the cracks are closing up on the outside as the stove warms up?
Sorry to here all the crap you guys are going through.
Sorry to here all the crap you guys are going through.
UPDATE.
I know its been awhile, but so far Ihave gotten PE up to $300 commitment to repair stove. And found another crack inside. Dealer says stove needs to come out. To be continued...
I know its been awhile, but so far Ihave gotten PE up to $300 commitment to repair stove. And found another crack inside. Dealer says stove needs to come out. To be continued...
I am an engineer and deal with welding cracks a lot... (different types of cracks, but regardless).
Welding over a crack is a bandaid. This is likely good enough, because there is no way the crack will be ground out and weld built back up.
Welding is very challenging to do right. You have issues ranging from metal compatibility (base/weld rod), warping the steel, corrosion (different types of metal), not overlapping the weld enough.
The stove will certainly have to be removed, not safe to do it in place.
The big concern I see is that when welding there will either not be enough penetration into the metal, not stopping crack propagation or too much heat being put in when it is welded causing some warping. Neither of these would likely be noticeable. You wont find out until you start to thermally cycle the stove, then they may propagate from the metal heating and cooling enough. Chances are the actual weld wont crack, but the surrounding metal may. If the material is warped from this, the stress may be elsewhere, so keep a good eye out for new cracks too.
Welding it is certainly a viable solution, but you have to be careful since you dont know how well it was welded. Thats why a weld here will cost you $150... (we do it right at work, and thats why its expensive and time consuming... but those are different things... we arent welding up fireplaces)
Welding over a crack is a bandaid. This is likely good enough, because there is no way the crack will be ground out and weld built back up.
Welding is very challenging to do right. You have issues ranging from metal compatibility (base/weld rod), warping the steel, corrosion (different types of metal), not overlapping the weld enough.
The stove will certainly have to be removed, not safe to do it in place.
The big concern I see is that when welding there will either not be enough penetration into the metal, not stopping crack propagation or too much heat being put in when it is welded causing some warping. Neither of these would likely be noticeable. You wont find out until you start to thermally cycle the stove, then they may propagate from the metal heating and cooling enough. Chances are the actual weld wont crack, but the surrounding metal may. If the material is warped from this, the stress may be elsewhere, so keep a good eye out for new cracks too.
Welding it is certainly a viable solution, but you have to be careful since you dont know how well it was welded. Thats why a weld here will cost you $150... (we do it right at work, and thats why its expensive and time consuming... but those are different things...
we arent welding up fireplaces)
Well Good news FINALLY, After much back and forth with the distributor and PE, it has been decided that I am going to get a new stove. I won't bore you with all the other details other than I'll upload some pics of the first breakin fire when I get the new stove and have it installed.
, After much back and forth with the distributor and PE, it has been decided that I am going to get a new stove. I won't bore you with all the other details other than I'll upload some pics of the first breakin fire when I get the new stove and have it installed.
Very good news. It's always good to see a company back up their product. It just seems like slow communication between the company/distributors/dealers/owners makes for a really slow process. The Summit is on my short list for my next house, and PE's ongoing issues with cracks and quality control have definitely not made the choice as easy as it might have been.
September to May just to say it will be replaced. That is a crock. A very large crock full of it. My freakin 30 had a problem and they replaced the thing in two weeks. Which should be standard for something with a fire in it in your house. I don't care who made it.
Excuse me for not wanting something with a "lifetime" warranty if it takes half a lifetime to get it done.
Excuse me for not wanting something with a "lifetime" warranty if it takes half a lifetime to get it done.
I was going to get that insert until these problems popped up, I love the stove I didnt feel like going through the hassle if some cracks showed up..
Stove is in! Looks beautiful, took a long time but in the end they did what is right. Alot of the time was dealer issues since I did not have one and the distibutor needed to find one to do the install. As far as construction goes (disclaimer: I am not a welder) it looks just like the old on as far as the welds go in the firebox. Maybe the penetration is better but who am I to know. The ash lip and upper trim are more decorative and there are two blowers instead of one. Just something in the back of my head says its going to crack but it probably won't! Here is the kicker. They did not want old stove back but since I have a bad back an no way to move it it went out for scrap! I did keep the old firebricks for spares since they were in good shape. Had to use the old door and surround but that was no big deal. All in all I'm very happy and cant wait for it to get cold again! ( I will regret saying that I know )
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