Are Quadrafires Less Reliable...............Somebody help

[deucedown]

I have been told quadrafires aren't as good as St. Croix or Enviro.

Somebody wrote that the stoves are now made in China....is that true?

They have an aluminum heat exchanger which I believe the Harmins and others have stainless steal.

I could save about $500 by going with a quadrafire, but obviously I don't want to if they are going to be junk...help!!

 

[Shortstuff]

Well, I did a lot of homework and although I've found some mention that there are stainless steel and aluminum heat exchangers, I really never found the advantages/disadvantages of either. I just purchased my first pellet stove, a Quadra-Fire Castile (free-standing) this morning and after now looking through the manual, the "heat exchanger system" is listed under the limited lifetime warranty - the best part of the warranteed parts.

Perhaps someone who knows if one truly is better than the other (SS over Aluminum), I would say go with the QF.

Steve

 

[ylomnstr]

I had a quad in my old house. Their smallest unit. it worked fine, but it did run into some issues firing up, especially since I had it hooked up to a thermostat. So if it was a day when the unit would be shutting off and on often, the cooler it got, the harder it was to fire up because of all the ashes in the pot. I just purchased a St. Croix for my new house and I'm hearing it's a lot better at firing up, probably thanks to the versagrate system. Time will tell.

 

[PutnamJct]

We have had our 1200i for 3 seasons and are quite happy with it. Heats our open layout 1400 sf quite well. Set the thermo in October and don’t touch it until May. I clean weekly during the heavy use months (Jan - Mar) and every other week or so otherwise. The blower is loud if you are sitting right next to it and it is on high, but it isn’t really an issue.
I have not had any repair issues with it thus far, my dealer comes out once a year for a full check up and cleaning.
I used to use the oil furnace, but the 1200i heats the whole house on it’s own. Upstairs bedrooms are at 70 - 72 even when it is 0 or below outside.
House has good windows, but the walls are very thin.

John

 

[begreen]

Quadrafires are good stoves. Ignore the sales spiel.

 

[Justaddwater]

http://forum.iburncorn.com/viewforum.php?f=18&sid=8d5dfe7beff290ab7a33134aa45e0e7b

The above linked will take you to info on quad.

If not, it shows 11 pages worth of quad owners experieancing ingitor failure.

I did not purchase a quad because their are to many variables for failure. Ash dump (moving parts require motor) every 6 hour or so, then ingniter must relight pot. So every six hours there is a chance you can loose heat if ingiter fails.

I know quad owners are having great success but for me I prefer KISS.

I went with Harman, one motor feeds pellets and empties burn pot.

Two cents

 

[webbie]

Quad are good stoves - very good. As BG says, ignore the BS.

I'd have a Quad myself in a heartbeat.

 

[Shooter]

Quad is good quality stuff. I shopped and researched for a year and found Quadrafire to be high quality, dependable and easy to use. Examine the situation with the recent Mt Vernon/computer troubles.....notice how the factory was all over that to iron out the probs. Some stoves out there are smaller or upstart companies that are in this to ride the wave. No Quad. They were here when this pellet thing was starting up.

My CB1200i is thermostat controlled and has a control box but other than that there is alot of the 20yr old original design. The only thing to watch out for is to empty the pot of ashes every day. The heat exchanger in mine is steel.

Of course it would be a salesman that would discourage you against another brand.

 

[stoveguy13]

http://forum.iburncorn.com/viewforum.php?f=18&sid=8d5dfe7beff290ab7a33134aa45e0e7b

The above linked will take you to info on quad.

If not, it shows 11 pages worth of quad owners experieancing ingitor failure.

I did not purchase a quad because their are to many variables for failure. Ash dump (moving parts require motor) every 6 hour or so, then ingniter must relight pot. So every six hours there is a chance you can loose heat if ingiter fails.

I know quad owners are having great success but for me I prefer KISS.

I went with Harman, one motor feeds pellets and empties burn pot.

Two cents

The ingnitor issue is limited to the MT Vernon AE on corn and has not been an issue on any other of the units

 

[PutnamJct]

I have not had any ignitor issues either. Burning corn is a whole different animal then burning wood pellets. As far as the burn pot, it works like a trap door. You pull the lever on the front of the stove, and any excess ash and crap drops down into the pan. I take a 1" putty knife and stir the pot before dumping it. (stove off naturally). It is really low maintenance.
No gels or starter fluids. Simply load it up, plug it in and set the thermo.
Once a day if/when it cycles off, I pull the 2 cleaning rods a half dozen times, stir the pot and I am done. Other then adding pellets and doing a good vac and cleaning once a week or so depending on usage, that is the extend of my life with the 1200i.
John

 

[MainePellethead]

I love my Quad as well. No issues as of yet....it has far outperformed for me.

 

[chilepines]

I got a Mt Vernon last fall and used it through the last heating season. It was a great purchase and I am very happy with it.
The thermostat control for the Mt Vernon is far better than on the Harmann - which still required you to continually make adjustments. The Quadrafire heat exchanger is all cast iron, nothing on this stove is lightweight.
I did have the ignitor die, but it was replaced with no question by the dealer.
I am thinking about a Castille for the bedroom now!