burning with Quadrafire 3100 questions

[Jolly Roger]

HI all,

Long time lurker, first time post here.

We have a new Quad 3100 stove. Ran it for our 4th time this past weekend and it seemed to do all the right things. A situation I found myself in this situation is below:

a. After my initial top down fire, I added in 3 med. sized oak splits (2 on bottom, 1 crossed over the top of other 2)...fire took off like mad. Stove top temp with Rutland thermometer hit 750+ degrees with the air controls cranked closed! needless to say all my paint curing is done!
b. single wall flue topped out at 450 with thermometer about 20" above stove top.
c. fire raged for about an hour, then slowed and settled in at about 600 degrees then progressively lowered in temp throughout the night.

My questions to the board are:

a. Did the fire rage due to it only being 3 splits loosely arranged? If I had a more tightly packed firebox with say 5-6 logs, would the fire have been a slower, more steady and not so intensely hot burn?
b. where should i place my thermometer on the stove top? Dead center? And is hitting 750 considered an overfire since my Rutland thermometer said so?
c. can you start an overnight burn from hot coals by packing the firebox and just setting the air controls? It seemed very easy to do it with just the 3 splits I mentioned above, just not sure it canbe as easy with a full firebox

thanks for all you help

Jolly.

 

[Jclout]

Hi,
I also have a Quad 3100 and this will be my second season with it. I think that you will find that even closing down the three draft controls will not always keep the fire docile or as docile as you might like. You can load up the stove for the night and shut it right down if you have a coal bed, and it will burn. For the last 2 nights I tried 2 different ways to try to get the fire to burn the logest overnight and so have the best coal bed in the mornings.I put 6 splits in across the box"East to West", and then shut everything down except for the ACC vent. Then I tried the same thing but did not use the ACC and set the "Start up control" at the bottom to the 1st line. The first day left me with a better coal bed in the morning. If you put your thermometer dead center Id say that would be the best. If you are facing the stove, the right side near the controlls is cool because thats where the air comes in. Overall its a very sturdy stove and puts out some good heat and we are pleased with it.

 

[Ravenswood]

Three controls? As far as I can tell, my Quadrafire 3100 Millennium only has two, the ACC in the lower left rear, and the main one on the upper right towards the front. Where is the 3rd one?

 

[Jclout]

There are actually three air channels but only 2 hand controls. If you look at the manual on page 27, figure 27.1 it shows the burn rate air control at the top,the start up air control or ACC, and the rear air channel. Everthing is under the side sheild which can be removed. The rear air channel funnels air into the stove via the holes in the back (inside the firebox), the start up air control funnels air into the front, and the burn rate air control through the tubes in the top of the stove.

 

[Ravenswood]

Wow, you're right! I never noticed that before. So when you move the startup air control back and then forward to activate the ACC, do you set the rear separately, or leave it in the full forward position?

 

[TMonter]

I have a 3100i ACT and I've found with really dry wood sometimes it's hard to keep the stove in check, however have you done the dollar bill test on the door? A leaky door can cause problems like this. Additionally if your stove has an ash pan make sure air isn't leaking from the ash pan area. I've found that on my englander a leaky ash pan can cause a runaway firing.

 

[Jclout]

RAVENSWOOD I do use the the rear vent seperately but overnight rite now its eather all the way closed (towards the front of the stove) or just opened a bit.

 

[Jolly Roger]

HI all, thanks for the responses. I was home and away from pc all day yesterday so sorry for late response.

I ended up calling the shop where i bought the stove. The owner told me to only use the secondary air controls on startup....and the primary (upper) on reloads. So i tried my hand at it again yesterday and did what he said and had 2 perfect controlled reloads. Stove topped out at 450, pipe at 400 and a nice 6 hour burn off of 2 med. sized splits. I do love this stove. Ran it again this AM as it was 39 here and i warmed us up nicely. Oh and the owner did say keeping the Rutland thermometer dead center on the stove top was a good place. But he said it's really a to monitor stove pipe temp, so my stove was more likley 900 degrees and not the 750 it read.

Thanks again for your responses

Jolly

 

[Jclout]

can you explain a little more about using the primary on reloads and what about the rear air channel when and how should that be used? The round Rutland stove pipe thermometer wont read correctly on the stove top? Thanks

 

[Jolly Roger]

sure, I am no expert...still experimenting! But, what my stove shop told me was on startup fires, use the primary and secondary wide open to get a nice hot fire going....lately it seems mine won't stay burning unless I crack a window and keep the primary wide open and the secondary open some. Once the startup is steady, I try and close down the secondary control completley. Leaving only the primary open. On a reload, I open the primary wide, keep the secondary closed, and load my wood. I let that catch, run it hot for about 15 minutes, then cut the primary by about 1/2, then in about another 15 minutes i cut the primary down to low, not 100% shut though...just about. That seems to be working best for me now.

As for the Rutland thermometer, my shop told me it's a not a stove top therm. It's meant for use on the stove pipe...about 16-18" up from the stove top. I have 2 Rutlands, one on the stove top and the other about 18" up on the single wall pipe. I try and keep the stove pipe above 300 degrees for as long as possible to help with creosote. I don't think it hurts to keep an eye on both temps...and since my wife will be the one at home running it during the day, she will have a better idea of what's going on as well.

here's a great link to some info: http://www.canren.gc.ca/prod_serv/index.asp?CaId=103&PgId=584

 

[Jolly Roger]

here's a link to a good video as well...it's not a quad 3100, but the principal is the same.


http://www.ec.gc.ca/cleanair-airpur/videosWoodstove_mgt-Eng.wmv

 

[Jclout]

Roger thanks for your help. I couldnt find the video but I think I've seen it before. It shows the proper operation of an EPA stove, from a Canadian site? Should a stove pipe thermometer read differently from a stove top if they are side by side on the stove?

 

[Jolly Roger]

Hey Stove Nut,

yes, that is the video...woman and a dorky guy with an EPA stove.

You know, that's a good question about the stove top therm. I would think, a thermometer is a thermometer, and they should read exact same temps sitting side by side, no matter the manufacturer. If they don't, then I would think one of them is not accurate.

 

[Jclout]

Thats what I think too about the thermometer but my 2 dont agree, so 1 must be inaccurate.