Crack in my Replaced Pacific Energy Vista Repair or Replace?

[Chamel]

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is doing well. Not sure if I should start a new thread or resurrect my old one. I'll try to make this short. Last year I discovered some cracks in the welds of my Pacific Energy Vista after burning for a couple of seasons. After contacting my dealer he was able to get me a new replacement stove from PE. After this season I am unfortunately faced with a crack welded in this new replacement stove. It's in the same areas as my previous stove. I can't believe it! I took so many precautions to make sure it wouldn't crack. I babied this thing. I very slowly broke the stove in. I used a IR gun and stove top thermometer to make sure it it was at the correct temps. I never left the stoves side until the temps started to drop to be absolutely sure I didn't overfire it. The highest I took it was 650 degrees. It was such a mild winter around here so I didn't push this stove very hard. What am I doing wrong? I'm not trying to hurt Pacific Energy's reputation. I know they make great stoves and that's why I bought one in the first place. I love this little stove, but If I have to keep replacing it year after year it just not worth it for me or the dealer. Maybe they have trouble making good welds because its such a small stove. I know I have a difficult time just getting my head in to to check the welds. Or maybe I'm just a victim of bad luck. Anyway, would it be fair to ask the dealer for a credit to buy a similar sized stove but of a different brand? I don't want to rip him off. I feel bad because I've already gone through two stoves. I did pay a lot for this stove and I feel like I should be getting more than season or two out of it before I start seeing cracked welds in a properly burned stove. Opinions?

Here's the thread about my previous PE vista stove for reference:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...acific-engery-vista-repair-or-replace.144371/

Here's some pics of the new PE vista replacement stove weld that broke before and after.

 

[jetsam]

I'd be agitating for a refund from the manufacturer so I could switch stoves. That might not be a serious crack now, but in a year or two, who knows.

 

[Hogwildz]

Wow, I thought these issues were a thing of the past.
Is this an insert or freestanding?
Did you by chance see the year the "new" replacement stove was made on the plate on back?
I am wondering if they gave you a new, old stock? If it is an older new, old stock stove, tell them to supply a true new model.
If it is a new model, time for another new replacement, or cash refund.
I have not had any issued with my B model Summit since PE replaced it a few years ago.
Sorry to see you're going through this.

 

[iceman2424]

Anyway, would it be fair to ask the dealer for a credit to buy a similar sized stove but of a different brand? I don't want to rip him off. I feel bad because I've already gone through two stoves.

I don't know a ton about welding and wood stoves but I do know this - you aren't the one who should be feeling bad in this situation. If anybody is getting ripped off, it's you. I get it, you're probably a nice dude. I am too. But enough's enough on this one. As the ancient proverb goes: "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...uh, well, we won't get fooled again."

Ask for a full refund, and purchase a new stove from a different manufacturer.

 

[Lake Girl]

Check the manufacture date as Hogwildz suggests ... may find the stoves were of a similar vintage. I would be asking for the refund...

 

[Corey]

... I didn't push this stove very hard. What am I doing wrong?...

You might have ask and answered you own question...just in reverse order.

I may take a lot of flack for this, but personally, I think heating / cooling the stove continually to relatively low temps is bad. Heat the metal it expands, cool it, it shrinks...each time putting stress on all the components and welds. Add this to any residual weld stress from manufacturing and pretty soon, 'CRACK!!'

If you fire that sucker up and run her to 750-800F a few times, now you're actually in a stress relieving zone... any local stresses around welds will be relieved by the high temp and the stress will equalize and when it cools.. the stresses are borne by the entire metal sheet and weld equally - not focused on the weld anymore.

Look at it this way... in the winter, you go from a 70 degree house to 0 degrees outside...back and forth, but you get sort of stressed out. Take a nice dip in a 104 degree hot tub and all that stress melts away and you feel like new again. That 104 degree hot tub, for metal, starts at about 650F...and to get that down by the door, you likely need the stove top at least in the 750-800F region.

So, go on, take your stove for a dip in the hot tub and relieve that stress!

 

[Chamel]

Thank you everyone for your opinions. It helps a bunch. I'm going to contact my dealer this week and see what we can do about it. I'm thinking I would prefer a new stove from a different manufacturer at this point.

Wow, I thought these issues were a thing of the past.
Is this an insert or freestanding?
Did you by chance see the year the "new" replacement stove was made on the plate on back?
I am wondering if they gave you a new, old stock? If it is an older new, old stock stove, tell them to supply a true new model.
If it is a new model, time for another new replacement, or cash refund.
I have not had any issued with my B model Summit since PE replaced it a few years ago.
Sorry to see you're going through this.

Hey Hogwildz. I was hoping it was an issue of the past too. Glad that your replacement Summit hasn't had any issues so far. Both of these stoves were the free standing vista classic models. Is the date of manufacturing on the sticker on the back outside of the stove? Do the circle punch outs indicate the date? If so February, 2014 looks like the manufacturing date. Wish I looked at my old stoves date too. Do you know which years had problems?

Thanks again for everyone's feedback. I'll keep you updated with the outcome.

 

[Lake Girl]

May have only then started realizing the problem welds. Kind of silly to replace a cracked stove with one manufactured with the same flaw... but one can see the potential for that happening.

 

[Hogwildz]

Thank you everyone for your opinions. It helps a bunch. I'm going to contact my dealer this week and see what we can do about it. I'm thinking I would prefer a new stove from a different manufacturer at this point.

Hey Hogwildz. I was hoping it was an issue of the past too. Glad that your replacement Summit hasn't had any issues so far. Both of these stoves were the free standing vista classic models. Is the date of manufacturing on the sticker on the back outside of the stove? Do the circle punch outs indicate the date? If so February, 2014 looks like the manufacturing date. Wish I looked at my old stoves date too. Do you know which years had problems?

Thanks again for everyone's feedback. I'll keep you updated with the outcome.

The problems years where somewhere around 2006 to 2008 I believe.

 

[dlj]

A properly designed and executed welded joint should never break (unless it's designed to do so - not the case for your stove). If there are circumstances that cause the device to fail, it should do so somewhere else besides the welded joint. I would definitely be talking to the manufacturer.

It is a problem in manufacturing, either design or manufacture (possibly both). It is NOT how you ran your stove.

dj

 

[Chamel]

Sorry everyone it's been a while. Hope everyone had a nice summer! Here's the updates/summary regarding my warranty claim for my PE stove. I contacted my dealer regarding the problem in early July. A month later my dealer sent me a few questions that PE sent for me to answer. The questions included, what type of wood I was heating with, square footage of area I was heating, length and diameter of the chimney, and approximate number of cords I was burning per season. I answered the questions accordingly. About a month later was told by my dealer that they have a new supplier and that I must deal directly with them regarding this claim. My dealer gave me a name and number. So still no resolution yet. I will be calling them today. Wish me luck.

 

[Ashful]

It may not hurt to let them know you have knowledge of other PE Vista's with the same problem, and an (apparent) admission of a known issue with these stoves in the aforementioned time period.

 

[Chamel]

It may not hurt to let them know you have knowledge of other PE Vista's with the same problem, and an (apparent) admission of a known issue with these stoves in the aforementioned time period.

Thanks Ashful I'll let them know. Update: Today I called the distributors number that my dealer gave me and was told that the person wasn't available today. The person I spoke to today said that they could repair it by welding it. I said that wasn't an option and that I would prefer a full refund so I could replace it with another brand of stove. They said they'll see what that can do about it and to call back tomorrow. What a headache. Hopefully we can resolve this issue before the cold comes.

Update 9/8: So I called my dealer's distributor and they said that basically my dealer is done with me and said that this is no longer their responsibility. My dealer was supposed to send the pictures and information I send of the cracked weld to my distributor but he never received it. It's so obvious that my dealer is just brushing me off and giving me the run around. Anyway my distributor is being very supportive and asked that I resend all the info to him along with what were my expectations of stove, how I ran it, pictures of the chimney/stove, and what I would like to be done to resolve this issue. Then he will contact the manufacturer and see if he can help me out. He was very nice and helpful. One thing I know for sure is that I'm never doing business with my dealer again.

 

[dlj]

This problem started in June of 2015 and there is still no resolution? Is that correct? So you actually had to go through last winter with those cracks in the welds of your stove?

dj

 

[Lake Girl]

What is the build date on the replacement stove? You may want to call PE direct ... if they don't listen, have your attorney call them.