Got my new stove!

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tpenny67

New Member
Dec 17, 2016
82
New England
Out with the old, cracked and rusty Jotul, in with the new QuadraFire! Only had time for a small-medium break-in fire so far, but enough to get the paint smoking a bit and stink up the place. Already like the fact that the floor next to the stove stays cool, instead of too hot to stand on in bare feet.

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Nice! I still love that old Jotul though. They just have so much character.
 
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Nice upgrade! Looks great, I hope it warms you up!
 
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Maybe it's the camera angle, but that 90 degree elbow looks fairly close to the underside of those steps, which look to be made of wood. You might want to check the clearance and shoot that area with an IR temperature gauge to see how hot it's getting once you start burning some hotter fires.
 
Maybe it's the camera angle, but that 90 degree elbow looks fairly close to the underside of those steps, which look to be made of wood. You might want to check the clearance and shoot that area with an IR temperature gauge to see how hot it's getting once you start burning some hotter fires.

It is the camera angle. That's actually the roof (it's an A-frame) and the pipe is closest to the rafter just visible in the upper right corner of the picture. After trial fitting the pipe, the installer took off an inch or so to lower the elbow specifically to get clearance. It's now good by 1/2"

Just about anything will be safer than having that old 118 cranking away in the corner. It basically worked by heating the inside of the un-insulated roof with radiation, which then heated the air (both inside and out I'm sure). I was measuring surface temperatures as high as 150 on the slightly combustible pine floor!
 
Congrats on the new burn! I'm curious to hear of how things unfold for you once the fumes fade. Just yesterday we had a Quad 3100 installed to replace a Jotul 602. The big glass is such a treat compared to the Jotuls (I believe the 118 and 602 share the same door); it's like an aquarium with flames instead of fish! An obvious step up in firepower, I'm keen to learn the way of the long clean burn. Please feel free to share any techniques you discover.
 
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Nice! I noticed the door hinges on the opposite side vs. your old stove. Does that work better in your space or do manufacturers not offer left/right option?
 
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Congrats on the new burn! I'm curious to hear of how things unfold for you once the fumes fade. Just yesterday we had a Quad 3100 installed to replace a Jotul 602. The big glass is such a treat compared to the Jotuls (I believe the 118 and 602 share the same door); it's like an aquarium with flames instead of fish! An obvious step up in firepower, I'm keen to learn the way of the long clean burn. Please feel free to share any techniques you discover.

I believe the 602 is a half-sized 118, which makes me wonder about Jotul's model numbering scheme :) You probably have a bigger step up in firepower than me. The 118 was much bigger than the 602, while the 4300 appears to be a 3100 stretched by 2 inches front to back.

I'm always eager to compare notes on burning technique, but also suspect that wood selection and chimney setup may have a bigger impact on the actual performance of the stove than the stove itself. That said, my first piece of advice would be to read the directions several times. For my first fire in the Quad, I didn't use enough kindling and also was confused about how the ACC system worked. As a result, the fire kept going out unless the door was left cracked open.

If you gently slide the ACC lever back, it will hit an apparent stop at about half way. That leaves the rear air intake open and the front intake (the important one) closed. Considerably more force is required (not a lot of force, it's just not effortless) to open the front intake and wind up the timer. You really need that front intake on a cold startup.

I'm also used to the Lopi, which has a baffle bypass so on startup the heat goes directly up the chimney. The Quad doesn't have the bypass, so a hotter kindling fire is needed so that when the exhaust reaches the flue it will still have some heat left in it after travelling through the cold stove. Not enough kindling or air makes for an exceedingly gentle break-in fire.
 
Nice! I noticed the door hinges on the opposite side vs. your old stove. Does that work better in your space or do manufacturers not offer left/right option?

It probably will work better in my space, but it wasn't an option. The holes for the hinges and door latch are stamped into the metal, so they'd need a different stamping to reverse the door.

It just feels weird to have a left hinged door at the moment. Every other front loading stove I've used has been right hinged. It's like suddenly driving a car with the filler cap on the other side.
 
It just feels weird to have a left hinged door at the moment. Every other front loading stove I've used has been right hinged. It's like suddenly driving a car with the filler cap on the other side.

Yes, the unfamiliar feeling. If you use it a lot it'll probably only feel odd for a month or so.

Enjoy!
 
For my first fire in the Quad, I didn't use enough kindling and also was confused about how the ACC system worked. As a result, the fire kept going out unless the door was left cracked open.

If you gently slide the ACC lever back, it will hit an apparent stop at about half way. That leaves the rear air intake open and the front intake (the important one) closed. Considerably more force is required (not a lot of force, it's just not effortless) to open the front intake and wind up the timer. You really need that front intake on a cold startup.

Yes, getting full understanding of how that little lever works seems to be critical. I like the rear air to get the back pieces fired up a bit more and I'm starting to appreciate the timer. Sometimes I have other things needing doing and can't just sit and watch the new stove as much as I'd like!