Insert being rewelded - what should I be looking for?

[daveswoodhauler]

Ok, so my Lopi Answer Insert is being reinstalled today, as there were some mfg defects which caused 3 cracks in the welds after 8 months of use.
Is there anything in particular I should be checking for where they did the rewelds?
(I will post some pics here later with the rewelds, as I know that there are some good metal fabs here that have helped me out on my prior posts)
Just really don't know what is a good/bad repair, so I guess I'll just post pics here and you can give thoughts on the quality of the job.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

over the years i have sent several woodstoves(avalons) back to Travis to re-build, they do a very, very good job

 

[Levi2u]

Were the welds repaired by the factory, or done by the local dealer?
Anyway it's unlikely that the repaired welds will crack, more likely new cracks will appear next to the repairs, or in entirely new places.
Hopefully whoever did the repairs looked it over good, and identified future problem spots, and fixed them also.
Not sure if the seams were machine welded, or done by hand, but if done by machine and It wasn't being monitored closely then it's possible that some questionable welds weren't noticed. If they were being done by hand then it's unlikely that anyone with more than 6 months experience would have not noticed the problem as they were welding. Unless they were just careless, were seriously underpaid, and didn't care, or were hungover from a hard night of partying.
Only other possibility would be design problems, as in one piece is heating and cooling faster than the piece it's welded to, and the continual difference in expansion and contraction could cause a stress crack.
Did this make you feel any better?
Personally I wouldn't worry too much they probably did a good job.
Levi

 

[daveswoodhauler]

over the years i have sent several woodstoves(avalons) back to Travis to re-build, they do a very, very good job

It was going to go back to Travis, but they would only pay for one way freight, and they wanted to stick the dealer with a $325 fee for shipment.
This was an obvious mfg defect with 3 cracks in 3 welds, and I was not impressed with Travis at all with the support of their product. Keep in mind the unit was less than 1 year old, only burned 3-4 days/week for appx 6 months.
Couldn't justify a cost of $325 to ship one way when the unit was only $1100 to begin with.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Were the welds repaired by the factory, or done by the local dealer?
Anyway it's unlikely that the repaired welds will crack, more likely new cracks will appear next to the repairs, or in entirely new places.
Hopefully whoever did the repairs looked it over good, and identified future problem spots, and fixed them also.
Not sure if the seams were machine welded, or done by hand, but if done by machine and It wasn't being monitored closely then it's possible that some questionable welds weren't noticed. If they were being done by hand then it's unlikely that anyone with more than 6 months experience would have not noticed the problem as they were welding. Unless they were just careless, were seriously underpaid, and didn't care, or were hungover from a hard night of partying.
Only other possibility would be design problems, as in one piece is heating and cooling faster than the piece it's welded to, and the continual difference in expansion and contraction could cause a stress crack.
Did this make you feel any better?
Personally I wouldn't worry too much they probably did a good job.
Levi

Thanks Levi....repairs were done by a welder that the shop has used for many years, so I had to put my faith in it as Travis's warrantee is for only 1 way freight cost back to the mfg plant....and I was not going to spend 1/3rd of the cost of the stove to ship back.
Travis confirmed that repairs made at the dealer will not void my warrantee....if it looks to be a shoddy job, its going back to Travis and they and the dealer can fight about the cost.
Heard good reviews of Travis, but I was left with a bad taste in my mouth for this one.

 

[BrotherBart]

Heard good reviews of Travis, but I was left with a bad taste in my mouth for this one.

That is a huge loophole in stove warranties. Being required to pay the shipping for sending back your iPod is a whole nother deal than shipping a three or four hundred pound stove.

I personally think this is something that should be addressed with any stove dealer in the sales contract. The dealer loves to brag about the warranty but that tune changes real fast when you say "Well, it probably won't ever be an issue but how about you pencil in that you will cover any transportation costs if it does happen?".

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Heard good reviews of Travis, but I was left with a bad taste in my mouth for this one.

That is a huge loophole in stove warranties. Being required to pay the shipping for sending back your iPod is a whole nother deal than shipping a three or four hundred pound stove.

I personally think this is something that should be addressed with any stove dealer in the sales contract. The dealer loves to brag about the warranty but that tune changes real fast when you say "Well, it probably won't ever be an issue but how about you pencil in that you will cover any transportation costs if it does happen?".

Yup, lesson learned....gotta check the warrantee.
But, I don't think that the dealer should eat the cost for the shipping....do most stove mfg's use this approach?
Going to post pics later, and go over the stove with a fine toothed comb.